Buddy Dive resort questions

[prosdog]

Well, hopefully United Airlines figures out why my Chase miles aren't showing up after I transferred them and I can finalize my trip to Bonaire in July. This is our first time there and we are looking to stay at Buddy Dive. Couple of questions. It says that the rooms have safe deposit boxes, anybody know how large they are? Will a laptop 9" by 12" fit? Also, we are looking at a 1 bedroom apt, any suggestions as to which ones are nicer or better located on the property? Any other tips, suggestions or advice on how to do Bonaire/Buddydive? Thanks.

 

[SailNaked]

no laptop will not fit, and you dont need to worry about it either, buddy it about as easy as it gets, wake up fall into the water no problems, sign up for the boat dives on your first day, and as soon as you get off the boat sign up for the next day.

all the rooms are easy, and have advantages. have fun Buddy rocks.

If you get the chance, visit Rincon, and the washington slagbassi(sp) park awesome. the windsurfing bay is great on your last day, give some money to the Donkey sanctuary, the fish pizza at the traffic light is great. really not a possibility to have a bad time. that is my $.02

 

[prosdog]

Sail, thanks for the reply. I have a fairly small laptop, any idea of what the approximate dimensions for the inroom safes at Buddydive are? Will it hold an iPad?

 

[Doctorfish]

The boxes are too small for an ipad as I recall. More the size for wallets, passports and jewellry. I like the North, Lion Dive side of Buddys as the rooms have a view of the pool and ocean. I like the rooms right on the ocean, on the ground level. can't remember room numbers.

Buddy Dive also has a great house reef. Don't miss Bobbejans for dinner Friday-Sunday. Good BBQ, local vibe and inexpensive.

 

[rlskill1]

Well, hopefully United Airlines figures out why my Chase miles aren't showing up after I transferred them and I can finalize my trip to Bonaire in July. This is our first time there and we are looking to stay at Buddy Dive. Couple of questions. It says that the rooms have safe deposit boxes, anybody know how large they are? Will a laptop 9" by 12" fit? Also, we are looking at a 1 bedroom apt, any suggestions as to which ones are nicer or better located on the property? Any other tips, suggestions or advice on how to do Bonaire/Buddydive? Thanks.

My i-pad fit in the safe. They have wifi which works ok.

 

[robint]

we have been to Buddy Dive twice and never locked up anything in the lockbox. We put our wallets in a safe place inside luggage in closet, laptops left out on table as well as other electronics.

as far as rooms, get one of the 1 bedroom condos. They are really roomy, and if you have camera equip, you have a bar and table to spread things out. You also have a full patio or balcony to dry your gear on during the day, between dives. Yes, we left gear sitting out on patio, never once had anything stolen. At night we did take it inside.

trip report with tons of photos: http://www.rnrscuba.net/2011_Bonaire/2011_Bonaire_TripReport.html

walkways right to downstairs patios

 

[Volstorff5]

Just got back from Buddy dive.. Yes, the rooms do have safe deposit boxes but not large enough for laptop . YOu never know which apartment you are getting.. Please check my review on Trip Advisor. Loved the diving but , not the resort.
:cool2:

 

[Diver Lori]

We stuffed our safe full. iPad and netbook fit fine, along with camera, wallets, and prescriptions. As to a full size laptop, you could get a laptop lock and secure it to the rod in the closet.

The rooms vary. We had a one bedroom appt, which was HOT even with the ceiling fan running and doors open. We were there the first week of this month. Only the bedroom has a/c. Wifi is weak and evening hours the bandwidth slows to a crawl.

As to getting a specific room, you can put in a request, but you're gonna get whatever they put you in. I requested ocean view and didn't get it and told none was available. We were on the end near the fill station, which sounds noisy when you think about it, but really wasn't bad. It was especially nice when shore diving....not as far to walk. With the a/c running at night we didn't hear it at all. I will say being on the land side had its benefits as the breeze was blowing from inland out to sea, so when we opened our balcony doors and end building balustrade door, we were moving some air! But with the air moving from inland out to sea it also blows the mosquitos right in your room when it starts to get dusk. Keep your bedroom door shut or you'll be the main course at night. Be prepared to man your battle stations with a flip flop when turning in to take care of the little bloodsuckers that do make it in your bedroom. The door from the main room into the bedroom is a dark wood and those little buggers buzz around the door unseen and sneak in when you open it.

 

[drrich2]

I was at Buddy Dive back in April and while my fairly large 1 bedroom place only had AC in the bedroom, I left the bedroom door open and it was plenty powerful enough to cool the whole place. Wasn't a problem for me.

Volstorff5, I took a look at Trip Advisor but didn't know what review was yours, so I didn't know your specific issues with it. I did look at a couple of very recent reviews by people, though.

A couple of things come to mind from reading some Trip Advisor user criticism. First off, from what I've seen, dive 'resorts' on Bonaire are not high-hospitality operations with the kind of 'let me get that for you sir' approach one might see on a cruise ship. Also not a 'we're here to entertain you' mentality like I might anticipate at some land-based resorts? (I've very little experience with such a thing; never stayed at a Sandals). At least one poster seemed to have somewhat high expectations that would be appropriate for a cruise ship, but not Bonaire.

That's not to say there aren't nice people on Bonaire, or that you won't hear accounts of good service. But the island's main attraction is self-service shore diving for largely budget-minded value seekers who aren't high maintenance, and I think a number of Bonaire 'resorts' reflect their main customer base.

I'm not saying everybody who ever gave a bad report of Buddy Dive is a high-maintenance type! I'm just saying that when you read Trip Advisor reports, try to get a sense of what the reviewer's expectations were going in. For example, from one review:

We did eat most our meals at the restaurant but we found most guest do not. I was surprised because if it is given such an award for being a number one resort ,the food should be fantastic. We felt it was O.K.

People don't judge Bonaire dive resorts by the on-site restaurant food, most divers who post on the forum seem to prefer to 'eat around' at different places (not mostly at their resort), and I'm not sure the food anywhere on Bonaire is consistently rated as 'fantastic,' or that such is a realistic expectation. There was also a mention of 'mice dropping' in the living room one day. I found 'mice dropping' at home the other day! Rodents can invade most any place, and to make an issue of finding their 'pills' seems odd to me, at least.

Richard.

 

[robint]

The primary reasons we stay at Buddy Dive:
truck included in package price
drive thru fill station for tanks, takes 2 minutes to load tanks and go!
unlimited free nitrox
huge free breakfast buffet, we always eat a big breakfast, at home and on trips!
FANTASTIC shore dive, from entry area to 100' deep, north or south, you see everything you want!

the resort is not perfect, for sure, but these things are required for us. Buddy's meets all these. We would try another resort there IF it would meet these, but we have yet to find one. I understand Plaza Resort has pkgs now that compete, but I have not heard the same raves about the shore dive area.

mosquitos.... yes, Bonaire has horrible mosquito problem. We spent a good 15-20 minutes every night, going around the room killing them before bed. Even with DEET, you will get bit occasionally. They are just like vultures. Never saw any other bugs though.