I am not a diver but like Bonaire and flew to Curacao from Toronto via Miami on the 7th. I went to the Divi Divi counter (it's hard to find as it's so small, next to KLM) and learned that the only flight left that day was full and they would not be flying on Friday the 8th because the plane was going in for service! I later learned that until they get a second plane, expected in "a couple" of months, they will be taking their only plane out of service once a month, usually around the 8th, 9th or 10th. I got a seat on ALM for 0700 hours Friday morning and got to Bonaire without a hitch.

I booked the Flamingo Fast Ferry several days ahead on my way back. On the ticket it says to show up half an hour in advance, but there was enough of a crowd that you could cut it finer if you had to. It left only ten minutes late, but due to heavy waves they had cancelled the two trips and had only one to Curacao in the morning and one back to Bonaire in the evening that day, so be sure to check the local papers if you are planning ahead to see what they are up to that week. I needed to show my passport to buy my ticket. I told the woman at Flamingo that I had overheard a conversation on the plane coming down wherein the person said they had a schedule and were going to show up and get the ferry when they got off the plane and asked how they could do that successfully if the requirement was to book a day in advance (as she told me). She said, well, they could talk to the captain and maybe he would let them on. You figure out what that means! There were lots of seats left on Sunday morning the 17th when I left. The ferry was fun if you have a good stomach, as it bobbed up and down in five foot waves and snaked rapidly from side to side like a fun ride. I didn't notice anyone turning green in my area, however.

I am not a diver, as I said, and took only carry-on luggage throughout, as the last time I went through Miami my big bag went missing. The ferry has a big luggage compartment so can take dive equipment easily. They only let met carry on my small knapsack and it took quite a while for my other bag to reappear from the hold.

Let me know if you want any more details about the above. I appreciate all the messages posted by others on this, as it alerted me how to get to Bonaire without the horror stories of Montego Bay, San Juan or Aruba, though it did take time.

What horror stories from San Juan? we will be traveling from San Juan to Bonaire at the end of March.

See older postings for horror stories of long walks in the heat through the airport along a confusing route. There can be a very long layover as well, depending on your connection.

I have had lay overs in San Juan seeral times and have never minded. It is a large airport and you do have to walk a long way for your connection. When I was returning home from Bonaire with my broken knee, myself and roomates were driven in tyle in this great huge golf cart type vehicle. It was neat!

The walk in San Juan from the ATR area to Customs and Immigration is long but in air conditioning and with signs galore. Going down is all in the main terminal--I don't remember a long walk then. Besides, aren't all divers in good physical shape??? Especially at the end of a trip???

I had a pretty short connection yesterday from Bonaire to Boston and everything was flawless. Lines through the security check-point after customs were really long (20 minute wait, but I still made it to my flight with time to spare (arrived 9am in San Juan, left at 10:30am - got to the gate after immigration & customs at about 10:00am. Made some new friends along the way :-)

Jake