For Bonaire’s VIP Diving, prestigious awards are nothing new. This year alone, the PADI Five Star IDC Resort won five Readers Choice Awards in Scuba Diving’s 2025 survey. It has been given Tripadvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Award for 12 consecutive years. It’s also earned PADI’s Green Star Award and Reef-World’s Green Fins Award. The awards are nice, but there’s so much more to the VIP Diving story.

For more than a decade, VIP Diving has elevated the dive experience for guests while being committed to promoting sustainability and protecting Bonaire’s marine habitat. It can all be summed up by the “more than diving” slogan. But those three words are more than a slogan—they also represent the dive operation’s mission. VIP Diving wants to give their guests the best experience possible on Bonaire.

VIP Diving specializes in shore diving, which is what Bonaire is famous for. Dives are selected based on the wishes and dive experience of guests. From unmarked dive sites off the beaten track to the most famous dive sites, such as the Hilma Hooker, VIP Diving can create a customized itinerary. For guided dives, VIP Diving uses its own pickups to transport small groups of guests, so staff can point out both natural and cultural highlights. They ensure every diver receives personal attention before, during and after their dives.

In addition to providing top-notch customer service, the VIP Diving team is dedicated to environmentally responsible business practices and the conservation of Bonaire’s underwater habitats. Some of their initiatives are among the most innovative in the Caribbean. The shop has a solar-power roof, and that green energy can be used for most of VIP Diving’s activities. The staff also helps with and sponsors the island’s sea turtle conservation and reef renewal programs.

VIP Diving offers more technical diving courses and services for tec divers than any other shop on Bonaire. As a tec- and CCR-friendly dive center, they offer gas blending services and gear rental for both open circuit and rebreather divers. Led by two PADI Course Directors, the technical diving instructors can help divers improve their skills or experience more technical sites found off the island. To support its tec-diving services, VIP Diving is nearing completion of construction of its dedicated technical diving facility. In addition to this new facility, VIP Diving has brand-new trucks and rinse tanks.

VIP Diving also supports the training of the STINAPA Junior Rangers, a program for local teens who are educated about environmental concerns and dive ethics so they can become involved in protecting Bonaire’s valuable natural resources. They are trained to represent Bonaire as Nature Ambassadors.

It all comes back to VIP Diving’s slogan “more than diving.” That is the VIP Diving difference.

A Little Night Magic

VIP Diving offers three dive experiences after the sun sets: ultraviolet light, ostracod and guided night dives. On a UV night dive, certain marine life will absorb parts of the UV light and emit a different color, offering an amazing spectacle. The ostracod experience is equally mesmerizing—tiny, male marine organisms create lights from within their bodies to attract female ostracods. This magical show is only possible to see in a few places on Earth, and Bonaire is one of them. Guided night dives are also available.

2025 Readers Choice Awards

VIP Diving nabbed five Readers Choice awards in the dive operator category this year, including Quality of Rental Gear, Quality of Facilities, Quality of Staff and Attention to Safety.

Contact Info

+599-701-7701

info@vipdiving.com

vipdiving.com