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Trip Reports: Another Great Trip !
Bonaire Talk: Trip Reports: Archives: Archives 05-01-10 to 08-31-10: Another Great Trip !
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By robert johnson (BonaireTalker - Post #14) on Tuesday, July 6, 2010 - 6:43 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

6-26 to 7-3
I write this in hopes of helping my fellow Bonaire Talkers!

Flights: Delta from Detroit to Atlanta to Bonaire. This is the only way to go. Left on time. Arrived on time. Both ways. The flight crews were pleasant and helpful. Luggage was long coming off in Bonaire, and it was hot. But otherwise good riddens to flying American back in the day. Used Amex ff miles. Sweet !

Digs: Buddy's again. The good and bad. Long time checking in and did I mention it was hot. 1st room 404, was a sanctuary for mosquitos. They were stacked up! Really! And the front door opened into the bedroom. Not Happy! Went to the desk. They changed my room to 304, with a smile! Much better. All the staff could not have been more pleasant the whole week. Walked down to chat-n-browse for wifi. $60 for the week. Buddy's $40 for the week and worked from the room. Nice!

Eats: Great french fries at Buddy's pool bar as always. Eli Deli sandwiches for lunch were fantastic. Budoir for lunch on Friday was super as well. D&G for dinner, so so, but the service was great. Paradise Moon, great tacos and great service. Rib Factory, Yummy! Ribs were tasty, good service, and the best cappucino for the trip.

Diving: Better than the last few years I think. Coral was healthy, lots of little stuff, turtles, rays, and eels very common. Best sites for the week were Thousand Steps 30-40 ft, the best coral I think for the week. Red Slave, little current, dropped in on a eagle ray, swam with turtles. Karpata, droped in on a bait fish ball, Fun Times!

Overall, A great trip. But I think next time I will try renting a villa or nice apartment. Buddy's is nice, they make it easy to go diving, but would like to try something a little nicer. This was my 7th trip and never had a problem with crime, but had some concerns this time probably from reading to much on this board, I really like to hang out at Bachelor's beach in between dives. One SI there, the locals who were smoking marijuana, and the car with the blacked out windows that had pulled up made me nervous, so I decided to move along. Same old stupid divers stories as past trips, photographers hanging on live coral, surface markers left on the reef for navigation. What moroon would think that they could find a surface marker and not the bright yellow 25' bouy line 10' away. Sorry about that, I'm a little sensitive. And I seemed to notice a little more algae on the reefs this year, but would be hard for me to objectively quantify from past trips. Last, the explosion of new construction last year, one thing I forgot about that, the good part it takes forever to build something on Bonaire, so the new block buildings i saw last year look pretty much the same:)

Hope this helps. Questions and comments are encouraged and welcomed ! PBD already setting in !

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dave (BonaireTalker - Post #24) on Tuesday, July 6, 2010 - 9:25 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Sounds like a great trip! I wish I would have gone! :)

Dave

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Fid Chinoy (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #195) on Tuesday, July 6, 2010 - 11:15 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

There are way more upsides than downsides when renting a villa. We have been renting them through Sumrentals for a few years and have never been disappointed. A major bonus is the personalized service and convenience of being able to drive right up to your house and also leave stuff laying around. All the houses we have rented have alarm systems and we have never had anything stolen or experienced break-ins (fingers crossed that I am not jinxing myself).

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Vince DePietro-www.bonairebeachcondo.com (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3120) on Wednesday, July 7, 2010 - 6:16 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Robert..Thanks for posting about your trip. From my observations/experience, divers generally start with the major dive operations/resorts on the island. After several trips they then realize they can get much better accommodations via the private rental route.

Check out the infobonaire site which lists accommodations by price range..
http://www.infobonaire.com/hotels.html

Also, completely agree with you on your observation about some divers utilizing artificial markers on the reef to assist with their "underwater navigation". They are IMHO devoid of any real skills if they have to rely upon that to get back to their starting point.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tim Howery (BonaireTalker - Post #13) on Wednesday, July 7, 2010 - 10:46 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Great to hear your report. Leaving Sat from DTW for 2 weeks. Also flying Delta, and wondered how it worked out. It is more $$ but your get there at a reasonable time and leave later in the day.

We have stayed at resorts and now for the past several years have rented an apt at Belmar which is part of Buddies. We really like it as there is a Buddies Dive on the property.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By mary pequinot (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #763) on Wednesday, July 7, 2010 - 5:55 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

We did Delta in April 2008, and it was great. We did spend the night in Atlanta, both to and from-to avoid any problems with connections. It caused less stress and was a pretty easy trip.

We also stayed at Belmar, which was wonderful. Just watch out for the slippery floors! Hope to be back soon, if the economy in Michigan EVER gets better. Enjoy!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Sandy Oliver (BonaireTalker - Post #71) on Thursday, July 8, 2010 - 8:03 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Leaving for our Condo at Sanddollar in 3 weeks. We are venturing out to do that 1 hour connecting flight from Ct. to ATlanta on Delta. Has anyone done this flight? We did the 40 min. connection last Aug. and had no problems. Just worried about delays but it is pretty easy connecting using the underground tram.

 


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