Dive Friends Bonaire Fish Eye Photo Diving the East Coast National Geographic Dive Course
Diving on Bonaire
With so many destinations to select from, what makes people elect Bonaire their #1 choice year after year?
The answer becomes obvious the minute you enter the water and have that first encounter with Bonaire's abundant marine life. In fact there is so much fish in our waters, that surveys conducted by the Reef Environmental Education Foundation list 8 of Bonaire's dive sites in their top 10 in terms of species richness in the Caribbean.
Even more impressive, Green Submarine/Yellow Submarine, the "house reef" in front of Bonaire Seaside, has the honor of ranking #7 with 294 recorded species!
Other sites in the top 10 include Bari Reef, Tori's Reef, Something Special, Front Porch, Red Slave, The Invisibles and Calabas II. (for more information on Bonaire dive sites, please visit The Bonaire Marine Park web site.) All of these sites are accessible from the shore!
No other destination comes close to offering as many or as varied shore diving options as Bonaire, as evidence by our winning the Top Shore Dive Destination in the Scuba Diving Magazines Reader's Choice Award for the 14th year in a row!! Shore diving offers divers complete freedom to select not only the dive site to be visited, but the time to depart and the profile to dive. Bonaire's fringing reef runs parallel to shore, making navigation simple, and enabling divers to adventure off in either direction from any one site.
You're first opportunity to dive Green Submarine/Yellow Submarine will be when you participate in your self-guided familiarization dive on your first dive day. The Bonaire Marine Park regulations require that all divers purchase a $25 marine park tag and participate in an orientation program before leaving for off property shore diving or boat diving. The purpose of the dive is to recheck buoyancy to help protect the reef, and to check your dive equipment while still within safe distance of the dive staff and facilities.
Bonaire Seaside's dive partner, Dive Friends Bonaire/Yellow Submarine, will conduct your orientation briefing at any time, at any one of their locations, during normal business hours. This is a great advantage as you are not tied to a set schedule, and can determine for yourself when you are ready to begin diving.
Dive Friends Bonaire/Yellow Submarine, is a Five-Star Gold Palm PADI Instructor Development Dive Resort. and National Geographic Family Dive Center located on the northern side of Bonaire Seaside. It offers divers a gear locker room and tank pick-up station with ample parking, making it easy to load your truck, and off you go for the short 10 to 15 minute drive to the site of your choice. (Free Nitrox upgrades are also available to Nitrox certified divers with the purchase of any 3 days of 2 tank or 6 days of three tank dive package.)
Then it's gear up, pull on your booties, wade in to chest deep water, slip on your fins and relax on your short surface swim (50 yards/meters of less) toward the drop off. once descended, simply take your landmark (often the mooring buoy) make your dive, and on the way back, slowly head toward shore while enjoying the shallows where you're likely to find pods of squid and long nose needle fish hovering just below the surface, or the yellow headed jaw fish hiding in the coral rubble.
Dive Friends/Yellow Submarine allows any registered diver to take a maximum of 2 tanks per person when diving south; when diving north they ask you to take a maximum of one tank per person. This is normally not a problem, as they have four locations on the island and there is always a location nearby to change and pick up tanks.
Other Dive Friends Bonaire locations are Dive Friends @ Port Bonaire, located south, directly across from the airport in front of the airport, Dive Friends @ Hamlet Oasis, just north of "hotel-row", and Dive Friends @ Dive Inn, about 1 mile south of Bonaire Sea Side at the end of the boulevard.
Boat diving adds another dimension to your dive experience on Bonaire, giving you the opportunity to visit sites on nearby Klein Bonaire where the topography will be noticeably different, or those not accessible from shore. It also avails you to the opportunity to dive with Dive Friends Bonaire's knowledgeable staff. If your goal is to find an illusive sea horse or frog fish, you'll want a pair of local eyes helping in the search. Dive Friends Bonaire's experienced, friendly dive staff are ready to lead you on two tank boat dives each morning at 9:00, and will have you back around 1:00. Afternoon boat dives will also go out at 2:00 p.m. with a minimum of 4 people, but most divers chose to use the afternoons to either shore dive on their own, or tour the island and participate in other activities. 
Each Monday Night feel free to join Dive Friends @ Yellow Submarine for a FREE Rum Punch Party on their pier. All registered guests are welcome to join us from 5:30 to 6:30 PM.
For information on dive courses and rates please visit the Dive Friends Bonaire web site. Or for information on expanding your boat diving experiences by adding excursions to the east coast of Bonaire, please visit Bonaire East Coast Diving.
National Geographic Dive Course:
Dive Friends Bonaire is an official National Geographic Dive Center. What this means is that we can offer dive courses within the National Geographic course curriculum, and these courses offer greater in-depth training than do the basic courses.
Whether you are new to scuba diving, or an experienced diver, the National Geographic Diver program will give you new tools to understand and safely explore the underwater world.
Your adventure begins with the National Geographic Diver certification, where you will gain the knowledge and practical experience to live the diving life.
- You will learn basic dive skills and safety information through the PADI Open Water Diver course. You will be introduced to worldwide dive environments and opportunities by interacting with the National Geographic Diver Almanac and DVD.
- You will learn to fine-tune your buoyancy to hover easily and maneuver carefully through delicate aquatic habitats.
- You will learn how to observe your surroundings in order to get the best experience from each dive. You will gain practical experience by gathering information and collecting images to create a visual representation of a dive site, detailing what you have discovered through your observations.
- You will improve your navigation skills and ability to find your way around underwater by using a compass as well as natural references.
- You will be introduced to a multitude of aquatic species and be able to identify local plants and animals.
As a National Geographic Diver, you will join an elite group of explorers, adventurers and conservationists. The insight and training you gain during this program will broaden your awareness and take your diving skills to a new level. You'll learn to observe and explore just like an underwater scientist.
Your experience begins with he PADI Open Water Diver program, enhanced with adventures unique to the National Geographic Diver program. You will learn to explore with detail, identify important underwater features and navigate with certainty. You will have the diving knowledge and practice to maneuver with poise along the reef's ecosystems.
Whether you are a seasoned shooter or just picking up a camera for the first time, Photo Pro Tim Peters, owner and operator of Fish-Eye Photo, Bonaire School For Underwater Photography, is here to help you capture images of Bonaire's tiny wonders. Fish Eye Photo is located less than half a mile north of Bonaire Seaside, just off the rotary at the Den Laman Resort. and offers:
Photo courses can be customized to your needs and knowledge, with any system: compact or SLR cameras, single or duo strobe usage, macro, close-up or wide angle. Courses range from 1/2 day Introductory Courses through an intensive Three Day Photo Course. In addition to photo instruction, Fish-Eye Photo offers wide range of photo equipment rentals including the 12 megapixel point and shoot Sea & Sea DX-1200HD, 10 megapixel advanced compact camera Sea & Sea DX-1G, the Sea & Sea DX-200 SLR with either the Macro Setup or Wide Angle Setup. A variety of Sea & Sea and Nikonos strobes, lenses and housings are also available for rent. Fish Eye Photo provides divers with digital services that enable you to download your photos or videos as well as view, edit and burn to a CD or DVD. Interested divers can also participate in a 1/2 day Photo and Video Editing Class.
If you are interested in having a custom video shoot conducted of you and your diving companions, Fish Eye Photo will film you while diving your favorite shore or boat dive site on Bonaire. Random video shoots are also conducted during select boat dives and are available for viewing in the photo shop for your optional purchase. Gates digital video cameras and housing are also available for rent for those who want to try their own hand at filming!
For more information please visit Fish Eye Photo
