I'm planning my third trip to Bonaire for February, 2009. Somehow, it seems like it was a heck of a lot easier getting here a few years ago than it is now. Using American Airlines out of Boston, my only option seems to connect through San Juan. Unfortunately, they only seem to run one flight out of San Juan that gets in to Bonaire at 9 PM. Now, AA has canceled all but the 6:30 AM flights out of Boston, so that means a layover of several hours. The return flight, which leaves Bonaire at 7:11 AM, is almost as bad as far as the long layover.

I noticed that Jet Blue flies out of Boston to Aruba, where DAE then flies to Bonaire. I've seen some very negative comments about DAE and wonder if it's worth using the Jet Blue/DAE route as a viable alternative. It's less expensive and would get us in and out much quicker, if DAE can keep to their published schedules.

Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Stan

Yes, the SJU to BON flight is a once a day (sometimes seven days a week, sometimes not) thing.

How about CO via EWR? Or AA to MIA then CUR then Divi to Bon? Or AA to SJU, go to old San Juan and then on to Bonaire? Or Delta via ATL?

Bos - Mia - Cur - Bon.

Long day, but it works for me.

From where you are in NH you can also fly CO out of Manchester with good connections to Newark for the late night flight to Bonaire.

How long are the flights via Divi Divi and are they reliable?

There is an American flight from CUR to Bos that leaves at 9am and Divi Divi leaves for Cur from Bon at 8am?

I'm finding that all the alternatives are either much more expensive, just as long, or involve multiple stops. So....the Boston-San Juan-Bonaire connection is still probably the most convenient and the least expensive way to go. Right now, I can book this connection for $691 round trip and it's only a one stop flight.

So, in spite of the very long layover in San Juan due to AA's cancellation of all their later flights from Boston to San Juan, I'm going to book this flight. I've already booked Harbour Village for 2/4 through 2/14. Thanks to all for the comments and advice.

Stan

Stan,
A long layover in SJU is better than no trip at all. Take a bus or a cab and go to the beach or to Old San Juan. There is plenty of info on this site about what to do with that time. enjoy the day.
ginny

Well, it looks like AA has now cancelled all my flights...Boston to SJU, and also the return leg. Now I don't have to worry about the layover, just finding any flight will be a challenge. My travel dates, as far as days of the week, are not flexible so my options are very limited.

If I can confirm a Jet Blue to Aruba, then a DAE to Bonaire flight, I'll do it at this point. I just hope the smaller airlines turn out to be more reliable than AA has been.

Ruth:

Divi is *very* reliable and the flights are probably about 30 minutes. That said, they are daylight hours only.

Also, if doing AA via CUR with Divi, the trick is to get the morning flight from MIA to CUR and take the afternoon flight from CUR to MIA. (The only downside there is it can be hard to then make it to the west coast on the return leg unless you overnight somewhere).

Stan
Look at Boston/Cur/Bon, I'll be on island late July and it's about the same money [710$]--the only glitch is some people don't like flying thru Miami!
I refuse to use DAE as Divi Divi has a much better dependability record and I don't like spending 5 hours in the Cur airport waiting for DAE's flight!
I live on the west coast so it's always a redeye to get to Bonaire. If I leave @ 11pm i'll be on Bonaire 14 hours later.

Stanley:

Call AA and talk to them by phone. They can still get you from Boston to BON but you might have to shift a day or two either way. (The SJU to BON is no longer 7 days a week...)

Stanley
Just looked on Kayak.com, there is a 5:30 am flight out of Logan that puts you on Cur at 1:50 PM-- if you catch the Divi at I believe 3:30 your on island by 4--it's about 800$-

I will look into the Boston to Curacao to Bonaire connections this week. Thanks all for the help...I need it!

Stan

Stanley- It is indeed an all-day affair to get to BOS from BON. There's just no way around it. Been doing it for years. I avoid multiple carriers because if something/anything goes wrong, they both disavow any responsibiity and point fingers at each other. Plus, it's not usually cheaper (see Bill's suggestion). I looked into flying CO, as I don't mind the red eye, but the last CO flight from BOS to EWR still left me with a 6 hour layover, and the price was the same as AA. I just accept it. Good luck, and let us know if you find a good deal!

AA's cancelation of the morning flight from MIA to CUR really stinks. Now you get to CUR after 8 PM, so very difficult to get to Bonaire the same day.

I think I'll do my November trip via Aruba instead, but will do weekday flights to avoid the weekend crush...

We are in the same boat. Our flights were changed and we also have a looong layover in San Juan. We decided to book a room at the Best Western (right at the airport) and we are going to either go to the beach or visit Old San Juan.

You can get a Day rate at the Hotel for $130.00, but you have to be out by 5:00 PM or you can pay for the whole day and it is $198.00. We are traveling with my parents and our 2 children, so it will be worth it to drop off our luggage and go have some fun. I booked it for the whole day, so if our flight gets cancelled we will have a place to stay.

Oops forgot to add. I did the BOS-Aruba-Bon option one year and I thought it was a nightmare...maybe things have changed. When we left Bonaire we had to clear customs in Bon..then when we arrived in Aruba we had to clear customs to enter Aruba and then clear customs again to depart Aruba to Boston. It was such a pain and it took forever to get through customs in Aruba. I said I would never do it again...that was 5 years ago...it might be different now.

Booking a room may be the sane thing to do.I can't see spending that many hours on the beach. We are still trying to figure out if the rainforest makes sense as far as time and money.
We could hang out in the room all day and rest, but still we would need to vacate by 5 which is a few hours before the flight. Well, all in all it is not a bad problem to have to mull over these next few months.

I would love to take a trip to El Yunque, but I am not sure if there is enough time..it is about 25 miles one way and the speed limit goes down a bit once you get out of San Juan. Plus it takes some time to walk the trails etc. But it is amazing...I have never seen so many variation of the color green.

I have taken the Bacardi Tour before and that was interesting and at the end you get to sample free rum drinks

You are right..it will be fun to think about it while counting the months to our next trip. We might mix it up...visit the Fortress/Castle in Old San Juan and then have some drinks/lunch at a Hotel on the Beach and let the kids play a little and then head back to the airport and get clean-up.

El Yunque is breathtaking. I'd love a return trip to check it out. The hike down to one of the larger waterfalls took a bit longer than I would have liked. My favorite was early in drive. There will be a waterfall on the right side of the road as you start heading into the forest. There should be a small place to park next to a guard rail. On the right side of that waterfall is a small trail that goes up the hill (I think there is a trash can there too). If you climb up that trail it opens up to another waterfall with a really nice swimming hole. It's more secluded than the other areas.

The Bacardi tour was interesting but I would have really liked to actually see the distillery.

Another hotel with a day rate is the Hampton Inn in Isla Verde. It is about an 8 minute cab ride from the airport. I prefer it to the Best Western because it has a pool, a poolside restaurant and the rooms are larger than at the BW. The price is about $149.00 and I believe you can stay til 6pm.

Sue, we like the Hampton Inn ourselves. Nice place to stay for long layovers.

The plan is taking shape. I like the idea of the Hampton Inn with the pool and the later check-out. It would be easy to pick some lunch up on the way to keep the costs down ( saving our cash for diving!!!)
Let's keep this up and we may find that the layovers are just an opportunity for a new adventure.

You can walk to the beach from there too, Ginny. Nice area. Lots of places to eat around there too.