Hello everyone! I got so much great information by searching, lurking and questioning on this board that I feel obligated to give a short trip report from our trip May 2-9 at the Plaza Resort. It was my first trip to Bonaire, and my husband's second (he was there 7-8 years ago). We flew Air Jamaica out of ATL through Montego Bay, and the trip both ways was a breeze, as far as AJ was concerned. We were delayed on the return trip for 2 hours in the ATL airport by lines at immigration, customs and waiting for bags. Arrrgh! I hate flying through ATL almost as much as Houston. We rented an extended cab truck from AB Carrental and were very happy with the condition of the vehicle and the service. We had no problems with theft or vandalism and the vehicle performed perfectly.

We stayed in the Grand Suites at the Plaza. The rooms were spacious, but I was hoping for a better view, based on having requested and paid extra for ocean view. We were on the ground level right behind the coconut crash bar and our view of the ocean was just a sliver through the vegetation and around the bar hut. Next time, I would request a 2nd floor room. The only real complaints I would have about the room are the exceptionally poor lighting and the pillows were the pits. We took our own coffee concentrate that we make ourselves, so that was not an issue for us.

DINING -- We ate dinner at Croccantinos, Cappricios, It Rains Fishes and Casablanca (3 times!!). The service at all was quite good and we found that the prices were very reasonable everywhere. By far, my favorite was Casablanca. We thought the food was great and a great bargain. Next trip, I would consider getting a condo with a kitchen, and eating my leftovers from Casablanca for lunch the next day. The Argentinian beef was exceptional and they serve huge portions. They serve a green sauce with the beef that I thought was amazing. The owner(?) told me the recipe and I tried my best to write it down from memory when I got back to my room. We had shared a bottle of wine that night, so I'm not sure my memory was completely reliable. Speaking of wine, he recommended a bottle of Argentinian wine that we loved so much that we bought a bottle to bring home with us. My second favorite was Mona Lisa. They serve a fresh fruit sorbet that is to die for. For lunches, we ate at Mango's, The Old Inn, Chibi Chibi, the City Cafe and a Tex-Mex place downtown ( I can't remember the name). We especially liked The Old Inn not only because the lunch was good, but it was easy to eat outside near our truck so that we could watch our gear.

DIVING Boat dives were Monte's Divi; Capt Don's Reef ; Bonaventure -- beautiful dive where I watched two spotted morays caressing (?) one another; South Bay -- another of my favorites; Hands Off; 1000 Steps; and Ol Blue. Shore dives were Salt Pier; Alice in Wonderland; Pink Beach; Oil Slick Leap; Andrea I; 18th Palm. In our opinion, Klein Bonaire had the best dives. The highlights of the kritters that we saw were: 6' Reef shark;juvenile trunkfish; sharp tail eels; seahorses; frog fish; scorpion fish; an enormous turtle; peacock flounder; golden tail moray;lots of scrawled file fish; a Spanish lobster (I think) and an octopus, both during a day dive.

We enjoyed diving with Toucan divers. They were friendly and accommodating. One of the dive masters there, Jackson, took us to Salt Pier and showed us stuff that we never would have seen on our own.

I think we will definitely return. We liked the pace, the freedom, and the trade winds. As I mentioned, next time I might do things a little differently, but we were very happy with the diving and the trip overall.

Thanks to everyone for your help in planning this great vacation!

Nice report, Carole. So glad you enjoyed your first (but not last) visit to Bonaire! Thanks for the report! Carole

Carole -

Thank you for taking time to give us your trip report. As you know, each report is a wealth of information for the rest of us.

We, too, have stayed at the Plaza and I am sorry that your ocean view did not have much "view." We always have requested the second floor more for the absence of folks walking on our heads than the view, but the view is better, though some views are partially obscured by palms.

You mentioned being close to the Coconut Crash, but you did not mention any problem with the night time noise from there. Perhaps there was none; perhaps such just doesn't bother y'all; or maybe even you were part of the party!

We do not like party noise and for that reason we always request a room as far south in the complex as we can get. It worked great the last time we were there until a large group of Venezuelan folks had a party at the Tipsy Seagull. Guess we just need to join in.

Thanks, again, for going to the trouble to write up and share your report.

Charles Poteet
Dallas

P.S. We ate at Casablanca a few months after it opened. They had a small crowd. Then we and others filed our trip reports on Bonaire Talk!

The noise from the Coconut Crash wasn't a problem. Most of the noise came during happy hour and it was fun to sit on our patio and hear the live music. I don't think the resort was full, so the noise pretty much died down after the cheap drink specials were over. We didn't hear anyone walking on our heads, either. The room over us was occupied, because I heard people on the balcony at least once.