We always stay in Den Laman in an ocean-front 1-bedroom condo. Huge veranda with an unobstructed view of the ocean and Klein Bonaire, and huge at 1000 square feet with A/C in both the bedroom and living room. There are 15 units on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the building, very secure with a keyed entry into the stairwell to access the units. The studios are well laid out and convenient for 2 people, though they don't have any views (unless you consider the parking lot a view!).
The dive operation is convenient and right outside your door. You back your truck up to the tank room, load or unload and off you go. 24 hour access to tanks and the gear room, with a nice dive dock out front. Nitrox is included in the package price at no additional cost.
For us, places like Buddy Dive, Capt. Don's, the Plaza, etc. are just too big. We prefer fewer units with less foot traffic, no large dive groups, etc., so somewhere like Den Laman was a no-brainer for us. We do give up things like included breakfast, a pool, more boats for diving, etc., but those things aren't important to us. There are quite a few smaller places like Den Laman, so it is by no means the only one out there.
Because of this, I always recommend that folks do their homework and check out as many different places on-line as they can. Then when they arrive on island, check some of the other places out in person to see if they are places you might want to go in the future.
Just like dive gear, shoes, cars, or anything else....everyone has different preferences and should find what appeals to them best!
