Avis, thumbs down. BonairePros thumbs up!

[ScubaBunga]

I'm headed down to bonaire at end of june, just reserved a mini-van with avis as there are 7 of us and I couldn't find any other place that had a big enough mini-van and we didn't want to rent two vehicles. Hoping it works out....

 

[wgw04024]

Are 7 of you all diving? That sounds horrible. Part of the fun is driving around in a beat up hilux!!

 

[NDL_Diver]

I'm headed down to bonaire at end of june, just reserved a mini-van with avis as there are 7 of us and I couldn't find any other place that had a big enough mini-van and we didn't want to rent two vehicles. Hoping it works out....

I don't think diving is permitted with the minivan (sand, salt water in vehicle..). Imagine what a number salt water does on truck tailgates and what it will do to the inside of a van. Check with them before you rent. They charge a large cleaning fee.

per avis bonaire website
"Also excessive saltwater and/or sand, wet dive suits & gear, wet clothing in the vehicle will result in an additional charge of US $350.00 on your rental agreement as a penalty."

 

[ScubaBunga]

I don't think diving is permitted with the minivan (sand, salt water in vehicle..). Imagine what a number salt water does on truck tailgates and what it will do to the inside of a van. Check with them before you rent. They charge a large cleaning fee.

per avis bonaire website
"Also excessive saltwater and/or sand, wet dive suits & gear, wet clothing in the vehicle will result in an additional charge of US $350.00 on your rental agreement as a penalty."

we managed in curacao a couple years ago - always put gear back in bag, kept things clean - I can't imagine we would have "excessive" - my boys are pretty good with their gear and in general. We'll be doing more checking anyway and thinking about a 2 vehicle trip - just makes the rest of the "family" part of the trip harder.

 

[ScubaBunga]

Are 7 of you all diving? That sounds horrible. Part of the fun is driving around in a beat up hilux!!

no, just 3 of us - most likely just morning somewhere, then rest of the day family use.

 

[Doctorfish]

You might want to re think this one. Many of the shore dive parking areas are ironshore rock and a minivan has the potential to get stuck. There are some sites that would be amenable to parking a truck like Saltpier, Bachelors beach, 1000 steps and others but you would still be limited in your choices.

 

[Lorenzoid]

You might want to re think this one. Many of the shore dive parking areas are ironshore rock and a minivan has the potential to get stuck. There are some sites that would be amenable to parking a truck like Saltpier, Bachelors beach, 1000 steps and others but you would still be limited in your choices.

Since @ScubaBunga clarified that only three of the seven are divers, and they will only be diving part of the day, it sounds like the whole van idea was a compromise. You're right that their choice of parking will be limited to where the van won't get stuck due to low clearance.

My group is often 6-8 people, all divers, and we always rent two or (the one trip when we had 10 people) three trucks. On our last trip, one of us felt a bit ill just as we were gearing up for a dive, and it was fortunate that one truck could leave with the ill diver while the rest of us did the dive. Also, on the occasion when not all of us wanted to go diving, those who stayed behind could take one of the trucks to resupply us with Amstel. Lots of advantages to multiple vehicles for a group that size.

 

[ScubaBunga]

no, just 3 of us - most likely just morning somewhere, then rest of the day family use.

we managed in curacao a couple years ago - always put gear back in bag, kept things clean - I can't imagine we would have "excessive" - my boys are pretty good with their gear and in general. We'll be doing more checking anyway and thinking about a 2 vehicle trip - just makes the rest of the "family" part of the trip harder.

Follow up. We rented with Avis - talked in broken English to the Avis folks at the counter and got the mini-van. We told them specifically we would be diving and they said ok. We had gotten insurance through expedia when we made the reservation. They don't recommend that as it's outside their process. If an accident were to occur with their insurance they would cover it up front. With the expedia insurance we would have to pay out of pocket and then work with the insurance to get reimbursed. Also, since we didn't use their insurance they put a $1000 hold on the CC. It was very questionable on the survey but they did recommend we take pictures - 3 of us took full video of everything - including the sand that was already in there as the contract says no sand (on an island!). Anyway, we did 9 days driving around the island with only 3 days of shore diving out of the car. No issues. Cleaned the inside as best we could before return. Return went smooth, they walked around, checked all the boxes and said thanks. If we go again, we'll probably end up renting two vehicles just for the sanity of organizing family - but finding parking in town was hard enough with one. We even went through the donkey sanctuary - which I would highly recommend only using a truck for that. So outside lots of nervousness on use and the forever at the checkin counter it was a good deal. Oh - tires are not covered and one tire was low on first day - luckily I had an inflator for my gear so hooked up a tank, filled the tire and was good all week.