Bonaire travel/hotel recommendations

[Jaksonbrown]

Can anyone recommend a good hotel, resort in Bonaire that you have visited? Looking for one that includes all the goodies.

Thank you.

[Dusty2]

PM Tom Nic, he has more time in there then anybody I know.

[Tom Nic]

Can anyone recommend a good hotel, resort in Bonaire that you have visited? Looking for one that includes all the goodies.

Thank you.

If you are looking for more of an all inclusive kind of thing then look at the larger resorts - Belmar, Captain Don's, Buddy Dive, Divi-Flamingo, Eden Beach, etc (there are several more). All of them will arrange your gas and a rental truck, and airport pick up, and a few of them will give you meal options as well.

Once you have a name, snoop around TripAdvisor and judiciously read the reviews. Even the ones you don't agree with can be very helpful as certain things seem to come up over and over and you can usually weed through the persnickety (a technical term) ones that even the Taj Mahal would not satisfy.

The key to a great trip is knowing what you want and why (your own personal comfort zones and happy place).

I prefer to stay away from the larger operations myself.

If you have the coin, in my opinion the best way to go is to get a house on the water, with its own dock / house reef. VRBO has a ton of options, and a determined internet search will yield more. Many of the homes are simply fabulous, and you will NOT want to come home! The number in your party will determine the size of the house you look for. We had 7 people in a 4 bdrm on the water and it worked out to around $500 pp for the lodging give or take. The "downside" (for some) to this arrangement is that you need to book your own rental truck and arrange for your own breathing gas, but for me this is not really a big deal and if you choose to go that way. I have specifics if you are interested, and spending some time on bonairetalk.com or snooping around other internet boards will help as well. You can cook in or eat out as you desire (tons of options and 3 large grocery stores), and as with anywhere you stay on Bonaire the best part is diving at your own pace, as much or little as you desire.

I keep telling myself that 8 trips is enough, but every time I start to plan for elsewhere Bonaire's siren song, reasonable costs, diving freedom, and tons of critters keeps luring me back.

What usually ends up determining which way we go is number of folks in our party. The less folks the more the cost and so the options get less (for me).

Let me know if you have any specific questions as you start narrowing down your options.

Lots of other folks on the board will have great advice as well.

[Blue Abyss]

We have been to Bonaire several times and we like Buddy Dive. They are well run, with easy access to everything. For shore diving they have a true drive through tank exchange and locker area. For either boat diving or shore diving the house reef the doc facilities are great. The rooms are nice, clean, fairly basic but good. The only thing that they don't offer (at least when I was there) is a true all inclusive package for food and drink. Most all packages include breakfast only. But that was never a deal breaker for us. Almost all the rooms have kitchens so you can cook or prep lunches if you want, and you have a fridge for your own beer.

[WylerBear]

I'm partial to Den Laman. Beautiful condos, 24/7 diving, house reef, dive shop onsite with great staff, free nitrox, truck included, if you opt for boat dives (extra $), the boats are small so fewer divers in the water with you, restaurant onsite (you can dive a meal plan with them but this is also extra and does not include many vegetarian or vegan options). The price was really reasonable. We put 4 divers in a 2 bedroom suite and for lodging and diving and the truck we all paid around $700 for an ocean view (ocean front is a bit more).

[FlyinV]

I agree with Georgia.
Just got back from Den Laman a couple weeks ago. (3rd stay there)

Another advantage with their package is you pick up and drop off your rental truck at the airport -- so you don't have to pack on the shuttle bus or taxi. I also give a big +1 on it being a smaller resort and its also super safe since the rooms are all 2nd and 3rd floor and would involve spiderman to get to your stuff. I still wouldn't leave super expensive cameras and computers stuff laying around on the patios for hours on end while you are gone but it seems very safe.

Big + is the air conditioning in all the rooms of the condo at no extra cost and it works very well.

Negatives:
While you can get nitrox tanks 24/7 --- If you don't plan ahead you might have to get them from the dock and carry them up to your truck. The upper tank locker closes at 4:30 -- That being said we carried 16 tanks (4 divers) up from the docks 2 mornings in a row and we didn't die -- Plenty of tanks on the docks

I also wish they had a better gear rinse station in the upper tank area -- But then you could just walk to the excellent rinse area on the dock.

[Mateo1147]

I have only been to Bonaire once for two weeks and I stayed with Buddy Dive. I wouldn't hesitate to stay with them again. Everything was worth the money paid. The package I had included a two tank boat dive every dive day and the usual unlimited shore diving / rental truck. I have no complaints at all about the resort!

[Jaksonbrown]

Thanks for all the recommendations folks, I appreciate it. Tom, John recommended that I reach out to you also. I will do so when I get closer to our trip, which is going to be late Dec, early Jan.

Thanks again.

Cory-

[Tom Nic]

Thanks for all the recommendations folks, I appreciate it. Tom, John recommended that I reach out to you also. I will do so when I get closer to our trip, which is going to be late Dec, early Jan.

Thanks again.

Cory-

Shoot me a PM - we'll grab coffee and / or go for a dive!