Where to stay in Bonaire

[bfisher]

I was on Bonaire 3/21-28/09 and wanted to add to this for future readers. I stayed at the Plaza Resort and would not go back. It was merely "ok". One ridiculous customer service gaffe after the next, the worst being them closing the back gate by our villa requiring us to walk about 3 miles every day getting back and forth from the parking/dive shop area. It's a big resort, this was a bummer. The rooms were "ok" and the bathrooms were really shabby, including a tub leak requiring us to mop our floors after every shower. The only shining point was Toucan Divers, the on site shop. They were great!

Wow! This doesn't sound like the Plaza I've stayed five times in the last four years. Unless they've changed the layout just why did you have to walk so far. Were you in the 2BR places? There is parking right next to them. All you had to do was cross the bridge and about 5 minute walk to the dive shop if that's where you parked.

Granted, the place is spread out but 3 miles???? That being said, I do like Buddy Dive for convenience of laoding tanks. And yes, a lot less walking.

This Sept. I'm going with two friends and we're trying something different (budget oriented) and staying at the Caribbean Club. Rather than rely on others' trip reports we prefer to find out first hand.

 

[phelana]

You have a lot of tips here. Don't forget to take the kids on a donkey safari at the sanctuary. Bring a huge bag of bread and carrots. Trust me you will need it. It's a riot. See my blog Bonaire Bliss to see a few videos. They might also enjoy windsurfing. Our site is the easiest and perhaps best place to learn in the world. Head to Lac Bay. Either shop can offer lessons.

 

[BikerGrrrl]

Sorry if I wasn't clear. They closed the back gate, which I mentioned, so we were unable to park in the lot near the 2-bedroom villas. We parked in the big lot by the dive shop for the majority of our trip. The 3 miles was my estimate for the roughly 3-4 trips per day back and forth from the restaurants/beach/car/dive shop to our place. Perhaps an exaggeration, but I assure you it felt really old after a while

Wow! This doesn't sound like the Plaza I've stayed five times in the last four years. Unless they've changed the layout just why did you have to walk so far. Were you in the 2BR places? There is parking right next to them. All you had to do was cross the bridge and about 5 minute walk to the dive shop if that's where you parked.

Granted, the place is spread out but 3 miles???? That being said, I do like Buddy Dive for convenience of laoding tanks. And yes, a lot less walking.

This Sept. I'm going with two friends and we're trying something different (budget oriented) and staying at the Caribbean Club. Rather than rely on others' trip reports we prefer to find out first hand.

 

[miller2440]

We've been 7 times and have stayed in various places. My fave is the Divi Flamingo because it has been recently redone; is right on the water with a great dive shop, pier, lockers, etc.; has good restaurants on site; has a beautiful pool, or maybe two (we just dive and windsurf); AND the location allows you to walk right into town. We've stayed several times at the Bel Mar which is nice but a couple of miles from town. We like parking the car and walking to dinner after a day of driving to dive sites, Lac Bay, etc. Have fun!

 

[pinewoodsfarm]

We were at Divi years ago and it was a bit run down. We've been going to Curacao for a number of years, staying at Habitat, but until the new owners have some time to get it back on track, we'll take a pass. So thinking about going back to Bonaire and staying at Divi. Did you do much diving off the house reef and if so, comments please. Thank you.