Doctorfish
Contributor
Just got back from a week at Buddy dive and over all, I was disappointed. I have done many previous dive trips to Bonaire including a number at Buddy Dive and they have always been enjoyable.
This year's trip left a few things to be desired.
Check in: The room was not ready at 3 pm and when we came back at 4, the room was now ready but safe key, truck rental, hair dryer and towel took 3 more visits back to the desk because of lack of communication, organization and/or care. Every trip to the desk was an exercise in frustration. Checking out was no better.
The room itself was clean, cool, and the kitchen had adequate utensils and dishes.
The rental truck was in excellent condition and Buddy's provided a waterproof case for the key fob for shore diving.
The dive op was unable to honor our booked boat dives because of several large groups who had chartered boats, and in the end, we missed out on two boat dives per person. They did not reimburse us. There were several other divers in the same situation and the small dive boat did not go out all week so I think they could have accommodated us if they had wanted to.
The boat dives were a pain as there were several newbies on the boat who either ran out of air or came up to the surface early and the DM called the dives short. I realize there will always be newbies on a boat but that should not spoil the experience for everyone else.
The DMs always wanted to go to Klein, even when, IMO, conditions would have been better on the main island due to very high winds. I got the sense that the boat always went to the closest site. As an older diver, my shore diving potential is limited and it would have been nice not to be limited on the boat just to sites "not reachable from shore".
One boat dive was at the snorkel beach on the near side of Klein with current, poor viz and lots of boat traffic. I found this potentially dangerous as an experienced diver, and for the newbies it could have been a disaster. I think the DM was just plain lazy to have moored there and the only reason I can think of is that it was a very short run back to the dock for their lunch. On the boats there was water and hard candies for between dives. There are no coolers for clients to store their own treats. In view of all the fruit and pastry one sees at breakfast, the dive op might have thought to load some on the dive boats as well.
I got the impression overall that at Buddy Dive resort and boat diving they did the absolute minimum that they could get away with and not have customers up in arms.
The critters were as expected. There were lots of macro subjects, and no large fish apart from tarpon. We saw one turtle, one stingray, one eagle ray and not one single tiger or nassau grouper. There were fishing boats right up on the miniwall every morning which might explain the lack of macro creatures. On previous trips I think I've seen more bigger fish, but that in general is not why people dive Bonaire.
The food at breakfast was still excellent, and the food at Blennies was still bad. Dried out Calamari one night and terrible pizza the other. I only eat there after a night dive as it is easy, but I should know better.
On a positive note, the food at Mi Banana, Julian's, Between Two Buns, and Roos is still very good and value for money. Bobbe Jans is just open for take out.
This may have been my last trip to Bonaire and certainly my last trip to Buddy Dive as IMO, for an aging diver who can't easily manage or enjoy a full week of shore diving, Cayman Brac And Little Cayman hold more attraction, including valet diving at a comparable price point.
This year's trip left a few things to be desired.
Check in: The room was not ready at 3 pm and when we came back at 4, the room was now ready but safe key, truck rental, hair dryer and towel took 3 more visits back to the desk because of lack of communication, organization and/or care. Every trip to the desk was an exercise in frustration. Checking out was no better.
The room itself was clean, cool, and the kitchen had adequate utensils and dishes.
The rental truck was in excellent condition and Buddy's provided a waterproof case for the key fob for shore diving.
The dive op was unable to honor our booked boat dives because of several large groups who had chartered boats, and in the end, we missed out on two boat dives per person. They did not reimburse us. There were several other divers in the same situation and the small dive boat did not go out all week so I think they could have accommodated us if they had wanted to.
The boat dives were a pain as there were several newbies on the boat who either ran out of air or came up to the surface early and the DM called the dives short. I realize there will always be newbies on a boat but that should not spoil the experience for everyone else.
The DMs always wanted to go to Klein, even when, IMO, conditions would have been better on the main island due to very high winds. I got the sense that the boat always went to the closest site. As an older diver, my shore diving potential is limited and it would have been nice not to be limited on the boat just to sites "not reachable from shore".
One boat dive was at the snorkel beach on the near side of Klein with current, poor viz and lots of boat traffic. I found this potentially dangerous as an experienced diver, and for the newbies it could have been a disaster. I think the DM was just plain lazy to have moored there and the only reason I can think of is that it was a very short run back to the dock for their lunch. On the boats there was water and hard candies for between dives. There are no coolers for clients to store their own treats. In view of all the fruit and pastry one sees at breakfast, the dive op might have thought to load some on the dive boats as well.
I got the impression overall that at Buddy Dive resort and boat diving they did the absolute minimum that they could get away with and not have customers up in arms.
The critters were as expected. There were lots of macro subjects, and no large fish apart from tarpon. We saw one turtle, one stingray, one eagle ray and not one single tiger or nassau grouper. There were fishing boats right up on the miniwall every morning which might explain the lack of macro creatures. On previous trips I think I've seen more bigger fish, but that in general is not why people dive Bonaire.
The food at breakfast was still excellent, and the food at Blennies was still bad. Dried out Calamari one night and terrible pizza the other. I only eat there after a night dive as it is easy, but I should know better.
On a positive note, the food at Mi Banana, Julian's, Between Two Buns, and Roos is still very good and value for money. Bobbe Jans is just open for take out.
This may have been my last trip to Bonaire and certainly my last trip to Buddy Dive as IMO, for an aging diver who can't easily manage or enjoy a full week of shore diving, Cayman Brac And Little Cayman hold more attraction, including valet diving at a comparable price point.
