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Trip Reports: Lee & Marilyn's Trip Report
Bonaire Talk: Trip Reports: Archives: Archives 2000 to 2005: Archives - 2004-02-06 to 2004-07-31: Lee & Marilyn's Trip Report
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Lee Wallace (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #1) on Monday, March 8, 2004 - 1:16 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

GENERAL: We vacationed in Bonaire from 2/18 to 2/25. We booked a package (air, hotel & car rental) through bonairepros.com for what seemed like a good price and everything worked smoothly.
We took the 7 Am AJ flight out of Boston on Wednesday morning. It was great taking a mid week flight…no check in lines and the planes were not crowded. On all the flights – both coming & going - we got an aisle and window seat with nobody in between. All flights went without a hitch with only the usual minor delays. AJ provided good cabin service and our bags arrived with when we did .

We found Bonaire a great place to visit. We went there especially for the snorkeling and were not disappointed. My wife and I have been to a number of Caribbean islands, and IMHO Bonaire cannot be beat for snorkeling. Nothing I’ve seen equals the easy of driving, the numerous shore access points and the quantity and diversity of the sea life. There is a good road system that makes it easy to get around the island and everyone we met was friendly and helpful. Prices were typical of most Caribbean islands. We experienced no problem with theft or vandalism. We did leave our car unlocked, windows open and nothing inside at all snorkel sites, but locked it up at night.

ACCOMMODATIONS: We stayed at the Sand Dollar Condos in a studio apartment. Our room was well away from the beach but on the plus side it was close to a parking spot. There was no problem with noise The room had a fully equipped kitchen, breakfast bar, dining room table, sofa, bed, TV and air conditioner. The room was clean and everything worked properly. We didn’t make use of the kitchen except for the refrigerator having decided some years ago that vacation meant not cooking, but if you did want to prepare meals, everything was there to do it. There is a pool, tennis courts, restaurant and daily maid service. I would have no hesitation about staying there again.

CAR RENTAL: We rented a Toyota Yaris four door hatchback sub-compact with stick shift and AC. It is basic transportation, but will get you to any snorkel spot on the island except in WS park. We rented from AB Car Rental and picked up the car at the airport. The vehicle was in good shape and gave us no problems. When we went to pick up the car, we got behind a man who was trying to use a debit card to secure the vehicle and they would not accept it. That took a little time to straighten out and when our turn came we went through the typical paperwork hassle – no better or worse than any other car rental I’ve done. Check in was the same. One possible drawback to picking up at the airport is there could be a number of people off your flight getting cars and you might have to wait a while in the sun to get your turn at the window.

SNORKELING: We snorkeled Karpata, Ol’ Blue, Andrea I & II, Windsock, Tori’s Reef, Sand Dollar (Bari) and Klein Bonaire. I have posted my comments on these sites under “Snorkeling Bonaire”

DINING: I have posted comments on the restaurants we visited under “Dining”

To sum it up in three words: A great vacation.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Carole Baker (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3243) on Monday, March 8, 2004 - 2:55 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Welcome to BT, Lee! So glad to hear your first trip was a good one. Now you have to plan your next trip right away to hold down the PBD...Post Bonaire Depression...next trip should be 10 days to 2 weeks, if at all possible. Joe and I are snorkelers, too, and love to return to Bonaire every year to watch the "show" and relax with the fishies and the critters and the people. Great, great place to be. Glad you enjoyed yourself. Carole

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Eileen Kimmett (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #4873) on Tuesday, March 9, 2004 - 6:37 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Welcome to BT! Thank-you for your report, I will have to check out the dining page later..... I am really love my food right now:-).

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ann (BonaireTalker - Post #19) on Tuesday, March 9, 2004 - 10:03 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

nice report - AJ will be my standard airline when traveling again to Bonaire - they really get the trip off to a great start.

and i'll be checking out your snorkeling report - i'm a snorkeler, too - who, at this time, is perfectly satisfied with what's at the surface!

thanks for posting...

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Barbara Leary (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #4923) on Wednesday, March 10, 2004 - 2:14 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks for sharing your trip! It is great to hear about the snorkeling! :-)

 


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