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I can’t speak to Roatan, but Bonaire snorkeling is great. I saw an eel in less than a foot of water and less than 18 inches from the shore. Bari Reef is great for snorkeling, I saw squid, turtles, octopus, eels, lobsters, etc.
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CoCo View in Roatan has excellant snorkeling in their "Front Yard" http://www.cocoviewresort.com/ but there is not much else to do if you don’t dive/snorkel.....Bonaire has more night life and the snorkeling is great too....
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Bonaire, Bonaire, Bonaire. Unbelievable shore diving you can do around the clock and equally unbelievable restaurants for that apres diving appetite. Try not to fly through Curacao though. Very unreliable puddle jump airlines and we got stuck for 14 hours at the airport with nothing to do.
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I’d vote for Curacao or Aruba over either if you’re looking for a compromise destination. Great shopping and restaurants in both of these as well as some very nice resorts. Roatan has great diving, but most of the town is being impacted by the cruise ship traffic. Bonaire of course is outstanding diving and a lot of interesting things to see topside, but limited shopping and restaurants. Jest my humble opinion.
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Bro got to do Bonaire the shore diving makes snorkeling easy so you got to go to Bonaire
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Marti - 10/26/2008 4:01 PM 
For diving, I think both are terrific, but I have to agree with the other posters that Bonaire is the greatest for diving and snorkling, and far superior for dining, night life and shopping.
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Thank you all very much for your comments. Recommendations on the best place to stay? My wife would like to be pampered and she deserves it with the hours she puts in as Controller at her university.
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I was fortunate to do both this year. We did both basically with the same number of dives, staying at Divi Flamingo in Bonaire and Anthony’s Key in Roatan. Bonaire is a desert island, Roatan is much more tropical. Diving in both was very good. I preferred Bonaire, my buddy Roatan, but both were very good. The biggest difference for me was in travel. We flew on Continental and the flight to Bonaire was a red eye. So it cost us one day of diving on the end of the trip. Of course, you could dive after orientation on the first day, but the flight down wore us out pretty good. Hope this helps.
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