Flying into Bonaire

[scottb27]

Just looked at the insel out of charlotte. I could fly down, but there is no return flight to charlotte on saturday. I could do the via miami for much cheaper than the delta flight.

So I can do the united for points and fly overnight or the IAD - Mia and then hop an insel flight for about 800 bucks. Much better than Delta's 1200

 

[Bryan Cunningham]

Insel fly from Miami and Charlotte with a stopover in Curacao. They also allow 10kg/22lbs extra free baggage for SCUBA gear. They depart daily.

 

[diversteve]

One other option is United for points to Aruba then Tiara Air over and back. I used 8/10 since you didn't specify.

Tiara has workable flights in both directions. - looks like a 2.5-3hr. layover in Aruba each way. 7 hrs. out/10 hrs. back total from IAD.
Also a non-stop flight from IAD. Timetable | Tiara Air Aruba

Total cost if you can get the United flight on points - $206 r/t on Tiara Air.
Hopefully you can, it's about their cheapest flight that day.

I should've been a travel agent...lol

 

[breckgirl5]

I got this from Andy at Bonaire Pros.. the white paper may help.

FLIGHTS - Bonaire is not the easiest place to get to. So we created a helpful guide to steer you through the best options. It's free and you can download a PDF version at http://www.bonairepros.com/Flights-to-Bonaire-Whitepaper.pdf ... for current lowest available fares, check direct on any of the airline websites as noted in the guide using the days of operation detailed. Let me know what dates you find suitable flights.

 

[herbdb]

Go for the Redeye. Have the booking agent (Andy at Bonaire Pros can do this) get guaranteed early check-in at the hotel. I love this option.

Arrive about 5AM, pick up rental truck check into room for a short nap, breakfast at 8:00, make the mandatory dive orientation briefing (usually around 9:00) and you are ready to dive. You can go diving immediately or if you need it get a longer nap then catch a couple of afternoon or night dives on Saturday.

The return flight leaves late enough that you can get some Morning dives and still have 18+ hours before departure.

 

[kpickerell]

We're going to Bonaire in August as well, but found that the air from New Orleans and Houston was outrageously expensive. So we got creative. It may be a pain in the a**, but we booked it to Curacao for $480, then are taking a puddle jumper to Bonaire for $94 round trip. Not ideal, but we saved almost $300 per person.

 

[DiveMaven]

The only problem with the puddle jumpers is that their weight restrictions for carry ons and baggage may be considerably different than the big jets will allow. You'll want to make sure you understand the weight restrictions and stay within them. Also I've heard many stories of canceled flights on the puddle jumpers to and from Bonaire, so hopefully all will go smoothly for you!

 

[Gdog]

Yeah, have been trying to decipher Insel Airs baggage chart. Looks like we booked on an F50, with limited baggage of x1 bag @44lbs ea free. Also there is a section that states scuba gear has an extra allowance of 22lbs ea, but looks like scuba gear must be in its own baggage? Also I see references to bag size limits, but cannot see those limits. Any input? We typically take a dive bag each, with weight around 44 lbs. In addition we take one suitcase, and a carry on each. I see the size limits on the carry ons, which isnt very big.