Hi, i don´t see many reports of people staying at Buddy Dive. Is there a problem there?

We have stayed at Buddy Dive numerous times. The rooms are clean with maid service daily. The dive packages they offer are reasonable. Rental cars are fairly new. This is not a 5 star resort if that is what you are looking for. All of the staff are very friendly and will assist you if you need anything. Happy hour at the bar is $1.50 Brights. Diving is very good off of there dock. Look at there web site for further info. GEO

Actually i already have a reservation for March. Just asking couse no one talks about that. Can you tell me if is it safe to bring a laptop there?
Thanks

Buddy Dive is a great resort.

Security is very good but nowhere is 100% safe so care should be taken as it is at home.

My philosophy is: If you can't afford to lose it, either leave it at home or make sure that it is insured.

Please do a keyword search for Buddy Dive and you will see many results.

http://www.oldbonairetalk.com/cgi-local/bbs/search.cgi "Buddy Dive" in quotes

Thank you guys! Countdown 59 days...

Just returned from our 12th trip at Buddy Dive. We really enjoy the resort and staff. I agree, the resort is not a 5 star resort but more of a laid back place to stay. We have taken a laptop numerous times without a problem. We always take the usual precautions (lock the room, don't leave the PC where it can be seen from the windows, etc)and suggest you do the same.

Enjoy your stay! Gotta Fly...
Sky Queen

Just curious, does BD have a safe in the room?

Patrick

Yes. My memory of the safe size is about 4 or 5 inches deep, about 5 or 6 high and about 10 or 12 inches long. You can send an e-mail to Buddy's for the actual dimensions.

It sits on the best house reef on the island, in my estimation...

i don't know about that barbara, i'd have to give the house reef at black durgon (small wall) higher marks. but the reef at buddy is still pretty darn good.

Pat, we're talking angel food cake or chocolate eclair here....I agree that Small Wall is rilly, rilly good. I think Bari is bigger....more opportunities to go this way and that.

Hi, Pat, by the way.

Guilherme Losch, it sounds like you are arriving the week before we are in March. We will arrive for our first trip to BON on the 12th.

Thanks you everyone for answering a lot of the questions we had.

We are looking forward to it. 61 days -- not that we're counting or anything.

Hi, it will be my first trip there too! 53 days and i´m not counting too. LOL

Welcome to BT
Every Bonaire resort goes all out to satisfy their patrons.
Part of your job while on island is to find the resort the fits your needs.
The first time I came to bonaire, I know that I'd be back and that the big resorts were not for me. It had nothing to do with their service.
If your like most people, it will be the diving time of your life.
In case you don't know there isn't even a stop light on Bonaire and the island runs on THEIR time. I am total rested and sorry to leave everytime.---Have fun!!!!

Barb, I love the analogy. Can't go wrong either way. Yum, I'm hungry

The problem with Small Wall, at the Durgon, is that you can only dive it by boat, unless you are staying there. Al does not open his arms to visitors. LOL Unless you know a secret way Pat. LOL

Just wanted to add some insight....

Since the Black Durgon is rented to guests as a small PRIVATE resort, it would be really hard (with 60k+ divers a year) to let all the non-guests come thru the property to dive Small Wall. Privacy, and the non-commercial atmosphere (as well as ease of reef access) is what has kept the Durgon's guests coming back year after year for over 25 years.

There was a time when it was permitted, however, with the increase in divers and when things went missing and messes were made the guests privacy had to come first.

It shouldn't be a problem to get a boat dive to Small Wall, since it is a closer dive site to most of the resorts, I'm sure the friendly dive guides at any facility would be happy to accommodate the request.

Rona

Rona..Absolutely, you have every right with respect to your policies on ingress & egress of your property by the general public. The first priority should be (and I see is) for your private guests.
We're definitely on the same page on this one.

We simply do a 10 minute slow surface swim to Small Wall from Buddy Dive. It is usually the second dive of the day after we have determined that the current at depth (such as it is) is running from the North to the South. Then we have a dive on the wall and a bit of an assisted swim/drift back to Buddy.

I'm actually sitting at Buddy Dive as we speak - here's my take.

For what we got in our package (an apartment, daily boat dives, and a rental truck) it was a very good deal.

The grounds are nice, and really well kept. As are the rooms.

I have my laptop with me (as you can tell), and it's still here after 5 days! The staff seem trustworthy, but as usual, lock your doors so only the authorized hotel staff can get in.

It's a bit of a tourist mill. You do get some experienced guys who love it here, but you see a LOT of new divers here. As such, many of the boat dives are a little on the conservative side. For example we visited the Hilma Hooker on our 2nd day here. For those who are aware, it is a wreck that can be penetrated safely for those who want to. This was not allowed, and they were very adamant about this (same dive with Habitat is allowed to do so). After seeing the caliber of divers that are here though, I do understand.

You're not going to want to eat here every day though. I would skip the Lion's Den completely, they're high priced and mediocre food IMO - go over to Rum Runners at Habitat instead (there is a gate between the two resorts, it's a little hard to find) they do great Pizza after 3pm.

For me, I'm very happy with buddy for the price, but if you're a diver that likes to push the limits a bit - you're better off diving with an operation like Habitat.

I will be at Buddy Dive in 9 days!
I am trying to go on their web site and am getting an error. Other web sites are working fine. Is anyone else experiencing this?

Buddy's website worked fine last night, but they have been having periodic outages. Keep trying, you'll eventually get in.

(Message edited by kob159014 on March 3, 2011)