Plaza Resort?

[SailNaked]

Whats the skinny? divers. good bad, easy, difficult? nitrox 24/7? what is the layout? how are the rooms? new/old? night diving in front? restaurants within walking distance? how are the truck rentals done? where are the tanks located? all the info I would need to make a decision between them and buddy dive please.(we went to buddy last time)

 

[reefdiva]

Plaza is quite spread out and you have to walk greater distances within the resort than at Buddy Dive. Buddy Dive is perfectly set up for shore diving because they have a true drive through for picking up tanks. Drive your pick up truck in and you are right next to the rinse tanks and the tank drop off/pick up. Lockers and tanks are conveniently located on the dock and night dives are super easy from Buddy because there is great lighting for your return. Both have on-site restaurants and while others are "walkable" you would probably want to drive.

 

[mbs]

Been there twice in the past year. Here's a link to the layout from their site: Bonaire Map, Bonaire Resort | Plaza Resort Bonaire . Yea it's a little spread out, but we didn't mind the walk. Locate toucan diving. Thats the dive shop with tanks and the boats leave from there. If you are shore diving at the house reef they leave tanks down by the swimming pool as well as over by the tipsy seagull restaurant. I dove air and dont recall the nitrox deal. You may need to get those from the shop itself. If you are picking up tanks you just back your truck up to the shop and load tanks. Rinse tanks are right there as well as lockers. Excellent dive op if you are using them for boat dives! We requested a standard suite closest to the dive shop. I believe we stayed in 2130 which is 2nd floor and appeared to have been recently renovated. This gave us a convenient location between the dive shop and the shore and close to the parking lot as well. ABC car rentals and I believe Total are right on site next to the dive shop. We booked thru ABC directly and were happy with them, but you can get a package. They have 2 restaurants on site which were ok, but pricey. Otherwise there are a couple walking distance and into town is a long walk. I haven't stayed at Buddys so can't compare for you. Hope this helped! Oh and we enjoyed it there

 

[RJP]

Figured I'd share the info I emailed you, in case anyone else is interested:

I really liked the Plaza Resort. Rooms were very large, comfortable, and clean. Decent sized mini-fridge. Our room was just refurbished (2008) with a giant bathroom, new tile flooring, and had pretty new furniture. We took a second floor room in the building nearest dive shop (same location that MBS mentions - possibly same room even) for "easy in, easy out" access to pick-up truck and dive shop. Also away from restaurants/bars from a noise standpoint. Sort of a hike to their beach/reef, but they have hand carts and tanks on the docks over there, so not an issue. (Unless you just want to dive their house reef all week!)

Second floor is key so you have a balcony to dry stuff on without tempting someone walking by. 2nd floor also has a cathedral ceiling, which makes room seem a little more "luxurious." (As much as you can get LUXURY in Bonaire.)

Breakfast buffet was good and plentiful in terms of both quantity and selection. We had two good dinners at their main restaurant and their two bars are sufficiently "lively" and "laid back" at the same time. Only downside I can see (and wasn't an issue for me) is that Plaza is not as close to downtown as Buddy, Divi, etc (not really walkable) but everyone rents a car anyway, so who cares!

Nitrox is not "technically" available 24/7 (air is) as the nitrox station is only open 8am-6pm or something like that. However, they have large dive lockers right next to the dive shop and my buddy and I would simply put a couple of Nitrox tanks in our lockers for our planned evening/early AM dives. They officially ask that you not take more than 2 nitrox tanks at a time, but one of the DMs told us not to worry about it as long as we we didn't stockpile the "empties" so we were regularly loading our truck with 3-4 tanks each to cover us for the better part of the day without needing to return to the resort. Definitely a boon if you're diving up north, especially in the park.

Can't think of anything else to tell you. Let me know if you have any/more specific questions...I'm happy to answer if I can.

 

[gypsyjim]

We have used Buddy a couple of times, and stayed elsewhere several more. This June we'll be trying the Plaza for the first time. Like Buddy's 24/7 air/nitrox, but we even figured a way around Den Lamen's early closing, so it's all good.

Thanks for posting this. It got me thinking ahead to June. How long til June now? Dam....way too long!

 

[mbs]

btw someone posted over in the general travel forum whats sounds like a great deal at the plaza - $700 for suite, truck, nitrox, 11 boats unlimited air! Apparently emailed from scubadiving mag. here's the link to the thread - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ge...ost-convenient-caribbean-destination-sfo.html

 

[RJP]

btw someone posted over in the general travel forum whats sounds like a great deal at the plaza - $700 for suite, truck, nitrox, 11 boats unlimited air! Apparently emailed from scubadiving mag. here's the link to the thread - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ge...ost-convenient-caribbean-destination-sfo.html

Yeah - pretty sure that was the genesis of this discussion.



It's a phenomenal deal - especially combined with enough OnePass miles - and I'm trying to figure out how to convice my wife that I MUST go!

 

[gbf]

Because we are a family of four we stayed in a 2-bedroom villa (lower left on the map), 1022 I believe. It was fine, plenty of pots&pans&dishes if you're so inclined. AC throughout if I remember correctly. King bed in master, two twins in the other.

Breakfast was good. They did a beach barbeque each week, and it was OK, but I'm a barbecue snob. There was a happy hour at the beach bar, but I don't remember if it was every day or just bbq day - in any case it was mobbed.

Since our two stays at the plaza we've stayed at Carib Inn, BelMar, and Black Durgon. Nothing wrong with the Plaza, but I preferred the compactness of the others.

As someone else pointed out, it can be a long hump around the property, especially from the villas to Toucan or to the beach. ++ if carrying gear.

There were always plenty of tanks at the pool and at Tipsy Seagull, and the drive-up loading was a breeze.

 

[bfisher]

Having stayed at both places the last few years I can only reiterate (?) what has already been said about the Plaza. Very nice and spacious rooms. If going with a party of four you can get the two bedroom suites across the lagoon. Again, very spacious and clean. Full kitchen so you can pck up food from the grocery store down town for lunches and such (save a some money).

I honestly don't recall what the rooms were like at Buddy's. The resort is smaller so a lot less walking involved. Buddy's has it's own truck fleet so checking one is easy when you check in at the main desk. Diving is much more convenient and the house reef is much superior to the Plaza. Bari reef is just south of Buddy's and is also an excellent reef. If you stay at another resort you can dive Buddy's reef. Just drive down to the dive shop,unload your gear, and park the truck in the parking lot. Both Buddy's and Bari Reef make excellent night dives.

Both places have their own security so there is less thievery going on. I've been to Buddy's only once and Plaza six times, all within the last 4 years. Have stayed at the Caribbean Club once. It's farther north right by Oil Slick and too much driving involved.
I usually go with a group from my LDS and they usually g to the Plaza. I'm going again in February as a matter of fact.

As mentioned before, the restaraunts at the resorts are a little pricey and service is slow (island time), but food is expensive by some standards just about anywhere you go on the island. Almost all food is imported. However, a must do is the Rib Factory and Casablanca. Order one meal at Casablanca and share. It's enough for three.

I just came back from Bon in October. There were just three of us and we stayed at the Caribbean Club. Budget minded we put this trip together and did two weeks for just about $2000 so costs can be kept reasonable. Just depends on what you want. Food isn't my forte; it's just to stoke the furnace and give me more energy to dive. We did 32 dives over 11 days of diving, but dive times averaged 1:20 per tank. The shallows are full of critters so if you're doing photo or video most of the action is in 50' or less.

The reefs are numerous and interesting. Deep to shallow, whatever you want. No safety stops required if shore diving as you may spend 1/2 hour or more playing in the shallows returning to shore.

 

[fuggler]

I was the person who posted about the Plaza Resort deal and I called them today to confirm if the $700 package really does include all taxes/fees. They said yes. :-D Now I'm just waiting for them to reply to my reservation request. FYI, also asked how much an extra night would cost and it's $190.