Accommodations advice, party of 5 divers, 4/5 new OW, Delfins?

[mountainsean]

Looking at Bonaire for a March week-long trip. 3 parents and 2 older teenagers. My teen is brand new to diving - just got her cert last year and only has her 4 checkout dives so far. The other 2 parents + their teen are almost as green with maybe 10-20 dives each. I've been to Bonaire once before but it's probably been 10 years now, so looking for some advice on places to stay. I used Dive Friends last time and had a good experience with them, so figured I'd probably stick with them unless there's a good reason not to.

Ideally we'd get a 3-bedroom condo/villa to share. Preference for a nice-ish place without being completely posh. The 3-bed villas at Delfins Resort look just about perfect, but I'd prefer to have an easier house reef for the new divers and maybe be closer to town for the teens to get out and have fun since they're too young to drive the rental cars. Since my daughter is so new to diving I really want to make her early experiences as smooth and fun as possible.

Is there something similar to the Delfins villas but closer to town and with a better house reef for beginners?

Thanks,
Sean

 

[gbf]

hmm. Walkable to downtown...

Maybe Carib Inn houses? I think one is a 4-bedroom... House reef, never dove it.

Elegancia Del Caribe was very nice when we stayed there some time back, right downtown, on Yellow sub and Something Special, easy access to Dive Friends Yellow Sub shop. Can't remember if 3 BR, I know 2 BR.

Further north, less walkable to town, check Hamlet Oasis Villas. Lotsa bigger houses. Also Dive Friends Oasis shop right on Cliff dive site.

 

[Trailboss123]

I would go on VRBO.com and look for a waterfront 3 bedroom villa. There are numerous options up and down the coast. There are some in the Hamlet Oasis complex, but are not part of Hamlet Oasis. Dive Friends Hamlet Oasis is right there and the Dive Friends Den Laman/Sand Dollar down the street. House reef is the Cliff and any of those villas have pretty easy walk in access.

No reason to look for another dive op, in my opinion. Dive Friends does it right and has the most locations for picking up and dropping off tanks.
Here is an example- might be more than you want to pay, but gives you an idea. I have actually stayed in this particular villa and can highly recommend it and the owner: Seafront Villa with Beautiful Tropical Garden 2 - 10 Persons - Hato

 

[gbf]

We've never stayed there, but there are some houses/villas right around Sebastians restaurant - probably Richards when you last went. That's really close to downtown, but I don't know about house reefs there.

My experience last time (aug/sept 2019) was that the in-close dive sites - think Dive Inn, Yellow Sub, etc. - had suffered a bit as compared to the southern and northern sites. I blame it on cruise ships, but don't really know.

I'd trade the better dive sites for close-in to town. Aside from that, I bet the kids would lot rather be diving than hanging out downtown. I'd just take them there if they wanna go and get me beers-by-the-water while they exhaust the possibilities downtown (won't take long). But that is just me...

The Oasis area Trailboss123 pointed you to is one of my favored locations.

 

[gbf]

... can highly recommend it and the owner: Seafront Villa with Beautiful Tropical Garden 2 - 10 Persons - Hato

I will second this. Lamber and Jacqueline are wonderful people...

 

[mountainsean]

Thanks all, will check out these ideas!

 

[Doctorfish]

Relatively new teen divers. I'd take them someplace like Buddy Dive, Habitat or Sand dollar where they can just roll off the dock and experience the best house reefs on Bonaire, day or night.

 

[rmorgan]

We ended up staying a week at Delfins in early 2018 due to late scheduling. The property is very nice, including a very large pool, and was a lot more family-oriented than anyplace else we've stayed. I wouldn't shy away from the property in search of an easier or better house reef; there is a ramp down to the water which eliminates worry about iron shore, and the reef was very lightly used until the resort opened because it was hard to shore dive. (Full disclosure--we didn't dive it due to other plans, but heard good reports.) There is a Dive Friends location on site, both a shop and a drive-through. The units are brand-new and modern, and everything worked fine. Parking is good and there are lifts. The bar food is expensive and the restaurant is expensive, but there's a midsize grocery store across the main drag and a full kitchen. As to distances, we liked being close to Salt Pier and the dives around it, the drive to town is not a lot different from Don's, etc. (and it's on the grocery-store and airport end of town), and access is great to the donkeys and East Coast Divers.

I'm not over-the-moon for the place--we're not staying there next trip--but you could do worse if it otherwise suits (and kids loved the pool).