We are on board our return flight having spent the last week at the Buddy Dive Resort in Bonaire. The resort was very nice, clean and well maintained although the roads on the property could use some repair work. The staff was friendly and polite.
The dive operation was very professional. The dive masters were very knowledgable and gave clear and thorough briefings. The boats were well looked after however two of the four boats are on the small side and if you have 10 people diving, it is uncomfortable and crowded. All of them are equipped with sloped ladders which makes it easy to climb out of the water. The boats go out three times a day, 0830, 1030 and 1415. They go to which ever dive sites those on board want to go to. The dive masters are always happy to make recommendations.
The diving in Bonaire is very nice. Most dive sites have a current and some of them can be strong. That means that you invariably start the dive swimming into the current and then drifting back to your starting point. Bonaire has an amazing amount and variety of soft corals that are stunningly beautiful. There is an amazing variety of marine life but we were surprised by the lack of some of the bigger things we expected to see. We did 19 dives but only saw turtles on 2 of them. We didn't see any stingrays, manta rays or eagle rays. We saw 1 spotted moray but no green morays. Lobsters were few and far between and we didn't see any crabs.
Bonaire is famous for its shore diving. You must be aware that most shore dive sites have entry/exits that are difficult in calm water and there is never calm water in Bonaire. We have knees and ankles that saw their 50th birthdays a number of years ago. That made some of the dives very difficult. Careful navigation is also very important. If you miss your exit you may have a long swim through rough surf to get back to it.
There are Mosquitos in Bonaire. They will find you. They will bite you. You will scratch those bites. Take some AfterBite with you! We left ours at home.
Flight options to Bonaire are limited. We chose to connect through Newark on Continental's red-eye. That was a mistake. We were fortunate to have an empty seat in our row which gave us a bit of extra room. The seats are close together and have limited ability to recline which makes getting comfortable enough to sleep almost impossible. Continental's executive team would learn an awful lot by taking an economy class trip to Bonaire complete with its midnight departure. The Buddy Dive Resort team greeted us on arrival, got our luggage loaded and quickly got us to the resort. Check in was quick and easy.
The return leg leaves Bonaire at 07:00 which means the shuttles leaves Buddy's at 4:45. We arrived at the airport at 05:00 to find a long line up and only two agents checking people in. It took an hour and a half to get through the process and into the hold room. Not to worry, even though the inbound flight had arrived on time, we weren't beginning the boarding until after 08:00. There was no preboarding. There was no priority boarding. It was just a mad rush to the door. Unfortunately, there were two people who were in wheelchairs caught in the middle of this process. It was unacceptable treatment!
Of course, when you book a two hour connection in Newark and you depart for Newark an hour and a half late, the odds of clearing customs and making your connecting flight are next to nil. We didn't make it!
- Buddy Dive Kralendijk
- Buddy Dive Hotel Kralendijk
