The wife and I made our annual trip to Bonaire June 10-18. This was our 8th trip in 8 years. We have seen a lot of changes over the years.
Flights-We live in Houston. We took the United out of Houston. There were no issues. For the past couple of years, the return flight direct to Houston is coming back Sunday instead of Saturday. This means you have to stay an extra night or go through Newark. We just stay the extra night. I have mixed feelings about this arrangement, but I'm really okay with it.
Truck rental-We use Poppy at Telerin. We have always used her. No problems at all with the truck.
Accommodations-We own at timeshare at the Divi Flamingo. It isn't for everyone. We have seen the state of the timeshare units continue to decline. The food at the resort is expensive and barely edible. We only ate there once--breakfast the first day. The dive shop is top notch. Serge runs a good shop. We didn't do any boat diving this trip so I assume all is still good there.
Groceries-We have been shopping at Van Der Tweel since they opened. We really like the variety. I did notice there is a new supermarket down the road. I may need to investigate it next time. We typically eat breakfast and lunch at the timeshare unit so we really stock up. We like junk food too.
Restaurants-We ate at the following:
Bobby Jans-We always start the first night out with BBQ. We love Bobby Jans.
Pure Ocean-This was the overpriced and barely edible breakfast at the Divi. It reminds me of one of those $5.99 breakfast buffets in Vegas--Only 5 times the price.
KFC-In 8 years, we've never been to the Bonaire KFC. We needed a quick place for lunch on our first day on the island. It was Sunday and couple of our quick lunch places were closed. We decided to give it a try. It was KFC. We really liked it.
El Mundo-We really liked it last year. We weren't pleased this year. The price and taste just wasn't there. I probably pass on it next year.
Eddies-We really like Eddies. The beef empanadas are a good appetizer. I like the steak. The wife had a pasta dish she really liked.
Exito-I'm not sure what is going on with Diver's Dinner. However, they left us hanging. Exito was open. We ran into it for dinner. The fried chicken was tasty. The wife got the hamburger. It was huge! Be advised: There is some sort of spice I've found in many hamburgers in Bonaire--including the hamburger meat at the supermarket. We don't like this spice. It was in this hamburger.
Pasa Bon Pizza-We really like the pizza. We also get enough for leftovers for lunch.
Patagonia-They have moved...again. I like the new location. This is a steak place. We are Texans. We like steak. The food is very good.
Blue Garden-The wife really likes this place. We do the skewers of meat to self-grill. I think it is a bit expensive. However, it is neat and tasty.
Rum Runners-We always close the trip out with a trip to Rum Runners to watch the sunset. The food or the view doesn't disappoint. I like the hamburgers here--no funky spice in the meat.
Gio's-This is a great place for ice cream. Do yourself a favor and get the milkshake. It is awesome.
Diving-We got in 20 dives. This included 3 night dives-2 off the Divi dock and 1 at the Salt Pier. We also arranged a shore dive with Bas Tol. It was pretty windy this trip. The best we could do with Bas was Cai. It was a really interesting dive. Bas knows his stuff. I do another few dives with him when the conditions were right. Our best dives were Karpata and Margate Bay. We really like those dives. The marine critters of the trip were moray eels. On every dive, morays seemed to be everywhere. We even seen a few of those big green morays free swimming. Due to the wind, the viz was down on most dive sites. Nothing horrible though. A few turtles were seen. I normally see a few good size lobsters. We didn't see any good sized lobsters. Just a few smaller ones.
Overall, it was a great trip. I can't wait to go back.
Flights-We live in Houston. We took the United out of Houston. There were no issues. For the past couple of years, the return flight direct to Houston is coming back Sunday instead of Saturday. This means you have to stay an extra night or go through Newark. We just stay the extra night. I have mixed feelings about this arrangement, but I'm really okay with it.
Truck rental-We use Poppy at Telerin. We have always used her. No problems at all with the truck.
Accommodations-We own at timeshare at the Divi Flamingo. It isn't for everyone. We have seen the state of the timeshare units continue to decline. The food at the resort is expensive and barely edible. We only ate there once--breakfast the first day. The dive shop is top notch. Serge runs a good shop. We didn't do any boat diving this trip so I assume all is still good there.
Groceries-We have been shopping at Van Der Tweel since they opened. We really like the variety. I did notice there is a new supermarket down the road. I may need to investigate it next time. We typically eat breakfast and lunch at the timeshare unit so we really stock up. We like junk food too.
Restaurants-We ate at the following:
Bobby Jans-We always start the first night out with BBQ. We love Bobby Jans.
Pure Ocean-This was the overpriced and barely edible breakfast at the Divi. It reminds me of one of those $5.99 breakfast buffets in Vegas--Only 5 times the price.
KFC-In 8 years, we've never been to the Bonaire KFC. We needed a quick place for lunch on our first day on the island. It was Sunday and couple of our quick lunch places were closed. We decided to give it a try. It was KFC. We really liked it.
El Mundo-We really liked it last year. We weren't pleased this year. The price and taste just wasn't there. I probably pass on it next year.
Eddies-We really like Eddies. The beef empanadas are a good appetizer. I like the steak. The wife had a pasta dish she really liked.
Exito-I'm not sure what is going on with Diver's Dinner. However, they left us hanging. Exito was open. We ran into it for dinner. The fried chicken was tasty. The wife got the hamburger. It was huge! Be advised: There is some sort of spice I've found in many hamburgers in Bonaire--including the hamburger meat at the supermarket. We don't like this spice. It was in this hamburger.
Pasa Bon Pizza-We really like the pizza. We also get enough for leftovers for lunch.
Patagonia-They have moved...again. I like the new location. This is a steak place. We are Texans. We like steak. The food is very good.
Blue Garden-The wife really likes this place. We do the skewers of meat to self-grill. I think it is a bit expensive. However, it is neat and tasty.
Rum Runners-We always close the trip out with a trip to Rum Runners to watch the sunset. The food or the view doesn't disappoint. I like the hamburgers here--no funky spice in the meat.
Gio's-This is a great place for ice cream. Do yourself a favor and get the milkshake. It is awesome.
Diving-We got in 20 dives. This included 3 night dives-2 off the Divi dock and 1 at the Salt Pier. We also arranged a shore dive with Bas Tol. It was pretty windy this trip. The best we could do with Bas was Cai. It was a really interesting dive. Bas knows his stuff. I do another few dives with him when the conditions were right. Our best dives were Karpata and Margate Bay. We really like those dives. The marine critters of the trip were moray eels. On every dive, morays seemed to be everywhere. We even seen a few of those big green morays free swimming. Due to the wind, the viz was down on most dive sites. Nothing horrible though. A few turtles were seen. I normally see a few good size lobsters. We didn't see any good sized lobsters. Just a few smaller ones.
Overall, it was a great trip. I can't wait to go back.
