Bonaire

[Scubak]

Can someone give me some advice when to go to Bonaire and when to stay home?
Also, where should Tim and I stay...
Thanks,
You can PM me if you like or email me at Scubak@comcast.net...
All advice will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Kirsten

[Tom Nic]

Bonaire is great anytime!

-If you go during hurricane season you roll the dice that a hurricane will hinder your GETTING there, but can be worth the risk.

-Trade winds blow 10 months of the year. September and October they die down, which makes it HOT, but also has some great diving opportunities. Also the coral spawn is during that time which can be fantastic. I heard that Ed and Anna DeLoach spend a month there in September - one of the resorts gives them room and board and they dive their brains out and give critter ID talks at the resort during that time. I don't remember whether it was Captain Don's or one of the others. If you search around you can probably find it.

-The Golden Reef Inn is a small, cozy, relatively inexpensive place that I have stayed at many times. Others on the board have stayed at the larger resorts - great places that have their plusses and minuses.

-I'd narrow it down to 2 or 3 places you're interested in then ask questions and research the heck out of them.

-CoachRenz is taking a group in August and I'll be giving a talk on the dive sites with them on the 21st. If you want to come out get in touch with Fed Way UWS and they can give you details. I'd be happy to chat Bonaire that evening with you to your hearts content, and I'm sure you'd be welcome even if you have no intention of going on the August trip.

Good luck!

[lizard0924]

The DeLoaches stay @ Buddy Dive in September. There's more info on the Buddy Dive website about it. I absolutely LOVE Bonaire and would go there anytime. That being said, Tom is right that September/October are the months most likely to make diving the East Side easiest (if you're interested in diving the "Wild Side"). The trades die down and the usually intense wave action dies down over there, too.

Where to stay depends on what you are looking for in terms of amenities, etc. We've stayed at a number of different places (big resort, tiny resort, apartment), each of which had its own vibe. Liked them all for different reasons. If you want more info, feel free to PM me and I'll be happy to share what I know. (I am ALWAYS happy to talk about Bonaire.)

Tom.....is there still room for the August trip????!!!!!! I'm already jones-ing for another dose of Bon shore diving (and I just got back a few weeks ago).

[Tom Nic]

Tom.....is there still room for the August trip????!!!!!! I'm already jones-ing for another dose of Bon shore diving (and I just got back a few weeks ago).

I believe that there are still 3 slots left. Looks like a good group!

[Grateful Diver]

September can be great ... or iffy. I've been to Bonaire four times ... three were in Sept/Oct time frame, and all three times we had to "sweat" getting there because there was a hurricane between us and the island. We made it all three times (the first time, the island had just re-opened to diving a few hours before we got there). And last year, Omar pretty well trashed the place in mid-October. Just so you know ... there's a reason why hurricane season is generally less expensive. On the other hand, the water's a bit warmer that time of year (low '80's as opposed to high '70's this past February when we were there).

Where to stay ... the best thing I can say about Buddy's is that they have a fantastic house reef. Everything else about our stay led me to conclude that I'd stay elsewhere next time. The staff, for the most part, acted like they generally didn't care whether you had a good time or not. The accommodations were not up to par (our condo smelled like mildew and a 5-gallon hot water heater for a 2-bedroom, 2-bath condo is a joke). That and the fact that after a 17-hour trip from Seattle to Bonaire we ended up waiting over 7 hours for our room (during which time they shipped our luggage BACK to the airport and left it sitting on the sidewalk till we retrieved it) made for a less-than-pleasant experience.

Another thing I didn't care for was the open gear storage area ... I twice had my gear taken off pegs and tossed on the floor, presumably by someone who wanted the pegs for their own gear ... and once had someone actually hang their wetsuit over top of mine on the same hanger. I much prefer the private lockers other resorts use. And ... probably because the resort was very full when we were there ... if you wanted on a boat dive, you had to be standing there when they posted it, because they filled up in about a minute.

We've done Captain Don's, next door to the north, twice and it was OK. And the Sand Dollar, next door to the south, looks like a nicer place to stay. In fact, we learned to skip the Lion's Den at Buddy's and go next door to the Sand Dollar restaurant for dinner. They're run by the same folks, but the latter place had better food, service, and prices.

At any rate, I've heard great things about Golden Reef Inn ... which is fine if you're planning to spend your diving time exploring the island's many shore dive sites ... but for convenience you can't beat a place on the water with a nice house reef you can go jump into anytime you want. There's lots of those available. And if you want beach, the Plaza has about the only sand on the island (it was imported). They also have a nice house reef, but it's a bit of a pain walking from one side of the resort (where they keep the boats) to the other side (where the entry to the house reef is) with all your gear.

For almost anything you want to know about Bonaire, visit their online forum ... http://www.bonairetalk.com/

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Scubak]

Thanks to everyone for the replies...
K

[Biodiversity_Guy]

We found the two week period after Thanksgiving and before the Xmas season prices go up to be a good time.

Many fewer visitors present because it is between the main holidays. Nice weather. We dove the wildside.

We stayed at Buddy Dive and had a great time. VERY Convenient. Probably less expensive options available, but the advantage of a house reef, drive through for getting tanks filled, and nitrox on demand made Buddy Dive for us very attractive.

[Tangfish]

Hey Bonaire experts. Would mid-June be a good (or terrible) time to go to Bonaire? Also, any info on accommodations on top of what's already been said would be great. I'm thinking 9 days, lots of photo gear and diving. I don't mind springing for a better place with convenience factors and good places to lounge and soak up sun, good access to sites and generally a good place for my dive and camera gear.

Thanks!

[Tom Nic]

Hey Bonaire experts. Would mid-June be a good (or terrible) time to go to Bonaire? Also, any info on accommodations on top of what's already been said would be great. I'm thinking 9 days, lots of photo gear and diving. I don't mind springing for a better place with convenience factors and good places to lounge and soak up sun, good access to sites and generally a good place for my dive and camera gear.

Thanks!

Calvin - there are some pretty nice places if you want to spring for them. I can send you some suggestions that I found drilling around the net or you can do the same...

Bonaire being South of the hurricane belt it's not as big a roll of the dice going during hurricane season, but you have to get through the rest of the Carribean. Worth the effort, IMO, you might consider trip insurance.

[lizard0924]

There is never a bad time to go to Bonaire. I have zero experience with hurricanes impeding my travel, so no comment there other than now that AA isn't servicing Bonaire via SJ anymore, maybe it's not such an issue? Continental and Delta fly direct from HOU and EWR or ATL, so wouldn't they adjust their route to avoid the storms? (I really am speculating on how that works....)

As for nicer accomodations, a few come to mind:

Harbor Village
Bellafonte
Bellevue Beach Condos
Divi Flamingo

You could also rent a house. There are some phenomenal ones up in the Santa Barbara area that are directly on the Andrea I & II dive sites. The houses are private and each has it's own pool, too. There are also a few rental houses down on the southern end by the unfinished hotel that are right on the ocean, too. Not sure what your budget is for lodging, though.

Have fun!

[TacomaSteve]

The bad part about Bonaire is the flight availability/times, and flight cost. $900 Bonaire...360 Cozumel...560 Roatan...660 StCroix or Grand Cayman

[Tangfish]

I totally agree. That's what's put a damper on my travel plans!

[coachrenz]

Check the flight to Bonaire again. We have divers who are traveling with us finding fares in the $600 range.

We have a couple of spots still open for our August 8-16 dates. PM me and I can send you more details.

[Tom Nic]

It seems to help to know the airlines and the routes when looking for Bonaire sites. The random travel sites don't do as well.

Try Delta or Continental, and make sure you give them a wide enough range of dates to look because they don't fly every day.

If you're using miles, you might find mileage tickets from Houston or Atlanta or Newark, and then purchase a regular ticket from Seattle to get there - or vice versa.

Stay away from American, UNLESS you make sure you give at least 2 hours connecting time in San Juan. The flight out of San Juan on American Eagle is only 3 days a week, and they WILL NOT wait for you if you are late getting to San Juan. (voice of painful experience here.)

[lizard0924]

It seems to help to know the airlines and the routes when looking for Bonaire sites. The random travel sites don't do as well.

Try Delta or Continental, and make sure you give them a wide enough range of dates to look because they don't fly every day.

If you're using miles, you might find mileage tickets from Houston or Atlanta or Newark, and then purchase a regular ticket from Seattle to get there - or vice versa.

Stay away from American, UNLESS you make sure you give at least 2 hours connecting time in San Juan. The flight out of San Juan on American Eagle is only 3 days a week, and they WILL NOT wait for you if you are late getting to San Juan. (voice of painful experience here.)

AA stopped flying to Bonaire effective 5/2. The only US airlines that service Bon directly at the present time are Continental and Delta, which each do only a few flights per week from various US hubs (Newark, Atlanta or Houston). You could use a US carrier to get you to Miami and then do Insel from MIA to BON via Curacao or Aruba or another island.

[Tom Nic]

[quote="lizard0924"]AA stopped flying to Bonaire effective 5/2. [quote]

Sorry to hear that.

[BillZ]

We found super cheep ($350) flights into Aruba about a month ago and are splitting a 17 day trip in June between Curacao and Bonaire with a few days in Aruba at the end. There are several puddle jumpers that fly between the islands on a regular basis for $55 one way.