Hi! We just spent 2 glorious, wonderful, exciting, awesome (list could go on) weeks in Bonaire (1/21 to 2/6). Already missing the warmth and ocean!

Getting there:
It was an awful day getting to our favorite island. Yes, we flew AA/AE. Our direct flight to San Juan from St. Louis was cancelled four days before scheduled flight, so they changed it to St. Louis to Chicago to San Juan. Only problem, Chicago got snow, and lots of snow. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 10:30 a.m. and didn't leave until 1:30 p.m. The flight in San Juan was supposed to leave at 6:30 p.m. We were not going to make the connection. We were very frustrated. Lucky for us (and not for the other passengers) the flight was changed to 8:30 p.m. So we made it to Bonaire - only with no luggage. All 6 pieces were not there. The woman at the AE counter said since it was 11:00 p.m., she would check in the morning and call me to tell where our luggage is - Ha! Did we hear from her, no. We drove to the airport that night (Sunday) to find out no flight that night, didn't know about the next night. It was a little frustrating. We were finally told the woman at AE only works on days there are flights. An e-mail to Sabah in the U.S. finally got us an answer that our luggage would be on the flight Tuesday night. We fortunately had a swimsuit and toothbrush in carry on. Our one pair of clothes were getting a little dirty after 3 days. We learned that you pack your booties in your carry on with your mask.

Accommodations:
We stayed at Sand Dollar. This was our third stay with them. I let Sabah make all the reservations for us and she did a GREAT job.
We had a great unit with a screened in porch. It was fun watching the mosquitos try to get in.

Car Rental:
Sabah took care of a mini van rental through Telerin. Poppy was absolutely a saint to meet us at the airport at 11:00 p.m. upon arrival and at 5:00 a.m. for departure. The van was wonderful and met all our needs.

Diving:
We used the unlimited air package with Bonaire Dive Adventures at Sand Dollar. They were most accommodating by loaning us equipment until ours arrived on Tuesday evening. They were very pleasant, helpful and fun. The first 3 days of shore diving without booties was awful. The BDA only had fins with built in shoe. Ouch! We stayed at easy entry sites. After we got our equipment, we ventured to other sites. Our favorites were Ol' Blue, Oil Slick, Witches Hut, Karpata and Margate Bay. The fish life is abundant and beautiful. The best finds were a turtle, spotted eagle ray, green moray eel and an octopus. We nicknamed Margate Bay the Nursery. There were so many babies. I miss all of them already.

Food:
We only ate out 4 times. Twice to Pasa Bon Pizza and we HIGHLY recommend it! Once at Mango's and once at Richards. The burgers at Mango's were good and the Durado at Richards was also good.

Coming Home:
Thankfully much less eventful. Flights were on time and we arrived home with luggage.

Overall, another wonderful vacation. We had no problems with any theft. Oh yeah - Carnival! It was fun to see the costumes at the childrens parade and the adults parade in Rincon. Too bad we missed the BIG parade in Playa on the 6th!

We hated to leave the island and can't wait until we go back!
Jennifer

I also wanted to mention that the breakfast buffet that was included in the Sand Dollar package was WONDERFUL! It was catered by Eddys Gourmet. Sonja made our morning meal very enjoyable!

Thanks for the report, Jen. Sorry to hear about the mess up with the luggage going down. Now you have some serious PBD to contend with...must plan your next trip immediately to curtain the pangs of PBD! LOL. Carole

Hi Sounds like a great trip-like the kind we remember and have had. Not to put a downer on the whole thing but we have not read alot about crime and car thefts lately. Are things getting under control?? WE had bad experiences but love the island to bits and we would never pick another spot for diving. Hopefully living at some point. Would appreciate any input from anyone. Have not been since Oct. and really am missing the place. Marty