(DiverWire) The Caribbean island of Bonaire has once again swept top honors receiving seventeen different awards in Scuba Diving Magazine’s Readers’ Choice Awards, more than any other destination in the region, including five #1 ratings, proving the island’s dominance as the premiere dive destination in the Caribbean and around the world. For the twentieth consecutive year, Bonaire has taken first place for the #1 Shore Diving Destination.
In the Caribbean/Atlantic region, the #1 rankings received by Bonaire include Best Macro Diving, Best Advanced Diving, Best Beginner Diving, Best Shore Diving, and Best Underwater Photography. The #2 rankings include Best Overall Diving, Best Value of Diving Dollar, and Best Marine Environment.
In addition to its high rankings, the island also was awarded nine slots out of 100 in the Top 100 Gold List, as voted upon by readers of Scuba Diving magazine. “These honors once again reflect how Bonaire’s visitors feel about the destination and what they experience while they are here. It is a world-class dive destination in their books, and their voting for Bonaire in so many of the categories and to such high degrees indicates the loyalty of the Bonaire diver,” commented Anja Romeijnders, President of Tourism Corporation Bonaire. “Bonaire promises to continue its unwavering commitment to preserve its reef habitat and to provide divers with a first class dive experience as well as added value whenever they come to visit,” Mrs. Romeijnders continued.
For the Readers’ Choice Awards, thousands of Scuba Diving subscribers and web users rated their dive experiences on a scale of one to five. Results of the 2013 Awards are featured in the January/February 2013 issue of Scuba Diving magazine.
Located eighty-six miles east of Aruba, the Dutch Caribbean island of Bonaire offers year-round sunshine, low annual rainfall, pristine coral formations and the most abundant fish population in the Caribbean. World renowned for scuba diving and snorkeling, it is also ideal for adventurers and explorers as it offers a myriad of eco-adventure activities from sea and mangrove kayaking to windsurfing or kite boarding and more. For those who want to kick back and relax, not having traffic lights on the island makes it easy to stroll into town or hop on a scooter or bike to peruse the island at their own pace. Accommodations range from full-service oceanfront resorts and condominiums to intimate guesthouses, small inns and private villas.
For more information on Bonaire, contact the Tourism Corporation Bonaire in the U.S. at 
1-800-BONAIRE or visit Bonaire’s official web site at www.tourismbonaire.com. Follow Bonaire on Twitter and Facebook.
