Greetings everyone! I am new to BT. My wife and I first visited Bonaire in the mid 90’s, at the suggestion of a popular dive magazine, and we stayed at the Sunset Beach Hotel. Our first 2 trips were snorkel vacations since my wife did not dive yet at the time. The fine folks at the dive shop there (I’m not sure if I’m allowed to name names here but they deserve much credit) made us feel right at home. They integrated us onto the regular dive boat trips, beginning each trip with a pre-snorkel briefing on fish ID, followed by a post-dive discussion about what we saw. Their enthusiasm for accommodating us is the primary reason why my wife became certified after 2 seasons of snorkeling in Bonaire.

We had the great pleasure of returning one last time to Sunset Beach with my wife as a certified diver. With the demise of Sunset Beach Hotel we dove at a couple of other properties and always had a wonderful time. Our last dive trip to Bonaire was September 2000. Fast-forward to 2010 where we hope to return to Bonaire next summer to snorkel with our 8 year old son. I am pleased to see that there is a separate BT topic devoted to snorkeling! Although a certified diver since 1974, it is precisely this ‘snorkel-friendly’ attitude that attracted us to Bonaire in the first place.

Regards,
Nick

Welcome to the forum.

Enjoy your trip

Glad to see that you're passing it on to the next generation, Nick. Thanks for popping in.

Bonaire is a family affair :-)
I taught my father how to snorkel in 1977. He was 57 years old and totally amazed.
Then my youngest daughter at the age of 4 in 2004 and my youngest son got his padi when he was 10 in 2006.

I snorkeled all my life and have been certified for 13 years - but still love to snorkel!! I always tell people that snorkeling is like riding a bike, diving riding a motorcycle, both excellent fun with diving just a little more dangerous and you need a license. Naming names is fine on BT, and I think I already know the nice people you are going to mention so please do. Have a wonderful return trip and please post a report when you get back.

Patrick

Hey, Patrick.

It was Mary and Walter who made us feel like "first class" guests at Sunset Beach Beach, even though we were there to snorkel instead of dive. Ernst was there our 3rd year when we returned to dive. He was especially helpful to my wife on one of her first boat dives, when she ran low on air. After that she strove to rapidly perfect her technique.

Thanks for the "welcomes" Joe, Barbara and Bob!

Nick

Hi Nick, thanks for the reply back. Thats who I thought you were going to say. I had the pleasure of meeting Walt when I took my solo dive course with him a few years back and learned of his time at Sunset Beach. He currently runs a tech diving operation based at Captain Don's and his web site is: http://www.rectekscuba.com/index.html You will not find two nicer people on Bonaire then Walt and Mary IMHO.

Patrick

I agree, Patrick! Thanks for Walt's web site.

Nick