I have been reviewing the posts on this board for several years & I greatly appreciate the advice given by those with good working knowledge of Bonaire. I am taking my family & a couple of friends to Bonaire in June. In order to get reasonable flights we will arrive on a Saturday but not leave until the Sunday of the next week. I was planning to stay at Buddy Dive, but they want to move us to the Carribean Club for the last night. Our group consists of 4 adults & 4 children, but we only need two rooms. The fee for the last night is $863. That seems expensive to me. I am open for suggestions. Thanks.
Advice For Staying In Bonaire In June
- Thread starter CTX_Diver
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
- Messages
- 26,281
- Reaction score
- 5,881
- # of dives
- I'm a Fish!
That does seem high depending on what room/villa they were moving you to. It's probably because all they have available is 2 1br units.
I tried to pick "hotel" style properties for ease of moving/access. All have pools/beaches/restaurant options:
Maybe move to the Divi Flamingo instead. It's downtown so you can walk to restaurants, shops etc. They just did some remodeling last summer/fall.
I just checked using the 2nd weekend in June, a Deluxe room with 2 double beds (2 adults/2 kids) prices at $197 with all taxes included. booking form from their website:
Another option is the Plaza Resort at the far south end of town. Just 5mins. to the airport from there.A bigger room than the Divi's is the Jr. Suite at the Plaza Resort - but it's $334/nt.
If you want to stay north of town - Eden Beach is about a block or so south of Buddy's. It should price similarly to the Divi - I haven't checked.
I tried to pick "hotel" style properties for ease of moving/access. All have pools/beaches/restaurant options:
Maybe move to the Divi Flamingo instead. It's downtown so you can walk to restaurants, shops etc. They just did some remodeling last summer/fall.
I just checked using the 2nd weekend in June, a Deluxe room with 2 double beds (2 adults/2 kids) prices at $197 with all taxes included. booking form from their website:
Another option is the Plaza Resort at the far south end of town. Just 5mins. to the airport from there.A bigger room than the Divi's is the Jr. Suite at the Plaza Resort - but it's $334/nt.
If you want to stay north of town - Eden Beach is about a block or so south of Buddy's. It should price similarly to the Divi - I haven't checked.
Last edited:
We're doing something similar next month - arriving on Saturday, leaving on following Sunday. We ended up renting a 2 bedroom apartment (full kitchen, etc.) through VRBO and the 8th day was just prorated. The realtor handling the apartment got us a 20% discount on the diving through Dive Friends Bonaire, and we're renting a truck with AB Carrental. Overall cost for 2 divers and 2 non-divers seems very reasonable. This will be our first trip to Bonaire, so I can't offer any comparisons. You'll just have to wait for the full trip report at the end of May!
29 days until Bonaire!
29 days until Bonaire!
diver_girl_tn
Registered
I will be in Bonaire in June and looked at options such as Buddy Dive, Divi and Airbnb rentals. Eventually chose Divi as I am traveling by myself and their rates were the best in this case. Divi does have availability in their deluxe rooms still, like @diversteve says.
Airbnb wasn't a bad option either but since it's my first time on the island, wanted to be at a location with the dive shop nearby.
Airbnb wasn't a bad option either but since it's my first time on the island, wanted to be at a location with the dive shop nearby.
I agree that seems high. You might look at Sand Dollar apartments and condominiums - they have a lot of properties to rent and may be able to accommodate you for the full time without moving. I believe that Dive Friends is the onsite dive operation.
Is there a chance of getting on a waiting list at Buddy's? The reason I ask is because last year we went to Little Cayman Beach Resort and we had to stay for 8 days because of the flights. It was no hardship to stay an extra day but they told us we would have to move mid-week to a more expensive room because they didn't have accommodations available for the full period.
But they put us on a waiting list and we were lucky, they got a cancellation and we were able to stay in the same room for the entire trip.
Is there a chance of getting on a waiting list at Buddy's? The reason I ask is because last year we went to Little Cayman Beach Resort and we had to stay for 8 days because of the flights. It was no hardship to stay an extra day but they told us we would have to move mid-week to a more expensive room because they didn't have accommodations available for the full period.
But they put us on a waiting list and we were lucky, they got a cancellation and we were able to stay in the same room for the entire trip.
boat sju
Contributor
Would you consider staying at CCB the whole time?
jimw
Contributor
Habitat next to Buddy's has some 3 br villas on the ocean and just north of that are several large accommodations on the water as well.
On a recent visit I thought I would have to stay elsewhere for a night, did the suggested wait list and it worked out, so try that first. You won't be diving all day that last full day, so consider staying at a place inland to save some money near the airport and restaurants. There is nothing near Carib Club..
On a recent visit I thought I would have to stay elsewhere for a night, did the suggested wait list and it worked out, so try that first. You won't be diving all day that last full day, so consider staying at a place inland to save some money near the airport and restaurants. There is nothing near Carib Club..
boat sju
Contributor
The island's only about 23 miles long. Nothings that far away from anything. But I would guess it depends on what the kids like. CCB has their pools and Oil Slick is a fun swimming spot if they like jumping in over and over. Personally I think the snorkeling is better up near CCB. There's some hiking and exploring they can do up there too.
I'll let you know how it goes.
boat sju
Contributor
We've rented from AB a couple of times now. I think you'll be very happy with them. My personal opinion is that the full insurance is worth it. You don't have to worry about nicks and scratches and your extra driver is included.
Similar threads
