Bonaire - Buddy Dive, Feb 23 - Mar 9

[Jersey]

Back from 2 weeks doing the dive-drive package in 1 bedroom condo. Normally we do Bonaire mid -late March, but Easter messed up schedule with higher airfare and otherscheduling issues. Highlites of the trip here and I’ll post additional infowith other tidbits and/or interesting bits. This was our 8th straight late Winter/Spring trip.
Travel – no issues anywhere, thankfully. Delta (PHL-ATL-BON)on time, all bags made it, planes mostly full, not a ton of time betweenconnections, but enough to grab a bottle of water and a pre-made sandwich.Buddy staff met us at arrival, took our bags, bussed us over. We completed the forms on the plane and check intook minutes. Return was smooth, cleared customs easily, not much to declare. Ithought ATL was eliminating the reclaiming and rechecking bags after clearingcustoms but that was not the case.
Accommodations – nicely renovated 1 ground floor bedroom, more thanadequate appliances, full size fridge with cold water in door, well stocked pots pans dishes, largebath with dual sinks (thankfully as my buddy hates to find my long hairs in hissink). Comfortable king bed with 100% cotton sheets and spread. AC worked well, no breaker tripping when running the AC, microwave and fridge. Large patiow/ table and chairs, we wrapped clothes line around a couple Adirondack chairsnext to our patio allowing us to lay out wet stuff to dry.
Diving – first week had some strange strong winds andcurrents, second week winds died down, current dropped and visibility increaseddramatically. Air temps mid 80's, bottom temp started at 82, dropped to a chilly 81 by end of second week. We did only 19 dives over 2 weeks, 13 boat, mostly to Klein. Wehave now visited every open dive site on Klein by managing to get to the 3 sites(Ebo’s Reef, Ebo’s Special and Bonaventure) we had left. Special thanks to somecooperative Dive Masters and other divers on the boat for allowing us our folly! Longest 1:12, shortest:33, deepest 81 fsw, most averaged the 50 – 60 ft range. Fills wereconsistently between 2850 – 3100 psi, nitrox mix between 30 -32% with one fillat 34%. Couple leaky o-rings, but nothing significant, did hear an o-ring blowon a boat. More on sites and sightings later.
Dining – we cook in about half the time. We brought somemeat, rice and spices complimented by shopping at The Wharehouse, Bonaire FoodGroup (a Sams Club version of Van den Tweels) and Zeong Kong. Dining outincluded Plaza Limena – carpaccio, mixed grill and Peruvian beers; Casablanca –mixed grill; Mi Banana(twice) – half a chicken, pommes frittes and veggies for$9.50 plus $2 Polars and Dulche de Leche cake; Mona Lisa and Cappriccio for fine cuisine andfab wine lists; Red Dragon (Zeong Kong Plaza) – enough food to eat in plus 2 more dinners and2 lunches; and Buddy Dive Friday night bar-b-que – roast suckling pig andmultiple passes of a 5-6 foot Manta Ray. Buddy’s breakfast is sufficient enoughthat we nosh a bit of cheese, sausage, bread, crackers and fruit on the patioduring lunch/surface intervals.

In all a fabulous 2 weeks, never enough time and sitting here wondering why I came home.

 

[diverjen]

Thanks for the report. Trying to get back to Bonaire soon. Congrats on hitting all the dive sites! That's pretty cool. Have you stayed at Buddy's all 8 times?

 

[maniago]

Forgive the question if its not appropriate, but I don't know diddly about tripping away for diving. Can you give me a round number, say in 1000's of what this cost you and your dive buddy? I might like to take my wife on such for our 25th anni. Thanks

 

[Jersey]

Thanks for the report. Trying to get back to Bonaire soon. Congrats on hitting all the dive sites! That's pretty cool. Have you stayed at Buddy's all 8 times?

Thank you, we plan to try to hit all the names sites on island in time - gives us a reason to keep going back Type A personalities always have a plan. Yes, my buddy and I have stayed at Buddy last 8 trips, he's also stayed at Sand $$ and Capt Don's and we've toured a bunch of the other resorts. We are quite comfortable with the Buddy setup, easy to get to, get around, close to everything and we've gotten to know many of the folks there.

---------- Post added March 22nd, 2013 at 04:45 PM ----------

Forgive the question if its not appropriate, but I don't know diddly about tripping away for diving. Can you give me a round number, say in 1000's of what this cost you and your dive buddy? I might like to take my wife on such for our 25th anni. Thanks

However inappropriate I'll answer as it's no secret, pricing is right on their website - 2 weeks, 2 people, 1 bedroom condo, breakfast every day, 13 boat dives, unlimited shore diving, Nitrox, transfers to- and from- airport and a rental truck is about $4,400. We bring our own gear, with the exception of weights and tanks. Does not including airfare. Luckily we both manage to accrue enough FF miles and AmEx points to book air. Beyond that our only expense is food.

 

[drrich2]

I thought ATL was eliminating the reclaiming and rechecking bags after clearing customs but that was not the case.

I'm bitterly disappointed to hear this ridiculous crap (in my opinion, anyway) is still going on.

On the issue of cost for a 7 day, Saturday to Saturday, trip, if it's of interest, I tend to plan:

1.) $1,100 apiece airfare (Nashville to Atlanta to Bonaire & back on Delta). I don't care for the layover, different baggage allowances & risk of my luggage being left behind in Curacao, that comes with trying to say $100 to $200 apiece with Insel, Dutch Antilles Express or what-have-you going through Curacao. I am no Delta fan, and I've had unexpected overnight stays in places twice related to Delta, but it is what it is.

2.) $900 apiece for room, diving, & a truck rental. Add $150 if I want an automatic truck. I skip boat diving to save money; I think that knocks $160 off per person at Buddy's? Or some such? Remember that you'd likely be tipping, too, so the savings are higher than that. Be sure you get a package with unlimited nitrox, if you want that.

3.) $25 Marine Park fee each person. Eating out for 2 or 3 people for supper, maybe $50 - $80 per night? Breakfast at Buddy's via buffet, or get that & lunch via grocery stores. If not at Buddy's, lunch at grocery stores & eat in; sometimes eat out. Bon Appetite is a place I've done lunch. Warning: I've seen shark fin soup on the menu there before, in case you choose to boycott such places. $70 or so late in week to replace the tank of gas. Generally buy the car insurance; don't recall the cost, but maybe $50?

Keep the paper receipts for your marine park passes for when you drive through Washington-Slagbaai Park; save $10 apiece that way.

Since airfare is such a large chunk of the cost, staying a couple of weeks cuts down your per day cost. The rental truck cost is a big part of your package price.

Bottom Line: I tend to budget around $2,500 apiece for 1 week stays. Groceries are expensive, by the way. That assumes more than one in a room; solo travelers pay a few hundred extra.

Richard.

 

[Hockeynut]

You weren't robbed down there by any chance?

 

[uncfnp]

Insel for two 1000. 1 week at condo 1200. Truck rental 350. Unlimited shore for two 288. Groceries for week about 250. Lunch once 25 and one dinner 35. Gas 45. Marine park x2 50. Grand total for two in Bonaire for one week? PRICELESS! Actually about 3,243.

 

[DeputyDan]

With a group of 4 we budget around $1,800 each for a Bonaire week. No boat dives and airfare through Curacao. Only eat out for dinner.

 

[boat sju]

Round trip from Newark is $604 (as of now) for June 7 - 15. (From Michigan it's about $680, which is pretty good,)

Problem with airfares is that it seems the best window for purchasing is 3-4 months out, and it's always a gamble.

 

[Warren_L]

What are the state of the reefs? Have they recovered from the coral bleaching from a couple of years ago? I went twice in 2010, March and December. Somewhere in between, the water temperatures got abnormally high and by the time I was there in December, just about all the reefs were dotted with white corals from the bleaching, and there was a noticeable lack of marine life. I spoke to some locals about this, and it has happened before in the past and has taken several years to come back.