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Trip Reports: Divers paradise and buddy dive
Bonaire Talk: Trip Reports: Archives: Archives 2000 to 2005: Archives - 2003-04-01 to 2004-02-05: Divers paradise and buddy dive
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By jacqueline salmond (BonaireTalker - Post #28) on Friday, August 15, 2003 - 5:24 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Here is my trip report-as a guide, we are mid thirties and usually stay in budget accoms.
Arrival:
We flew Air Jamaica from Miami- good service- no delays. Bags arrived OK too.
We were met at the airport by Carmelita from Divers Paradise and she helped us get our truck and then drove with us following to the apartments. The truck had wooden tank racks in the back to fit 7 tanks and was in good condition.

Apartment:
The apartments at Divers Paradise were amazing- much nicer than I was expecting. Really clean and had a huge balcony. They have a fan in the lounge and air con in the bedroom. There is a fridge, coffee maker and stove top in the kitchen, and all the crockery was in good condition. we were really pleased with the apt, ours looked just like the one on the website.

Dive shop:
Checked in to Buddy dive next morning- they really are excellent-they made us feel just as welcome there even though we were not staying on resort. Hagan and his wife were so nice and friendly. We had access to the storage room and could rinse our gear and leave it there- nice to not have to do it in the apartment. Divers Paradise has dunk tanks and a tank room, but we just used the resort facilities and the drive though as we were 2 mins away. The drive through is really handy and allowed us to get to the dive sites by 8.15 each morning.

Dining:
We spent most of our time diving and cooked in the apartment. We ate out on our last night-was supposed to be at Gibis, but my driver dropped a tank on his finger and was not in a fit state to drive. Shame we missed everyone.

Diving:
We did 28 dives in the 6 days, wearing 3mm jumpsuits, but were cold by about day 4. We wore skins under our suits and were still a little cold. We are used to warm florida water though and many of the northerners were just in swimsuits.
Favourite dive site was the Cliff-down the stairs at the north of Hamlet villas. Really nice small wall and we saw a turtle and octopus here, as well as all the usuals.
We also like the double reef at the Lake and Angel City, although got a bit grumpy towards the end of the week when there were more boats there(we got used to diving alone).
Salt Pier was fave three, night dive was awesome- scary as the only divers there though, and the vis was down, but so glad I did it and didn't back out.
Hilma Hooker was good- Again as posted by others, get there early- we dove at 8.30 and on the way out, the trucks began to appear. Later in the week we regularly saw two bats tied up and 8 trucks parked up.
The dive from Buddy dive to the Captain Dons "wreck" was surprisingly good- I was expecting to see broken coral etc with all the diver traffic, but it was in good condition. I actually found more damage to the reefs at the southern sites like margate bay and atlantis- maybe boats, but sad to see.

Crime:
We had been prepared for high crime and followed the advice about leaving nothing of value in the truck. We experienced no crime and not even any signs of it. I took a padlock and chain for the spare tyre(as recommended) but couldn't figure out how to do it anyway! We left lunch, snacks and shoes, towels, t- shirts etc in the truck when diving and all was fine. I am sure there are a lot of problems, but that shouldn't persuade people away from Bonaire, the whole island felt safe and friendly.

Overall comments:
Was great to stay in the apartments and cook-I liked being able to grab food and head off for another dive. Was nice to sip coffee on the balcony with a view of the sea and listen to Grendel barking at the local donkeys!
I at first felt pressured to try out all the different dive sites, but after a few days, I realised that there are a lot of similarities between the sites and then I relaxed a little bit. This was the more enjoyable way to dive. If the entries looked rough to the north, we just stayed at the closer reefs and had much more enjoyable dives.
On about day 4, we decided for our next dive trip we would go somewhere different, but now I am home, I am not so sure. I had such a nice time and the diving was just so easy that the temptation is just to go back.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cynde (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #8169) on Saturday, August 16, 2003 - 1:54 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Jacqueline, great report! Diver's Paradise is nice isn't it! We stayed there 2 nights and I was impressed with how nice and well stocked they were. We loved Buddy's this last time too! Glad you had a good time, and it sounds like you had some great diving...funny how more than 2 trucks at a site and we think it is "crowded!" My husband wants to go to Hawaii, but I want to go back to Bonaire AGAIN AND AGAIN! Just the thought of not having so many dive options is depressing! Definitely spoiled!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By jacqueline salmond (BonaireTalker - Post #29) on Saturday, August 16, 2003 - 2:29 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hey Cynde,

I have had exactly the same conversation with my hubby- how strange. he wants to go back to hawaii for the next trip, but after 3 days back, I want to book my return trip. The diving is just so carefree and relaxing, and i have just spent about 3 hours noting down all the species of fish we saw- I haven't even started on the invertebrates yet!!!

I will definately be back soon.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Gail Thomas (BonaireTalker - Post #90) on Saturday, August 16, 2003 - 10:15 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I lived in Hawaii for three years, as a snorkler only, 24 - 27 years ago. (Had 2 kids in the 3 years). It is beautiful, and I have know people who have raved about the diving. But even having never dove there, I have no desire to go back for the diving, because having known Bonaire diving, I just don't think it could be any better for me!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dean Botsford (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #266) on Sunday, August 17, 2003 - 1:49 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Jacqueline, it was nice to meet the both of you at Buddy's, sounds like you really had a great time too!. 28 dives in six days! Holy moly!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By jacqueline salmond (BonaireTalker - Post #30) on Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 2:15 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

hey there again,

was good to meet you guys too- Cool webcam capture! I hope your vacation was as enjoyable as ours. After three days back, I cracked and have booked a return trip for May- now I just have to count the days down again :-(

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Greta Badstebner (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #270) on Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 6:02 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hey there!

Jacqueline, I'm glad you & your husband had a great time. Very nice trip report! Glad to hear such nice things about Divers Paradise.

I have to chime in on the Hawaii conversation. My husband, too, would like to go to Hawaii (for our 10th wedding anniversary in 2005). ??? What the hey is he thinking? Not that it's bad or anything...we've never been to Hawaii. But what could be better than celebrating such an awesome occasion on Bonaire? NOTHING! IT'S THE BEST WAY TO CELEBRATE ANYTHING, EVEN A PLAIN OLD VACATION!

Cynde & Jacqueline, Why don't our husbands all band together for a trip to Hawaii (in 2004) and us ladies will head off to Bon! That way I won't have to worry about going there for the big 10! :-)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By monique van berge henegouwen (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #9) on Sunday, August 24, 2003 - 5:07 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thank you Jacqueline for the nice report, is it OK with you that I put it in the guestbook of Divers Paradise? Kind regards, Monique

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By jacqueline salmond (BonaireTalker - Post #36) on Sunday, August 24, 2003 - 3:51 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Monique,
Yes I am more than happy to have information in the Guestbook- we have a fantastic stay and cannot wait to return. I will be contacting you soon to book my next trip in May.
Also, if you could pass on my thanks to all of your staff-everyone clearly works hard to ensure guests have a great stay-Carmelita was wonderful.

Thankyou again,
Jacqueline

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By monique van berge henegouwen (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #10) on Monday, August 25, 2003 - 9:22 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hello Jaqueline, I will tell the staff and thank you for coming back in May.
Kind regards
Monique

 


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