Thank you! I do not have any vendetta going here at all. I also stated that there are other incidents with other staffers at BD - it was not only Irene (and that is a moot point - as we both agree). Because the vast number of posts that keep going over the weighting question, it seems that it is about her, but I do really try to pull it back to my original question. And I have stated many times I hope this is an unusual occurrence because I (and many) like diving with BD.
Which begs the question, do you really want to go back now that this has blown up into such a big deal? What if Irene or someone she knows is reading this thread and just waiting for you to return so she can really sink her teeth into you? After my less-than-wonderful first and only stay at BD, I hesitated to write a report trashing them too much since I didn't know if I'd be back or not. After all, they have a neat month where the DeLoaches are "in residence" and I didn't want to preclude that in the future.
It wasn't until I made a couple more visits, found places that suited me better than Buddy Dive, and met Ned DeLoach when I saw he was also dining at Cactus Blue one night, that I realized I didn't need Buddy Dive and it was OK to publish my report. Unfortunately, by that time, I had gotten over all the stuff that really pissed me off.
The main things were a shabby room, no excuse for such poor maintenance if they had such a thing as a manager occasionally check the room conditions, or if the housekeeping noted the issues. Our refrigerator leaked, leaving a constant puddle on the already slippery floor. I gashed my toe on some moulding that was coming loose, but at least that was cool watching my blood mingle with the kitchen puddle. Whenever we took a shower in the very-poorly ventilated shower, the steam would excape and make those slippery floors slippery again (I must have slipped 3 or 4 times, but I thankfully have a hard head). The water boiler didn't work. The coffee maker didn't work. The bed was so sagging that my back was bent by the end of the week and I threw out my back hanging up my BC to dry on the last day of the trip which made packing and schlepping all the gear back home lots of fun. And I realized then that a fully a/c'd room/condo is my preference, rather than only having the bedroom a/c'd. Also, the lock on the back door was just a interior bathroom door type of lock that I was able to open with a quarter. That made it easier than going around the long way to come in the front door, but I hardly felt safe leaving my laptop and camera gear around when any other guest could walk right in and take it. (I guess it's the same sort of honor system as with the open gear rooms, but why even bother having a lock then?)
I also had big issues with the transportation back to the hotel. J and I were early, but the guy organizing the departure had forgotten to make the coffee they promised would be available that morning. Besides serious caffeine deprivation at 4 a.m., the mosquitos were just waking up hungry and we had to endure them for over an hour sitting in Buddy's open-air "lobby" while waiting for late stragglers. And, at least back then, the lobby was the only place for internet access, a real pain since the monitors were in direct sunlight which made them hard to read and uncomfortably hot.
But I did like the breakfast buffet, all the lunch selections we tried, and the Lion's Den restaurant (which is no longer there, I've heard). The pools were OK. I liked the gear room/dock arrangement better than Capt. Don's set up where you have to walk down stairs with your gear on, and getting tanks for shore diving is much, much easier with the drive-thru by the road than with Capt. Don's where you have to drive all the around from the back, park in a tricky space to maneuver into, walk your tanks back to the truck, and maneuver back out. And the boat diving was the best I've done on Bonaire, though it was hard to get on a boat unless we signed up at the right time since there was a large group that monopolized most of the dive shop's attention. Unfortunately all the good points didn't outweigh our room condition and that terribly organized departure to the airport, so I doubt I'll ever return unless it was some sort of freebie or deal I couldn't pass up. That's why I couldn't figure out why I was being called a BD sockpuppet!
