Captain Don's Habitat Dive Resort Review by ryan.kissick

I had a great experience with Captain Don's Habitat in Bonaire. Everything about Bonaire diving is easy and incredibly pleasant. Upon arriving at Captain Don's, we received a dive briefing explaining how diving would work for the week, and then the pool was open. Divers are allowed to do as many shore dives as they want, and the house reef is a gorgeous wall dive that I was happy to do over and over. You can also sign up for boat dives, which are done three times per day. Depending on the package you select at Captain Don's, these boat dives are an additional charge. However, the package that I signed up for included 10 boat dives over the course of the week without extra charge.

The accommodations at Captain Don's were wonderful. My girlfriend and I stayed in a beautiful ocean view room that included more than we needed. It had ample space, a kitchenette, a television, and a nice patio for lounging. On top of that, it was about a 30 second walk to the dive lockers! Not all rooms at Captain Don's are this close to the dive lockers, but all are within a few minute walk at the most.

As I mentioned before, diving is incredibly easy. All divers are given a locker to store their gear. For boat dives, your gear is automatically transferred to the boat. For shore dives, you simply gear up next to your locker, walk down some steps, and you are diving.

The visibility in Bonaire is incredible, making it a great spot for photographers and new divers. At the same time, there is ample marine life to stay excited. Highlights included turtles, flounders, seahorses, tarpon, flamingo tongues, arrow crabs, moray eels, and huge sponges.

Although Bonaire is a relatively quiet island, we were able to explore a few of the local restaurants and sites. We didn't leave Captain Don's many times over the course of the week, but when we did we had a lovely time. There were a bunch of cute shops in the main town, some good shopping, and some nice restaurants.

Overall, I am a huge proponent of Bonaire and am excited to go back in the near future.