Bonaire - where to start??

[avlena]

Hi everyone,

My husband and I are planning on going to Bonaire in late August/early Sept, and I'm not quite sure where to start!

I guess my first question - will that time of year be okay for our trip?

• what's the best "part" of Bonaire to stay on, north or south?
• anyone have some suggestions on where to look for good deals? Never been to the Caribbean at all, nor on a dive-specific trip, so I'm not sure where to go other then Expedia!
• What topside activities are available? If there's absolutely no other activities, I'm okay just lounging around on a beach with a good book, but I hear that there's not really sandy beaches available for that!

I've already gotten a lot of information from these boards (THANKS!!!). We're planning on being rescue certified before the trip, and we already do quite a bit of shore diving in Cali, though this will be the first trip with just the 2 of us.

TIA!

 

[Boat Chick]

Well, you picked the right place for excellent shore diving. September will be "warm," but it's "warm" on Bonaire all year round.

In regard to places to stay, North, South, what ammeneties do you want? Big resort, small place, pool, restaurant? There are a lot of places to recommend, just depends on what you want

You might also to to Info Bonaire - The Bonaire Information Site - The Most Current and Up-To-Date Information and check out the accommodations section, and post questions on Bonaire Talk - The place to discuss everything and anything about Bonaire!. Lots of good info out there.

I've stayed at Belmar, Belefonte, Sand$, Black Durgon, and Buddy's...all are different and offer different things

Also buy the guide, Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy by Susan Porter. You can order it directly from her by going to Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy, BSDME, Author Susan Porter

 

[dogenia]

Not quite Bonaire, but close enough. If you look at the Curacao Dive festival page they mention two companies that seem to specialize in dive vacationing.

Good luck.

Don

 

[herman]

The 2 places I would suggest you start is to decide on the type of accomidations you need/want and your airline route.
Once that is done, you can start working on the exact resort. The good news is there are no bad places to stay on the island. For certain there are nicer places or ones that are a better value but I know of no place I would suggest you avoid. Same goes for dive shops, lots of good ones and none I would tell you to avoid.
Once you decide what you need and want in a resort we can give you more specific resorts to look at.
I personally don't use any "service" to plan my trips. I go directly to the airlines web site for air and directly to the resort for reservations. With all the online things you can do now, there is really no need for a middleman. I plan trips for a group each year and stopped using a travel agent 4 or 5 years ago. I can set up most any thing I need for the trip with a couple of emails or an 800 phone call.
As for the best part of Bonaire, I really don't think there is much difference. You have to understand the entire developed shoreline is only a few miles long.

 

[dogenia]

Listen to Herman.

 

[diversteve]

From Cali there's several ways to get there. There's a Continental red-eye flight that leaves Friday at 11:50PM out of Houston that you can connect with. The only way to find this flight on the Continental website is to put in a Friday departure date, otherwise they'll route you through Newark.

There's also American Airlines through San Juan but that's less preferable as you'll likely have an all-day layover there from our side of the country after a red-eye flight. Leaving from LAX Friday night we arrived in Bonaire at 9PM Saturday night.

Another option is to fly American through Miami to Curacao and connect with Insel Air, Divi Air or Dutch Antilles Express for a short flight over. It's possible to do this all in one day if you leave early. (from LAX) Costs between $100-200 r/t pp to fly from CUR to BON. There's other options to Curacao from LAX also.

Most of the dive resorts and condos on Bonaire bundle diving and truck rental in their packages.
Since you're looking for a "deal" that's what I'd recommend looking for. All of them have the details on their websites.

You could also look at package deals through Aquadreams.com Carradonna.com or Bonairepros.com. They'll do it all for very little extra. Maybe for less than you can book it yourself since they get better deals.

I personally do what herman does and contact the resorts directly via e-mail or 800#. And book my own flights direct with the airlines. I've found lately that Expedia, Travelocity etc. seem to be higher priced for the exact same pkg. I've booked direct.

If you want a beach, look at Eden Beach resort, Plaza Resort or Divi Flamingo resort. They're just about the only resorts with a beach. Buddy's has some sand spread near the water but you can't get to the water unless you climb over the ironshore. Harbour Village does also but it's more up$cale...

 

[Rynomar]

I agree with CYNDE, Bonaire Talk is a great place to get information and Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy by Susan Porter is a really handy book. Both times I have been in Bonaire I have stayed at Buddy Dive Resort. It is not really fancy, but they have a nice clean operation with friendly people. Many of the resorts are located on the shothern side of the island, with easy access to Klein Bonaire. The dive and drive packages are great for diving your own schedule and exploring the island.

As far as surface activities, we went to the Washington Slagbaii park and that was about it. By the time we had finished our fourth or fifth dive of the day we were ready to relax.

Have fun