Captain Don's Habitat Bonaire

first ever dive vacation

Capt. Don's was the first of several Caribbean dive resort vacations for me, and the most memorable because of how easy it is to cram in as many dives as you can stand. You can dive til you dream about seahorses, dive til you grow gills, dive til you have your own "I went down on 'da Hooker'" t-shirt, dive til the Rays come home, shop til you drop and party like it's your mid-life crisis, and sample so many awesome restaurants on the island, you'll gain weight in spite of 30 dives (my personal best for a 10-day resort vacation).
The facilities aren't 5-star, but for the price per dive, who cares? If you're all about one dive per day and 12 hours of drinking, go to Mexico-you'll like that more. But if you're hard-core, 3-a-day and back for more, this is your dive nirvana. These guys make it easy, inexpensive, safe and enjoyable, and you'll meet the same kind of divers as yourself, those in the know who can spend the rest of their lives partyin' all night, tonight's for squeezin in a 4th dive at the town pier or right there in front of the resort where you can swim down to 100' plus in aquarium-clear water with plenty of company.

Unique Quality: Fantastic dive masters who obviously love their work and make a wonderful dive vacation something that Capt Don's could guarantee in writing, if they chose.
That, along with the fantastic dive facilities and boats, are all it takes to get a 5-star rating from me.