Arrived in Bonaire on Saturday evening for my long awaited first trip to the island. Based my lodging choice, activities and restaurant selections largely on information from this board. Thanks to everyone for sharing their knowledge and experiences.
Saturday - Picked up rental car at AB (a truck, as my reserved car was broken down and unavailable) Not a huge problem except that I had to purchase insurance that I would not have had to for the minivan I reserved. Thus I was out $140 I hadn't counted on. There was no one at the Black Durgon, but Al said he would leave a door open with the light on in the room. There were no lights on in any room, so we grabbed a room that was unlocked. Needless to say, it was the wrong room, but we switched rooms the next day, no problem.
Sunday - As was typical of the week, it rained for a while in the early morning, but by 10am the sun was out. We drove to Lac Cai, looking for a place to snorkel, but there is only turtle grass and sand for the most part. We swam off the sandy beach, then listened to the local bands playing over a couple of beers. A nice afternoon. We had dinner at the Lion's Den (which was highly recommended by the guy at Chat and Browse. He is a very nice guy, and he was right about the dinner. Had a great fillet and shrimp. $83 with tax, tip and a bottle of wine.
Monday - My wife woke up with a terrible stomach bug and spent the entire day in bed. I drove in to town and got soup, crackers and ginger ale at Cultimara. I spent some time snorkeling off the dock at the Black Durgon. Close to shore there are many fish, including a huge school of blue tang.
Tuesday - My wife was nice enough to share her illness with me. I woke up during the night monday and was ill all day Tuesday. I felt terrible that I missed the BT dinner at Gibi's, but I couldn't stand the sight of food at that point. Spent the day reading in the hammocks at the Inn watching the sea. If you have to be sick...
Wednesday - I guess it was a 24 hour bug, because we both felt a lot better. We went to the Plaza resort and spent the day on the beach. $10 for the two of us for the day, a great deal. We had lunch at the Banana Tree ($25) which was very good. We went to dinner at the lighthouse, where the chef was avidly pushing his yellow tailed snapper daily special. It was fried, which turned me off, but we took his recommendation and went for it anyway. It was excellent, not greasy and very flavorful. $75 with a bottle of wine. Went to listen to a steel band at (where else) the Plaza, which were quite good.
Thursday - Went snorkeling at 1000 steps in the morning. Had to swim out a little ways to the coral, very nice but not a lot of fish. Next we drove to Andrea II. Had a hard time finding a decent place to enter the water, but I dragged my wife down what appeared to be an clean opening. There was a pretty strong swell, and as my wife was pushed over she came up screaming. She had been knocked into fire coral, and it hurt like hell. I guess there's a reason they call it fire coral. We went to a drug store after she went back to the inn for a shower, and they recommended a spray antihistomine. It did help some, but she had quite a rash.
We didn't feel that great later, but we went to Croccantino for pasta alfredo. It was very good, but I left half of it. $50, with a glass of wine for my wife.
Friday - It was raining most of the morning, so we drove around the island by the salt works, the slave huts, and to Soroban to watch the wind surfers. By noon it had cleared for another beautiful day. In the afternoon we took a boat snorkel tour from the Plaza to Klein Bonaire. Except when we got on the boat they told us it was "too rough" so we couldn't go to the island. We went to 1000 steps and Andrea instead, which wasn't horrible. Saw a black Durgon and a huge dogfish snapper at Andrea. At night we went to the City Cafe and met up with a nice Swiss couple also staying at the BD, then went to ZeeZicht for a burger. Also had the banana split with banana liquor and Amaretto that was great.
Saturday - Went to the Divi, snorkeled there and had lunch at Chibi-Chibi. Lunch was very good, but I wasn't impressed with the snorkeling there. We went to Windsock snorkeling in the afternoon. The place was loaded with locals, but it certainly didn't feel crowded. I enjoyed the snorkeling there, and relaxed under one of the trees on the beach. At night we went to Richards (Valentines Day) and had steak and shrimp (how imaginative) but it was excellent. Had a nice bottle of wine, and the bill was just over $100. They add the full 15% service charge there, so check your bill. Most places added %10 so I just threw in another %5 with the bill.
Sunday - Went to the Plaza again. My wife loved the beach there and the Banana Tree restaurant, and since I had already nearly killed her on our other shore excursion, I wasn't about to argue. The snorkeling there is very good, with large numbers and variety of fish, sO I was happy. Saw a chain moray in the rubble, first place I ever saw one. We had dinner at Amadeus. The crab chowder was not good (imitation crab) the salad was weak, but my wahoo and my wife's dorado were excellent. $65 with drinks and a shared dessert.
Monday - Took the Woodwin trip to Klein Bonaire for a drift snorkel. Very nice and Dee is very knowledgeable about coral and fish life on the island. I highly recommend this trip, and would have done another if we had more time. Had drink's at Karels and dinner at It Rains Fishes. Had a ceaser salad, the only decent salad I had all week. We had sole and ribs (which were excellent) and a really good taramisu. $75 with 5 glasses of wine, tax and tip, which I felt was reasonable.
Tuesday - Reluctantly turned in the car and caught 7:00 flight to SJU, then on the Boston. Flights were on time, no snags.
Overall impressions - The people seem very nice, never hassled by anyone. Restaurants were all excellent, we didn't have anything close to a bad meal. The weather was wonderful, generally rain in the early am, but by the time we had breakfast and got ready the sun was generally out. The constant breeze keeps you comfortable. The snorkeling was great, with many beautiful fish, the most varied of any other island I have been to. It must have been something before Lenny, but if you looked around there were still nice places to explore. The Black Durgon was exactly what I expected, thanks to the board. It is very clean but certainly nothing fancy. Adequate for our needs, and I would definitely recommend it. The snorkeling right off the dock is great.
Thanks again BTers. |
By Joe Maslowsky (BonaireTalker - Post #19) on Friday, February 20, 2004 - 4:23 pm: 
