Den Laman, Bonaire

[DiveMaven]

Man I just missed you..I was at the Sand Dollar, but they use the same lockers and dive shop...

Say Hi to Eddy and Sonia - the breakfast people.... Tell 'em Todd said Hi....!! just left on the 28th...

Go eat at Loves Ice Cream out in front in the Supermarket..Let me know if the owner is still building the shelves along the wall.

He and I had a big debate about US politics, Iraq, and Soccer..!

I suggest the Cherry Brandy Ice cream.

Sorry to have missed you too! We aren't doing the breakfast thing, but the Reef restaurant closed a couple of days ago "for the season". The rumor mill says they are being taken over (again) by a new local chef who will improve the menu, but the staff told us the owner closes during July for vacation. I'm leaning toward the first reason they are closed.

We haven't made it to Lover's Ice Cream yet, but plan to do that soon.

 

[alashas]

My 2 brothers and I stayed in the 2 bedroom Tarpon Unit in April, 2007, and thought it was a very pleasant place, although the beds were a bit too firm for us. Everything worked well, including the AC. And yes, there are 2 bathrooms in the 2 bedroom units, but no curtains in showers. Views were great from the top floor unit. We kept most of our dive gear in locker room at BDA, but we did bring our masks, regs and cameras into the unit. We also hung our wetsuits on the balcony chairs a couple of times when the BDA locker was fairly full.

Surprised to hear that the restaurant is undergoing a change in management. We ate several meals there during our 10 to 12 day stay and thought the food, as well as the service, was excellent.

Excellent diving at Bari Reef, and a very convenient location for night dives.

Here are a few photos:

And more photos here: http://honeymoon2.smugmug.com/gallery/2806189_TkHgh#149838273_4nThL

safe diving, alashas

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Thanks for the photos. Lot better than the ones on the website! Visiting in January and looking forward to the unit you stayed in.

 

[under water]

I would definitely leave BC and wetsuit in the storage room. I also kept my reg there, but you could easily bring it up to the room. Everything else goes up to the room.

The rooms are all tile, so wet stuff isn't much of an issue. We left most things on the patio each night instead of in the unit. No place to hang wetsuits in the units.

I think their bigger concern is people slipping on wet floors and stairwells.

Ditto ..
They are concerned about the stairs getting wet, and the potential of folks slipping, but we did , a few times, just leave our suits on and walk upstairs with our computer & regs and leave the rest of the stuff in the area downstairs if we were just taking a short surface interval.
The set up at Den Lamen is ideal. I have stayed there twice and would do it again. BDA is a great dive shop and Bari reef is wonderful for small stuff. You could spend the whole trip just doing Bari Reef. In fact on our second trip we found that we were spending a lot more time getting slower and slower exploring Bari and did not feel the need to drive elsewhere every dive. It has spoiled us somewhat how easy it is to dive from the dock there. You can sign up for a couple of boat dives if you feel the need to jump off a boat, but they pretty go where you can get to by car (except for Kleine Bonaire).
On our first trip we took Jerry's naturalist class and he pointed out the frogfish, seahorses and plenty of ther things that we were able to observe later by ourselves. Recommended.. it's a bit like school.. so if you liked school.. you will like the class.
I don't have a formal trip report, but here is a link to some of the stuff we saw there and our cave snorkeling adventure.

http://delargy.com/2007_09_Bonaire/Bonaire0709.htmhttp://delargy.com/2007_03_Bonaire/Bonaire.htm

Enjoy

 

[DiveMaven]

GREAT pictures, thanks so much for sharing them!

The Reef Restaurant now is closed with a sign that says it'll be open under new management on August 1. Guess the rumors were right.

I have to agree about Bari and going slow, also about taking Jerry's class. It was worth the time spent and he did point out some interesting critters on our dive with him. There currently isn't a known seahorse on Bari but there are 2 known frog fish, a pregnant female and a male hanging out waiting.

 

[TravelDave]

One note - don't put gear on a peg in the storage room that isn't yours (you are assigned one based on your diver number). I left a couple of items on a friends peg the day he checked out, and they had already reassigned the peg and removed my gear. (I first thought it was stolen, but they had it in the office)

 

[skynscuba]

I decided on Den Laman, but I won't get to enjoy it for 50 more days. (Flying out of Houston on 08/08/08; returning the 16th.)

BB and I just booked today, Den Laman at the same time as you. I think we are in 2D (Yellowtail). I wish I could have known my schedule earlier and saved some bucks.
We arrive on the mid-afternoon Delta flight from Atlanta.

~Gary

 

[ClayJar]

BB and I just booked today, Den Laman at the same time as you. I think we are in 2D (Yellowtail). I wish I could have known my schedule earlier and saved some bucks.

I'm not sure where we are. We've got a studio and a two-bedroom, so I guess "around" would be a good description. If you see a 6'2"-ish guy with a long ponytail braid and a backplate rig with bright pink webbing, there's an almost certain chance you've spotted me. :biggrin:

We arrive on the mid-afternoon Delta flight from Atlanta.

We're on the Continental red-eye, but I'm sure we'll all run into each other at some point.

 

[applebarnharry]

Bonaire is PHENOMENAL !!!!
Lots of diving.
Lots of bottom time.

We (4 of us) are going Sun Jan 30 to Feb 6th.
2 had to back out last minute.
LOOKING for 2 replacements.
Anyone want to go???????
Staying at Belmar Apts. includes rental truck.

Working with Island Dreams out of Texas for the best rate.

Please call me ASAP if you want to go and I will fill you in on costs and details.

Thanks
Harry Diamond
954-545-5141

 

[Scotttyd]

Bonaire is PHENOMENAL !!!!
Lots of diving.
Lots of bottom time.

We (4 of us) are going Sun Jan 30 to Feb 6th.
2 had to back out last minute.
LOOKING for 2 replacements.
Anyone want to go???????
Staying at Belmar Apts. includes rental truck.

Working with Island Dreams out of Texas for the best rate.

Please call me ASAP if you want to go and I will fill you in on costs and details.

Thanks
Harry Diamond
954-545-5141

random post reviving a 2 year old thread that this post is not even related to?