Considering BONAIRE or COZ for Dive trip w Daughter - Advise?

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Wow - I spent some time trying to figure out how to get there and its a mess. What US city flys direct into Bonaire? Any? I am looking at 4 connections from CT!.

Gary - not sure where you are in CT, but United out of Newark has dropped the red eye and it's now a direct day flight - 4 hrs and 41 minutes. Not sure when your daughters Spring Break is (March, sometime?) but I checked my nephews dates and the flight is $500 + change, FAR better than the $860 I paid for his Delta (PHL/ATL/BON), no connections to scramble, and 2 hours less. Just my luck! I also belief United is flying the route Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

May be worth driving down the night before and getting a room.

Oopps - just saw you booked the Delta through ATL.

---------- Post added December 12th, 2013 at 11:34 AM ----------

We stayed at Caribbean Club and have already booked our second trip back there. Tanks, truck & breakfast are included with the dive & drive package. The people there were amazing. Unlimited nitrox fills & you can also refill your tanks at Buddy Dive so you don't have to drive all the way back up to CCB if you are going back south again. Like you, I researched the crap out of all the resorts I could & was happy I decided on CCB. Read the tripadvisor reviews & check out the pics. Its beautiful!

CCB is lovely, but a bit north, not on the water and away from central restaurants, shopping, etc. If you want to boat dive (the only way to get to Klein and some other sites) you have to drive down to Buddys. Considerations - do you want/need to be directly on the water (ie - walk to dive boat, house reef, etc)? Even after diving we like to sit by the water and watch the fish, dolphin pod, and Mantas swim by... Do you want/need kitchen, even a fridge to keep the Polars cold? Access to boat diving? The stretch near Capt Don's - Buddy - Sand Dollar provides multiple dining opportunities, small shops, snacks (ice cream!) within a 5 minute walk. We could even walk into Kralendjik. Divi and the Plaza are both in town, on water. Whatever your decision, you will be diving in Bonaire, yeah!!
 
I'll go back to my original post and reiterate - do you want to meet a bunch of other folks to hang out with on your trip or do the two of you want to be off on your own? If you like the "dive vibe" then probably one of the resorts like Buddy's, Don's, Plaza or Divi. If you want to be off on your own, then probably a condo at one of the smaller places. You already said neither of you are in to cooking so I think that a resort atmosphere or some place close to town would suit you well. Check in to the four listed above. When Hubs and I go we want to be on our own more so Sand Dollar, Den Laman or Bamboo Bali (where we are staying this time) make sense for us - but since you are doing a father/daughter trip together, a Resort type place or a spot close to town would be my recommendation.
 
Wow - I spent some time trying to figure out how to get there and its a mess. What US city flys direct into Bonaire? Any? I am looking at 4 connections from CT!

I feel your pain. That's the worst part about going to Bonaire. Leaving from Detroit it's a multi flight trip that always leaves in the middle of the night. The prices are also expensive. There used to be nonstops from Houston and depending on the time of year, Atlanta as well.

My vote would be for Bonaire over Cozumel and try something new. I've dove both and like them both equally, just for different reasons. Stayed at D.L. on Bonaire and would do so again. Close to town, great rooms and views, easy tank pick up and a great reef off the front door.

PH
 
I've stayed at Plaza 4 times and would again. They had a 4D package that included room, dive package (no boat dives) and truck with insurance. I don't see it on the new web site - you're right, it sucks. If all they have is the all inclusive package I'll go elsewhere; Eden Beach is nice, stayed there once. Heard good things about Buddies, Dive, and Caribbean Club too. All have truck and the dive packages too so that's easy to arrange.
 
Just back from 10 days in Bonaire and 30 dives. Took my 18 yo son and he cannot wait to go back. I agree I am also.

Spent Christmas morning doing a night to sunrise dive, very special. We stayed at the Caribbean club in a 2 bedroom villa # 302 right by two pools. The place is run by Buddy Dive. We did our check out and 3 boat dives at the Buddy main site them. Very happy with the place and Buddy Dive. We love to cook so over 10 days only ate dinner out 3 times. The staff was great and we saved a good amount of money this way. Very easy island to drive, if you can do a stick. Bonus son now can drive stick and I did have to lose a transmission on my truck teaching him <G>


The thing I think I did not grasp before going is there really is no one dive site on Bonaire. The whole island from north to south has one long reef, (maybe a few gaps, but you get what I mean) the dive sites are really just markers where you can get in and out. Some places are private or commercial activities and cannot be dove. Other than that if you can get in and out you can dive it, or take a boat to it. I cannot think of a simpler way to do 4-5 dives a day. The guys we dive with loved the free Nitrox upgrade on Bonaire.

The flights are long and if you miss a flight you can be days getting there. One family was a hour delayed out of Denver for their the Houston fight and went to Europe and back overnight to get there. Best part their bags made the org flight. To do more than a week (Dec 19th - 30th) we had to book United Syr - Dulles - Houston with a midnight flight Bonaire on the way down and Bonaire- Newark- Syracuse on the way back. As it was the holiday season cost was $800pp rt. Option was Delta out of Atlanta for 50% more.

Each time we had 3-4 hr layovers, this is my airline tip. Airline VIP rooms, they not only have showers and free drinks (beer wine soda), free snacks , they have the ability to change and re book your flights, so no waiting in lines if you run into issues. I buy the passes on ebay for any airline $15- $20, you can buy them for $50 - $75 dollars at the door. If you have amex platinum card many clubs are free. Spent over 3 hrs relaxing in Houston and on the way back 3 hrs in Newark. Less stress, better class of people, yes I am willing to say I am a bit of snob when it comes to my comfort. Met other divers in Houston one, we ended up diving a few times with. BTW I saved over $15 in the first hour with the free beer alone.




http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trk...ass&_nkw=airline+club+pass&_sacat=0&_from=R40
 
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