Bonaire Resorts

[mrs monkee]

We're thinking of going to Bonaire this year and have looked at both Buddy Dive Resort and Den Laman Resort.
Has anyone any experience of either or both of these and if so your pro's and cons for each?
Thanks

 

[Martha]

Hi mrs monkee. Welcome to Scubaboard. There's a lot of information in the thread a few below yours titled "Bonaire - question on condos", so you may want to browse that thread and if you have any other specific questions, ask away. Also, there's a really good website that has tons of information on Bonaire that can be found at www.bonairetalk.com I've been to Bonaire twice and have stayed at Belmar both times, so I can't comment on your requested resorts.

 

[blawler1]

I have dove with both Buddys (twice) and Bonaire Dive and Adventure (Den Lamans house dive shop) (4 times) and stayed at Den Laman. As Buddys and Den Laman are 100 to 200 yards apart, the house reefs on both are very similar and very nice. Both have real nice dock set ups for shore diving. Buddys has 24/7 access to tanks and equipment room. BDA has virtual 24/7 access as they give you a locker to store extra tanks and or gear. The real difference is that general BDA is alot cheaper for nitrox diving, with a rate of $20 a day for unlimited nitrox.

Buddys has undergone change as they have purchased Lions and now have larger facilities with two swimming pools and a have a fairly extensive, lush grounds through out the resort. They also throw a pretty good weekly managers rum party on Friday afternoons. I haven't stayed there so I can't comment on the state of the rooms.

Den Lamans is a compact brand new complex with no swimming pool. The studio apartments are in the back and face the parking lot, the one bedrooms and two bedrooms face the ocean. They are well appointed with flat screen TVs, DVDs and full kitchens including dishwashers. They are supposed to have wireless internet, but I don't know if this is operational yet.

 

[oly5050user]

We're thinking of going to Bonaire this year and have looked at both Buddy Dive Resort and Den Laman Resort.
Has anyone any experience of either or both of these and if so your pro's and cons for each?
Thanks

I have a group going in April..Staying at Buddy..pm me if interested..Have been to both and prefer Buddy's

 

[TJ O'Dwyer]

welcome aboard!!! We stayed at Buddy' last Feb. Had a great time. well coordinated - friendly and knowledgable.

 

[RTW]

After much research, my wife, brother-in-law and I stayed at Buddy's on our 1st trip to Bonaire last September. The 2-bedroom apartment on the Lion's side was more than we hoped for. It was in good condition and VERY roomy.

All of the staff was friendly and helpful.
Our refrigerator went out on our third day there and they had a new one installed in less than an hour.
We loved the drive-thru tank station as it's very convenient.
The house reef was great and the entry-exit easy.

Bonaire was awesome and easy diving, and we will be going back this year and every year that we're able.


RTW

 

[alwaingold]

We stayed at Den Laman in May, in a studio. I would recommend it, although I haven't stayed at Buddy's so I can't compare the two. When we went, Nitrox was free (the same price as air). They do in fact have wireless network access, I don't remember how much it cost, but we got it for the week so it must have been pretty reasonable The rooms are very nice and new, no complaints there. The setup for night diving was slightly inconvenient if you aren't diving on the house reef (the lockers for tanks are right by the water, so if you want to load them in your truck to get elsewhere, it's a short schlep). We loved the house reef. We did at least 15 different sites and the house reef was definitely in the top 5. As someone mentioned, there is no pool, but who needs a pool in Bonaire? I was worried I would miss it, but I never even thought about it during the trip.

I don't think you will go wrong with either one

 

[dukeh20]

We're thinking of going to Bonaire this year and have looked at both Buddy Dive Resort and Den Laman Resort.
Has anyone any experience of either or both of these and if so your pro's and cons for each?
Thanks

Den Laman/Bonaire Dive & Adventure Trip Review
We just got back last night from a week's stay at Den Laman Condos. They are located just south of Sand Dollar (which is just South of Buddy Dive). It is a much smaller operation that Buddy Dive or Captain Don's, which also made it quite peaceful. They have a nice restaurant/bar on site and free rum punch on Monday night.

DEN LAMAN
We got a great package ($534 per person including a free nitrox upgrade and truck rental inclded). We had one of their two bedroom units that faced the water. Each bedroom had its own bathroom and to our surprise, daily maid service with fresh towels and sheets. The unit had a complete kitchen with brand new appliances including microwave, refrigerator with icemaker and dishwasher. The staff was pleasant and very willing to answer any questions/requests that we had.


BONAIRE DIVE AND ADVENTURE
The package we got from Den Laman included the dive package from Bonaire Dive and Adventure (BDA) which is the on site dive center located on the Den Laman property. The package included a free nitrox upgrade. Sand Dollar and Den Laman apparently share BDA, but since it is actually on Den Laman's property, it was extremely convenient. They actually have a separate fill staion on their dock for both air and nitrox which was also quite handy for the dives on the "house reef', Bari Reef. They offer three boat dives a day. We stuck to the shore diving. The divers that we saw after they came back from the boat dives seemd to be completely satisifed with their experience. We got in about 20 dives while we were there including three night dives on Bari Reef. This was my wife's first dive trip since she she got certified in July. I am not including a review of the diving as there are numerous reviews alreay posted here. The vis was great and the water temp was in the mid to upper 80's the entire time.


This was our second trip to Bonaire. We stayed at the Plaza last year and we were looking for an alternative to eating all our meals out. We found this to be great place to stay and would not hesitate to recommend them.

I uploaded some pictures of the room and the property. Please PM me if you have any questions about our stay.