Today's Equivalent of Golden Reef Inn?

[Rainer]

Last time I was in Bonaire was 10 years ago, when we stayed at the Golden Reef Inn. It's been a decade now, but at the time we got the one-bedroom apartment, unlimited shore diving (including nitrox), and a truck for something like $65-70 per person per night (trip was around eight days total). I know GRI closed several years ago, but I am looking to head back to Bonaire next year and wondering what similar value deals are available today.

(1) What are some non-resorts (a la GRI) offering value-priced package deals?

(2) What is the low-end pricing for stay, drive, and dive packages these days?

(3) If I were to go with a VRBO option for lodging, who offers packages just for diving and a truck? Best options? Best prices?

We might very well decide it's worth just staying at a resort this time, but wanted to see what our other options were.

Thanks!

 

[DustyC]

The dive hut sounds like what you're looking for.

You might also check Bonaire Exclusief, they have bungalows, apartments, and houses, and trucks, and do unlimited nitrox through dive friends bonaire for $140

 

[Rainer]

I'll check both of those out. Thanks!

 

[wwguy]

For value-priced accommodations you might also look at:

• Happy Holiday Homes, located a south of the airport a block or two inland near Belmar Oceanfront Apartments.
• Diver's Paradise apartments, located north of Buddy Dive and Captain Don's Habitat a block inland from the sea.

HHH offers packages that include diving and truck rental. With Diver's paradise you'd need to arrange them separately. Package deals where the property owner arranges 3rd party diving and truck rentals are certainly more convenient, but our experience has been that we can usually find more affordable options by researching and booking them separately ourselves.

 

[Rainer]

Package deals where the property owner arranges 3rd party diving and truck rentals are certainly more convenient, but our experience has been that we can usually find more affordable options by researching and booking them separately ourselves.

Thanks for the recommendations on budget lodging! Any specific recommendations for places you've successfully used for diving and truck rental when booking on your own?

 

[wwguy]

We've tried most of the major dive operators on the island over the past 20 years. Our favorite since we discovered them in 2011 has been Dive Friends Bonaire. We really like their multiple (5) locations, great customer service, consistent fill pressure, and consistent nitrox blend. There's no incremental charge for nitrox fills and their prices are competitive with other operators.

We've been using Telerin for rental trucks for the past 6 years or so. Prices are very competitive and customer service once on the island is fantastic. But vehicle quality has steadily declined as Poppy (the owner) has be slow to update her small fleet of trucks. The well-used trucks work great for us because we don't worry about dings and scratches etc. Telerin doesn't have a website and most of Poppy's communication is via email or phone.

If you don't mind driving a Chinese-manufactured truck you can usually find good prices from Easy 1 Rent. Budget, Avis, Caribe, and AB have all been in business for quite a while and are probably the more mainstream rental companies on the island.

I strongly recommend taking the CDW coverage offered by all Bonairean rental companies. Most of them require this, as USA auto insurance and mainstream credit card blanket insurance policies aren't recognized on Bonaire.

As far as I know Buddy Dive is the only dive hotel/resort that operates its own rental fleet. All the other resorts offering drive-and-dive packages outsource to 3rd-party rental operators.

 

[Rainer]

Great info, thanks!

Mind sharing how much a week of diving with Dive Friends Bonaire costs? What about a week rental with Telerin (including the CDW coverage you recommend)?

Thanks, again!

 

[DustyC]

Great info, thanks!

Mind sharing how much a week of diving with Dive Friends Bonaire costs? What about a week rental with Telerin (including the CDW coverage you recommend)?

Thanks, again!

DFB is $175 a week for Air or Nitrox, various places get you 10 or 20% off.
A week with Telerin, with full insurance, if you can get ahold of her, is just over $400 as I recall.

 

[simcoediver]

You might want to check out this place to stay. very good prices, and the owner will take care of getting you a truck and making arrangements for getting your unlimited tanks from Dive Friends for you. We used Coco Palm last time we were in Bonaire and everything was ready for us when we arrived. Bonaire accommodation diving windsur Ferienwohnung vakantiewoning

 

[Rainer]

Great info, everyone! Thanks! If anyone else has more good suggestions, please do post!