Bonaire: From Southern Ontario, how do I get there?

[Dr Dog]

Hey guys and gals

Because of you guys, I would not know much about Bonaire. But now. I really want to get there.

My problem is.. how do I get there? I have found a few choices. But it seems way too complicated.

A little background, my wife does not fly well, and three plane changes, and lay overs for 5 to 6 hours will only make things worse. If I get to know you, I will tell you about the Denver to Buffalo incident.

I would prefer to fly out of Buffalo, as it is my home airport. How do I get to Bonaire as easily as possible.

I heard there was a flight out of Newark, but then i read that it was being ended this June.

I dont have an issue flying to another city beforehand, I can appease my wife by us staying there for a day or two, and checking out the place. I do enjoy travelling to different US cities(my tripadvisor account likes it too)

any ideas?

 

[ScubaSteve]

I found it best (easiest and least expensive) to fly Continental from BUF-EWR-BON. Buffalo is a great airport and it can all be worked so the delays are minimal. If the EWR flight is being cancelled then Houston is also an option but I have only take the route listed above.

EDIT

Looking at Expedia it seems that there are options going through Atlanta (Delta) as well. Again, I have never taken them but it seems it could be an option.

 

[Doppler]

Scuba Steve seems to have had similar experiences to me.

Parking at Buffalo, as the OP may know already, is inexpensive and close to the terminal.

Continental (now United/Continental) is my preferred carrier and Newark my focal airport. There are a couple of decent restaurants in EWR and two wine-bars. However, the likelihood of flight delays from that airport does mean that one is likely to need them!

A Houston leg would be a bit of a drag, IMO. The airport is OK...

Atlanta is a huge airport, but getting around it for a transfer is quite simple. There are the usual fastfood and coffee shops, but not much else on the concords. I have family in Atlanta and do not dread the airport at all... especially since they beefed up their ability to process passenger through security.

Bonaire is good diving... did you also check for charter lift out of Toronto? I believe one of the Ontario-based dive cos has lift going down there on a regular basis.

Anyhow, good luck

 

[diversteve]

It looks like your two shortest options are going to cost more about $400pp more. I use Matrix ITA - Matrix - ITA Software to find these - you can't book thru them but they maintain the database for most air carriers, Kayak.com, Orbitz etc so generally have all the options. You can adjust the parameters to suit what you need after doing a basic search - stops, duration, etc. Here's a couple examples - one from Buffalo, one from Toronto - each with layover times under 3 hours - and an $800 option with a 12 hr. layover overnight in ATL on the return, for what you save rent a hotel room overnight - I used 7/7-7/14 (Sat-Sat) as dates:

 

[RTee]

I am just returning from Bonaire flying Continental. Their NE hub seems to be Newark. Trip down was uneventful but the return trip was hell. The airplane arrive on time but due to what appears to be a crew management issue, we had an advertized 8 hours and 40 mins delay which turned out to be a 9 hours and 40 mins delay. All that to say that while my original arrangement had me leaving Bonaire at 0700 hrs and arrive in Ottawa at 1415 hours, we ended up leaving more around 1640 hours and by the time we hit Newark, clear customs, immigration, collect bagage and go through the connecting flights service we were too late for any flights back to Ottawa. While Continental did fork the hotel bill, it meant for seven folks to depart Newark at 0845 Monday AM to land in Ottawa at 1030 and do whatever they had to do to appease their employers.

As for myself, I had pay full fare for my return trip but ended up being stand by for the 0845 hrs flight while my GF was confirmed. Regrettably, most of the staff seemed to look at us as a source of annoyance rather than being eager to rectify a situation their company had created.

Now, having said that, there was also a Continental flight leaving early from Houston but I am not sure about their timing. I also had friends of mine travelling from Ottawa who came down for the first 10 days but they ended up flying through Aruba (I think their Aruba - Bonaire - Aruba portion was with InselAir). They left Ottawa early on 10 Feb and arrive in Bonaire around 1700 - 1730 hours the very same day. They then departed Bonaire at 1030 or so on 22 Feb and made it back to Ottawa on the very same day. Continental flights through Newark will see you departing Newark at 2359 hrs to arrive at 05ish or so the following AM.

 

[kydivegirl]

I've been through Atlanta on Delta 3 or 4 times and it is a good flight. I've done many all day trips on other carriers but if you can get to Atlanta, you get into Bonaire around 2 in the afternoon.

 

[herbdb]

I like the timing of the Newark flight. You get in early enough to check in and get your rental truck before breakfast. Park orientation briefings are usually offered right after breakfast and you are ready to dive.

If your room is ready, you can get a quick nap and still get in 2 or 3 dives on Saturday. If its not ready just gear up and start diving. You can always crash early that night.

The return flight leaves late enough so you can get a couple of dives in on Friday morning.

You can get a lot more diving accomplished.

 

[mbs]

Coming from the nyc area we like to use the Delta to Atlanta to Bonaire route... But I found the short Saturday morning connection time too stressful so we fly down to Atlanta Friday night and fly to Bonaire Saturday morning. Actually booked a couple of weeks ago and found this $100 less per ticket than flying saturday morning! Go figure!

 

[rhwestfall]

Do not, repeat - do not go Miami - Curacao - Bonaire.......

Get a direct from a US Hub.....

 

[TXreefer]

Do not, repeat - do not go Miami - Curacao - Bonaire.......

Get a direct from a US Hub.....

Please explain.