Bonaire..anyone care to share their story?

[fjohnson]

I'm looking at a Bonaire trip in march and wanting to do some semi-serious freediving.. 100 + feet.. can anyone tell me what the local freediving market is like? clubs? active divers? any locals there that would spot for me? any pertinent info I need to know?
Thanks,
Fred

[Jon]

Fred,

When I was down there I was freediving by myself, but the reefs were awesome and you could paly at any depth you wanted to. Top of the wall was around 15'-25' and the sloped on down to 150'+. When I was there I saw no freediving operations down there but that has since changed.

Now, if you want the real story wait a week because Ted and his wife are down there as I write this- b@st@rd! He has even booked a course with the freedive shop on the island. It will be interesting to see what he has to say. It lookds like they dive the windward side to swim with the pods of wild dolphins. The whole island is one big shore dive so you can't make diving much easier than that.

Bonaire is one of the places my wife would go back to, along with Bleize. She has made it very well know to me that she doesn't ever wish to go back to Ultila, or even Roatan for that fact. Bonaire had great, easy, diving without the biting sand flies and dead reefs. There were lots of fish to see and it is out of the hurricane belt.

When the kids are a bit bigger Bonaire is one of the first places I would like to take them to get them hooked on diving- after a bit of ice diving first.


Jon

[kelsea]

I did a trip to Bonaire in April of this year... fantastic spot! Can highly recommend Captain Don's Habitat for accomodation. If you are into underwater photography they have a very knowledgeable Swiss man running a photo lab onsite. They do quite a few slide shows and run competitions too.
I was also freediving by myself (past tense now, lesson learnt) and had an absolute ball on the reefs. It is such a perfect island. Visibility varied between 20-30m. I'm sure you'll find the depths you're after. Their dive crew didn't mind freedivers on their boat either.
Enjoy It's definately a place I'd return to.

[cdavis]

Kelsea,

Thanks for the reply. How did the dive boats handle lack of a free diving buddy or safety protocols for free divers generally? How did you get there and what did the air flights cost? I'm having trouble figuring out their complicated flight situation.

Hey Jon, when is Ted getting back. I'm drooling for a full report.

Connor

[Jon]

Connor,

He got back today, I think.

I flew there through Miami, but that was a few years ago. Flights were not cheap, but around $600 when I went.

The whole place is set up for shore diving. The only boat dives I did were one quick trip over to Klien bonaire and a night dive at the town pier- which you'd want to do on scuba just to keep protected from the local fisherman who try to drop rocks on you as you dive. Otherwise, they let me freedive on my own without a second thought to it. I even tagged along on some guided snorkel tours over the reef and dropped off down the wall past where they could see me and they didn't seem to care a bit. The rest of the island is best dove by renting a car and everything, including the wrecks, are a very short swim from the beach.


Jon

[callingducks]

I have a buddy who is a advance free diver who lived on Bonaire. He will me on the island in March. He is a member his name is Christian he is a member
Hope this helps I was on bonaire and had to free dive alone.

[aquamancancun]

I spent a terrific week freediving with my friend Dominique Serafini, a mad Corsican who knows all the secret spots that the tourist never see. His email is: freedivebonaire@aol.com Have fun and be sure to check out the windward side of the island!

[gwpcasey]

Hey there,

I was wondering how the Bonaire trip went? Did you have fun, meet up with Dominique? I live in Curacao and still haven't managed to meet up with him but we've spoken a few times. Can't wait for my next trip to Bonaire but first I need to find some time to stop working and get into shape again... it's scary how unfit I am.

Cheers,
Gordon.

[fjohnson]

the bonaire trip was great! it really is a freedivers/snorkelers/divers paradise. It worked out so well for my wife who is near surface swimmer and me, who is a near bottom swimmer. Dominique's place was empty and I guess he must have been off the island while I was there.. and this he had mentioned in an e-mail, that he may not be there.
We saw our first bait ball ever over the hilma hooker, it came over the wreck and just stayed there while the jacks infiltrated it time and again for a meal.. to me, that was the most interesting thing we saw while there. we saw many things that you don't see around there often, it sounds like.. nurse shark, the largest lobster I've ever seen, octupus, many turtles. It really was a good trip even if I didn't get to push my pb while there. Have to go back and find that blasted elusive seahorse though.
Yup, get in shape,, can't beat exercise and eating right. Later,
Fred