I'm trying to get to Bonaire obviosly, but I got a much cheaper ticket by flying to Curacao. I've heard of the Flamingo Airport Ferry that goes from Bonaire to Curacao and back. However their schedual on their shoddy website is out of date. Does anyone know the schedual. I'm arriveing Monday July 8th at 1:37pm. Should I just fly over? With what airline? and how much? Thanks
-Christopher

Here is the info I got on May 23, 2002 with the latest schedule.

mailto:Maribell@chogogo.an


Service:
Daily schedule times of the Chogogo:
Bon-Cur 06:00am
Cur-Bon 08:15am
Bon-Cur 15:30pm
Cur-Bon 17:45pm

Take plenty of dramamine!

If I remember correctly, they have a small plane service running from Curacao to Bonaire, and the flights are very reasonably priced. They even have a website. They do have strict baggage restrictions, but I think if you notify them in advance, its not a problem. I've heard bad things about the ferry.

Anyways, Jake can give you the details I'm sure.

Darryl

who's jake, and who is this small airline, and what is their webpage? Jake?
-Christopher

Jake is Jake Richter - Him along with his wife Linda run this board and live on Bonaire.

Christopher,

I'm Jake

The small airline is Divi Divi air - Web site is http://www.baibini.com - I just booked a ticket with them for our semi-adopted Bonairean daughter who's now living in Curacao to come see us on Friday. R/T cost is approximately US$90, and they fly 5 times a day I think. Real nice folks to talk too, and I've heard good things about their service (small planes, though - 7 seaters).

Jake

We flew Divi Divi from BON to CUR in December, indeed they do have strict baggage restrictions, we had 3 big bags with us and had to buy another seat so as our luggage could travel with us. So do book in advance.. the flight was smooth and the crew very friendly and helpful.. you can also fly to Bonaire from Curacao with Dutch Caribbean Airlines, their info is on the infobonaire WWW.

Actually DCE is a few bucks cheaper than Divi.

I'm not entirely sure about that. DCE quoted a rate of NAF 148, Divi Divi NAF 138, but then some additional taxes raised the Divi Divi fee to NAF 158. And, since I was arranging a ticket for someone in Curacao, DCE/DCA wanted to charge me NAF 40 for that privilege, so Divi Divi was cheaper in the end.

Jake

Since I may be traveling with two bike boxes and I'm dirt poor I may be forced to take the ferry. Derryl said he heard bad things about it. But I imagine its cheaper and they can handle all my bags. I'm staying for 25 days after all. I'll try to pack light. But I have a feeling Divi Divi won't like those bike boxes.

I want to thank everyone for their help with my questions!

Divi will not take the bikes. I suggest you ship them via AMCAR by sea.

Chris,

See: http://www.amcarfreight.com regarding Michael's suggestion. The problem with that route is that you'd have to pay duties and sales tax and processing fees to retrieve your bikes from customs once they arrived on Bonaire. Michael's right that Divi Divi air will not take your bikes.

The ferry is likely your only option. Or fly Air Jamaica and pay an extra baggage fee (their planes are large).

Jake

You can arrange to get your money back for duty if you take the bikes home. I would suggest selling them here. Bring locks and chains as well.

We will be in Bonaire the first week of August on our honeymoon. We are considering taking the Divi Divi r/t flight over to Curacao for a day of sightseeing. Does anyone know the approximate flight time. I'm not real fond of small planes, but if it is a very short flight, I could probably endure it okay. Hate to go all the way to Bonaire from Texas and not see Curacao too!

Thanks,
Laura

laura- you may need more than one day to do justice to a sightseeing tour in Curacao. It is much larger than Bonaire and has many areas of interest. I made this discovery when I ferried there from Bonaire last month.
If your airline tickets permit, it may be easier to spend the last couple of vacation days in Curacao and then fly back to the USA from there. Both AA and AJ have flights. AA to Miami amd AJ to MoBay.

Another option (if you are doing the 1 day plan) is to take the 6 am ferry from Bon to Cur ( a very easy, pleasant trip) and fly the last Divi Divi flight back to Bon. You may want to try Google to see if you can access the Divi Divi schedule.

One more thought--I am told that Curacao is a bargain shopper's heaven. Since you are newly weds, you may also want to allow time to shop for big ticket luxury items while there.

Mimi,
Thanks for the tips on Curacao. We are actually traveling with a group through our local dive shop so we are limited somewhat in time and schedule. We both love diving, so a diving honeymoon will be heaven for us. I wasn't able to access the actual schedule or flight duration info. on the Divi Divi website. I just thought I might be able to get the information faster right here.
Thanks again,
Laura

Laura -

If diving and enjoying the wonders of the sea are your passions (besides your new marriage), you might wish to re-think the side trip to Curacao.

Certainly, for shopping, gambling and night life it surpasses Bonaire.

The reality is that bright lights and the fast life can be found in many parts of the globe (and the cities of Texas are not a bad place to start).

But for real life, as only you can witness in the sea and on an island that is two clock ticks behind the rest of the world, Bonaire has no competitor. We base our judgment on fairly extensive travels in other parts of the Caribbean, Africa and Hawaii.

From one Texan to another: take every moment you can get on Bonaire and then plan for the next trip!

Charles y Kaye Poteet
Dallas

Charles and Kaye,
Thanks for the advice and information. I bet you are right about Bonaire. We will probably enjoy chillin' for a week and not want to leave the great u/w. I only wish we had some closer awesome dive sites to visit. The Flower Gardens is not a trip I really want to make based on the experiences of others. The men I talk to have flat out told me, it's really a "men's trip". Even my divemaster, told me he would be surprised, if I could make what he described as "the 10' jump" off the boat to the water. Of course, he was also surprised when I actually completed my o/w certification and ventured to Key Largo and Grand Cayman. Honestly, I do prefer easy dives, hence the trip to Bonaire. Two years ago, I picked up a travel magazine and saw an article with beautiful u/w photos. I love the sea, so I read the article about Bonaire with great pleasure. I went home that night and asked my fiance if he had ever considered learning to scuba dive. He surprised me and said he had always wanted to learn. I said "me too!" and the rest is history. So this August we get the best of both worlds-a desert island honeymoon and what we hope will be the best diving we have ever experienced! Heck, you're right-Who needs Curacao?!!!
Best regards,
Laura & Mitch

Curacao is also beautiful but I always am anxoius to get home to Bonaire after my monthy trips. Divi takes about 30 minutes. It does not fly at night however so you will have to plan a day trip with an early return. There are a few places which offer day trips from here. You wont find them on any search engines (at least I haven't) E mail me if I can be of any further help.

laura - elsewhere on this board, Kay Powers posted her experience with Flower Gardens. She just got back from there. It was a great trip for her. Check out her postings.
As for Curacao, you can pencil it in when you next return to Bonaire. One week is not enough time to do both islands. Figure on two weeks to be fair to yourselves and the islands.

Laura....The trip to the Flower Gardens was fun, nice diving but I haven't been anywhere yet that compares to "Bonaire". I would go back to the Flower Gardens and dive again when I feel the need to get that underwater fix, but Bonaire stole my heart back in 1996 and I can't get enough! I've made 7 trips to Bonaire and if I could figure out how I could do 4-6 trips a year there... (jobs are nice to have but sometimes they get in the way of diving) Congratulations and have a wonderful trip.

Hi Kay,
Thanks for the Congrats. My husband to be and I just know we will be hooked on Bonaire. We've been checking out the reef cam several times a week for more than year now. Can't wait for the real thing!
Laura

Does anyone have current info or actual experience with DCE airline form CUR to BON, or for that matter from MIA to CUR to BON. Ofcourse, I know they are a spinoff of ALM, but are they any more reliable than ALM? I would really like to find a reliable carrier from MIA to CUR and on to BON. I haven't been on this site in a while, so this may be old discussion, but I haven't been able to get any specific info on DCE. Thanks.

What is security like in Miami Airport right now? How are they dealing with travelers who have lots of camera equipment? Our friend is getting worried about extra searches and making our connecting flight. Thanks in advance for the input. Debbie