Plaza or Divi?

[jeepguy]

Looking for info and advice from anyone who has been to both. My wife, myself and another couple are going to Bonaire this July. We are between Plaza and Divi. Plan to shore dive other sites on the island but also looking for easy access to house reef and beach time. How do the two resorts compare other ways in your opinion?:14:

Tom

 

[Cecil]

My preference would be the Divi. We stayed at the Plaza the first trip, nice place but just way to big. It seems pretty much everything is a 10 minute walk away which got pretty old quickly. The Divi is much smaller with all the same stuff. The diving/snorkeling off both their beaches is great and pretty equavalent. The only drawback on the Divi is the beach is pretty small. If the beach is full it has a very nice pool that overlooks the ocean.

Some other advantages to the Divi, not near the airport so less noise, closer to town so many nice restraurants are walking distance away, and an on-site casino (the Plaza's casino is closed).

 

[padi1029]

I can't speak about the Plaza as I have never stayed there, but from the pictures I have seen it looks like a nice spot. I stayed at the Divi last year and will be going back this May. I really like it. The resort is large with 2 pools, a casino, 3 different sets of rooms sprawled across theh grounds, 2 restaurants, a little beach bar and a great dive op Divi Dive. Service was GREAT, staff very friendly and accommodating. If you are expecting a big resort feel, not the place for you. But if you want a nice, relaxing, non-corporate place to stay Divi is the spot. The resort is just a few minutes from the airport and a few minute walk to downtown. Lots of great cafes and restaurants between the resort and downtown. The one thing I was disappointed in was the size of the resort beach...it is small.

The dive Op Divi Dive is set up at the far end of the resort. They will provide you with a locker to keep your dive gear in, BRING YOUR OWN LOCK. They have locks you can buy but they are small and not great...like a luggage lock. The gear lockers are on a the resort dive pier with 2 large sets of stairs for easy entry/exit for diving..or you can just stride off the pier ledge. The house reef is about 20 yards form the end of the pier so reef diving is a snap. 24 hour access to your gear & tanks (they secure the tanks after sunset so if you plan on making a late night dive or early AM dive just take a couple tanks and put them in your locker...the lockers are large so space is not an issue) Boat dives are just as easy...the boats are large and spacious, most have a covered deck so you can escape the sun if you choose. the crews I have had have been great. Although I didnot do any shore diving (except for a few dives on resort house reef) it seems like no matter where you stay it is easy. If you are interested, I may have some photos form trip last year I can email you. Enjoy your trip.

 

[jeepguy]

I If you are interested, I may have some photos form trip last year I can email you. .

Thanks for the info, guys. yes, if can send photos that would be great. PS. did you feel safe leaving euipment in the provided lockers?
jeepguy@optonline.net:14:

 

[Scubagal]

While I can't comment on the Plaza Resort, we enjoyed our recent stay at the Divi. Here's a link to my trip report with some topside and underwater pictures: Bonaire Trip Report. Wish I was there right now (sigh)...

 

[padi1029]

I didn't worry about the gear. I took my regs back to the room each night, mostly to log the dive from my computer to book but also for security. Otherwise I left everything else in the locker. You will probably want to bring your wet suit and other stuff back to the room every couple days and wash it out with warm, fresh water to reduce stink, otherwise keep all else in locker.

 

[padi1029]

Scubagal, thanks for the great trip report. I will be goinng back to Bonaire and the Divi for only the second time, and your report gave me a couple good suggestions. I had a horrible experience with Air Jamaica when leaving Bonaire last year and will neverr fly them again. I will be taking continental overnight direct to Bonaire and hope my flight experience is a good as your was. Thanks for the great pics, makes me remember hoe wonderful a place Bonaire & the Divi are. You are right about the rooms could use a little more TLC but they are not run-down or poor by any means. Last year I stayed in a standard room near the fitness room, this year I am staying in one of the studios near the dive shop. Casablanca is a great place to eat, as are the numerour little restaurants and cafe's within walking distance to town. One question, was Pepe still on the dive crew staff?

 

[djac5700]

Jeep guy -

I can't speak to the Plaza either...

I stayed at the Divi Flamingo last year and enjoyed my time there, but I will be at the Den Laman when I return in 1.5 months. If you are looking for "resort" style accomodations, then the Divi is definitely appealing for the reasons mentioned above. I found the property beautiful and conveniently located. I just didn't find myself making much use of the pools or casino - I was there to dive. You did mention wanting some beach time, which is a pretty limiting criteria in Bonaire from my experience, but the Divi does have a small beach. I will also say that I wasn't all that impressed with the rooms. The view from an ocean front room is phenomenal, but the make-up of the room was pretty basic. If you are going to book at Divi, I recommend asking for an oceanfront room closer to the dive shop.

If you will be on a shore diving package (I hope so!), I recommend shopping around. The house shop at Divi was more than double the price of Bonaire Dive & Adventure for a week of tanks. I still used the Divi lockers for my gear, but went with the cheaper option. If you're renting a pick-up truck, it's really not a big deal to go with another shop where you can just pull up and (gently) throw in your tanks. There are plenty of options close by...

I find that overall, you are definitely paying a premium for having the resort amenities, which I just didn't find myself making much use of. To each his own...

I've attached some of my favorite sunset pics from my trip last year. I took all of them at the Divi. (Last one was from my room's balcony) I have plenty more from other times of day - just let me know if you'd like to check them out. (BTW - the real pics are not that soft - it's just the conversion/compression )

Padi - I'm doing the Continental direct from Newark this year. SO glad it's available. HATED my DC -> Miami -> Curacao -> Bonaire trip last year, had a bad experience on the way back.

 

[cneal]

We've stayed at the Plaza twice and will be returning in September. We have found the grounds are well maintained, rooms large and clean, and the staff friendly. The on site dive op (Toucan Divers) is a very well done professional operation.

The one complaint on the Plaza I hear that can't be denied is that the grounds are large. If you go for a quiet Grand Suite away from the pool and beach bar you will have a walk to get to your car. A pleasent walk on a shaded brick walkway, but still it will take a few minutes. If you get a Junior Suite between the pool and the dive shop, your car will not be far, but the noise level will be higher. Airport noise will be louder if you are in the villas on the backside of the property. The oceanview suites are further away from the airport and the windows face away from the airport. Staying in the suites we have never had a problem with the airplanes.

I would suggest requesting an upstairs suite for balcony security. Just as you wouldn't leave gear out on a ground floor balcony in the states, you shouldn't there. (And not just at the Plaza.)

You should have a great time either place you chose.

 

[lmorin]

As has been said, Plaza is bigger than Divi. We were in a suite on the airport side. Air traffic noise was absolutely NOT a problem. One in our group had been to Divi previously and actually liked the larger size of Plaza. I felt the long walk from the suite to the dive op got a little tedious (although there were birds, lizards, crabs and fish to see on the way), especially on the two occasions I forgot something and had to run back. Non-suite rooms facing the beach (nice beach) and ocean are much closer to the dive shop. Toucan Divers was great. DMs were very helpful, but not in an over-solicitous fashion, and had a good sense of humor. There were two entrances to the house reef, one at each end of the resort site. The dive op would truck your gear to either place, if asked. That allowed, in essence, 3 totally different dives: a north and south from one end, and a south from the other. The house reef was not particularly great compared to other dives in Bonaire, but that was where we saw our one frogfish. Have fun!