Bonaire

[NoleFan2U]

We are planning a trip to Bonaire in the fall. I have been quite disappointed in the Trip Advisor reviews of the resorts. Any suggestions where we should stay? We don't need the most luxurious resort on the island, but don't want a hole in the wall either. Any insight would be appreciated.

 

[drrich2]

I think you'll find many avid divers have different perspectives on what a resort should be than non-diving vacationers. By the time we pay airfare, room & board, possibly a vehicle rental, & the diving, something modest that keeps cost down is nice, and if diving is the entertainment, often there's less need for other activities (this varies, and if non-divers are in tow, all bets are off).

So, most would aim for a middle ground; neither a roach motel or the 4 seasons.

Describe for us what you want/need in a resort as specifically as you can.

Tell us what you found objectionable in the Trip Advisor reviews.

Where have you stayed before on dive trips that did or didn't agree with you?

Harbor Village has the rep. for being relatively upscale for Bonaire, but expensive.

Bamboo Bali gets brought up as a place that's got a special ambiance, I guess you could call it.

Richard.

P.S.: Peoples' person standards vary so much that we need the specifics to advise.

 

[Manneca]

You can also rent a condo rather than stay at a resort.

 

[phoenix31tt]

we stayed at eden beach for our honeymoon in 2013... at the time they were doing renovations and it was still a nice place, heard the reservations are complete now. They have an on site dive shop (wannadive) that offers 24hour fills etc.

It's a bit more expensive than the typical resorts so if you're going strictly for diving you may want to look elsewhere

 

[NoleFan2U]

We have pretty low standards, lol. Last month we stayed at Cobalt Coast in Grand Cayman. It was nice and the dive crew was great. When we travel in the states, Best Western is our first choice, but have done Waldorf Astoria to La Quinta. I prefer a place near a PADI certified operation...I am leary about air/nitrox quality abroad. I know at other locations i may not have the luxury of finding a PADI shop, but since they have them, I will stick with their air. My only real requirement is a clean place with 24 hour air available for shore diving.

The reviews on Trip Advisor were mostly about the condition of the rooms. Bad odors, room wasn't like what is pictured on the web site, resort was run down. Those reviews were from a few weeks ago, so I was turned off immediately. I looked at Buddy Dive, Divi Flamingo, Sand Dollar, Captain Dons and Plaza resort.

I understand everyone has a different perspective and we are only going there to dive. But when I get home at night, I want to be able to shower in a clean bathroom and relax. As much as I enjoy a luxury resort, I would rather spend less and do more, if that makes sense.

 

[KathyV]

We tend to go to Bonaire for 2 weeks and find eating out 3 times a day gets expensive. We prefer to rent an apartment or condo and do some of our own cooking. The last 2 times were there we stayed in a one-bedroom, fully air-conditioned apartment at Den Laman and dived with the onsite operator Bonaire Dive and Adventure. We were very pleased with the accommodations and the diving.

A couple of things to keep in mind when looking for a place to stay in Bonaire. Sometimes when they say "air-conditioned" it means that only the bedroom(s) has AC; so if that it important to you than look for fully air-conditioned places.

Also there have been some break-ins reported at vacation properties so make sure they have good security.

Nothing is terribly distant on the small island and most people rent a car/jeep/van on Bonaire because of the shore diving options so you don't need to stay in/near town unless you want to. A lot of people recommend Divi Flamingo and I am sure that it is a nice property but is close to town and right next to the cruise ship dock and we don't care for that; we prefer to be out of town a bit near Sand-dollar, Captain Don's, (and Den Laman), etc.

Search this forum for opinions about various locations, there is a lot of information. Good luck!

 

[drrich2]

The reviews on Trip Advisor were mostly about the condition of the rooms. Bad odors, room wasn't like what is pictured on the web site, resort was run down. Those reviews were from a few weeks ago, so I was turned off immediately. I looked at Buddy Dive, Divi Flamingo, Sand Dollar, Captain Dons and Plaza resort.

I suspect a lot of people on Trip Advisor aren't dedicated divers, in the 'just going to dive' sense, and have different tastes (higher standards) than some of us. I've been at Eden Beach Resort 4 times under prior management, Dive Hut once & Buddy Dive 3 times. Haven't had a bad room yet; once an AC unit vibrated loudly. In room wireless internet at Buddy's can be poor, so going outside to a different spot was needful.

The Scuba Board Invasion of Bonaire was at the Plaza; find the old threads on that, and you'll see that a lot of people from here evidently considered it okay. It's AI, unusual for Bonaire. A lot of people like Sand Dollar.

For something different, you might take a look at this Vinibu offering; owner Diver Vince posts on this forum. I haven't stayed there, but it looks nice online.

Richard.

 

[tursiops]

My preference is Buddy Dive. It went through some low times during some renovations (so ignore Trip Advisor comments unless they are recent) but all that is finished. Driveway is marvelous (used to be full of potholes), rooms are perfectly adequate (half the resort (north end) has A/C only in the bedrooms, other half (south end) has full A/C). You get a rental truck -- most are almost new-- with your room. Breakfast is included. Diving in front is easy and excellent. Five-star PADI resort, including TecRec. Multiple boats, different sizes; don't miss some dives at Klein Bonaire or some of the northern boat-only sites. 24h air/Nitrox (Nitrox is free) availability. Two restaurants on site and several within an easy walk. Been going there for 16 years; 29th trip is this Fall. You can save some money by going elsewhere to a condo, making your own arrangements for diving and a car, but that is work and takes time and allows for mixups.

 

[diversteve]

The issue with Buddy's, Habitat, Sand Dollar, Divi etc. is they're all older properties - some probably 30-40 years old now. So depending on upkeep/refurbishment they can be hit/miss. Habitat just finished constructing a new block of ocean view suites so maybe you could specifically reserve one. Everybody likes Buddy Dive but the room I looked in - while clean, was definitely older and a little shabby. I just did it on a whim when I saw the maid so I have no idea if that's typical. Not recently either.

It's odd about the Divi reviews because last year the corporation announced a major overhaul, new restaurant deck, upgrades to the property etc. I think it was supposed to be done about now. Nice thing about Divi is it's one of few resorts with a small beach. Also the only casino is at the Divi. One other nice thing is that it's 2-3 blocks from many of the better restaurants downtown. Most Bonaire resorts bundle dive pkg/room/truck/breakfast but not the other two meals. The Divi does offer optional meal plans - but the only true AI resort is the PLaza - meals/drinks/room/diving/truck etc. included.

If there's a cruise ship in port it's close enough that you'll hear it u/w. For obvious reasons they don't want you swimming that direction (north) either if there is. The next time you'll have to worry about that is October 7th. Cruise TT : Schedule for the Port Of Bonaire for October 2015

If you don't mind a condo - Den Laman condos seem nice. Built within the last decade or newer. Studios and up. (studios look at the parking lot) It's on Bari Reef - one of the better dives. Several restaurants within walking distance - including theirs which is South American now IIRC. Bonaire Dive/Adventure is the on-site operator. It's a pretty small property - no pool - adjacent to Sand Dollar which has a Dive Friends shop street side and would be convenient for tank pick-up since they have 3 other locations. Bonaire Dive Resort: Best of Bonaire Oceanfront Condominiums Den Laman Bonaire

Two options south of town also:

Port Bonaire is nice. It's just west of the airport so you will hear an infrequent flight. Dive Friends has a shop there as well. I don't know of a resort website but here's one of the units: Oceanscape Bonaire - - Oceanfront Condo with... - VRBO Sunbelt also rents units in there: Sunbelt Realty - Bonaire - Netherlands Antilles - Bonaire Rental

A few minutes further south is Belmar condos - we stay there. They're a little more upscale and pricier but it's a small property in a quiet residential area. Small pool and all units face west for the view. The other Buddy Dive facility is there as well. 24/7 tank access is guaranteed since your room key gets you into the public part of the dive shop, tank storage, analyzer, wetsuit room etc. Also if you rent on the ground floor (may be all 2BR) each has a separate lockable dive locker behind the back door. And there's a night watchman. Really clean also. Belmar Oceanfront Apartments Bonaire - First Class Accommodations

Downside of anything south of the Airport is there's no food options. So everything is a drive past it to the Plaza or 2mins. further downtown.

hth,

---------- Post added July 7th, 2015 at 11:33 AM ----------

You can save some money by going elsewhere to a condo, making your own arrangements for diving and a car, but that is work and takes time and allows for mixups.

Respectfully, I disagree. Two e-mails plus one phone call the day of departure to ensure the night watchman would have the key. Most condos offer the same dive package resorts do. Even some of the private villas south of town do also.

We pick-up our truck at the airport - a lot of people like the Buddy's shuttle and getting their truck there but it means we don't have to wait for the shuttle ride in either direction. In our case since we arrived late Sat. Night, we were able to drive over and buy a few groceries that night on the way from the airport.

---------- Post added July 7th, 2015 at 09:25 PM ----------

moved to the Bonaire forum for a more targeted response.

 

[howswedeofme]

We stayed here: Bonaire Exclusive - apartments, bungalows and villa's in House #19. It was a great little house (2 bedroom, 1 bath, kitchen living room, bathroom, indoor and outdoor dining room plus back patio, extra outdoor shower). We originally found a house in this complex on airbnb.com (have you checked there as well?) as a direct rental from the owner of the house, but it was booked before we could snatch it up and instead booked through the property manager which was a little more expensive ($750 for the week). We also received 20% off our shore and boat dive packages with Dive Friends for staying at this location. While I would have enjoyed the convenience of a house reef right off the room at a resort, I valued the extra space to unwind, relax, and make our own meals in the evening more than having a house reef. And, Yellow Sub is very close so we could just drive there to do a quick and easy dive either first thing in the morning or as our last dive of the day and be close to where we were staying. The house was very clean and very comfortable. I would stay there again if we returned to Bonaire.

All in all, the price for doing the "a la carte" house, dive, and truck rentals wasn't much different than at a resort and was a better fit for us, especially since my husband is a picky eater and we always lose money when meals are included in the price of something. We were also close to a lot of restaurants (in the neighborhood next to Bobbejan's barbecue). We did go up to Habitat one night for dinner and the food was very good. We didn't eat at Buddy, but did go there for a night dive. Both house reefs at Buddy and Habitat were great.