Den Laman vs. Buddy's

[scubadobadoo]

Do yourself a favor and book the extra night if you are going to stay at Den Laman during peak months. It's a much smaller place than Buddy (and frequently books up) and that flight gets in EARLY so you run the risk of hanging out for a long while after a red eye flight. That doesn't sound fun at all. Not at all. That said, if it's off season, then you may be okay.

I have stayed at both buddy and den. I liked Buddy very much but honestly Den is so much cheaper, you get free nitrox, and the rooms are much nicer. Other than the price and the rooms, Buddy wins hands down. Better staff, nicer grounds, better restaurants on hand, rental trucks on hand, better dive op, better tank situation with the drive through area, better storage area for gear, pools, a nice bar, better storage hours, and so on...Buddy has it all down to a science. And the rooms at Buddy aren't horrible either. They are just fine.

Still, I'll take the nicer rooms and save several hundred at Den Laman cuz we only shore dive anyway. It depends on what you want I guess. Have fun ya'll and happy diving!

See ya at Den Laman in February of 2008!

 

[highlandfarmwv]

Buddy's web site says they are going to offer free Nitrox now.

 

[pediatron]

Well, the trip is all booked. Fly in early Sat am. Paid Den Laman the extra night for friday night and fly out the following sunday. Seven full days of diving -- yeah!
I'll let everyone know how smooth it goes when we get back in June. Thanks for all the helpful comments.

 

[scubadobadoo]

Well, the trip is all booked. Fly in early Sat am. Paid Den Laman the extra night for friday night and fly out the following sunday. Seven full days of diving -- yeah!
I'll let everyone know how smooth it goes when we get back in June. Thanks for all the helpful comments.

You will enjoy it! Den Laman is a nice little property and while it isn't as slickly run as Buddy, the "small condo" quality has its advantages over the larger sprawling Buddy dive property. You really can't go wrong with either place. That's the BEST part! It's a win win situation so congrats...YOU WON! lol

I do suggest you take a trip over to Buddy and have some dinner at the Lion's Den. Just because you aren't staying there doesn't mean you can't go and eat or dive there from shore. Same with Captain Don's or most of the other larger and popular resort type properties. However Captain Don's charges for shore dives from their dock...BOOH!

My last suggestion is to skip all those boat dives you may want to book and just go SHORE DIVE! One of the only complaints I EVER hear in Bonaire at the end of the week is..."Geeh, I really wish we would have gone out and done more shore diving because I really liked that. Why did we book 20 boat dives? We never even used them all."

 

[scubadobadoo]

Just for the record, a friend just returned from Buddy this week and didn't book the extra day on the front end of her vacation and couldn't get into her room until the afternoon. When I stayed at Buddy they did let me in early without charging me as did Den Laman but it wasn't high season. SO, the end result is that both Den Laman and Buddy will let you in early without paying IF the room isn't occupied and assuming someone is working that early at the front desk. Happy diving all!

 

[piikki]

My gripe in this still is that while arriving on red eye I might very well opt on booking the previous night, I am not so sure I would on other flights. YET, I would very much like to have lodging where I can leave my luggage and valuables in a safe place to be able to go enjoying the first half a day. I do not know how common it is on Bonaire (as I am only going for my second trip) not to have the hotel open 24hrs and/or not providing this service (or providing it but not necessarily trustworthy).

FYI, Den Laman charges full price for the previous night and has the same policy – if the room happens to be free you can have it (but not upon arrival from red eye – only when they open their office).

Does anyone know any “cheaper” options for arrival date crash-over?

 

[Diver Rick]

Does anyone know any “cheaper” options for arrival date crash-over?

Like I said, Sand Dollar had all of this covered, and NO extra charges!

We arrived onsite around 5:30 AM, and there was a security guard posted outside the closed office to greet us and hand over keys!

It couldn't have been more convenient. This was done for about 10 other couples that same morning.

 

[scubadobadoo]

Like I said, Sand Dollar had all of this covered, and NO extra charges!

We arrived onsite around 5:30 AM, and there was a security guard posted outside the closed office to greet us and hand over keys!

It couldn't have been more convenient. This was done for about 10 other couples that same morning.

That's because the rooms weren't occupied.

Almost all places will let you in free of charge assuming nobody is actually sleeping in your bed when you arrive.

 

[DiveMaven]

I reserved the room at Den Laman for the night before we arrive on the Continental red-eye to make sure we can get in early. I figure we're staying for 2 weeks and the cost of 1 extra night is nothing compared to the guaranteed convenience of being able to get into our condo right away.

 

[piikki]

I reserved the room at Den Laman for the night before we arrive on the Continental red-eye to make sure we can get in early. I figure we're staying for 2 weeks and the cost of 1 extra night is nothing compared to the guaranteed convenience of being able to get into our condo right away.

I agree that it's not worth wandering about bleary-eyed for half a day after a night flight. I would say though that it is even less appealing when you only have one week's holiday booked!! Can't waste time to get refreshed! I think DL is pretty much forcing the pay for the previous night unless you want to ruin the first day wondering if the room happens to be free for you.

Last time (April 2007) they offered the "get in room early if it's free" for everybody (no guarantee but if you got lucky they were there). This time we got a paper with our bill telling that if you have not paid for the night before the door will stay closed for you upon arrival. This way you cannot get rid of your stuff until the office opens at 8 am. They will only come to let in the ones who paid.