sddiverdude - Bluewater Dive Travel

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sddiverdude

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Reviews (4)

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Buddy Dive Bonaire Resort

4
4
4
3

Buddy dive was great !
Our room was actually a suite and had a seperate bedroom , living room and kitchenette .
The breakfast was sufficent to fill the belly with the typical resort buffet style set-up.
The coffee was good and strong, just like I needed in the early A.M.
Having the drive and dive package was fantastic, and the drive-up tank staion was nice.
They didn't fiil them and you waited, just had enough tanks available to swap out.
The rules were 2 tanks each time, but I aske for 3 and they were cool with that.
The bar was a nice outdoor gazebo style and they served a decent (although expensive) dinner.
The diving was good and I really enjoyed the freedom to go where I pleased and dive as I wanted.
The photography oppurtunitys were typical Carribean fish stuff with fairly healthy reefs,plentiful reef fish , Wide angle,not much macro or large fish though
EXCEPT.. the house reef at night has a group of Tarpon that live to hang out feeding on critters shining in your lights.. Great for Photo ops !!
We did a couple night dives and the resort made sure that we had tanks available as we asked .
They were reasonable priced, had pony bottles for rent ($7 a day ) and went out of thier way to accomidate us.
If I go back to Bonaire, I would definetly go to Buddy dive resort again.

Visited on 10/2011 - Submitted on 01/20/2014
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Cocotinos resort Manado Indonesia.

5
4
4
4

Cocotinos is a fabulous resort/spat .
We stayed there on week two of a Lembeh/Manado trip and the change was refreshing.
This resort/spa was very people orientated, and the guides were very knowelageble in the area's diving, the guest quirks, and with the gear as well.
The rooms were comfortable and all on ground level (refreshing after the hill climbing at Lembeh resort) and there was a pool in the courtyard.
The air conditioning worked well, and the rooms were close to boats, resturant, and camera room.
The camera room was great, and spacious.
everyone had plenty room and we were a large group.
There was a decent diveshop onsite for any needed gear, and staff was knowalageble about gear, fixing a few things for our group.
The maintence staff actually took my Ikelite charger and stripped the plug down to re-connect a broken wire so that I could charge my strobes.!
Our Guide (James Mamato) was exceptional, and knew where to find all the local critters.
We had a mix of diver stylles onboard, with some phiotographers and some sight-seer's and he was able to keep us all on subjects .
The diving was a mix of wall/reef/and a little muck.
The vis was better here than Lembeh at 50-100 feet, and warmer too. I saw my computer at 90º one day in shallow (I got a pic of it too !
The diving was more feef fish than small critters, but our guide knew we loved macro and led us to many types of nudi's and other small wonders.
This resort's staff made everyone feel special, and within the first day, knew all our names.
The food here was 4 starish and better than most dive resorts.
They had a party / BBQ for us one night near the end, and all the staff, and guides were dancing and playing music.
My birthday was during the trip, and when they found out, they threw a little party with cake, ice cream and everyone on staff signed a Cocotino's T-Shirt that I will cherish for a long time .
Thier love of life was great to see and left a lasting memory for me.
The diving was done off comfortable boats and the sites were a 30-45 minute ride away, so they brought 3 tanks each and lunch.
We were given oppurtunities for night diving every night.

Visited on 10/2009 - Submitted on 01/22/2014
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Lembeh Resort

5
4
5
4

Lembeh resort is a beautiful , secluded resort.
There are no opportunities to "go to town"
It is cut into the side of the mountain, and all rooms seem to be up on a hill.
Ours was WAY UP !
The rooms were decent and air conditioned.
The resort had a nice sized camera room , and everyone had plenty room.
The food was adequate , nothing special, but decent.
The diving was mostly muck diving and we had between 30 and 75 ft vis.
Water temps were 80 to 85 and I was comfortable in my 3/2 wet-suit.
The guides were incredible and seemed to know where all the amazing critters liked to hang out .
Just as I started getting bored of looking at sand, they would point out another critter that was was invisible to us just a minute before !
We saw mimic , blue ring , wonderpuss , and long-armed octo's , flamboyant cuttlefish, and two or three other types of cuttlefish as well. I saw fish that I never knew existed, and was completely amazed by.
The nudi count was off the scale, and while most sites were sand/muck a few like nudi falls were on walls, and jam packed with macro subjects. I saw my first electric clam there.
Lembeh was high on my bucket list, and worth every minute , dollar , and hassle that was spent !
I LOVED the amazing critters seen on this trip, and had never thought that I would see them except on a discovery chanel type show .

Visited on 10/2009 - Submitted on 01/22/2014
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Palau

5
3
5
3

I loved Palau !
The shark and Manta encounters were constant and we also did the jellyfish lake, which was an awesome experience that should not be missed if you are there.
Hooking into the reefs at Ulong Chanell and watching the sharks swim by grabbing the tangs for lunch was very exhilarating.
After hanging there and watching, the drift dive up the channel was an experience I will not forget.
This was a wide angle photographers dream trip with Manta's and sharks regularly within feet of me.
We saw Manta's every time we went to German channel and it quickly became our favorite site which we requested almost every day.
Chandelier cave was cool, but vis was limited and it was an overhead environment with pockets that you could pop up into .
It was important to keep sight of the guide and his light as you went through.

Blue holes/Blue corner has a cavern with sunlight streaming through the many holes in the reef and fantastic photo ops of divers with sunlight beams were available. After dropping through the cavern, we drifted over the Blue corner wall to the Ulong Chanell site and hooked in for the remaining bottom time , watching sharks.

Visibility was an average of 75-100 ft and I was very comfortable in the 80-85º water wearing a full 3mm wetsuit .
Some people wore less, but I don't like being cold after dive 2 or 3.

The coral was not real healthy, probably due to currents, but this was all about the big animals.
The boats seemed to know where we were and even if a few of us broke from the group (who? me??) they were in touch with all boats in the area and quickly found their divers.
We had an hour ride every morning to get from the resort to the dive sites and it was raining frequently.
This made a cold ride and I highly recommend bringing your rain slicker !
There were 3 dives only because we were diving off a land based operator, but they did offer night dives .
I would have preferred doing a live-aboard, and doing 5 dives a day, when I go back I will be on one !

Visited on 10/2012 - Submitted on 01/20/2014
Read all Palau Dive Travel reviews

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