First, let me thank everyone for your valuable input in guiding us to a fun filled trip to Bonaire. With your experience and guidance, our trip was a great success, however we have a few woes to share with everyone who may be going in the future with hope that you will not run into some of the issues we did.
The Resort:
We stayed at the Divi Flamingo Resort. The resort is very nice and it is highly recommended. The dive shop was very professional, experienced, their goal was to make everyone have a great experience, and they made ours exceptional. The resort is well laid out and well kept. We purchased an ocean front room – however be careful. This was not what we were given upon our arrival. At 10:00 p.m. arrival, we were given a room that was not what we paid for. We were stuck in a corner room far away from the water. We returned to the front desk and they sent us on another excursion to another “not what we ordered room”. We complained for the third time and then we were told that all the ocean front rooms were taken until Feb 28th. Unfortunately, we were leaving for home on the first. We finally took the 3rd room they offered and it happened to be what they call an upgrade. This was not an upgrade for us. We wanted and paid for an ocean front room, not a time share studio room We decided to sleep there, but not unpack as it was now 11:00 p.m. and we were tired of fighting and getting no results. The very next morning we complained to another receptionist and finally that afternoon they moved us to the ocean front room (you know, the one that was not available until Feb 28th). Hmmm, I’m sure some other poor sole was not given their ocean front room upon arrival because we were in it. Not a good way to do business. The ocean front rooms are very nice and really are “ocean front”. It’s just too bad that we had to start our vacation this way.
The Dive Shop:
As mentioned above, the people there are very nice. The Dive manager, Serge did everything possible to provide every diver with a memorable experience. To all divers – you are required to do a check out dive before you can do any others. So, be prepared for this incidental. You do this check out dive right at the end of their pier, but you will miss the morning 2 tank dive by doing this as the dive shop opens at 8:00 and the boats leave at 8:30. You do not have enough time to do the check out dive and catch the a.m. run. You’ll have to wait until the p.m. single tank dive. I dive and my wife snorkels, but she was allowed on every boat trip. You are assigned a diver number upon check in at the dive shop and when a significant other wants to snorkel, you just put an “s” in one of the boxes on their sign up board outside the dive shop. This board is how they manage each days dives. So, I would put 215 at my dive number in one of the boxes for the trip I wanted and I would use another box and put 215 S in a second box. The dive master and captain now know there is a snorkeler on board and they will plan the trip accordingly. . Don’t worry divers – I don’t think there’s a bad dive on the island. I’ll discuss my dives next. Once you have your dive number, you have an assigned spot to hang your gear bag in a shed at the end of the pier. The shed is locked by security at 10:00 p.m. Tanks are available 24 hours a day and they are kept replenished. If you begin your dive before 10:00 but return after 10:00 p.m., you will need to store your gear in your room because the shed will be locked.
The dives:
The Divi Flamingo is located on the Calabas reef. Right in front of the hotel you have a beautiful reef to dive. There are many – many shore dives available and they are marked with yellow painted rocks around the island. Entry is a little difficult in most places. It’s tough on the feet since there are no soft sandy beaches to wade into to start your dive. It’s coral. Very easy to find all the dive locations. The dive shop leaves air tanks for you to take at will if this is your interest. The Dive boats also go to most of these places if you prefer the boat ride and dive adventures. I did the Calabas (for the check out dive and a night dive) and the following locations: Karpata (my favorite along with Oil Slick Leap), Oil Slick Leap, 1000 steps (my least favorite – lots of broken coral – but still nice once you get away from the mooring), Mi Dushi, Something Special, & Bon Bini. All of the dives offered nice coral formation (intact and undamaged), spotted morays, hugh parrot and angel fish (some of the biggest I’ve ever seen), some seahorses (I saw 3. 2 in Karpata, and 1 on Oil Slick Leap – these are very hard to find – the dive master pointed these 3 out to us, I would have never found them myself as their camoflauge is superb). There were some Octopus and Spotted Eagle Rays mentioned by others in my trips, but I did not see any myself. Big schools of Jacks are common, some of the biggest Porcupine fish I’ve ever seen and I came across many big Scorpion fish. A face only a mother could love, but they are beautiful. I also ran across an abundance of Sharp Tail Eels. Plenty of Butterfly fish, and one of my favorites, Trunk Fish (I saw several on every dive – they are cool fish. And last but not least – lots of Trumpet fish – again, some of the biggest I’ve ever seen. One curious fellow (about 18” long followed me throughout my dive at Oil Slick Leap – he finally let me get him a pet. A few turtles were also seen, but I did not see one. My wife did snorkeling at Karpata. As for you snorkerlers out there, the jetty in front of the hotel will definitely keep you happy as well as any of the snorkel spots. We stopped for a snorkel at Tory’s Reef on our way to the salt flats and what a treat we had. The little inlet was full of pipe fish chasing the millions of little fish. Just outside of the inlet, reef fish of many varieties were found. Too many to mention, but all of the above and many more species.
The restaurants:
We ate at the City Café, Donna’s and Georgio’s, Maiky snack (snack is the word the locals tack on the end of their restaurant names. A restaurant name that ends in snack is the local food shops), Zee Zicht, Chibi Chibi, Beefeaters, Rose Inn (Rincon), & It Rains Fishes
All of the restaurants were excellent. City Café offered a great selection for both lunch and dinner and after speaking with several of the customers we met from our resort, everyone raved about the food. We concur. Donna and Georgio’s was excellent also. We went looking for food late night after our late arrival and hotel adventures and although they were closing at 11:00 p.m., Donna greeted us and and took the time to prepare us a great meal. Their shrimp and linguine is highly recommended. Beefeaters prepares their food on an open grill with the right seasonings – I had steak and my wife chicken and both were excellent and done to our perfection. ZeeZitch (which we read some complaints about on other trip reports), did not deliver the bad service or the currency exchange problem as mentioned. They were very concerned about the service they delivered and even came to our table and offered us a free cocktail when they realized my steak was going to take a few minutes more than expected. At the Maiky Snack, I had the Kibritsu (sp)–Stoba (Goat Stew). This was outstanding and did not taste at all what I expected it to taste like. It was more the flavor of a slow cooked lamb stew. My wife had the chicken stew and hers was excellent as well. Good luck finding the place. They are out in the middle of nowhere and we had trouble locating it. We concur with the rest of the people on the bulletin board– the Coconut Shrimp at Chibi Chibi is hard to beat. The Rose Inn (surprised it was not called the Rose Inn “snack”. Was a local place we stumbled upon and stopped in for lunch. We both had their fried fish (not fried as us North American continent people know it), local style and it was different, yet good. The helping was generous and the price right. They also had Goat Stew and Iguana soup on the menu. It Rains Fishes also offered us a good meal and service. Now, let’s talk about ice cream – we made it to Rincon and went in search of Prisca’s (the famous ice cream place everyone on the bulletin board raved about). I say search because it is tucked away behind a gas station The ice cream came in little plastic cups, handled like sticky Elmers Glue, and was in my mind, nothing like ice cream. YUCK – we tried to be kind after a bite or two, nicely slipped into our car and was hoping to find a goat or donkey to feed it to. No luck – probably a good thing for the animals. We found a garbage can outside of town and tossed it. YUCK again - this was the only bad thing we had on our trip. The best ice cream we found was in the little mall in town. Typical flavors, homemade ice cream (not like Hersheys or any commercial brand), real ice cream that you would get at your local parlor.
Important note – no-one tried to rip us off by giving us incorrect change. At times I got Guilders and US Dollars back in change together, and every time it was correct. The exchange rate is typically $1.00 US to $1.75 Guilder. Within a couple of days you master the money system. Many of the restaurants and shops provide receipts that showed both currencies so you would be comfortable with the exchange. I made a little table to take with us so I could quickly figure change, but I did not need it. One time I questioned a clerk, however it was quickly found to be my error – the young lady was correct. All prices were quite reasonable – some of our meals were a dollar or two more than what you’re used to paying, but many times in the local restaurants things were much less. Portions were always big – I like to eat big meals and I was not disappointed anywhere. The restaurants get a thumbs up in my book. Sorry for you who has less than acceptable experiences. I guess that could happen anywhere.
The National Park:
A lovely place in it’s own way. Not as many iguana’s as we expected to see, but one friendly sole did approach us - I guess looking for a hand out. The birds were wonderful and friendly. The road has a lot to be desired, so be sure to rent a jeep or truck if you want to venture there because the ranger will not let you in without one. The cost is $10 US per person to enter. There are some very nice snorkeling spots in the park. Plan on at least 4 hours. The road is one way around and very bumpy. Many stops to sight see and once you get going, even the short route took us several hours. The lookout points are breathtaking.
Transportation:
This is the real important issue. Getting there and home again can cause undo stress. American Airlines (AA) only has 1 flight in and out per day I think. We were told to get to the Airport for departure at 6:00 a.m. because the airport and car rentals for returns don’t open until that time. Being somewhat travel savvy – we arrived at 5:45. The line was already out the door and the little prop plane quickly filled up with people and reached its maximum weight capacity. Once in line – we were handed a sign by the AA rep that said “last in line”. We were to show this to the counter rep and not to anyone that filed in behind us. Not good. Once the plane reached its capacity. They closed the counter in front of us and were told to “come back tomorrow”. There were 7 of us in this situation. Although another couple arrived after us, we let them slip in line in front of us so they would not get the whammy when they reached the counter. It did them no good either because they were stuck with us also. AA reps closed up shop in front of us, locked everything up and disappeared without any communication to us. After trying hopelessly trying to get someone’s attention, we were told that AA would put us up for the night “somewhere”. Nobody but one couple liked this idea – after all, most of us have responsibilities that we need to get home to. Our plane (the one we were supposed to be on – fired up and left without us). There was another airline with a flight out in a couple of hours and we were told to go and try to get on that one. They asked us to stand in line again with the other passengers and see if we could get a seat. We did this only to find out that once we got to the counter, we did not have tickets and was told to got and buy – yes buy – new tickets to get us to Curacao on this flight. Another hour or so passed. We eventually got on board of this flight – 9:00 a.m. and arrived in Curacao before 10:00 a.m. where there was a flight to Miami at 3:45 p.m. Yes – 3:45. AA would not take our baggage, rent us a car or do anything for us until we complained for nearly an hour to their customer service rep in Curacao. They made us stay with our baggage and would not take it for check in (some rule that they cannot take luggage prior to 3 hours before a flight). No lockers, security areas – nothing. We tried to rent a car for a couple of hours thinking we could drive around, find a restaurant, and just kill time, but the rental agencies wanted $50 for two hours of rental. No way. It was 11:00 and we just wanted the car until 1:00 since we needed and to be back at the counter by 1:00 for the international flight check in to Miami. Miami on a Friday night is a circus/zoo. Our connecting flight to Hartford, CT was 1.5 hours from arrival and we needed all of that time. The important message here is be where you’re suppose to be well ahead of time especially when leaving Bonaire or you might not get were your suppose to be going on the day you planned to get there. Next time we will be at that darned airport at 4:30 a.m. if we’re on the same flight so we will be first in line. A lesson learned – please heed my advice as it will save you lots of headaches you don’t need at the end of a wonderful vacation. |
By Tom and Nancy on Sunday, March 17, 2002 - 9:02 pm: 
