Places to stay for large groups

[MikeT73]

After deciding that we don't want to cook often, we are leaning toward Buddy Dive resort. They offer a very reasonable dive package. Does anyone know if the food is good there?

Blennie's (the open air "beach bar/sports bar") is actually pretty good. Never had anything there I didn't like. They also have a swim up bar. I thought the Friday BBQ was decent for an all you can eat. Captain Don's is a walk next door and does theirs on Mondays. Buddy's breakfast buffet is also good. A decent variety of Dutch and American, though not much changes during the week. We never left hungry. We saved Ingridients for our last dinner and regretted it. It was a huge letdown. Small portions, less than mediocre and ridiculously overpriced. Don't waste your time or money.

 

[Doctorfish]

I like the Divi as well. Agree with rsingler. I just found the rooms to be a little smaller and the house reef not quite as nice as Buddy Dive. On the plus side, you are walking distance to all the restaurants in town. If you can get a better deal than Buddy Dive, I would not hesitate to stay there.

 

[jimw]

some years ago we stayed twice at Caribe Inn next to Divi. Liked the place a lot, but not the dive out front so much. It is immediately next door to Divi--didn't like the dive out front of the Divi either. Which is why we went back north to Capt. Don's Habitat with my personal fave shore site located at a resort--Cliff! Cliff is also accessable from the rental villas to the north of Habitat, Coral Paradise and Hamlet Oasis as well as the Dive Friends shop at Hamlet.

 

[phelana]

Thank you everyone for the info. We are open to a house or a resort depending on what is more cost efficient. We have a family of 5 so they are trying to keep their costs low.

The options are staggering. Most have a favorite. If I could make any rec, please book at legal and legit property vs one of the many illegal rentals on Bonaire.

A Family of 5 might do well at a condo property with a three bedroom. I recommend Belmar, the sister property to Buddy Dive. More low key, nice pool, amazing units, close to the airport, town and a plethora of south shore dive sites. Email me if I may assist. I have a few key points to share.

 

[oly5050user]

Been to Bonaire 30+ times. Right now you should be able to book at Buddy dive With their special ..includes rental truck per unit,breakfast, $75 credit per person at Blennies, unlimited shore dives, 9 boat dives,airport transfers, free nitrox upgrade. Book 8 pay for 7 . Best way to keep costs down is book 3 bedroom units.sleeps 6.

 

[Trailboss123]

If 5 bedrooms is sufficient check out Bonaire Sunset Villa. It's a private residence located on the water adjacent to Dive Friends Bonaire's Hamlet shop. It also has private gated access directly from the villa to the popular Cliff dive site. The owner, Lamber, is a great guy and good friend who lives on the island and takes great pride in managing the property for the enjoyment of his guests. We've visited the property several times but have never had enough people vacationing with us to justify renting it.

+ 1 for Bonaire Sunset Villa. I have stayed there and it is awesome. 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms attached to each bedroom. Tons of additional space. Here is an excerpt from my trip report:

•We decided to rent our own villa. It was much more room than we needed for our group size (5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms), but I also wanted to check it out for future trips with larger groups. Disclaimer: Primary criteria for me on Bonaire is being on the water. I want to be able to walk into the water and dive at any time of the day or night.

•Our stay could not have been better! Lamber (the owner) is the absolute best person to communicate with. He is super prompt with communications and questions via e-mail. All communication is clear, concise and truthful. The villa is exactly as advertised and as it appears in the VRBO photos. Lamber was at the villa when we arrived and spent 20 minutes or so orienting us to his beautiful home and answering any other questions we had regarding our stay. He made sure to have some beer and wine waiting for us and A number of other food items and breakfast provisions to get us through the next morning with no worries about rushing out to get provisions. Our main purpose for this trip was to dive and dive some more and this villa and location is ideal for that. It is 30 meters away from the Dive Friends Bonaire dive shop located at Hamlet Oasis and the CLIFF dive site. Once you have your tanks, you can walk down the steps from the villa's seaside patio and walk right into the water and drop down and be on top of the vertical CLIFF WALL within a couple of kicks. Doesn't get any easier. The villa has a light that can be turned on and shines out into the water to aid in those night and early morning dawn dives. There are 2 rinse tanks for your gear. 2 large lockers with locks for storing gear and a very nice gear up bench. The villa is equipped with a solid WIFI connection, air conditioning in all bedrooms that works extremely well and a well stocked kitchen for preparing your own meals. It is a short walk over to a local grocery store (Zhung Kong) and you are walking distance to Captain Don's Habitat and Buddy Dive, if you decide you want to go to their restaurants. It is also conveniently located close to “BETWEEN 2 BUNS”: which was our go to spot for breakfast after an early morning dive on the house reef. On a couple occasions, we would also order sandwiches to go, when we planned for longer days out doing 3 or more consecutive dives up at the northern dive sites. Their baguettes and croissants are outstanding. The villa also has a nice ice maker and a couple of coolers that you can use to take with you for day trips, which we did nearly every day. I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. There is nothing I can complain about. Pics and more details on our villa can be found here: https://www.Vrbo.Com/300299