rad21
Contributor
We flew Divi Divi Air and the agent at the check in counter was very helpful. He even dialed our hotel in Bonaire so we could inform them of our arrival time. The plane was a 10 seater and I sat in the copilot's seat, it was fantastic! Our bags arrived and we found our shuttle to Harbour Village. 10 minutes later we were there. The people at the front desk were very friendly, our room was ready and it was magnificent! It was clean, exquisitely furnished, spacious and comfortable. We got our snorkel gear and headed out to the beach , which was a few steps away. Wow, a late afternoon snorkel(5:30PM) and there were critters all over the place. Eels, crabs, peacock flounders, trunk fish, parrot fish all within 30 feet of the shoreline. We knew we were going to love it here. The restaurants we tried were La Balandra (at HV), Richards, Wil's Tropical Grill, Cactus Blue and It Rains Fishes. My favorite was Richards, the location, service and food were excellent. The seafood soup was delicious as was the Dorado with Guacamole sauce and amazing seasoned rice. The mango margaritas were good too. Wil's was also very good, the smoked marlin appetizer and onion soup made with red stripe beer and jerk seasoning was phenomenal. The entrees were good, the Tuna and Dorado were fresh and tasty. Wil's Lava cake was the best dessert we had. My wife had it 2 times. It can get a bit noisy when the cars on the street go racing by. Service was good.
Cactus Blue was a sleeper. When we sat down, I was put off by the noise of the cars on the street since the seating is streetside but the food was amazing. I had a tomato based seafood soup that was incredible and the jerked spiced snapper was excellent. The mango margaritas were my favorite and the size of the dishes were so large we had no room for dessert. Service was excellent. It Rains Fishes was also very nice. The location and décor were great, I thought the crab and shrimp appetizer was just okay- it was drowned in a mayonnaise based sauce. The entrees were excellent, Dorado with mustard sauce or pesto sauce, both were good and the rice and salad were just okay. Dessert was disappointing, the apple pie was not very good. Service was spotty but the restaurant was packed so I can understand the slow service.
As a matter of fact, Richards, Wil's, Cactus Blue and It Rains Fishes all served huge portions. For breakfast and lunch, we ate in our room, we went to the supermarket and got juice, milk, cereal and turkey and cheese for sandwiches.
The dive shop at HV was okay. Leonel was very friendly and helpful but I found the boats to be a little lacking in service. I prefer when the divermaster draw a picture of the dive site and explain what we might see and how to plan the dive. There was not of that. When I mentioned that I wanted to see a seahorse, I was told that there wouldn't be one on that dive so I asked what i can expect to see and was told whatever mother nature wants us to see Well, I hope Mother Nature left a good tip for the divemaster. During the dive, I was pointing out critters to the divemaster instead of the other way around. Fortunately, I have a friend who lives on Bonaire and we did 2 awesome shore dives and I saw the elusive seahorse. The dive shop had 2 rinse tanks and plenty of storage to hand wet gear. It was also very easy to rent tanks and go shore diving.
Karpata-scorpion fish,lobster, angelfish,trunk fish
Something Special- scorpion fish, spotted drum, frog fish, eels shore dive
Rockpile- spotted drum, parrot fish
Forest/Southwest Corner- drift angel, puffer, crabs
Front Porch/Bari Reef- amazing- seahorse, frog fish, courting porcupine fish, turtle, schools of fish shore dive
We drove to Gotomeer to see the pink flamingos and saw donkeys, parrots, goats and pigs along the way. We had a friend drive us to Seru Largu at night to see the lights on Bonaire and the incredible night sky with thousands of stars.
Bonaire was awesome, our favorite vacation ever, great people, great diving/snorkeling, great weather and excellent food. 6 days was not enough, 2 weeks would have been better. The diving was the best I have experienced, teeming with sealife, healthy reefs, little to no current, it was awesome. We will return........
Cactus Blue was a sleeper. When we sat down, I was put off by the noise of the cars on the street since the seating is streetside but the food was amazing. I had a tomato based seafood soup that was incredible and the jerked spiced snapper was excellent. The mango margaritas were my favorite and the size of the dishes were so large we had no room for dessert. Service was excellent. It Rains Fishes was also very nice. The location and décor were great, I thought the crab and shrimp appetizer was just okay- it was drowned in a mayonnaise based sauce. The entrees were excellent, Dorado with mustard sauce or pesto sauce, both were good and the rice and salad were just okay. Dessert was disappointing, the apple pie was not very good. Service was spotty but the restaurant was packed so I can understand the slow service.
As a matter of fact, Richards, Wil's, Cactus Blue and It Rains Fishes all served huge portions. For breakfast and lunch, we ate in our room, we went to the supermarket and got juice, milk, cereal and turkey and cheese for sandwiches.
The dive shop at HV was okay. Leonel was very friendly and helpful but I found the boats to be a little lacking in service. I prefer when the divermaster draw a picture of the dive site and explain what we might see and how to plan the dive. There was not of that. When I mentioned that I wanted to see a seahorse, I was told that there wouldn't be one on that dive so I asked what i can expect to see and was told whatever mother nature wants us to see Well, I hope Mother Nature left a good tip for the divemaster. During the dive, I was pointing out critters to the divemaster instead of the other way around. Fortunately, I have a friend who lives on Bonaire and we did 2 awesome shore dives and I saw the elusive seahorse. The dive shop had 2 rinse tanks and plenty of storage to hand wet gear. It was also very easy to rent tanks and go shore diving.
Karpata-scorpion fish,lobster, angelfish,trunk fish
Something Special- scorpion fish, spotted drum, frog fish, eels shore dive
Rockpile- spotted drum, parrot fish
Forest/Southwest Corner- drift angel, puffer, crabs
Front Porch/Bari Reef- amazing- seahorse, frog fish, courting porcupine fish, turtle, schools of fish shore dive
We drove to Gotomeer to see the pink flamingos and saw donkeys, parrots, goats and pigs along the way. We had a friend drive us to Seru Largu at night to see the lights on Bonaire and the incredible night sky with thousands of stars.
Bonaire was awesome, our favorite vacation ever, great people, great diving/snorkeling, great weather and excellent food. 6 days was not enough, 2 weeks would have been better. The diving was the best I have experienced, teeming with sealife, healthy reefs, little to no current, it was awesome. We will return........
