JDelage
Contributor
I was in Bonaire for 1 week, ending July 23. Here are some quick notes:
Hamlet Oasis:
The resort is convenient and is located close to Buddy’s & Captain Don’s. There’s a drive through Dive Friends place in situ, so getting tanks couldn’t be easier. I was in a 1BR apartment (which is really 2/3 of the 2BR bungalow). It’s spacious, has a huge covered porch with a large dining room table. Inside, there’s a living room / dining room, a bedroom with a perfectly nice bathroom, and a large kitchenette / smallish kitchen. The resort has a pool that looks actually deep enough to be considered a pool rather than a bath tub (but I never felt the need to set foot in it). Also, it’s close to downtown, which is a valuable feature for someone new to Bonaire. The only drawbacks at this place are the very dim lightbulbs which make it nearly impossible to read anything unless in bed or directly under the floor lamp. In addition, there are no power outlet anywhere close to the DR table, which means I had to use the living room side table when plugged in. There are better deals to be had on AirBnB, but not on the water. I would recommend them for a first time in Bonaire or people who absolutely want a house reef. The pricing is lower than Buddy or Don’s and the convenience of the in-situ Dive Friends op is superior to a single-location tank swap station, IMHO.
Dive Friends:
I have been happy with Dive Friends. The convenience of picking up tanks in any of a half-dozen location and drop them off at another location cannot be overstated. I dove nitrox, and their tanks were well filled at a consistent 31%-to-32% ratio. (Did some dives with people diving with VIP who found out at one site that their delivered tank was empty…) I did a 2-tank boat sortie in Klein Bonaire, which was fine but the dives had nothing more than what you get in Bonaire. (Also, the DF boat was not super well ventilated and we were breathing some fumes on the way back.) Also did a guided night dive with DF at Yellow Submarine, which was fine - we saw some tarpons, which are always cool. My take away: get the unlimited air package, and keep the rest of your money for dives on the East side, or a course. Renting a pony tank proved difficult. They definitely asked whether I was ‘self reliant’ certified and whether I planed on diving solo. In fact they refused to have the pony sent to the Hamlet Oasis location for me. I had had several email exchanges with them about the pony, so eventually I was able to get it nonetheless. (I ended up only using it once so I returned it quickly.) I would use them again.
AB Car rental:
Very convenient and fairly priced. They picked me up at the airport and dropped me off at the end of my stay. The truck was a low quality Chinese brand but everything worked and it was fairly new (<9,000km on the odo). The full coverage is only $8 more per day so it’s an easy decision. I would use them again.
Traveling solo:
I had no specific difficulties with travelling solo. It’s easy to meet people at dive sites and tag along. I met 3 different groups with whom I ended up doing multiple dives. You need to be smart about your first site picks (start the day at popular sites, go to the Hilma Hooker earlier rather than later in the day, etc), but apart from that it’s easy. I did couple solo dives where I stayed very shallow (<15m). The DF locations all have a "seeking buddy" board where you can leave a phone number, but I didn't use them (I left my ### but I didn't do the work of texting the numbers that were there.)
Others:
The main difficulty was to orient myself when driving. The free maps are just OK and the roads are often not named at intersections. After a few days I started recognizing key roundabouts, etc, but the driving around remained a challenge throughout the stay. I found the restaurant food to be universally mediocre (but never bad). However, the food prices were not too bad. The best food I had was some barracuda at Mona Lisa, and the ice cream at the ice cream & coffee place on the water downtown is good.
Hamlet Oasis:
The resort is convenient and is located close to Buddy’s & Captain Don’s. There’s a drive through Dive Friends place in situ, so getting tanks couldn’t be easier. I was in a 1BR apartment (which is really 2/3 of the 2BR bungalow). It’s spacious, has a huge covered porch with a large dining room table. Inside, there’s a living room / dining room, a bedroom with a perfectly nice bathroom, and a large kitchenette / smallish kitchen. The resort has a pool that looks actually deep enough to be considered a pool rather than a bath tub (but I never felt the need to set foot in it). Also, it’s close to downtown, which is a valuable feature for someone new to Bonaire. The only drawbacks at this place are the very dim lightbulbs which make it nearly impossible to read anything unless in bed or directly under the floor lamp. In addition, there are no power outlet anywhere close to the DR table, which means I had to use the living room side table when plugged in. There are better deals to be had on AirBnB, but not on the water. I would recommend them for a first time in Bonaire or people who absolutely want a house reef. The pricing is lower than Buddy or Don’s and the convenience of the in-situ Dive Friends op is superior to a single-location tank swap station, IMHO.
Dive Friends:
I have been happy with Dive Friends. The convenience of picking up tanks in any of a half-dozen location and drop them off at another location cannot be overstated. I dove nitrox, and their tanks were well filled at a consistent 31%-to-32% ratio. (Did some dives with people diving with VIP who found out at one site that their delivered tank was empty…) I did a 2-tank boat sortie in Klein Bonaire, which was fine but the dives had nothing more than what you get in Bonaire. (Also, the DF boat was not super well ventilated and we were breathing some fumes on the way back.) Also did a guided night dive with DF at Yellow Submarine, which was fine - we saw some tarpons, which are always cool. My take away: get the unlimited air package, and keep the rest of your money for dives on the East side, or a course. Renting a pony tank proved difficult. They definitely asked whether I was ‘self reliant’ certified and whether I planed on diving solo. In fact they refused to have the pony sent to the Hamlet Oasis location for me. I had had several email exchanges with them about the pony, so eventually I was able to get it nonetheless. (I ended up only using it once so I returned it quickly.) I would use them again.
AB Car rental:
Very convenient and fairly priced. They picked me up at the airport and dropped me off at the end of my stay. The truck was a low quality Chinese brand but everything worked and it was fairly new (<9,000km on the odo). The full coverage is only $8 more per day so it’s an easy decision. I would use them again.
Traveling solo:
I had no specific difficulties with travelling solo. It’s easy to meet people at dive sites and tag along. I met 3 different groups with whom I ended up doing multiple dives. You need to be smart about your first site picks (start the day at popular sites, go to the Hilma Hooker earlier rather than later in the day, etc), but apart from that it’s easy. I did couple solo dives where I stayed very shallow (<15m). The DF locations all have a "seeking buddy" board where you can leave a phone number, but I didn't use them (I left my ### but I didn't do the work of texting the numbers that were there.)
Others:
The main difficulty was to orient myself when driving. The free maps are just OK and the roads are often not named at intersections. After a few days I started recognizing key roundabouts, etc, but the driving around remained a challenge throughout the stay. I found the restaurant food to be universally mediocre (but never bad). However, the food prices were not too bad. The best food I had was some barracuda at Mona Lisa, and the ice cream at the ice cream & coffee place on the water downtown is good.
