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Bonaire Revisited
The Scuba Place team hosted a group of 16 divers for a return visit to Bonaire in August 2023. They first visited Bonaire in 2021 during a break from the COVID lockdown. They had a great time then (read the first trip report here) and wanted to experience the Shore Diving Capital of the World once again.
Our group met for an early morning flight from London Heathrow to Amsterdam with KLM. It was a short 90-minute flight and a two-hour layover in Amsterdam gave us enough time to do a little shopping for those few items we forgot to pack and a stop at duty-free. The second leg of the flight was 10 hours with a short stop in Aruba before continuing on to Bonaire. We arrived just after 7:00pm and were efficiently and quickly transported to the resort by the Buddy Dive team.
We chose to stay at Buddy Dive again after a great experience last time. We split our group into two three-bedroom apartments and one two-bedroom. The resort is just the right size… every apartment is close to everything… reception, the restaurants, the drive-thru tank station and the dive centre. We got our keys, checked out the digs and then met at Blennie’s for a bite to eat before calling it a night.
In the morning, we headed down to the breakfast buffet at Ingredients. Every morning we had our choice of sweet and savoury breads and pastries, meat and cheeses, cereal, yoghurt, fresh fruit, eggs, pancakes, sausages and bacon and made-to-order omelettes. The doughnuts were a personal favourite!
We stopped into the dive centre to grab our tank cards and locker keys. An orientation and tour by the dive staff for our group had been prearranged and we were shown how to check the pressure and analyse the NITROX tanks. The drive-thru tank station has tanks at the ready, rinse tanks and lockers for dive kit.
The team at Buddy’s shared with us that Bonaire’s reefs are experiencing coral disease and the national parks foundation STINAPA is working hard to educate and conserve. While the disease hasn’t been officially identified, it is affecting six out of the eight coral species vulnerable to Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease. Protocols had been put in place in an attempt to help stop the spread including a Red Amber Green system for dive sites and decontamination tanks for dive gear. Divers were asked to rinse gear in specified decontamination rinse tanks before entering the water. When we planned our shore dives, we were careful to make sure we went from Green to Amber or Red and not the other way around and rinsed our gear again at the end of the day. Buddy’s had special rinse tanks at both the drive-thru and down by the dive centre. If you’re interested in more information, check out the interactive map of Bonaire dive sites here.
We learned a lot when visited Bonaire in 2021 so we were prepared with our shopping lists and made quick work of our favourite grocery store Van den Tweel. We grabbed all the bits for our surface interval lunches along with drinks and snacks. Soft sided cool bags worked perfectly for lunches.
When it came to the diving, we relied on our past experience and our dog-eared guidebook and enjoyed sites from north to south and everywhere in between! We saw all the favourite suspects – turtles, frogfish, seahorses, trumpet fish and puffers, filefish, and trunk fish. Salt Pier – a top site – delivered a school of more than 30 Caribbean reef squid! We spent ages with them – such a special experience.
Shore diving allowed us to visit the sites we wanted, when we wanted, for as long as we wanted. Some sites were more challenging than others when it came to entry and exit with the rocky shore and surge, but we had some tricks to help… collapsing walking sticks were a great help for John who was just 8 weeks post hip surgery. After entering the water, the sticks collapsed and were tucked under bungees wrapped around the tank. Putting gear on once in the water helped more than one of us too!
We timed our trip to make sure it included a full moon. Why might you ask? If you haven’t read our last Bonaire trip report you can here. But let’s just say, our ostracod dive was out of this world! We chose to dive Aquarius, a southern site with loads of soft coral, and it delivered! Twenty minutes surrounded by thousands of magical twinkling lights that evoke memories of Tinkerbell waving her wand at the beginning of childhood Disney films – just mesmerising!!! We had of course waxed lyrical about this experience to our group of divers, most of whom hadn’t seen this before, and to see their faces at the end of the dive was our reward – smiles everywhere!
All of the great underwater experiences we had on our previous trip were repeated, and we stretched our legs and took in some more dive sites. Bonaire really does deliver some excellent diving, and the new sites we tested out kept the bar high.
Above water, food and drink are the key things to take into account, and we revisited some old favourites and checked out some new eateries too. Given the apartments at Blennies are set up for self-catering, getting a takeaway is a great way to control the spending!
Blennies – the onsite bar and restaurant at Buddy’s is still great for a post-dive beer, light (and heavy!) lunches, and a good evening dining menu too. There are also numerous themed nights; Taco Tuesday, Steak and Pizza Nights and All-You-Can-Eat BBQ, so you really don’t have to venture out of the resort if you don’t want to. Additionally, a more upscale offering is Ingredients, a lovely a la carte eatery sitting overlooking the bay. The food here is delicious, and the wine list is excellent.
Out of the resort, we hit our favourite El Bigote a couple of times – the authentic Mexican fare and jugs full of cocktails are too good to miss! The staff are excellent, and this really is a super-friendly casual eatery that caters for groups brilliantly.
Turning left out of Buddy’s, and less than a mile up the road, we visited the highly recommended Dragon City Restaurant and Bar. Food here was delicious, huge portions, and great value – and takeaway is available too. According to the dive staff, this is the best Chinese food on the island, and we have to agree.
Finally, another newcomer to us – a former food truck about to open a new permanent location, the Fat Dog Tacqueria and BBQ. If you like authentic Texas BBQ, slow roast everything and pulled beef and pork, this is a place you cannot miss. A huge platter, including burnt ends, pulled pork, spicy sausages, brisket and much much more, plus coleslaw and a potato salad fed four of us for two meals for just $50……delicious food and excellent value!
On our off-gassing day, we decided to get busy and play with toys – speedboat toys! Splitting into two groups, we hired two virtually brand new 16’ centre console sports boats with 70 HP engines and an inner tube of course – and off we went! We packed up cooler bags with picnic lunches and drinks, and spent four hours zipping around the bay, towing those brave enough to jump onto the tube at speed! This was great fun and a very different way to spend a non-diving day. $70 plus fuel was the cost per person, and this was well worth the spend!
In summary, Bonaire delivered the goods again – this is an excellent destination for dive clubs and group travel. Our hosted trip group was made up of people travelling from London, Cardiff and Manchester – all via Amsterdam, and there are plenty of other regional offerings too, making it easy for anyone in the UK to get to.
Bonaire has a host of hotels and apartment offerings, and numerous dive centres too. We dived with Buddy’s two years ago and they were excellent then. This year, they were even better! Having everything under one roof and on-site is the real benefit to visitors – accommodation and dining, plus vehicle rental, tank filling stations and of course a very easy access house reef all add up to a very streamlined operation, and this makes great sense for those travelling the distance to get there.
And we can’t leave out the value for money – it is just too good not to mention. A week, including flights, costs from as little as £1799, including truck rental, unlimited nitrox, and breakfast. Two weeks starts at £2999pp. In terms of cost per dive, one of our gang did 52 dives in 14 days…..that’s just £60 per dive. Realistically though, 24 dives in a week equates to £75 per dive. For direct comparison, a Red Sea liveaboard with 22 dives comes in at around £90 per dive, and a Maldivian liveaboard with 17 dives equates to close to £165 per dive. Bonaire might not be the Red Sea, or the Maldives, but it really does deliver the goods.
If you or your dive club is looking for a new destination, don’t overlook the Shore Diving Capital of the World, Bonaire! Get in touch and let us help you plan your next dream diving holiday! And check out our 2021 Bonaire Trip Report for more information here.
Key Facts :
- Getting there : Our flights were with KLM Airlines flying from Heathrow to Bonaire via Amsterdam and a quick stopover in Aruba. The first flight is a quick 90 minutes. A quick two-hour layover before our 11-hour flight onto Bonaire arriving at 7:15pm. We were greeted by Buddy Dive staff and after a quick 15-minute drive we arrived at the resort. We were quickly given our room keys and off to the restaurant for some food. Our flight home left after dinner arriving in London in the early afternoon. KLM offers flights to Amsterdam from many UK airports so alternatives are readily available.
- Air temperature : Tropical – average daily temperature throughout the year is 31°C. Rainfall passes quickly and the sea breezes are most welcome!
- Water temperature : 28-30°C. A 1-3mm full suit or shorty is recommended to protect from scratches and stings and to keep the sand out.
- Visa requirement : UK passport holders are permitted to enter Bonaire without a visa for a period of 90 days.
- Immigration : A Bonaire Tourism tax of $75 is required to be paid before arrival and can be done online. A QR code is provided and must be shown to airport personnel on arrival and departure.
- Tourism : The STINAPA Marine Park of $40 is required before arrival and can be paid online. You are required to have your marine park QR code on hand should you be asked by the authorities.
- Currency : US Dollars are accepted across the island. Some establishments accept only cash so be sure and have some on hand. ATMs are easily found.
- Electricity : 120V with European 2-pin plugs.
- Internet and Wi-Fi : There is wifi in resort and worked well in our room and all over the resort. We were able to email, WhatsApp and post on social media without issue.
Price Guide: For 2024 expect from £1799 per person for 7 nights at Buddy Dive with bed and breakfast plus unlimited NITROX and truck rental. Two weeks from £2999 per person. Includes flights and ATOL protection.
Our Advice: Get your dive club together and visit Bonaire! Shore and boat diving are available and the area is suited for all levels of diving experience. Buddy Dive is perfect for big and small groups. A well-equipped dive center and amazing house reef can’t be beat!
Packing tips :
- Bag for Life : $4 in the supermarket! And you will need a quarter ($0.25) for the shopping trolley!
- Cool Bag : Great for keeping your sandwiches and snacks cool in your truck, especially if you have a frozen water bottle in it too. Buy two big bottles and freeze one, chill the other.
- DIN adapter : Tanks in Bonaire are A-clamp.
- Dive Boots : With ultra-thick soles – you will be walking across rocks and dead coral, so good protection is needed.
- Insect repellent : We’ve made a habit of throwing some repellent in our dive bags every trip but with the lovely breezes we didn’t suffer the mozzies much at all!
- Rechargeable fan(s) : If you’ve read any of our recent trip reports we recommend these over and over again. We can’t believe we travelled without them for so many years! Join the fan club and grab one off Amazon… you won’t regret it!
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The Scuba Place designs and builds custom scuba diving holidays. With personal knowledge and experience diving in many of our destinations, there is no one better to help build your dream dive holiday. Come Dive with Us!
Call us at 020 3515 9955 or email at reservations@thescubaplace.co.uk
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Jake Davies boards Ghazala Explorer for an unforgettable Red Sea diving experience…
Overnight, the wind picked up, making the planned morning dive a bit bumpy on the Zodiacs to the drop point on Thomas Reef. There, we would dive along the reef before descending through the canyon and then passing under the arch before ascending the wall with a gentle drift. The site provided great encounters with more pelagic species, including shoals of large barracuda, tuna, and bigeye trevally.
Once back on the boat, it was time to get everything tied down again as we would head back south. This time, with the wind behind us, heading to Ras Mohammed to dive Jackfish Alley for another great gentle drift wall dive before then heading up the coast towards the Gulf of Suez to moor up at the wreck of the Thistlegorm. This being the highlight wreck dive of the trip and for many onboard, including myself, it was the first time diving this iconic wreck. I had heard so much about the wreck from friends, and globally, this is a must on any diver’s list. Fortunately for us, there was only one other boat at the site, which was a rarity. A great briefing was delivered by Ahmed, who provided a detailed background about the wreck’s history along with all the required safety information as the currents and visibility at the site can be variable.
Kitting up, there was a lot of excitement on deck before entering the water and heading down the shoreline. Descending to the wreck, there was a light northerly current which reduced the visibility, making it feel more like the conditions that can be found off the Welsh coast. At 10m from the bottom, the outline of the wreck appeared as we reached the area of the wreck which had been bombed, as our mooring line was attached to part of the propeller shaft. Arriving on deck, instantly everywhere you looked there were many of the supplies which the ship was carrying, including Bren Carrier tanks and projectiles that instantly stood out.
We headed around the exterior, taking a look at the large propeller and guns mounted on deck before entering the wreck on the port side to take a look in the holds. It was incredible to see all the trucks, Norton 16H, and BSA motorcycles still perfectly stacked within, providing a real snapshot in time.
Overall, we had four dives on the Thistlegorm, where for all of the dives we were the only group in the water, and at times, there were just three of us on the whole wreck, which made it even more special, especially knowing that most days the wreck has hundreds of divers. Along with the history of the wreck, there was plenty of marine life on the wreck and around, from big green turtles to batfish, along with shoals of mackerel being hunted by trevally. Some unforgettable dives.
The final leg of the trip saw us cross back over the Suez Canal to the Gobal Islands where we planned to stay the night and do three dives at the Dolphin House for the potential of sharing the dive with dolphins. The site, which included a channel that was teeming with reef fish, especially large numbers of goatfish that swam in large shoals along the edge of the reef. These were nice relaxing dives to end the week. Unfortunately, the dolphins didn’t show up, which was okay as like all marine life they are difficult to predict and you can’t guarantee what’s going to be seen. With the last dive complete, we headed back to port for the final night where it was time to clean all the kit and pack before the departure flight the next day.
The whole week from start to finish on Ghazala Explorer was amazing; the boat had all the facilities you need for a comfortable week aboard. The crew were always there to help throughout the day and the chefs providing top quality food which was required after every dive. The itinerary providing some of the best diving with a nice mixture of wreck and reef dives. I would recommend the trip to anyone, whether it’s your first Red Sea liveaboard in the Red Sea or you’re revisiting. Hopefully, it’s not too long before I head back to explore more of the Red Sea onboard Ghazala Explorer.
To find out more about the Northern Red Sea reef and wrecks itineraries aboard Ghazala Explorer, or to book, contact Scuba Travel now:
Email: dive@scubatravel.com
Tel: +44 (0)1483 411590
Photos: Jake Davies / Avalon.Red
Jake Davies boards Ghazala Explorer for an unforgettable Red Sea diving experience…
The second day’s diving was a day full of wreck diving at Abu Nuhas, which included the Chrisoula K, Carnatic, and Ghiannis D. The first dive of the day was onto the Chrisoula K, also known as the wreck of tiles. The 98m vessel remains largely intact where she was loaded with tiles which can be seen throughout the hold. The stern sits at 26m and the bow just below the surface. One of the highlights of the wreck is heading inside and seeing the workroom where the machinery used for cutting the tiles are perfectly intact. The bow provided some relaxing scenery as the bright sunlight highlighted the colours of the soft coral reef and the many reef fish.
Following breakfast, we then headed to the next wreck, which was the Carnatic. The Carnatic is an 89.9m sail steamer vessel that was built in Britain back in 1862. She ran aground on the reef back in 1869 and remains at 27m. At the time, she was carrying a range of items, including 40,000 sterling in gold. An impressive wreck where much of the superstructure remains, and the two large masts lay on the seafloor. The wooden ribs of the hull provide structures for lots of soft corals, and into the stern section, the light beams through, bouncing off the large shoals of glass fish that can be found using the structure as shelter from the larger predators that are found outside of the wreck.
The final wreck at Abu Nuhas was the Ghiannis D, originally called ‘Shoyo Maru,’ which was 99.5m long and built in Japan back in 1969 before becoming a Greek-registered cargo ship in 1980. The ship then ran aground on the reef on April 19th, 1983, and now sits at the bottom at a depth of 27m. Heading down the line, the stern of the ship remains in good condition compared to the rest of the hull. The highlight of the wreck, though, is heading into the stern section and down the flights of stairs to enter the engine room, which remains in good condition and is definitely worth exploring. After exploring the interior section of the ship, we then headed over to see the rest of the superstructure, where it’s particularly interesting to see the large table corals that have grown at the bow relatively quickly considering the date the ship sank. After surfacing and enjoying some afternoon snacks, we made sure everything was strapped down and secured as we would be heading north and crossing the Gulf of Suez, where the winds were still creating plenty of chop.
The next morning, it was a short hop to Ras Mohammed Nature Reserve for the next couple of days of diving. The 6am wake-up call came along with the briefing for the first site we would be diving, which was Shark & Yolanda. The low current conditions allowed us to start the dive at Anemone City, where we would drift along the steep, coral-filled wall. These dives involved drifts, as mooring in Ras Mohammed wasn’t allowed to protect the reefs. As a dive site, Shark & Yolanda is well-known and historically had a lot of sharks, but unfortunately not so many in recent years, especially not so early in the season. However, there was always a chance when looking out into the blue.
The gentle drift took us along the steep walls of the site, with plenty of anemone fish to be seen and a huge variety of corals. It wasn’t long into the dive before we were accompanied by a hawksbill turtle, who drifted with us between the two atolls before parting ways. Between the two reefs, the shallow patch with parts of coral heads surrounded by sand provided the chance to see a few blue-spotted stingrays that were mainly resting underneath the corals and are always a pleasure to see. With this being the morning dive, the early sunlight lit up the walls, providing tranquil moments. Looking out into the blue, there was very little to be seen, but a small shoal of batfish shimmering underneath the sunlight was a moment to capture as we watched them swim by as they watched us.
Towards the end of the dive, we stopped at the wreck of the Jolanda where the seafloor was scattered with toilets from the containers it was carrying. This provided a unique site to make a safety stop, which was also accompanied by a large barracuda slowly swimming by, along with a hawksbill turtle calmly swimming over the reef as the sun rays danced in the distance.
For the next dive, we headed north to the Strait of Tiran to explore the reefs situated between Tiran Island and Sharm El Sheik, which were named after the British divers who had found them. We started on Jackson before heading to Gordons Reef, where we also did the night dive. All the atolls at these sites provided stunning, bustling coral reefs close to the surface and steep walls to swim along, which always provided the opportunity to keep an eye out for some of the larger species that can be seen in the blue. Midwater around Jackson Reef was filled with red-toothed triggerfish and shoals of banner fish, which at times were so dense that you couldn’t see into the blue. Moments went by peacefully as we enjoyed the slow drift above the reef, watching these shoals swim around under the mid-afternoon sun.
The night dive at Gordon’s Reef was mainly among the stacks of corals surrounded by sand, which was great to explore under the darkness. After some time circling the corals, we came across what we were really hoping to find, and that was an octopus hunting on the reef. We spent the majority of the dive just watching it crawl among the reef, blending into its changing surroundings through changes in colour and skin texture. It’s always so fascinating and captivating to watch these incredibly intelligent animals, in awe of their ability to carry out these physical changes to perfectly blend into the reef. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the boat to enjoy a well-deserved tasty dinner prepared by the talented chefs onboard.
Check in for the 3rd and final part of this series from Jake tomorrow!
To find out more about the Northern Red Sea reef and wrecks itineraries aboard Ghazala Explorer, or to book, contact Scuba Travel now:
Email: dive@scubatravel.com
Tel: +44 (0)1483 411590
Photos: Jake Davies / Avalon.Red
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