Going to Bonaire in January and need Recommendations for a Place to Stay and Dive!

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ekretchmer

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Messages
14
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Location
Highlands Ranch, Colorado, United States
# of dives
50 - 99
A friend and I are planning on going to Bonaire in January. We are looking at the following Hotels: The Plaza, Harbour Village Resort and the Divi Flamingo Beach Resort. We want to do a lot of diving plus relaxing. Therefore, we are looking for any feedback on any of the above Resorts as we are in the process of deciding where to stay. I like the All Inclusive concept, but that is only offered at The Plaza. I also like the idea of eating at different places in town at night time.

Any feelback and recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!
 
I would not rush back to Plaza. Too spread out and a long way from rooms to dive shop to house reef.
Divi is not bad; but house reefs at the northern resorts, Buddy Dive and Capt Dons, are IMO, quite a bit better. Divi is walking distance to town and restaurants. Buddy Dive and Capt Don's are not, but Buddy Dive has a dive and drive package.
First time on Bonaire you should definitely arrange for a truck for shore diving and sight seeing as well.

I have not stayed at Harbor Village so cannot comment.

One of the neat things about Bonaire is the fusion cuisine. I would certainly not limit myself to an AI.
 
You are spanning a pretty broad spectrum from a cost perspective with those three. The AI at Plaza is ok but the food gets really redundant and the booze is rail only. For Bonaire an ideal arrangement is having breakfast included and then on your own the rest of the day. In that case you need a kitchen or you are eating out a lot. Divi is the closest to town for walking into for dinner. January is the height of cruise ship season and they park right next to Divi so that could be a pain. I have not stayed at HV but it looks really nice and is generally considered the most expensive place on the island. Other places to consider are Buddy, Capt. Dons, Eden Beach, Hamlet Oasis and the many places you can rent through VRBO and AirBNB.

All of the dive operations have good air/Nitrox deals for shore diving. The boat diving separates them a bit more but that is not what Bonaire is about.
 
maybe define what you mean by "a lot of diving".

Divi has tanks and private gear lockers available 24 hours a day. So you can dive at any time you want. This allows a LOT of diving. It also means you are not tied to their shop hours. Divi has a breakfast plan that is okay. I would not eat lunch or supper there. The closest town restaurant is 1 block away. There is the sunshine mini market 1/2 block away. Downtown is less than 15 minute walk.

i can not comment on plaza or HV.

If you really want to do a lot of diving then you need to determine off hours access to tanks and gear storage.
 
I'll just add to what some of the others posted.

Harbour Village is the nicest resort on Bonaire. By far. They have their own dive operator but their shore dive is a small boat wreck and a bunch of coral rubble left over from a hurricane. They also have one of two of the better beaches on Bonaire - Plaza's being the other. It's pretty private - guests only mostly.

Plaza is a sprawling resort. The dive shop (Toucan Dive) is at the far south of the resort in the lagoon area you can see on an overhead view - their dive site 18 Palms is on the far north end just past the pool. They stage tanks there but you have to haul gear from the dive shop/boat dock/locker area to it. Sometimes an employee will take you with a golf cart. They do a really fun BBQ/steel drum band one night a week at Coconut Crash so even if you don't stay there, it's worth the trip.

The Divi has gone thru a recent remodeling. IDK the extent of it since a buddy was there during it but parts were off-limit that week. They also have the only Casino on-island althought it's pretty small. Also their house reef got trashed in a storm and the shallows pretty beaten up - IDK if it's recovered to the point it was 10 years ago. Unless they've done some massive remodeling the rooms were all pretty small and old. Also about 600 yards inland from the Divi are the two large markets on Bonaire.

As mentioned it's also really the only resort within walking distance of many of the downtown restaurants. The Plaza next but that's a hike. Unless they've improved it, Divi has a really small beach that's even narrower depending on the tide. Also if there is a cruise ship tied up, you can't dive north towards it. Find out if that conflicts with your plans here: Cruise TT : Your Cruise Ship And Port Timetable - Schedule for the Port Of Bonaire for January 2016

To do a "lot of diving" requires some planning. I'd look for a resort with a dive operator on site that has multiple shop locations. Driving back to the Plaza or the Divi each time to change tanks isn't optimal for that. Plus various resorts limit the amount of tanks you can take at one time. Some also don't care - two of us generally rode around with 6-8 tanks daily.

The best of those are Dive Friends since they have 4 tank exchange locations - at Hamlet Oasis (Cliff dive site) and Sand Dollar Resort (Bari Reef) north, at their Yellow Sub location in north Kralendijk and at Port Bonaire Condos nearest to the south side dives. Boats at Yellow Sub and Port Bonaire if you plan to do any of that. I would - almost 1/3rd of the dive sites are off Klein Bonaire and you can't get to Rappel and a few others any other way. Buddy's also does a 3-tank up to Slagbaai Park which saves having to navigate that area and risk a flat - it's pretty remote still.

Buddy's is also an option, they have the drive-thru at the main resort north of town plus a facility at Belmar condos which is probably the farthest south dive facility on Bonaire - closest to the start of all the good southern sites. If you stay at Caribbean Club condos on the far north side that's also a Buddy facility so you get to use the drive thru also. Just no boat there since it's inland a block. Wannadive is another option - their main shop/boats are on-site at Eden Beach and they have another tank exchange at Windsock Beach to the south.

Anything south of the airport is going to require a drive for all meals. Most are condo/villa properties so there's no food options on-site anywhere. Also check pictures carefully if your idea of relaxing includes a beach because some of the properties - including Belmar or Port Bonaire - don't have one. Also a few are on the other side of the road from the water.
 
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A couple of things I'd add to the above (all my opinions)

1. Rent a truck. A big part of the charm of Bon is diving where, when, and as long as you want. A truck s essential for that.

Its a small island, but not that small. And it's hot. Steves "a couple of blocks inland" to the grocery stores - if he's talking about van den tweel and warehouse - is a pretty good pull in the heat. Then you have to lug a case of beer back. Not for me.

2. I'd skip the AI and enjoy dinner in the many good places on Bon. Breakfast/lunch in the condo or room. You can manage the expense easily enough. There are plenty of relatively inexpensive eateries, and also places where you can drop some cash if you're so inclined.

3. When we started going to Bon we stayed in the resorts - the ones you're considering except HV - and a couple others to which the term "resort" might be loosely applied. We now stay in a VRBO apartment and like it a lot better. If it fits your style there are many such places, on the water and off, that you might consider.

4. I'll echo the dive friends recommendation.

5. We stayed at plaza our first 2 trips because we had two children and their 2 bedroom condos worked for us. The people were really great, and we liked it. But it is spread out.
 
We will be returning to Bon in Jan for our fourth family trip. To add to what has been said already and with the caveat that everyone, including divers on a dive vacation in Bon like to do things there own way to their own preference, I add the following. In a week trip, six days of diving, I usually dive 20-25 times which I consider a lot but others do more. AI is not the way to go as you will be spending way too much time trying to dive around meals. Also there are so many fun and interesting places to eat AI seems to be way too limiting. We stay at a place with a kitchen and never bother going out to breakfast. I usually get up, have a cup of coffee, do a sunrise dive and walk back to our place and grab/make breakfast. Another dive mid morning with the family, lunch either out or at our place and another two dives in the afternoon. Dinner out, take out or grill out where we stay. Usually a nite dive every other nite. We stay at Coral Pardise and dive Capt Dons and usually book a dive package with boat dives. We also have a truck and drive around for some shore diving, exploring the island and spending some time at Surf Place at Lac Bay when we are not diving. There are a number of great options on Bon for places to stay and dive ops to book with. Some prefer nothing but shore diving from a truck but my preference is to dive from the house reefs at Capt Dons which includes going down to Buddy's house reef and up to Cliff and Small Wall. I will do these dives at least once every day and sometimes 2 or 3 times. The amazing thing about diving Bon is the diversity of marine life concentrated in a relatively small area. You can dive the same site every day and see something different and exciting on each and every dive. We will also do 6 boat dives during the week and do some shore diving from the truck as well. Have a great trip
 
Eating out in Bonaire is a problem if you are a heavy eater. All the restaurants are expensive so the charm of Bonaire being a cheap destination disappears when you total the food bill towards the end of the week. Secondly, there is a grocery story from where you can buy groceries to cook for yourself but the charm of being on a vacation disappears when you are spending vacation time cooking.
 
Its a small island, but not that small. And it's hot. Steves "a couple of blocks inland" to the grocery stores - if he's talking about van den tweel and warehouse - is a pretty good pull in the heat. Then you have to lug a case of beer back. Not for me.
That was a stretch by me - it's actually 600 yds. from Divi's entrance to Van Den Tweel's. I wouldn't walk it either - that's why you rent a truck. We actually stay in Belnem so it's required for any sort of food gathering.

changed it.
 

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