Travel plans/Summer 2021 Bonaire

This page is for planning our trip to Bonaire!

Itinerary

Jun 2: SEA->BON

• TODO: Let Den Laman know our flight info.
• TODO: Get a car or ask Den Laman for pickup.

• WK: DL 845->ATL (12:50am-8am) + DL 1813->BON (0am-2:11pm)

Jun 23: BON->SEA

• MM: AA flights via Miami
• WK: DL flights via ATL leave BON at 3:31pm on 23rd

Insurance

• DAN
• Diving insurance $40/yr
• International travel insurance?

COVID tests

• SEA -> BON: 72 hour PCR test + antigen test OR 24 hour PCT test
• BON -> SEA:

Stay

• Den Laman Blue Marlin
• $2671.75 for 6/12-23 for 4 people.

Dive

Notes from Dive Friends:

Your friend will need the Open Water Referral.

For the PADI referral, we will need to do a quick knowledge and skill review and 4 open water training dives. We normally conduct this over two days starting at 9 AM. All I ask is that you send me a scan of your referral paperwork in advance so that I can make sure that everything is in order. This course requires Confined Water and so will take place at our Yellow Submarine or Sand Dollar location.

The price is $230 (including tax, certification fees, etc.). This also includes your air and equipment during the course. The only additional charge will be the $45 Bonaire Marine Park fee that all divers are required to purchase and needs to be paid by card.

For the referral, all students need to fill in a Medical Statement to ensure that you are fit to dive. If there is a “Yes” answer to any of the questions, for safety reasons, you will need to bring a signed medical statement from your doctor.

We are prominently a PADI dive school, but we can also accept referral students from other organizations. Please let us know if you are a non-PADI referral before making a reservation.

Thank you very much for your interest in Bonaire and Dive Friends Bonaire. I would be more than happy to assist you in putting together the perfect dive vacation! I do not know what packages Den Laman as a accommodation offer but please find our 2021 price list here. These prices are inclusive of tax, but not the $45 Bonaire Marine Park fee (that needs to be paid by card on-island or online at www.bonairenaturefee.org). Your nearest Dive Friends location is Sand Dollar.

It is a rule of the Marine Park that all divers need to attend an orientation session and then complete their first dive on Bonaire as a “checkout dive”. This means that your first dive needs to be on one of our house reefs so that our crew can supervise your buoyancy check. Upon arrival, we can organize the required Bonaire Marine Park orientation whenever it is convenient for you. We will give you a briefing about Marine Park rules and then help you to do a buoyancy check, make sure all your equipment is functioning properly, and then you’re free to go out for a dive on our fantastic house reef.

Because of Covid-19, there are several changes that we must all adhere to. To ensure everyone's safety and health, we ask all our Dive Friends to follow the set procedures. An overview of all measures can be found here.

We charge $18.50 per tank of air, $34 per day of unlimited air diving, or $180 for 6 days. If you are Nitrox certified and wish to dive with Nitrox, we charge $20 per tank, $38 per day of unlimited diving, or $200 for 6 days. These prices include tanks and weights only, not rental equipment or guide. To reserve your unlimited tank package (tanks and weights only), please follow the link.

To experience the best that Bonaire has to offer, I would recommend the combo package for 6 consecutive days of unlimited shore diving including 3 two-tank boats to Klein Bonaire for $340 per person. If you are Nitrox certified and wish to dive with Nitrox, we offer this package for $360. With a minimum of 3 divers and a maximum of 6 divers, our boats usually go out to Klein Bonaire, weather and sea conditions permitting. If you are a larger group travelling together, then we can accommodate 10 to 12 persons on our boats. We can also arrange for our boats to go to dive sites in the North that you cannot reach by car. For this, we have a surcharge of $10 per person. However this is only possible when all guests on the boat are in agreement.

We have daily 2-tank morning trips, as well as 1-tank dives in the afternoon on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

If you would like to add (more) boat dives to above package(s), the price will be $56 per person for a 2-tank boat dive or $31 per person for a 1-tank boat dive. These prices do not include equipment or air.

For the person who would like to do the course, the Open Water Diver course costs $395 per person and takes 4 days. This includes your air and equipment during the course, as well as tanks, weights, book, instructor and PADI certification card. The only additional charge is the $45 Bonaire Marine Park fee that will need to be paid by card on the day of check in. This course requires Confined Water and so will take place at our Yellow Submarine or Sand Dollar location.

There is quite a bit of homework to do, so once we make the reservation, you will need to stop by the dive center at least one day before the scheduled start date. That way we can get the paperwork out of the way and hand out the course materials to start reading the first chapters.

Due to Covid-19 we rent our regulators without mouthpieces. Please bring 2 mouthpieces with you or if it is easier, you can purchase them in our shops. At Dive Friends Bonaire you can buy 2 mouthpieces for $ 6.

A great way to save time and a day of vacation will be to do the theory at home behind a computer before you arrive on island. There is a fee that will need to be paid by credit card directly to PADI, and then it is $210 for the 3 days of in water training on Bonaire with us. This includes your air and equipment during the course. If you do decide to do eLearning, you can sign up using this link.

If you plan on doing a course, all students need to fill in a Medical Statement to ensure that you are fit to dive. If there is a “Yes” answer to any of the questions, for safety reasons, you will need to bring a signed medical statement from your doctor. Please also let us know if anyone in your group is 12 years old or younger.

If you would like to rent equipment, please let us know your shoe and T-shirt size so we can reserve the right sized equipment for you. A full set of rental equipment costs $50 per day including a dive computer. Or you can rent per piece for $13 per day. Our tanks have an international connection (yoke). If you have a DIN regulator, we recommend you bring your DIN adaptor with you. Alternatively, we have them available for rent for $3 per day, or for purchase in our retail store. Due to Covid-19 we rent our regulators without mouthpieces. Please bring 2 mouthpieces with you. Or if it is easier, you can purchase them in our shops. At Dive Friends Bonaire you can buy 2 mouthpieces for $ 6. If necessary, we can help to assemble them.

For your convenience, we have 8 different locations around Bonaire where you can pick up or drop off your tanks.

If you have not been diving in over a year, your preferred package may not be suitable for your experience level and a refresher course may be required. Please let us know the date of your last dive, total number of dives and your certification level.

We recommend making a reservation to ensure we have availability for your preferred dives, and to avoid disappointment.

Hike

Washington Slagbaai trails