First time to Bonaire-Buddy Dive in January

[DonnaC]

So excited to be going to Bonaire. After reading many posts I decided to go with Buddy Dive, 1 bdrm apt. Any suggestions on room to request? Also, we went to Hawaii for many years and stopped bringing bc's and regs (bulky, extra baggage), last year in Cozumel the gear was iffy at best. Any thoughts on renting vs. paying for extra baggage? We always bring suit, fins, mask, snorkel. Also, I'm a little apprehensive about shore diving with my housed slr -haven't been shore diving in 20 years!!! Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[oly5050user]

I never used rental gear at Buddy's but I do know that Augusto,the dive op manager, tries to keep it all relatively new and in good shape.Gear may be Cressi gear if I remember correctly.Jacket type bcds and shorty wet suits for the most part.. We bring all our gear down and have it to a system and never have to pay any extra baggage fees.Thats 2 full sets of gear,2 or 3 camera systems.Do not overpack with excess clothing.You will not need it. Entire island very casual .Shore diving with housed slr no issue at house reef ..Any questions feel free to pm me .Visiting Bonaire many years .Lost count after 15 visits.

 

[driftwood]

Buddy's is comprised of two resorts, Buddy's and Lion Dive. Get a room on the Buddy's side. They are much nicer.

 

[helimvee]

I always take my own gear including a video setup. Never a problem. When you are spending that much money to take a dive trip, what is another $50 or $100 for baggage fees? As oly5050user said, take less clothing and more dive gear.

Rental gear can be the bottom of the line or the best money can buy, that is not really what is important. The real issue is who used it last ... and the time before that .... and the time before that. I am not aware of any shop on Bonaire that services their scuba gear after every rental period. That means the water and salt that was left on/in the reg gets to sit there for hours/days.

Having watched divers abuse rental gear and then having it simply hung up in the rental locker is enough to turn me off from ever using rental gear (I am referring primarily to regs and to some extent BPW/BCD.) I would buy a new reg on island before using a rental one.

As for the shore diving with an SLR, don't worry about it. If you are concerned about a certain entry, just drive down the road to an easier one. There are plenty that are a simple walk in or ladder climb. Just take your time and shuffle, don't step, as there are holes and loose rocks. Always check out the entry before suiting up and when diving the southend use your truck as a marker to remember where the entry/exit point is. Sometimes 5 or 10 feet one way or the other can make a huge difference in how easy it is to exit. Bring a cheap flag or some ribbon to tie onto your vehicle so you know which one is yours. It is amazing how many white, beige or green trucks can appear on the shoreline within minutes.

Have a great trip.

 

[oly5050user]

Buddy's is comprised of two resorts, Buddy's and Lion Dive. Get a room on the Buddy's side. They are much nicer.

Sort of..Lions dive is long gone.the property is now Buddy dive...When you get a room it is usually up to the resort on what you get...Buddy dive does not take requests for specific room location.On the bright side , rooms on both side have been undergoing renovations.

 

[driftwood]

Sort of..Lions dive is long gone.the property is now Buddy dive...When you get a room it is usually up to the resort on what you get...Buddy dive does not take requests for specific room location.On the bright side , rooms on both side have been undergoing renovations.

That was what our travel agent heard a couple years ago. We stayed on the Lion's side in '08 and our room was pretty decrepit. Mold, pealing paint, broken furniture, leaking faucets, "sewer gas" in the bathrooms (probably a bad vent) were the major problems. For the amount of money they charge, better to pitch a bitch and stay on the Buddy's side of the resort.

Buddy's did buy the Lion's side of the resort. I should have used "former" when referring to that side.

 

[DeputyDan]

That was what our travel agent heard a couple years ago. We stayed on the Lion's side in '08 and our room was pretty decrepit. Mold, pealing paint, broken furniture, leaking faucets, "sewer gas" in the bathrooms (probably a bad vent) were the major problems. For the amount of money they charge, better to pitch a bitch and stay on the Buddy's side of the resort.

Buddy's did buy the Lion's side of the resort. I should have used "former" when referring to that side.

I have stayed on both sides.

I would go back and stay on the old Buddy Dive side in a second.

If I knew I was going to be staying on the old Lion's Den side I would cancel and stay somewhere else.

They may have updated but I have not read any posts of people staying in an updated Lion's Den side unit and commenting on how good it was.

Outside of the issues with the Old Lion's Den property - Buddy Dive is a great dive resort!

 

[driftwood]

Actually I have heard some positive things about the renovated rooms. For the money, I am not willing to let Buddy's roll the dice for me regarding the room.