Delfins Beach Resort; any feedback?

[morecowbells]

I know I am late in planning Bonaire dive vacation in Feb., but I had to get the "all clear" from my work schedule. We are two couples looking at different rental units. Since I just started planning this vacation, I noticed our previous rentals are booked. During my search, I came across an amazing deal at Delfins Beach Resort. From what I have gleamed on the internet, it initiated a soft opening this week. A majority of the fine details and finishes appear complete. Anybody have some input or intel on this find? Thanks in advance for your input

 

[darook]

I had the same question. I checked it out as I was planning a trip for my wife and I in early December. My initial thought was it looks like it will be, by far, the nicest resort on the island. They are going to have a Dive Friends location and that their shore dive should be respectable. I decided to go a different direction as it was not clear that DFB would be up and running yet at that location and that it would be still be working out the bugs that early after opening. I have no doubts that with typical Dutch efficiency it will be humming right along by February. I plan to stop in there for a surface interval and check it out when we are there in December. I am going again in February with my dive shop and we are staying at Divi. I am pretty sure I will be suffering resort envy!

 

[Trailboss123]

I will also be in Bonaire early December with Mrs. Trailboss 12/2-12/10. If our dates coincide @darook - we'd love to get a dive in with you. As for Delfin's. I will be able to give a pretty good report after our trip in early December. I will not be staying there, but we are staying close enough and since we always dive with Dive Friends, it will be our closest fill station. Also, Dive Friends will be up and running there by sometime in November. They have told me to go to Delfin's our first morning to do our checkout dive, get weights and pick up our dive tag for the week. Also, Mrs. Trailboss has decided to finally get around to doing her Advanced Cert and it will be conducted at Delfins Dive Friends. So, my guess is that we will get many dives in there and get the lay of the land. The house reef is Lighthouse Point, by the way. I will report back. I haven't seen the deal @morecowbells - but if it is really good, and you like the southern reefs and that location, I would go for it. I have been following their construction online. It could be pretty cool and by February, they should have the bugs worked out-- hopefully

 

[darook]

I will also be in Bonaire early December with Mrs. Trailboss 12/2-12/10. If our dates coincide @darook - we'd love to get a dive in with you. As for Delfin's. I will be able to give a pretty good report after our trip in early December. I will not be staying there, but we are staying close enough and since we always dive with Dive Friends, it will be our closest fill station. Also, Dive Friends will be up and running there by sometime in November. They have told me to go to Delfin's our first morning to do our checkout dive, get weights and pick up our dive tag for the week. Also, Mrs. Trailboss has decided to finally get around to doing her Advanced Cert and it will be conducted at Delfins Dive Friends. So, my guess is that we will get many dives in there and get the lay of the land. The house reef is Lighthouse Point, by the way. I will report back. I haven't seen the deal @morecowbells - but if it is really good, and you like the southern reefs and that location, I would go for it. I have been following their construction online. It could be pretty cool and by February, they should have the bugs worked out-- hopefully

We are there 12/3-12/10 so should definitely catch up! We are staying at Bamboo Bali and getting tanks from Wannadive. Maybe a late in the day dive at Salt Pier followed by a Bright?

 

[Trailboss123]

Sounds good- Bamboo Bali is a great place to stay- I nearly pulled the trigger on staying there this trip and probably will next time.

 

[darook]

It is our second stay at BBB and we are really looking for it. Let's pm before departure and arrange a meet up.

To morecowbells, I say go for Delfins. It looks really nice and we need a guinea pig!

 

[oldschoolto]

Amy (Dive friends instructor) is painting the dive friends logo as I type... Was at the site today and they are humming right along... And are on time for the opening as far as I could see... The place looks really nice and that part of the reef has not been a dive spot in a longtime.. So, I'm guessing it'll be a really nice house reef... Hope this is helpful to others...

Jim...

PS.. I'm not part of it in anyway... Just happen to be down in Bonaire for the past 8 weeks and took a ride over .....

 

[morecowbells]

@darook : It may be a sacrifice and involve complete, uncharted territory and uncertainty, but for the love of diving, I will be the guinea pig

@Trailboss123 : To be completely honest, in my two previous vacations to Bonaire, I sort of prefer the mid to northern sites. Perhaps it is due to getting royally pummeled exiting White Slave on my last day of diving, but in all honesty, I need to explore more southern sites as well. The deal I got on hotels.com was far better compared to the one on the Delfins website. The price point between the 2 bedroom/2 bathroom ended up being the same as the 3 bedroom/3 bathroom Panoramic Penthouse room. We decided to go big time and live like The Kardashians.

@oldschoolto : Excellent news on the progress of the resort! I have not dived on Lighthouse Reef. Happy to read that it has encountered less traffic than some of the other sites. 8 weeks in Bonaire, not too shabby

Thanks everybody for the input. I am glad we booked and got a great deal. I will be sure to post a trip report, with pics of the resort.

 

[darook]

@darook : It may be a sacrifice and involve complete, uncharted territory and uncertainty, but for the love of diving, I will be the guinea pig

@Trailboss123 : To be completely honest, in my two previous vacations to Bonaire, I sort of prefer the mid to northern sites. Perhaps it is due to getting royally pummeled exiting White Slave on my last day of diving, but in all honesty, I need to explore more southern sites as well. The deal I got on hotels.com was far better compared to the one on the Delfins website. The price point between the 2 bedroom/2 bathroom ended up being the same as the 3 bedroom/3 bathroom Panoramic Penthouse room. We decided to go big time and live like The Kardashians.

@oldschoolto : Excellent news on the progress of the resort! I have not dived on Lighthouse Reef. Happy to read that it has encountered less traffic than some of the other sites. 8 weeks in Bonaire, not too shabby

Thanks everybody for the input. I am glad we booked and got a great deal. I will be sure to post a trip report, with pics of the resort.

I appreciate you sacrifice! Red Slave, Invisibles and one patch of trees south of Vista Blue are some of my favorite southern sites. We will get you some updated intel on Delfins when we are there.

 

[wgw04024]

That place does look very nice!