Was in Bonaire the week of November 24 to December 1. Stayed at the Plaza Resort. This is my 7th trip to Bonaire with 4 stays at Buddy Dive, 1 stay at Sand Dollar and 2 stays at Plaza. My first stay was at the Plaza in 2006.
Our trip to the Plaza was all inclusive. I found the rooms upgraded from my 2006 stay. We stayed in a junior suite which was 1 large room. I was very happy with the room and the only complaint I had (or better said my wife had) is that there were no kitchenettes. I didn't see that as any problem at all as we were there on the all inclusive stay. The meals were all good. No problem at all with the the food. If they served a meal you did not like you could order off of the menu. You could also eat at the upscale eatery on the property and $36.00 would be applied to that meal. My wife and I did eat there once and we paid a total of 4.00 extra. This was the only time we paid at all for food or drink. Overall I was quite happy with the meal and beverage plan.
We had 11 boat dives scheduled with Toucan diving. I found the boats to be in excellent condition and overall was happy with the crew. I did have a few issues. Out of the 13 divers on the boat 11 dove with BP/W setup and 2 had full face masks. This, for whatever reason, seemed to drive Ger crazy. He complained incessantly about the gear. Snit comments were made about the 2 divers in full face masks about why they would need such equipment and it was stupid. He also made negative comments about the BP/W setups. Now having said that he was very helpful to all the divers. He would have been great if he would have just stopped whining about the gear. Jackson and Eddy were great. Jackson went out of his way to be helpful and pointed out lots of great items for us all.
During the trip was fortunate enough to see 2 octopus, 2 seahorse, 1 frogfish, juvenile flounder and a black crinoid in addition to the usual suspects. The reef appeared to be very healthy. I saw quite a drastic decrease in the lionfish population from earlier visits. The program to eradicate lionfish seems to be winning now. Yes, I know it will never completely happen but you have to control the population somewhat and they seem to be doing a great job so far. Most all computers on board recorded the water temps at 81-82 degrees. The air temp was roughly in the high 80's. VERY NICE INDEED! Went with Jackson, from the Plaza, for a twilight dive to the salt pier and I highly recommend this dive. He charged $25.00 each for this and, in my opinion, it was well worth that. Could we have dove it on our own? Sure we could have but Jackson pointed out a couple of things that I would never have seen and he was more than happy to assist the wife in and out of the water which I think pleased both him and my wife.
Overall I was pleased with the Plaza. Is the dive operation as nice as buddies? No, it wasn't. Was the dive staff as helpful at Plaza as at Buddies? Other than Jackson, no they were not. But overall I was pleased with the experience. I thought I would miss the dining out at Bonaire that I have so enjoyed past trips but I can say that I really did not. The Plaza shined in that respect. Would I go back to the Plaza and stay? You bet ya. Hope to see you there!
Our trip to the Plaza was all inclusive. I found the rooms upgraded from my 2006 stay. We stayed in a junior suite which was 1 large room. I was very happy with the room and the only complaint I had (or better said my wife had) is that there were no kitchenettes. I didn't see that as any problem at all as we were there on the all inclusive stay. The meals were all good. No problem at all with the the food. If they served a meal you did not like you could order off of the menu. You could also eat at the upscale eatery on the property and $36.00 would be applied to that meal. My wife and I did eat there once and we paid a total of 4.00 extra. This was the only time we paid at all for food or drink. Overall I was quite happy with the meal and beverage plan.
We had 11 boat dives scheduled with Toucan diving. I found the boats to be in excellent condition and overall was happy with the crew. I did have a few issues. Out of the 13 divers on the boat 11 dove with BP/W setup and 2 had full face masks. This, for whatever reason, seemed to drive Ger crazy. He complained incessantly about the gear. Snit comments were made about the 2 divers in full face masks about why they would need such equipment and it was stupid. He also made negative comments about the BP/W setups. Now having said that he was very helpful to all the divers. He would have been great if he would have just stopped whining about the gear. Jackson and Eddy were great. Jackson went out of his way to be helpful and pointed out lots of great items for us all.
During the trip was fortunate enough to see 2 octopus, 2 seahorse, 1 frogfish, juvenile flounder and a black crinoid in addition to the usual suspects. The reef appeared to be very healthy. I saw quite a drastic decrease in the lionfish population from earlier visits. The program to eradicate lionfish seems to be winning now. Yes, I know it will never completely happen but you have to control the population somewhat and they seem to be doing a great job so far. Most all computers on board recorded the water temps at 81-82 degrees. The air temp was roughly in the high 80's. VERY NICE INDEED! Went with Jackson, from the Plaza, for a twilight dive to the salt pier and I highly recommend this dive. He charged $25.00 each for this and, in my opinion, it was well worth that. Could we have dove it on our own? Sure we could have but Jackson pointed out a couple of things that I would never have seen and he was more than happy to assist the wife in and out of the water which I think pleased both him and my wife.
Overall I was pleased with the Plaza. Is the dive operation as nice as buddies? No, it wasn't. Was the dive staff as helpful at Plaza as at Buddies? Other than Jackson, no they were not. But overall I was pleased with the experience. I thought I would miss the dining out at Bonaire that I have so enjoyed past trips but I can say that I really did not. The Plaza shined in that respect. Would I go back to the Plaza and stay? You bet ya. Hope to see you there!
