Cost to dive Bonaire

[darook]

The Black Durgon location is awesome as is their shore dive but their 3 fills of air per day is a non-starter with me. My guess is that at some point in the not too distant future ownership will change and maybe modernize their approach. I wouldn't let anyone through to that beautiful site either, it is really exceptional.

 

[drrich2]

I dove Small Wall years ago by boat with Buddy Dive Resort; I liked it, but unless I missed something, it struck me as 'the Cliff' on steroids - basically a bit larger. I, too, was tempted by Black Durgon Inn, and put off by the 3 air fills/day.

Now, make it even cheaper and let me book my dive package with an outside operator, and that might be of interest...

Richard.

 

[Diving_Parrot]

I apologize for stating that very poorly, maybe I misunderstood something. It sounded like a youngster on a 2 week live aboard got in trouble for taking 1 dive off. I thought diving was supposed to be fun. Just my opinion. Carry on. Sorry.

 

[jimw]

I dove Small Wall years ago by boat with Buddy Dive Resort; I liked it, but unless I missed something, it struck me as 'the Cliff' on steroids - basically a bit larger. I, too, was tempted by Black Durgon Inn, and put off by the 3 air fills/day.

Now, make it even cheaper and let me book my dive package with an outside operator, and that might be of interest...

Richard.

Black Durgon does have a "vacationer" deal at $309./week/person room and breakfast.

3 tanks are not adequate for most plus one needs to tote'em from street level down to the dock. Stayed there twice, really liked the lounge area! In looking just now, I don't even see a diver price--just the vacationer....get a vehicle, maybe dive with Dive Friends, make a few dives out front=inexpensive vacay!

 

[bula2]

I have searched with no real success.
I'm trying to come up with an educated guess for a couple to spend a week there.

We have gear so don't need to rent that.

What I know: Airfare.
Dive and drive package. (Room, car, tanks and weights)
Car insurance $400?

What I don't know: Food. Probably eat out some and fix our own some.
Taxes and fees.
Gas.
Tips.
What else?
Any help will surely be appreciated!

Bonaire is GREAT!
Have you considered renting a house? We started doing that a few years ago and feel we come out on top financially. We can eat at home for some/many meals which is a huge savings as well as stocking up on adult beverages which are alot cheaper than buying them at the bars, (Bonaire has some fantastic food/beverage markets) You can shore dive on your own time, or book boat dives with whoever you want, whenever you want.
I wouldnt get the car insurance, if you use AmEx, your rental is covered by your credit card in Bonaire, (or at least the last time we rented in August)
The rest of your list has you pretty well covered for other expenses.
Enjoy your trip!!!

 

[Badhuntr]

Bonaire is GREAT!
Have you considered renting a house?

I had considered it but didn't chase it much. I did some looking on VRBO. Is there somewhere better?

Again, a big thanks to all for the sharing the great tips and information!​

 

[bula2]

I had considered it but didn't chase it much. I did some looking on VRBO. Is there somewhere better?

Again, a big thanks to all for the sharing the great tips and information!​

There are a few places you can browse...HomeAway, and VRBO are two standard ones, but we list our rental villa with a company on the island calledParadise Rentals....They are great and have lots of properties to choose from
Paradise Rentals: Bonaire Vacation Rentals

Good luck, let me know how you make out!

 

[wwguy]

I wouldnt get the car insurance, if you use AmEx, your rental is covered by your credit card in Bonaire, (or at least the last time we rented in August)

Sorry to be pedantic but your choice of words is a bit misleading. We've discussed this topic repeatedly in this forum previously, but there appears to be several new folks in this thread so I'll cover the highlights again.

If you choose to use the Amex Premium Rental Car Protection insurance (the only Amex insurance applicable to rental trucks on Bonaire) you should consider the following:

• Insurance isn't automatically included with the card. You need to have a qualifying Amex card, enroll in the optional insurance program, and pay a $25 fee for every rental period up to 42 days maximum.
  
• The insurance does not cover the rental vehicle, but rather will reimburse you (not the rental company) for qualifying claims for damage or loss of the vehicle. This means you'll have to pay the rental company directly for total damages or vehicle loss while you're on the island, and then seek reimbursement from Amex later.
• Most rental companies want to be sure that they will be reimbursed immediately, and not have to engage in extended haggling etc. over payment of damages, so they require renters to purchase their CDW policy that pays claims directly to the rental company.
• Few rental companies on the island accept American Express cards, and fewer yet permit waiving their CDW policies. Last time I checked Telerin and Avis were the only companies that allowed both, but there may be one or two more.

I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't use this coverage. I think it's actually a great value and I've used it several times myself. But anyone considering using it should be aware that they're still personally responsible for paying the rental company directly and immediately for any damage or loss of the vehicle.

 

[boat sju]

Personally, I've decided it's worth $19/day just to buy the full insurance from AB. That includes a second driver and you don't have to inspect the vehicle picking it up or dropping it off. One less thing to worry about.

 

[bula2]

Sorry to be pedantic but your choice of words is a bit misleading. We've discussed this topic repeatedly in this forum previously, but there appears to be several new folks in this thread so I'll cover the highlights again.

If you choose to use the Amex Premium Rental Car Protection insurance (the only Amex insurance applicable to rental trucks on Bonaire) you should consider the following:

• Insurance isn't automatically included with the card. You need to have a qualifying Amex card, enroll in the optional insurance program, and pay a $25 fee for every rental period up to 42 days maximum.
  
• The insurance does not cover the rental vehicle, but rather will reimburse you (not the rental company) for qualifying claims for damage or loss of the vehicle. This means you'll have to pay the rental company directly for total damages or vehicle loss while you're on the island, and then seek reimbursement from Amex later.
• Most rental companies want to be sure that they will be reimbursed immediately, and not have to engage in extended haggling etc. over payment of damages, so they require renters to purchase their CDW policy that pays claims directly to the rental company.
• Few rental companies on the island accept American Express cards, and fewer yet permit waiving their CDW policies. Last time I checked Telerin and Avis were the only companies that allowed both, but there may be one or two more.

I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't use this coverage. I think it's actually a great value and I've used it several times myself. But anyone considering using it should be aware that they're still personally responsible for paying the rental company directly and immediately for any damage or loss of the vehicle.

I can only speak to our personal experiences renting trucks and sorry I missed the numerous coverage's of the topic! On Bonaire, we always rent with avis, and the one time we did have an issue with someone hitting the truck, while it is true, they wanted instant reimbursement from us, American Express advised us in "real time" on the phone, to charge the card for the expenses and they would handle it from there end". So yes technically we did have to pay Avis for said damage, on paper anyway.....but no money ever left our checking account to cover the damages, that was all done seamlessly through american ex. and by our next billing cycle it was all settled.
Good luck to whatever choices you make! I'ts all good on Bonaire