Buddy's/Captain Don's/Den Laman

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TravelDave

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Location
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3 of us are going to Bonaire for first time in May. In looking at some other posts, I see good things written about many places, but Buddy's, Captain Don's and Den Laman seem to stand out.

Any suggestions on choosing between the three? We'll spend what we need to, but see no reason to spend more if we don't need to. Criteria that we are looking for include:

1) Decent rooms with a/c throughout
2) Restaurant/bar choices on site or close
3) Good access to shore diving

Also, does it make sense to do the packages with 1 boat dive every day, or should we just do a shore diving package and add a boat dive or 2 a la carte?

Thanks,
Dave
 
I haven't stayed at any of the places you've listed, but I do know that all three have good access to shore diving. As far as the diving goes, I would recommend the shore diving package and add a boat dive a la carte. I've been to Bonaire four times and we've only done one boat dive (and that was on our first trip). The shore diving is great and it's really nice to be on your own schedule. We've used Buddy Dive on all of our trips, three times through their BelMar location and the last time we stayed at a rental house and used the main location. The drive-thru tank pick up is great! You can also get a lot of good info on Bonaire at the Bonaire Talk website: Bonaire Talk - The place to discuss everything and anything about Bonaire! Hope you have a wonderful trip!!!
 
They've all got easy shore diving. They've all got restaurants, and they're all within walking distance of each other. Harbor Village is in walking distance too.

I think Den Laman is one of the few places with A/C throughout, rather than just in the bedrooms.

I stayed at Captain Don's a couple times and liked it but that was very long ago, and it doesn't seem to be getting very good reviews lately.

Boat diving, most people will say not to bother and do a few ala carte. It's probably the same price or little more that way. (I myself would go ahead and take a boat package, but I prefer boat diving, even in Bonaire.)
 
We had this same dilemma and here's what we considered:

Capt Don's reviews haven't been very good for the past couple of years, so we took them off the list.

Buddy's has the drive through tank pickup, has their rental vehicles on-sight, has a very nice house reef, has a great dive operation, is highly recommended by divers, and has a good restaurant.

Den Laman has tank pickup right by the parking lot, you pick up your rental car at the airport, the house reef is ranked #1 for fish biodiversity by REEF (Bari reef), Bonaire Dive and Adventure is a good dive operation, free nitrox (though I hear Buddy's is now free too), there's A/C throughout the condos, condos are on the second and third floors (no ground floor), the condos are only a couple of years old, the restaurant is good, and they have a cheaper package price.

We chose Den Laman and BDA.
 
3 of us are going to Bonaire for first time in May. In looking at some other posts, I see good things written about many places, but Buddy's, Captain Don's and Den Laman seem to stand out.

Any suggestions on choosing between the three? We'll spend what we need to, but see no reason to spend more if we don't need to. Criteria that we are looking for include:

1) Decent rooms with a/c throughout
2) Restaurant/bar choices on site or close
3) Good access to shore diving

Also, does it make sense to do the packages with 1 boat dive every day, or should we just do a shore diving package and add a boat dive or 2 a la carte?

Thanks,
Dave

We were just in Bonaire last June and stayed at Buddy's and loved it. They do not have a/c throughout room, only bedroom, but we were rarely in the room so it was fine. In fact, we actually turned off the a/c at night as it got too cold for us. Only the last day (when we weren't diving and core temp was back up to normal) did we feel hot at all.

We stopped over at Cap't Don's one night for dinner to check it out - hotel looks very nice, restaurant was nice, dive shop didn't appeal to us as it is hard to access and gets bad reviews. Staff at hotel/restuarant seemed rude.

Sand Dollar/Den Laman share the same area of beach right next door to Buddy's. The reports that say that Bari reef has is the #1 for diversity crack me up. It is the same reef that extends on to Buddy's a few hundred yards north, and Cap't Don's a few hundred yards north of that.... its all the same. Having dived it daily for a week, I liked the area from Buddy's > to Capt Don's best. I think the only reason they get that rating is that Sand Dollar has the Reef count headquarters for the island - that means they get more people to do the survey who are staying there. Just my 2 cents about diversity. We saw incredible amounts of fish at every dive site, sometimes more of some species than others, but we saw everything in the fish id books over the week!

Buddy's is great for serious divers. It isn't fancy. The Lion's Den restaurant was fabulous and reasonable prices (compared with all the places on Bonaire, that is). Expect food to cost more and unless you tell them to hurry your food as you have a night dive they will take a few hours to serve you.

robin:D
 
I've never been to Bonaire, but one thing I always consider is the size of the resort/condo. A larger resort can mean longer walks from room to car/dive area. If you are carrying anything like a heavy camera or gear, a long walk can get tiresome later in the week after doing 4 dives everyday.
 
3 of us are going to Bonaire for first time in May. In looking at some other posts, I see good things written about many places, but Buddy's, Captain Don's and Den Laman seem to stand out.

Any suggestions on choosing between the three? We'll spend what we need to, but see no reason to spend more if we don't need to. Criteria that we are looking for include:

1) Decent rooms with a/c throughout
2) Restaurant/bar choices on site or close
3) Good access to shore diving

Also, does it make sense to do the packages with 1 boat dive every day, or should we just do a shore diving package and add a boat dive or 2 a la carte?

Thanks,
Dave

I have space at Buddys may 4-11..will pm you
 
I have been to all of them and the only one I now repeat at is Den Laman. EVERYTHING is a wash and no one resort does better than the others with a few minor details that really end up mattering.

1. Den Laman has BY FAR the best rooms. That can't be changed.
2. Den Laman is cheaper. That can't be changed.

Everything else is a wash and doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. You have a truck so drive to it if another place has it.

Do one boat dive to Klein and skip the package IMHO.

In the end, I rate Den, Buddy a close second, and Don's a distant third. Have fun cuz YOU WILL!!!
 
I have been to all of them and the only one I now repeat at is Den Laman. EVERYTHING is a wash and no one resort does better than the others with a few minor details that really end up mattering.

1. Den Laman has BY FAR the best rooms. That can't be changed.
2. Den Laman is cheaper. That can't be changed.

Everything else is a wash and doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. You have a truck so drive to it if another place has it.

Do one boat dive to Klein and skip the package IMHO.

In the end, I rate Den, Buddy a close second, and Don's a distant third. Have fun cuz YOU WILL!!!

I agree!
 

I wouldn't skip the package - 1 boat dive a day is good. Klein is very different from shore dives on the mainland. The reef at Klein is more of a long sloping wall, less "structures" but plenty of interesting things to see. Some nice areas right under the boat for safety stop too. Lots of frogfish and seahorses.

Plus the only way you can get to places like Rappel are from boat. I liked doing my one boat dive in the morning each day then heading out for shore dives.

I would not do ONLY boat dives though. Some of the best dives are shore only. So make sure you do both. :D
my photos and videos here:
<Ron & Robin's Bonaire Trip> <>Photos

Be sure to get on your dive shops list to do Town Pier and Salt Pier as soon as you get there. Those dives must be done with DM and by appt time (only a certain number of divers allowed per day) and so spots fill up fast. They can only be done with a ship is not at the pier also so not every day!

robin
 

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