This was our second trip to Bonaire, first one was April 2003. We stayed at Happy Holiday Homes....accommodations were as expected. The space is simply decorated and for the budget minded. One nice thing was having an internet connection in our room (for a daily or weekly fee), and while internet service was intermittent, it was quite fast for the island. We also chose this place as it boasted a BBQ, however the BBQ cost us a one time charge and for some reason the briquettes never really got hot. They seemed to disintegrate quickly, like a piece of cotton. We consider ourselves to be master BBQers back home and yet struggled with it each time. One drawback on the accommodations was that there was not a pool or anywhere to sit in the afternoon sun to read a book. Place was well set up for rinsing and drying out dive gear each evening after the days dives were done and had a small covered patio. Our first trip we stayed at the Light House Beach resort. It was nice, but there were not any places large enough to accommodate our group this time 'round as well as the fact that there were no BBQs at LBR. LBR does have a nice pool area. They are in the process of expanding and the LBR seems well kept.
One thing we noted was that the marine life was quite sparse as compared to our prior trip. We talked to many local divers and dive shops and this is attributed to the large quantities of rain the three weeks prior to our trip and the effects of the hurricanes this season. The freshwater run off sends the fish further out to sea and pollutes the water. This was a bit of a bummer as we has two divers with us who were new to Bonaire and we had raved about our prior experience.
Had the "best burger on the island" as it is known at the Lost Penguin one afternoon toward the middle of our trip. The owners there are great as is the food. We had many breakfasts and post dive lunches there After chatting with them about the island and where the best dives were these days they told us of a farely new dive operation on the windward side of the island.....Larry's Wildside Adventures. She even called Larry up for us and booked a trip for the next morning.
Larry, who has been on the island for about 5 years now, and his dive guide, Martin, were great. We met them at the dock the next morning. They were friendly, professional and helped us out loading and unloading our gear. They gave a full boat and dive briefing prior to leaving the dock and on the way out to the site. They were helpful in setting up gear. One thing we noted, after being on many dive boats (day trip and live aboard - Palau Aggressor, Colona VI Thailand and many Truth Aquatics trips out of Santa Barbara,CA) Larry runs a safe and tight ship, checking all of our gear was in proper working order before we rolled out to dive. Larry is an experienced military seal and engineer and it shows. His boat is custom made by Zodiac and he helped to engineer it. The boat, less than a year old, is one of the best we have seen and has twin 225 Yamaha motors. Larry's inflatable is by far the most seaworthy on the island. Due to the fact that the coast guard is on Curacao, Larry assists the cost guard when needed here in Bonaire. One of the pontoon sausage portions deflates and they put a nice ladder in making entry back into the boat quite easy, especially in rougher seas. Martin has two degrees in marine biology and was helpful in pointing out marine life. Once Larry knows your diving abilities he will do custom trips for you and your dive group.
We had dinner at the Mona Lisa restaurant and bar. They are open only Monday - Friday. The chef and staff were great. We had a fabulous lobster dinner and stayed for some drinks at the bar. While nice for the island, it is not a fancy place and was priced right for the quality of the food. Larry and Martin can be found many nights having a quick beer at the end of the day here, along with many other locals. If you are interested, it is one of the few places that has Amstel on tap. We would highly recommend it!
Both times in visiting the island we got our air fills through The Plaza Resort. We found the staff to be helpful and friendly both times. Also the air fills were always at least 3000psi and usually more. They offer nitrox fills for an additional fee. The cost is comparable to other locations on the island and we were able to negotiate and great rate since we were here for 10 days of diving and a larger group.
One thing we noted was that the marine life was quite sparse as compared to our prior trip. We talked to many local divers and dive shops and this is attributed to the large quantities of rain the three weeks prior to our trip and the effects of the hurricanes this season. The freshwater run off sends the fish further out to sea and pollutes the water. This was a bit of a bummer as we has two divers with us who were new to Bonaire and we had raved about our prior experience.
Had the "best burger on the island" as it is known at the Lost Penguin one afternoon toward the middle of our trip. The owners there are great as is the food. We had many breakfasts and post dive lunches there After chatting with them about the island and where the best dives were these days they told us of a farely new dive operation on the windward side of the island.....Larry's Wildside Adventures. She even called Larry up for us and booked a trip for the next morning.
Larry, who has been on the island for about 5 years now, and his dive guide, Martin, were great. We met them at the dock the next morning. They were friendly, professional and helped us out loading and unloading our gear. They gave a full boat and dive briefing prior to leaving the dock and on the way out to the site. They were helpful in setting up gear. One thing we noted, after being on many dive boats (day trip and live aboard - Palau Aggressor, Colona VI Thailand and many Truth Aquatics trips out of Santa Barbara,CA) Larry runs a safe and tight ship, checking all of our gear was in proper working order before we rolled out to dive. Larry is an experienced military seal and engineer and it shows. His boat is custom made by Zodiac and he helped to engineer it. The boat, less than a year old, is one of the best we have seen and has twin 225 Yamaha motors. Larry's inflatable is by far the most seaworthy on the island. Due to the fact that the coast guard is on Curacao, Larry assists the cost guard when needed here in Bonaire. One of the pontoon sausage portions deflates and they put a nice ladder in making entry back into the boat quite easy, especially in rougher seas. Martin has two degrees in marine biology and was helpful in pointing out marine life. Once Larry knows your diving abilities he will do custom trips for you and your dive group.
We had dinner at the Mona Lisa restaurant and bar. They are open only Monday - Friday. The chef and staff were great. We had a fabulous lobster dinner and stayed for some drinks at the bar. While nice for the island, it is not a fancy place and was priced right for the quality of the food. Larry and Martin can be found many nights having a quick beer at the end of the day here, along with many other locals. If you are interested, it is one of the few places that has Amstel on tap. We would highly recommend it!
Both times in visiting the island we got our air fills through The Plaza Resort. We found the staff to be helpful and friendly both times. Also the air fills were always at least 3000psi and usually more. They offer nitrox fills for an additional fee. The cost is comparable to other locations on the island and we were able to negotiate and great rate since we were here for 10 days of diving and a larger group.
