Divi Flamingo Bonaire - Opinions

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USC8791

Contributor
Messages
143
Reaction score
143
Location
Raleigh, NC
# of dives
200 - 499
Planning to visit Bonaire in March or April and am thinking about staying at the Divi Flamingo. Opinions on any aspects of the resort from lodging to dive ops and everything in-between? Thanks!
 
Never stayed there but so far I have not heard anything negative about them. I try to keep up on all things Bonaire. You may also try going to the Bonaire board and doing some searching there. I know lots of people stay there and have posted comments on Div, I don't recall anything bad lately. I would suggest that if you do find something negative, put it in perspective. If I see 1 bad comment and 100 good ones I tend to believe the trouble may not have been the resort :)
Bonaire Talk - The place to discuss everything and anything about Bonaire!
 
We like the Divi because of its proximity to the downtown and the various restaurants, etc. This doesn't matter much if you plan to get a rental vehicle and do mostly shore diving, which is what many people want. We prefer to do daily boat trips augmented by dives on the house reef and not having to drive anywhere. The shore dive at Divi is very convenient. The AM boat trips are 2-tank trips as opposed to many other operators who do almost all 1-tank trips. This cuts down a little on your flexibility but overall works well.
 
I have stayed at Divi a couple times and really enjoyed it. Even when I don't stay there I stop in and say hi to Serge, the dive shop manager...really nice guy. Hubert, one of the bartenders at Chibi Chibi is also extremely nice and funny!

It is a great place to stay. Seeing the KLM flight attendants topless on the beach there is also a benefit, but I wouldnt stay there based on that...well ok...maybe I would. :)
 
We stayed at Divi in August 2007 and loved it.
Things to consider: 1. room with or without kitchen (we took w/kitchen), in August difference was about $30 (90/120). Rooms with kitchen overlook pool with some distant ocean view. Some rooms w/o kitchen have much better ocean view but can be a little wet during occasional storm.
2. to rent a car or not. We did and did mostly shore dives and one morning 2 tank boat dive. Car rental is on properties what was convenient because we arrived at 5 am and airport car rent opens at 8 or 9am
3. to buy groceries or to eat out. There are 2 supermarkets on a walking distance, although probably too far to carry stuff back to the hotel. Plenty of restaurants on a walking distance with food from average to good.
4. Dive shop is good (even though I did only one trip with them) dive master found 2 seahorses and one frogfish, something I wasn’t able to find on my own. Otherwise you will see the same on shore or boat dives (to Klein). If you take tanks on a shore dives check pressure and o-ring to avoid surprises. House reef is pretty good but reefs outside city limits (north, south or Klein) are better, especially upper parts of the reef.
 
Planning to visit Bonaire in March or April

My wife and I will be @Divi March 23-30,2008. We were there last July and really liked Divi. We had an Oceanfront room (nice, nothing special other than view). Property clean, dive shop good, equip lockers, awesome. Lockers on dock, suit up and GS right there. Good house reef, saw seahorse, eagle rays, tarpon, and hawksbill turtle within 100 ft from dock, they said there is an octopus under dock but we couldn't find it. Rented a car for a few days to venture out but this time renting a truck to explore more. Enjoyed walking distance to town and resturants. Had a blast and are really looking forward to March.:14:
 
lunch is great at the chibi-chibi...dinner i wasn't so impressed with. They have a nice bar...good breakfast. I am not sure how their tanks are set up now...before they were all down at the dock...not sure they have one you can pull up to now. Its been a few years since I stayed there. I really like the set up at Buddy dive, as far as tanks.

in any case, being in Bonaire...it will be great no matter what. :)
 
Didn't stay at the Divi but had dinner at Chibi Chibi, checked out the casino, and walked around the grounds a bit. Dove the house reef...the 18th palm. Dinner was good and the grounds were nice....plenty to do.Bonaire is all about shore diving. Enjoy it and have a great vacation!
 
Didn't stay at the Divi but had dinner at Chibi Chibi, checked out the casino, and walked around the grounds a bit. Dove the house reef...the 18th palm. Dinner was good and the grounds were nice....plenty to do.Bonaire is all about shore diving. Enjoy it and have a great vacation!

18th palm is over at Plaza I believe,not Divi..Cannot remember the name of the house reef at Divi right now.
Now I remember,its Calabas reef..
 
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