Anyone stayed at Den Lamen?

[FlyinV]

I have stayed there 3 times and never had a problem with BD&A or Andre.
I am not sure what all the people are doing that are having problems with him never a single issue.
They have a ton of 32% tanks with decent PSI so I am happy with them - Don't use them for any classes or boat dives.

Den Lamen is modern, super secure and clean.

 

[scubadada]

I've used BD&A 3 times, twice when associated with Sand Dollar, and once with Den Lamen, never the slightest problem. Consider "Dive with the Naturalist" with Jerry Ligon, best half day I've spent on education

 

[lmorin]

I am on Bonaire now and have never been a defender of Andre. However, from what I can tell from various posts here and elsewhere, >90% of the distaste for Andre's behavior stems from the widely known fact that he does not want divers using his facilities unless they are paying for his services. That is his principle which is OK by me. He defends his turf. Some places do not (Plaza, Buddy). Habitat allows access, but charges $5/person. Different strokes for different dive ops. As stated by rmorgan above, the access to Bari has just changed as the shore along the dive site Front Porch has just been cleared of brush and a lot of sand has been brought in with the idea of converting the hard "beach" into a softer, public beach. The parking area is now large and remains just south of and adjacent to Den Leman. Back to Andre, I think he has mellowed during the past 2-3 yrs, possibly because the public access to Bari Reef south of Den Leman has been been more clearly marked during that time. I favor the view that if you elect to stay at Sand Dollar or Den Leman and use BDA, you will have no problem with Andre.

 

[RTee]

I just returned from a two week stay at Den Laman (07 - 21 Feb 15) using their studio/truck rental (Avis)/unlimited shore dive package (Dive Adventure)advertised on their website. We were a group of 16, with 10 individuals staying at Bonaire Sunset Villa (diving package through Dive Friends) and six of us staying at Den Laman. In order to keep this post short, my observations will be provided in a bullet format:

- during my initial contact with DL, I found the staff to be very friendly and customer oriented.
- arrival procedures were flawless and occurred as advertised
- truck rental (AVIS) - New Mitubishi four door pickup truck. You will be instructed to keep the window up and the doors locked when away from the vehicle. Significantly different from other rental companies. If you don't, the insurance will be void if anything in the vehicle gets damaged or stolen.
- Studio at Den Laman: Flounder Room (facing the diving storage area with partial ocean view). Modern, well equipped and clean with separate bedroom. First evening, when my GF attempted to use the dishwasher, the door literally dropped on her foot (as there was no door retaining spring), cutting the skin and severely bruising (and swelling) the top of her foot. When we approached the staff the next morning,we were told they knew about it but did not get it fixed because it is a full day job and the unit is booked solid, yet this was never mentioned to us during the walk-in. (Not overly impressed with that answer). Medical appointment on Friday will shed light on her foot injury but, at the onset, we were not sure if she would be able to dive .
- Dive Adventure. Generally speaking, most staff are friendly and helpful.
- Andre lives up to his reputation. (Couples of incidents)
- non standardized orientation briefing. Ours was 1.5 hour long even though a fair number in attendance had been in Bonaire before (No mention of diving gloves and knife but instructed on how to do backroll, rum punch, Eddy's happy hour with guitar player, restaurants, grocery stores, bistro at the marina, briefing by Jerry the naturalist, etc). Others done later on that week were 30 mins in duration.
- Dive facilities and store close early on weekend (way before the 4:30 PM advertised - beware if you require tanks for early morning dives away from resort).
- Very practical and well organized equipment drying/storage area.
- Dive Adventure pier - practical but somewhat overrated as vehicles can now park right on lot right beside Den Laman and accessed Bari's reef by the beach.
- Other people using Dive Adventure seemed to be satisfied with the service provided.
- Girlfriend and I took a one day underwater photography course with Tim Peters at Fish-Eye Photo on our third day in Bonaire (Half day in class followed by dive with Tim and review of picturse (Highly recommended for those considering it). Five other people (well acquainted with topside and some underwater photography) from the group took a half day course later on during our stay. Course is provided on your equipment (Olympus E-PL5/YS-D1 strobe in my case - Girlfriend got a loaner free of charge from Tim - Canon G16 with YS-01 strobe)
-Girlfriend got superb service from Your Scuba Store (on advice from Tim) to acquire a scuba mask with reading lenses(to allow her to use the camera menu).
- Diving - I personally did 32 dives during my stay and Bonaire has a wide variety of sites to choose from. Generally speaking, coral is healthy but at some locations, especially in the shallow areas, it is quite damaged. Two of those dives were done north of the Fuel tank compound on the North Side (Nucove and Playa Frans). The best coral we got to admire during our stay.

Bonaire 2015 - ScubaBoard Gallery

 

[deco_martini]

I've never had a problem with Andre while I was a BDA customer. He re-invests in the OP. The locks, security, facilities are always improving. Every year I saw that my money was making my next visit better.

If you aren't a BDA customer and attempt to use any of their stuff, he may go haywire. I don't know. Last year I stayed at Sand Dollar and rented air from Buddy while diving Bari reef from the beach entrance right next to Den Laman without issue.

I guess the thing is, don't even ask Andre about using his stuff. It's very well maintained and as soon as word gets out that he made an exception for you, he will have everyone suddenly having a friend too. The stories are always the same "but I was planning to eat lunch there" is usually part of them. Andre doesn't get money from the restaurant du jour renting out the bottom space of Den Laman.

Den Laman's prices are good and you don't have to use BDA at all. Buddy has cheap air and great drive through service.