Bonaire, diving and Plaza Bonaire questions

[hanglide]

I'm about to book a week at the Plaza Bonaire and was hoping I could get some advice.

Does anyone have any specific or general room recommendations? I'm planning on booking a Junior suite ocean view but I would consider bumping that. Has anyone here stayed in one of these rooms recently that they would recommend? I don't really have a preference was to ground floor or higher floor -I understand the ground floor views can be obstructed by shrubbery etc.. but would consider a ground floor if the location was good. As for higher floors is there a floor level above which the views are pretty much guaranteed to be good?

As for diving:

Boat diving:
Do you have a choice on which boats/locations you go to each morning or do they stick you wherever they want you? I've read some reviews that indicate you're not given a choice - they assign you wherever they want you. Is this the case?

Shore diving/Tanks:
Are tanks easy to get/exchange? Can you take more than 2 tanks per diver?

Car rental:
Since the hotel includes airport transfers, I thought we'd only rent a car for 2-3 days. I thought we'd book the 6 1 tank boat dives, dive the house reef for a couple of days and head up to do Karparta, Oil Slick Leap, Ol' Blue.... suggestions for additional dives? Rental agency suggestions with location not far from Plaza and/or pick up/drop off?

Recommendations for meals, offsite, restaurants, fun things to do... (donkeys?)

Thanks very much for any and all comments suggestions

 

[RJP]

First recommendation: Try reposting in the Bonaire specific forum.

When my buddy and I stayed there we had a Laguna second floor junior suite near the dive shop. Cheaper than ocean view... which we didn't need because we didn't go to Bonaire to sit in the room and look out the window at the water. We went to Bonaire to get tanks (at the dive shop) and get IN the water. Being located by the shop and parking meant easy access to tanks and our truck.

As for higher floors... there's ground floor and second floor. Any higher than that requires climbing on the roof. Even from the roof the views at the Plaza (Bonaire overall) are unremarkable. You can see water and some boats. Depending on your room you might see Klein Bonaire... which is also unremarkable.

Rent a truck and go shore diving. That's what Bonaire is all about. The package price including the truck isn't much more - or possibly cheaper - than renting for 2-3 days. Other than Klein Bonaire sites the Plaza boats don't really take you anywhere you can't drive. The boats have a schedule, so you'll know where they are going at the beginning of the week and sign up accordingly. Their house reef is nice... but not nice enough to "dive a couple of days." One-tank boat dives seem like a huge waste of time to me... A shore diver could well be getting into the water for their third dive of the day just as the one-tank boat trip is getting back to the dock. Bonaire is about diving freedom - whenever, wherever you want. Boat diving is inconsistent with that ethos.

They ask you not to take more than two nitrox tanks per diver at a time. My buddy and I had no problem getting 3-4 at a clip... which you'll want to do if you're heading up north. South sites are all within 10-15 minutes of the Plaza.

As for meals/restaurant recommendations... you do know that Plaza is All-Inclusive, right? So you're locked in there three meals a day.

 

[hanglide]

Hi RJP,

Thank you for replying.

First recommendation: Try reposting in the Bonaire specific forum.

When my buddy and I stayed there we had a Laguna second floor junior suite near the dive shop. Cheaper than ocean view... which we didn't need because we didn't go to Bonaire to sit in the room and look out the window at the water. We went to Bonaire to get tanks (at the dive shop) and get IN the water.

We are going to Bonaire to dive as well but I'm the type of person that does whatever research is needed in order to make an informed decision. If somebody here had a recommendation, I'd be further ahead than blindly booking a reservation.

After a LOT of searching, I ended up booking here Kralendijk Vacation Rental - VRBO 610527 - 2 BR Bonaire Apartment, The Blue Zone @ Sand Dollar - Oceanfront 2 Bedroom?, saved $1000 (yes, some will go back into food and drinks) but it looks like the house reef is excellent, the Nitrox is free, I'm pretty sure it's nicer than the room I would have booked at Plaza and we can do whatever boat dives dives we want. We'll probably do 3 2-tank dives with Dive Friends and as many shore dives as our decrepit old bodies can handle. Our standard dive trip is 5 days of two tank boat dives so we will have to see how we feel after 3-4 dives a day.

Yes, we will be renting a truck -and taking advantage of it to the the fullest.

Can't wait!

Thanks again for replying

 

[diversteve]

Unless it's changed in the past few years there's a sign up board between the dive shop and the lockers. You put your name(s) on whatever boat you want.

One boat dive to do is Rappel. Anyone who's been there before will suggest it when the DM asks where everyone wants to go that morning. You also can't dive Small Wall except off a boat. We didn't so IDK if it's worth it. There is supposed to be some sort of shallow cavern there.

I'd go south to shore dive also. Vista Blue was arguably the best dive we did all week in that direction. Angel City is a pretty good dive also. And the Salt Pier is pretty good for a shallower dive - watch just off the pier there's often rays or something interesting nearby. Someone here on SB saw Manta's there once - we saw a couple Eagle Rays. The brown stuff on the pilings is likely fire coral also so don't touch it. Invisibles was another good dive as well.

Other sites north to consider are Bari Reef and 1000 Steps. [-]At Bari either rent from Bonaire Dive/Adventure or take the first dirt road south of Den Laman to the "public" entrance.[/-]
EDIT - I see you're staying there now.

I'd also dive Cliff - the only vertical wall on Bonaire. Accessed either via Habitat's dock ($5 fee) or a block farther norh from Dive Friens as a shore dive.

The Beach BBQ at Coconut Crash is worth going to. I think it's Tuesday night. Good food and a band.

My go to restaurants are It Rains Fishes for pricier seafood and Donna/Giorgio's for just about anything they make. They do a better pizza than the perennial suggestion Pasa Bon. Quick dinner/take out BobbeJans BBQ in town. You can smell it a block away.

 

[drrich2]

I've not done Rappel. Small Wall struck me as like The Cliff, just a bit bigger, and the 'cavern' was a very modest horizontal depression at the bottom of part of the wall, if memory serves.

I found Angel City a good site to swim on out to the 2nd reef & dive it, if only to say you did. I agree; nice site. I liked Invisibles but it can more swim out than some sites, I believe (my wife gets sea sick easily on surface swims).

Richard.

 

[tursiops]

Rappel is one of the best dives on Bonaire; don't miss it, especially in the shallows.
You'll likely rip up some of the environment if you try and enter the little cavern at the base of Small Wall.
Invisibles is great, but there is no reason to swim on the surface; use your compass to get to the mooring, dive off the edge, go back to the mooring, reciprocal course back to your exit.

 

[rmorgan]

Other good north boat sites include Bloodlet, La Dania's Leap, and Country Garden. Rappel is great, of course.

An easy shore-dive miss with a lot of diversity is Jeff Davis.

 

[diversteve]

The reason it's called Bloodlet is that's what happens when you try to dive if from shore...lol.