Plaza Resort in Bonaire

[tendi]

Great minds think alike! I have also been looking at this deal. It seems like the AI option is worth it even if you go out to eat several times. I've heard it can be expensive to eat on Bonaire? Also, can anyone comment on the sand flea/mosquito situation? I've heard different things. We love Roatan but hesitate to go back only because of the sand fleas.

 

[herbdb]

We had absolutely no problems with bugs of any sort during our visit last June. It could be seasonal. We will be on Bonaire next week and will see how it is during winter.

 

[IanBrit]

I stayed at the Plaza with the family a few years back. I made sure that I maxed out on dive oppties along with one child, and my wife and other two kids found enough to do with lounging around the beach or geocaching elsewhere on the island. The resort was fine - good range of food plus the availability of home cooking in the apartments. No issues with the room - it overlooked one of the canals towards the rear of the resort and the beach was about 5 minutes walk away - no biggie. I would happily go back to the resort and dive Bonaire. Not sure there's enough left on the island for non divers to investigate however. Most of the diving was the classic shore diving and Toucan always had plenty of tanks available and the boat dive I did was well run. Gets my vote!

 

[tendi]

That's great to hear (about the lack of bugs). Our plan is to do a reconaissance trip in about a month (just my husband and I) and then possibly return this summer with the kids, who all dive. I think the idea of shore diving on our own sounds like fun adventure...we have only done boat dives in the past. I was thinking about renting a condo but I'm thinking we may get acclimated faster and be around more people that can help answer our questions if we stay at a dive resort?

 

[midas6t6]

We haven't had problems with sand fleas but mosquitos were a problem just about everywhere both trips - we went in September so it could be seasonal. You're right, being at a resort will give you more people to answer questions you may have and give recommendations. You could also post on the Bonairetalk form - BonaireTalk - as well as reseach current posts that may have information you're interested. I've also used it to arrange dive buddies since my wife doesn't dive.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

that package is great. it includes truck rental with the upgraded insurance. The meals takes a long to serve though, so when trying sneak a quick breakfast or lunch before boat dives, don't expect you to make it in time. You have to sign off on the check, so its not eat and run.

 

[RJP]

that package is great. it includes truck rental with the upgraded insurance. The meals takes a long to serve though, so when trying sneak a quick breakfast or lunch before boat dives, don't expect you to make it in time. You have to sign off on the check, so its not eat and run.

When I stayed there the breakfast buffet was "give them name and room number when you were seated" and then we just walked out when we were done.

Didn't eat any other meals there other than one dinner.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

we walked out after eating lunch once because we waited and waited and waited for our all inclusive bill and it wasn't coming and we had a afternoon boat dive to catch.

 

[South4Scuba]

We stayed at the Plaza Resort last October and we really enjoyed our stay. We got the all-inclusive package because it was just a little bit more expensive than the basic package. Why not pay about $150 more and get 3 meals a day and all the drinks you can hold! I can assure you we wore out the bar for our money. Food and drinks are very expensive in Bonaire and our bar tab alone would have been $500.

We got a newly renovated lagoon view Grand Suite. It was very nice. Ocean view would be nice, but it's somewhat more expensive.

We ordered lunch at the Coconut Crash bar almost every day. They don't mind bringing food out to the bar at all. Of course, we were on vacation and our dive day was usually done by lunch. . . thus the bar tab.

We ate breakfast each morning at the resort restaurant and they give you a certain amount of credit if you want to eat at the Tipsy Turtle. I think it covers about $35 of your meal which is about 75%.

Plaza is not a five star resort, but we found it clean, comfortable and fun. A good value for the package we bought.

 

[RTee]

I just returned from a two week diving trip in Bonaire. Our group consisted of 7 divers for the first week and 10 for the second. We elected to rent a villa and then buy our own food and beverages from the supermarkets and take care of our meals. It worked out very well because we ended up eating what we wanted when we wanted and where we wanted. Some days lunch were mid-afternoon and dinners were late at night because of the diving sites we chose. I went there for diving and on average did a minimum of three dives a day. For a place such as Bonaire I would hate having to plan my diving around meal timings.