Wonderful experience at Buddy Dive

[binski]

i had the privilege of leading a group of divers from Hatts Diving Headquarters to Bonaire late May early June. Direct flights were not available on the weekend outbound leg, but we did s direct BON - MIA on the return (June 5).

Our groups stayed at Buddy Dive and were warmly received as they were anxious to get back up and running. I was told that during our stay the resort was at 40% capacity, Our group had an assigned boat and crew (thanks Guillermo and Zach!) and was just 13 of us max each trip.

Many of us managed 18 dives including boat and shore. Water temps in the low 80’s and visibility was usually better than 75’. We were definitely spoiled and I’m already anxious to go back!

Next trip - Roatan in August!

 

[drrich2]

Glad you guys had a good time. I've stayed at Buddy Dive Resort before, though it's been awhile. I liked the breakfast buffet, transport to/from the airport, at-resort truck rentals and the house reef. At 40% capacity parking was probably pretty easy (got crowded at times for me). I'm not good with 3-D relationships and at times felt like a rat in a maze on their grounds, but not too bad - I imagine that hasn't changed.

1.) How was in-room Internet service for your group?
2.) Did people new to the island find it fairly easy to get around? The international roadsigns are somewhat intuitive. Thankfully Bonaire's roads don't tend to be high-traffic.
3.) I assume Buddy's is still mostly doing single tank boat trips? Did you see any 2 tank trips?
4.) Did you guys take advantage of any off-site tank pickup locations other than the main resort? I've done that with Dive Friends my last trip, but I'm not familiar with Buddy's off-site tank pickup options.

Richard.

 

[binski]

Richard,

We had all the positives without the down side of the crowds!

Other notes below...

Glad you guys had a good time. I've stayed at Buddy Dive Resort before, though it's been awhile. I liked the breakfast buffet, transport to/from the airport, at-resort truck rentals and the house reef. At 40% capacity parking was probably pretty easy (got crowded at times for me). I'm not good with 3-D relationships and at times felt like a rat in a maze on their grounds, but not too bad - I imagine that hasn't changed.

1.) How was in-room Internet service for your group?

Only used for uploading GoPro photos and Facebook posts, but no issues.

2.) Did people new to the island find it fairly easy to get around? The international roadsigns are somewhat intuitive. Thankfully Bonaire's roads don't tend to be high-traffic.

Most liked having the wheels and exploring and we did at least 9 shore dives. Hit up some of the local restaurants and shopping when we went out.

3.) I assume Buddy's is still mostly doing single tank boat trips? Did you see any 2 tank trips?

Since our group was 13, we had an assigned boat and crew that did 4 days of two tank dives, plus s single tank one afternoon (9 boat dives total).

4.) Did you guys take advantage of any off-site tank pickup locations other than the main resort? I've done that with Dive Friends my last trip, but I'm not familiar with Buddy's off-site tank pickup options.

Only used drive thrust the resort which was ideal for our group situation. Just had to double check EAN fills as there were a lot of shorts.


Richard.

 

[Doctorfish]

Glad you had a good trip and thanks for the up to date information.

 

[hroark2112]

Was the breakfast buffet back?

 

[binski]

Was the breakfast buffet back?

Yes

 

[arubabob1]

Wow! We have it backwards. I did Roatan (1st time) last week and going to Bonaire (12th time) in 12 days. The water temp in Roatan was 85 degrees, 80 feet down. Thats was nice. But low 80's, a wet suite will feel good. Did you night dive off the Buddy Pier? I usually like that. Alot of tarpon around there at night. AB

 

[stevenkimbell]

I am headed to Bonaire for the first time in two weeks. Staying at Buddy Dive and looking forward to lots of shore diving. Can anyone tell me about the power use in the rooms? I mean, do I need an adapter or anything to charge my phone, laptop and other gear?
Also, any off the beaten path recommendations for dining? My lady and I love seafood and would like to find some of the places the locals go to, not the tourist spots.

 

[Doctorfish]

As I recall, no need for adaptors for plugs.

We tend to like eating at Bobbe Jans for BBQ and Mi Banana for Columbian food but have not been to Bonaire for 2 years, so things change. Tourists and locals seem to eat at many of the same spots. There should be several restaurant threads in here but doubt that any are up to date. Try Bonaire Talk for discussions about local restaurants as well.

 

[drrich2]

U.S. power is 110-volt, 60-Hz, and Bonaire power 127-volt, 50-Hz, similar enough (and with at least some of the same style plugs) the many U.S.-intended items run fine...but some may run hot. Trying to find a nice, portable, budget-friendly adaptor didn't turn out to be easy (nor did I find one when looking a few years back). IIRC, some laptop computers are made to tolerate a range of power supplies and handle this fine. The upshot is, you are probably fine using Bonaire power 'as-is' coming from the U.S., but I can't make any guarantees. I've used it (and a surge protector!) before without problems.

InfoBonaire.com has this page on the situation, and claims you can buy transformers locally for between $50 and $100.