Coral Paradise in Bonaire -- What do you think?

[Diving Canuck]

Hello fellow divers,

I am thinking about booking a trip to Bonaire this winter. I have come accross a resort called Coral Paradise. Trip Advisor rates it highly.
I was wondering if anyone here has stayed there and what they thought of it.

If anyone has other strong recommendations for another place, I would be happy to hear about them. I have heard a lot about Buddy Dive, but the reviews seem mixed.

Thanks for your help.

 

[cleomagic]

My husband and I have stayed at Coral Paradise 4 times, and will be spending a 5th vacation there in a month. as for if you will like it, it depends on what you are looking for. Coral Paradise has only 6 rooms, so the place is not crowded and you will get to know the people that are staying there. I have also felt very safe staying there - there is a gate that goes around the perimeter of the property and they lock it when the sun goes down. We have never had a problem with theft.

Each room has it's own full kitchen - we go out and buy food for breakfast and dinner. Normally we are out and about during the day, so we do not plan to be back at lunch time.

Kenny and Margaret are a great resource for where to go, places to eat, dive sites they would recommend. So far, they have never steered us wrong. Last time we were there was had an issue with the AC. As soon as we told Kenny about it, he had someone out there fixing it, and we had cold air by the time we were back from diving.

They are not ocean front - so the view from your room is the pool and the house Kenny and Margaret are building. You won't be able to see the gorgeous Caribbean sunsets from your porch.

We have no complaints - been very happy staying there and it is the reason why we are going back.

Hope that helps

 

[djtimmy77]

We've been there twice now, use Buddy for the drive through tank service, and used Capt Don's for the single boat dive we did.

Absolutely will return again on our next trip.

 

[CoralSea Apartments]

Hi Diving Canuck, I'm from NB and living in Bonaire. One thing I can really recommend to do when you're down here is to dive through Dive Friends Bonaire.....super friendly, professional and their multiple locations make picking up and dropping off tanks easy. All the shore diving is world class, but don't miss the Hilma Hooker (wreck dive), if you want to snorkel in a beautiful little aquarium, try Bari Reef. Where to stay?? Look around on line, but think if you want to be in a larger resort with all the facilities but busy or in a smaller place which is more homey. Also is it important to be on the water or will you have enough water every day....You'll need a 4 door pick-up truck for sure....smaller companies are cheaper and good. Hope to bump into you when you're down here!

 

[CajunDiva]

We have stayed at Coral Paradise Resort and can't recommend it highly enough! The resort is well managed and the amenities are well thought out. They arrange for transportation from the airport and your rental vehicle is already waiting for you at the apartment when you arrive. We loved everything about our stay and are trying to plan a return trip as soon as we are able.

When you book through Coral Paradise Resort you can choose a dive package with either Captain Don's or Buddy Dive. (Both are next door to the resort) We chose Buddy Dive because of the free nitrox and drive through tank pick-up/return. We also REALLY enjoyed the shore diving at Buddy...great stuff!

You really can't go wrong with Coral Paradise Resort...GREAT people

 

[Tunaman68]

We loved Casa Calexico for a small guest house with awesome clean rooms and amazing personal service. They arranged a package deal including truck, nitrox, and they pick you up and drop you off at the airport. It's not on the water (2 blocks away), but is close to town, grocery stores, and super convenient to the southern sites. We missed interacting with other divers (casa only has 5 rooms and two were taken by non diving families on vacay from Europe), and next time we might stay at Captn Don's so we have a house reef to fall off the dock and dive on, but for clean simple and VERY affordable accommodations, Casa Calexico was great!

Casa Calexico | Your Guesthouse on Bonaire

If you go with them, ask for Dive Friends to be the dive op vs. their preferred Wannadive (just IMHO) we used both and preferred Dive Friends both for shop/location and for the boat dives.

Bonaire is a BLAST!

 

[tkaelin]

We stayed at CP 3 times and we enjoy it. Small, comfortable and Kenny and Margaret are great. Short walk to Capt Dons if you dive with them. If you need a resort with staff, amenities and lots of people around, a beach and a view, you may want to look elsewhere. We enjoy the size. 6 units and a pool. Most times of the day you can have the pool and place to yourself. We enjoy the late afternoons when folks seem to congregate around the pool and share a beverage and stories of the days diving.

 

[ENPDiver]

Canuck,

I would highly recommend Beachcombers Villa. It is ran by a Canadian couple and it is right on the water (front of Cliff reef) and next to Captain Dons. We stayed there last September, we were complete noobs (10 dives total) @ the time and were quite concerned about shore diving on our own. Tim (owner..former DM Instructor) really took care of us when we identified to him we were new at this, he basically suggested all of the dive sites to us in incremental difficulty level (daily)and even drove out with us to our first site and walked us through the basics of Bonaire shore diving. The villa is located next to Dive Friends (1 min walk) which made it easy to pick up and drop of the tanks.
Being right on the water with a huge balcony (Webber bbq) and watching sunsets over while sharing dive stories with Tim and Leane are one of the best memories from Bonaire.
Just read through some of the reviews to get a better idea of what the place is.

PM if you have any other questions...I am also in T.O

 

[wwguy]

Canuck,

I would highly recommend Beachcombers Villa. It is ran by a Canadian couple and it is right on the water (front of Cliff reef) and next to Captain Dons. We stayed there last September, we were complete noobs (10 dives total) @ the time and were quite concerned about shore diving on our own. Tim (owner..former DM Instructor) really took care of us when we identified to him we were new at this, he basically suggested all of the dive sites to us in incremental difficulty level (daily)and even drove out with us to our first site and walked us through the basics of Bonaire shore diving. The villa is located next to Dive Friends (1 min walk) which made it easy to pick up and drop of the tanks.
Being right on the water with a huge balcony (Webber bbq) and watching sunsets over while sharing dive stories with Tim and Leane are one of the best memories from Bonaire.
Just read through some of the reviews to get a better idea of what the place is.

PM if you have any other questions...I am also in T.O

For your viewing pleasure, this morning's view of The Cliff dive site from the BCV balcony terrace...

 

[ENPDiver]

For your viewing pleasure, this morning's view of The Cliff dive site from the BCV balcony terrace...

I HATE YOU!!!! aka I'M REALLY JEALOUS

P.S Sending my best to Tim and Leanne.