From: "Steve Kent" 
Subject: bonaire
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1999 09:40:40 -0800

...saw your post on RSD board.  Below is a trip report that might help.
 
My wife, son, and I just returned from 8 days of fabulous shore diving on
the island of Bonaire!  This was our 4th trip to the island and we did it
much differently than we ever have - and saved a lot of money!

We did 15 dives from our custom "boat" - a 4 door Toyota pick-up!  This is a
great way to dive.  We got up at our leisure, the wife and kid like to sleep
in, and dove where ever we wanted, whenever we wanted.  We didn't have to
worry about other divers on the site, we usually pick a spot where no one
else is diving.  While there is some great diving on Klien Bonaire, we had
seen a lot of those sites and wanted to concentrate on the shore spots we
hadn't seen.  (We keep a record of all the sites on the island - hope to one
day dive them all!)  The only real reason we can see to boat dive is to see
Klien.

We dove with Buddy Dive.  We each bought an 8 day shore diving package which
was about $120 per person.  The main reason we picked them was the
convenience of the drive through tank exchange.  Just drive up & unload the
empties, check the pressure on the full ones and you are off.  One time we
loaded up 3 tanks each - 9 total.  No problem!  If you want to boat dive
they will add it to your package for $17 per dive.

We dove the town pier with them as well - cost only $10 - they do it from
the shore.  We liked this much better than riding to the pier in a boat,
diving and riding back to the dive shop in the boat.  We dove at our pace
and drove off when we were done!  Buddy also has a "Safari Dive" once a
week.  They take you to a place that few know about and guide you from the
shore - and it is free!  We went to Turtle Bay - try to find that on your
dive site maps!

In the past we have stayed at Sand Dollar, but this time we wanted to try
something different, as well as less expensive.  We found just the right
spot for us at Lighthouse Beach Resort.  If you like lots of people this is
not the place for you.  There were many times we sat by the pool and we were
the only ones out!

Lighthouse Beach is about 5 minutes south of the airport.  To give you a
better idea, it would take me 20 minutes to drive from the condo to Buddy's,
exchange tanks, and drive back.  Usually we stopped to rinse our gear at
Buddy's - also at the drive up - and get fresh tanks for morning on the way
"home" each evening.  The condo has a place to rinse gear and hang it also.

Anyway, the condo's are two bedrooms, three baths in the "townhouse style" -
bedrooms up, living areas down.  Each bedroom has a bath with shower and a
walk in closet.  They are also air-conditioned.  The units all face the pool
in a "horseshoe", and are a short walk to the beach and dive site.  We
simply walked out the slider and jumped in the pool whenever we felt like
it!

Now the "meat and potatoes"!  We decided we could visit more often if we
spent less on each trip.  We found Lighthouse Beach on the 'net at
www.bonairerentals.com  They can help with all aspects of your trip.  The
condo rents for $1000 per week for 4 people.  They do not charge the 10%
"service charge" the other places charge either.  In high season this is
over $100 a night less than Sand Dollar.  We liked the unit as well if not
better than any we have had at Sand Dollar.

By not boat diving we saved about $300 on our diving package.  Car rental
was cheaper this trip as we set up the rental in advance with the folks at
Bonaire Rentals.  The truck we rented was $174 per week, add $100 for airco.
We had always rented once we got to the island, and the cost was $294 per
week for the same truck!

So...I figured we saved $600 on the condo, $300 on the shore diving Vs. boat
diving, and $100 on the pickup rental.  We are already planning our next
trip with the $1000 we saved on this trip!!

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you have about Bonaire -
it is a truly fabulous place!

Happy diving!!

Steve, Sue, and Craig Kent