Bonaire Trip Report December 2012

[Jersey]

-We asked for stuff to use the oven and we were told that each owner furnishes their condo how they see fit and what we got is what we're getting. Decided not to make an issue of it and just make do with what we had in the unit. I also forgot to mention that the microwave in the unit was virtually non-usable as the revolving platter in the microwave had broken prior to our arrival so any cookware to be used had to be carefully balanced on the turning mechanism; after a few spills, scrapped that idea.

-We really wanted to do a boat dive to Klein Bonaire but our dive outfitter, Bonaire Dive and Adventure, never seemed to have a specified destination of Klein. so, one day we signed up for a boat dive which had a destination of "Captain's Choice". 9 of us in the boat and the boat goes 3 minutes north to Small Wall and that was our boat dive. Felt ripped off since it cost $66 for the 3 of us to do a dive very similar to all the other shore dives we have done. Lesson learned is that we will never do a "Captain's Choice" dive again. I read somewhere that Buddy Dive has a 3 tank boat dive that goes to far north locations that are not reachable from shore. Those Buddy Dives sound interesting and would let us hit some of the northern sites that we'd like to hit but prefer not have to drive up into the park for.
-Thanks all for the different restaurant suggestions; have not heard of Mona Lisa, Plazita de Limon or Bobbijans. .

Ouch - that was the wrong answer to asking for additional cooking materials. I would have been writing a letter to management, albeit after the fact, still not acceptable. The Buddy dive 3 tank park trip is great. Runs about 7:30/8:00 am to about 4:00 in the afternoon so it is a long day on the water. Lunch, water, between dive snacks included. Cost was $125/per person so not cheap, access to sites that are rarely seen - priceless! Sites vary depending on conditions, we've done both moored and drift diving. Mona Lisa is my favorite, lots of locals usually found within, Plazita very good as well - tons of food, again bring the bug spray. The stories I could tell and stupid questions I've asked other shoppers when attempting to decipher labels in foreign languages! Probably a good thing you weren't there when the 'big' store was Cultimara, my first trip buddy sent me in alone so I could fully experience the culture-shocky.

 

[DiveMaven]

Sullivan, which unit were you in at Den Laman? We're booked there for our July trip, and since its our 4th visit there, it would be nice to know if we might have the same issues and should "complain" a little prior to our trip.

 

[sullivan]

We were in Grouper; second floor oceanfront room (on the right side of the building if you are in the ocean looking at Den Laman)

 

[schoude]

Very good trip report - I have to say the microwave worked when we were in Grouper, but we didn't do any real cooking - sandwiches, cereal etc. at the condo - ate out for dinner. Agree with you about the bed - very uncomfortable, along with the couch and chair. But it is clean and modern and the balcony is great. That being said, we aren't staying there again - we are staying in Vinibu at Bellevue. Diverrex - thanks for the info, would love to hear more about it. We are going in February (only 25 days to go!) and are very excited to stay there. One other thing that we really didn't like about Den Laman (I keep forgetting this) is that there are no screens in the windows or patio doors. We would much prefer fresh air than air conditioned air any day. That drew us to Vinibu as well - they have screens! We will definitely go back to Bari Reef to snorkel, we loved that!

 

[sullivan]

Very good trip report - I have to say the microwave worked when we were in Grouper, but we didn't do any real cooking - sandwiches, cereal etc. at the condo - ate out for dinner. Agree with you about the bed - very uncomfortable, along with the couch and chair. But it is clean and modern and the balcony is great. That being said, we aren't staying there again - we are staying in Vinibu at Bellevue. Diverrex - thanks for the info, would love to hear more about it. We are going in February (only 25 days to go!) and are very excited to stay there. One other thing that we really didn't like about Den Laman (I keep forgetting this) is that there are no screens in the windows or patio doors. We would much prefer fresh air than air conditioned air any day. That drew us to Vinibu as well - they have screens! We will definitely go back to Bari Reef to snorkel, we loved that!

I forgot those 2 observations which were the same for us:

-Very nice big outdoor balcony
-Really annoying that NO windows or doors had any screens; since we are in winter, we like to keep the windows open and enjoy as much warm weather as possible and avoid using the air conditioning. Unfortunately, no screens means no open windows so no fresh air which requires running th ac unit a lot. This dumbfounded me a little since the lady at the front desk made a point of asking us not to run the AC units to save energy. We would have happily obliged had any windows or doors had screens.

 

[schoude]

Yeah - we were told not to touch them, except to turn off and on...no temp changes - and we had to turn them off when we were going out - which was actually ok, it would have been way too cold if we had left them on, seeing that we couldn't change the temperature!
I hear that the restaurant has closed - so at least you didn't get the bad smells that we did a couple of times!

 

[jewelofnile69]

Very good trip report - I have to say the microwave worked when we were in Grouper, but we didn't do any real cooking - sandwiches, cereal etc. at the condo - ate out for dinner. Agree with you about the bed - very uncomfortable, along with the couch and chair. But it is clean and modern and the balcony is great. That being said, we aren't staying there again - we are staying in Vinibu at Bellevue. Diverrex - thanks for the info, would love to hear more about it. We are going in February (only 25 days to go!) and are very excited to stay there. One other thing that we really didn't like about Den Laman (I keep forgetting this) is that there are no screens in the windows or patio doors. We would much prefer fresh air than air conditioned air any day. That drew us to Vinibu as well - they have screens! We will definitely go back to Bari Reef to snorkel, we loved that!

Looks like we'll be there the same time as you...although we are staying at Buddy Dive again.

Buddy Dive has fully stocked kitchens that work out well...we've cooked quite a few meals there and has screen doors on it's sliding doors. Just an FYI for all of you next time.

Highly recommend Wil's for dinner. We got lucky...we didn't have a reservation last time we were there (same time frame in 2012) and got in for Valentine's Day. Food was absolutely delicious.

Also recommend Casablanca and their "meat platter" for 2-4 people along with a pitcher of Sangria.

And you can't go to Bonaire without going to Pasa Bon Pizza...and waiting 45-1 hour.

Thanks for the recap

 

[schoude]

Looks like we'll be there the same time as you...although we are staying at Buddy Dive again.

Buddy Dive has fully stocked kitchens that work out well...we've cooked quite a few meals there and has screen doors on it's sliding doors. Just an FYI for all of you next time.

Highly recommend Wil's for dinner. We got lucky...we didn't have a reservation last time we were there (same time frame in 2012) and got in for Valentine's Day. Food was absolutely delicious.

Also recommend Casablanca and their "meat platter" for 2-4 people along with a pitcher of Sangria.

And you can't go to Bonaire without going to Pasa Bon Pizza...and waiting 45-1 hour.

Thanks for the recap

We went to Wils and I agree with you - it was great!

We ended up at Pasa Bon twice -hubby had the lionfish pizza, I had the sausage - some of the best pizza I've had!

We will definitely take Casablanca into consideration for this year - we love both meat and Sangria!! Sounds great - 2 weeks to go, can't wait - maybe we'll run into you!:snorkel2:

 

[Doctorfish]

Bobbie Jans is a great weekend restaurant serving BBQ. We usually go to Mi Banana for Columbian food as well. Not much to look at but good food at good prices.

 

[Jersey]

Agree with Doctorfish - Mi Banana - good food, nicely prepared, good prices. Simply prepared plates of juicy, fresh grilled meat/fish, french fries, salad and plaintains. Add a couple beers and 2 can eat and tip nicely for $30.00. Off the beaten track, some of the family speak limited English, but worth the find. Bring the bug spray!!