DrySuit
Registered
I love reading everyone's trip reports so I thought I would do my own.
Enjoy.
This was a last minute trip to the wonderful island of Bonaire for a much needed break. No dive group, no friends, no kids, just my non-diving wife and myself.
We flew Delta on Thursday (1/5) and returned on Wednesday (1/11). I do not like to go Saturday and Saturday and really prefer to go Thursday to Tuesday if I can get the flights.
Again this was last minute and it was high season. Lodging was not as plentiful as a trip prepared well in advance. We stayed at Bellevue. This was the first time staying there and the first time staying south of the airport.
Would I stay there again? Probably not. It is ocean front, has a pool and a nice deck/balcony. The road noise in the bedrooms was tough to deal with. The parking was difficult and tight (if other guests parked in the lines then this would not be a problem). The inside of the place was fine. Two bedroom/two bathroom. Decent size. AC in bedrooms only. The place was fine but needed a "good" or "deep" cleaning, as they say. Furniture in the living and dining areas were tired and probably could be replaced - we didn't use them because of the large balcony/deck with full table chairs, seating areas, etc.
We rented trucks from AB. We have used a number of other companies on the island but the last 4 or 5 times have used AB. I like them and they treat me well. I'm sure there are cheaper places out there but as I said, they treat me well, the price is fair, never a line, never a hassle - they are easy to deal with both before arriving and while on the island.
We rented tanks from AB. We usually use Dive Friends. I think Dive Friends locations cannot be beat. This time I was not diving with a large group or with friends so I knew it would only be making 1 stop per day for tanks. Unlike DF, AB had a large number of Nitrox DIN tanks. Getting DIN at DF is always a hassle - no such hassle at AB. What is a hassle at AB is their location. Their location is not convenient. And to say that the road to get there is like driving through a war zone is an insult to war zones. Additionally, I found the help there to be inconsistent. Some employees were super and went above and beyond, others seemed miserable and acted like I was inconveniencing them. My experience with DF is that they usually just ignore me, which is fine.
Overall review of Bonaire at this time - growth, a lot of construction and a lot of people. I get it, it is the high season. Some days the traffic was heavy. Some days there was 1 cruise ship, some days 2, some days none. With the construction comes the dirt and dust. There is a lot of new construction down South and a lot of dirt and dust.
Please note that even though the island was crowded the diving was not. I found that interesting.
I like to dive and I like to eat. Here is what we did and a few words on each.
Thursday, arrival, check in, grocery store, etc. - dinner at Mi Banana - always good. Seafood Soup is really really good. They seemed to have expanded their dining room and added a back section. Good for them.
Friday - Pre-breakfast dive in front of the Bellevune. Viz was not that great. A lot of sand and/or particulate in between Bellevue and Bachelor's beach. It seemed to clear up as we got closer to Bachelors Beach.
Andrea 1 - always a nice dive and this time did not disappoint.
Picnic Lunch and then Something Special - Just a great dive.
Dinner at Mona Lisa - I thought the food was excellent. The "Special Menu" was solid and so was the Schnitzel. The service was not great. It was annoyingly slow (even for Bonaire), out of pace and disjointed. The server was a young man who just was not interested in waiting on us.
Saturday - a little rain on and off today. Breakfast at the place. Then headed down to Salt Pier. Headed in on the South Side, zero issues. The 2 Sea Horses are just where I left them in July.
Picnic Lunch at Tolo and then a great dive there.
Dinner - El Bigote. First time there. Nice decor, nice ambiance. I would go back for a beer or a drink. The food was good. I thought it was a little pricey for what you got. And what you got was the Dutch interpretation of Mexican food. I thought it was good, relatively. I mean, it wasn't a San Diego Mexican restaurant, but we weren't in San Diego.
Sunday - breakfast at place. First because aware of an egg shortage. Dove the iconic 1000 steps. Great dive, I really enjoyed it. The steps seem to get harder each time I visit. Followed that up with LaDina Leap to Karpate - saw the anchor that I missed in July (of course when I was trying to show my kids). Another great dive. Picnic lunch at the Rincon overlook. Followed by one of my new favorite Bonaire activities - napping in a hammock at WindSock/Corporal Meis. After the siesta, I went down to Angel City's second reef over to the chain for the Hooker, around the Hooker and then back on the 1st reef. One of my favorite dives.
Dinner at Foodies - Good food, good service. No complaints.
Monday - my wife rationed my eggs, and that was annoying. Alice in Wonderland in the morning, lunch at the place and then back down south to Vista Blue. Then back up to go from Bachelor's Beach to Bellevue and again experienced the viz issues referenced above.
Dinner at Joe's for the 5 course surprise menu - I can't wait to go back. It was solid.
Tuesday - my last 2 eggs. Then off to an unmarked site between Tori's Reed and Invisibles. Nice dive. Lunch and a solid hammock nap at Wind Sock/Corporal Meis - game changer. Then headed down to the Lake's 2nd reef to the Hooker for a lap and then back on the 1st reef. Fun Dive. Then my favorite, sunset/night dive from Bari's Reef to Don's, a quick rinse and then dinner and drinks at Don's. Dinner was okay, Don's pizza is okay, it never seems to change.
All in all it was a nice quick trip to recharge the batteries.
I'm looking forward to my next "long weekend" in Bonaire.
Enjoy.
This was a last minute trip to the wonderful island of Bonaire for a much needed break. No dive group, no friends, no kids, just my non-diving wife and myself.
We flew Delta on Thursday (1/5) and returned on Wednesday (1/11). I do not like to go Saturday and Saturday and really prefer to go Thursday to Tuesday if I can get the flights.
Again this was last minute and it was high season. Lodging was not as plentiful as a trip prepared well in advance. We stayed at Bellevue. This was the first time staying there and the first time staying south of the airport.
Would I stay there again? Probably not. It is ocean front, has a pool and a nice deck/balcony. The road noise in the bedrooms was tough to deal with. The parking was difficult and tight (if other guests parked in the lines then this would not be a problem). The inside of the place was fine. Two bedroom/two bathroom. Decent size. AC in bedrooms only. The place was fine but needed a "good" or "deep" cleaning, as they say. Furniture in the living and dining areas were tired and probably could be replaced - we didn't use them because of the large balcony/deck with full table chairs, seating areas, etc.
We rented trucks from AB. We have used a number of other companies on the island but the last 4 or 5 times have used AB. I like them and they treat me well. I'm sure there are cheaper places out there but as I said, they treat me well, the price is fair, never a line, never a hassle - they are easy to deal with both before arriving and while on the island.
We rented tanks from AB. We usually use Dive Friends. I think Dive Friends locations cannot be beat. This time I was not diving with a large group or with friends so I knew it would only be making 1 stop per day for tanks. Unlike DF, AB had a large number of Nitrox DIN tanks. Getting DIN at DF is always a hassle - no such hassle at AB. What is a hassle at AB is their location. Their location is not convenient. And to say that the road to get there is like driving through a war zone is an insult to war zones. Additionally, I found the help there to be inconsistent. Some employees were super and went above and beyond, others seemed miserable and acted like I was inconveniencing them. My experience with DF is that they usually just ignore me, which is fine.
Overall review of Bonaire at this time - growth, a lot of construction and a lot of people. I get it, it is the high season. Some days the traffic was heavy. Some days there was 1 cruise ship, some days 2, some days none. With the construction comes the dirt and dust. There is a lot of new construction down South and a lot of dirt and dust.
Please note that even though the island was crowded the diving was not. I found that interesting.
I like to dive and I like to eat. Here is what we did and a few words on each.
Thursday, arrival, check in, grocery store, etc. - dinner at Mi Banana - always good. Seafood Soup is really really good. They seemed to have expanded their dining room and added a back section. Good for them.
Friday - Pre-breakfast dive in front of the Bellevune. Viz was not that great. A lot of sand and/or particulate in between Bellevue and Bachelor's beach. It seemed to clear up as we got closer to Bachelors Beach.
Andrea 1 - always a nice dive and this time did not disappoint.
Picnic Lunch and then Something Special - Just a great dive.
Dinner at Mona Lisa - I thought the food was excellent. The "Special Menu" was solid and so was the Schnitzel. The service was not great. It was annoyingly slow (even for Bonaire), out of pace and disjointed. The server was a young man who just was not interested in waiting on us.
Saturday - a little rain on and off today. Breakfast at the place. Then headed down to Salt Pier. Headed in on the South Side, zero issues. The 2 Sea Horses are just where I left them in July.
Picnic Lunch at Tolo and then a great dive there.
Dinner - El Bigote. First time there. Nice decor, nice ambiance. I would go back for a beer or a drink. The food was good. I thought it was a little pricey for what you got. And what you got was the Dutch interpretation of Mexican food. I thought it was good, relatively. I mean, it wasn't a San Diego Mexican restaurant, but we weren't in San Diego.
Sunday - breakfast at place. First because aware of an egg shortage. Dove the iconic 1000 steps. Great dive, I really enjoyed it. The steps seem to get harder each time I visit. Followed that up with LaDina Leap to Karpate - saw the anchor that I missed in July (of course when I was trying to show my kids). Another great dive. Picnic lunch at the Rincon overlook. Followed by one of my new favorite Bonaire activities - napping in a hammock at WindSock/Corporal Meis. After the siesta, I went down to Angel City's second reef over to the chain for the Hooker, around the Hooker and then back on the 1st reef. One of my favorite dives.
Dinner at Foodies - Good food, good service. No complaints.
Monday - my wife rationed my eggs, and that was annoying. Alice in Wonderland in the morning, lunch at the place and then back down south to Vista Blue. Then back up to go from Bachelor's Beach to Bellevue and again experienced the viz issues referenced above.
Dinner at Joe's for the 5 course surprise menu - I can't wait to go back. It was solid.
Tuesday - my last 2 eggs. Then off to an unmarked site between Tori's Reed and Invisibles. Nice dive. Lunch and a solid hammock nap at Wind Sock/Corporal Meis - game changer. Then headed down to the Lake's 2nd reef to the Hooker for a lap and then back on the 1st reef. Fun Dive. Then my favorite, sunset/night dive from Bari's Reef to Don's, a quick rinse and then dinner and drinks at Don's. Dinner was okay, Don's pizza is okay, it never seems to change.
All in all it was a nice quick trip to recharge the batteries.
I'm looking forward to my next "long weekend" in Bonaire.
- my 2019 trip report where I refer to it, but don't give out the specifics is found here: 
