Just got back Sunday from Bonaire. This was our 3rd trip to the island. I hope this post provides some useful information for other Bonaire travelers.
Transportation:
We had an Air Jamaica itinerary that got all screwed up. All I'll say here is that we ended up staying overnight in MB. I think our air adventure warrants its own thread under 'Getting to Bonaire'.
Since this was such a short trip for us (less than a week), we decided to not rent a truck and just do boat dives and house reef dives. I think that truck dives can sometimes turn into a huge production, and I wanted to make sure that we had some downtime to just relax in the sun on this short trip.
Diving:
Our diving was done through the shop at Divi Dive Bonaire. I was impressed that the shop had retained almost the entire staff that was there during our last trip 4 years ago. I was also impressed with the new dock and storage facility. Quite an improvement since the days of the old dive shack on the dock. Here's some pics.
We had three days of diving planned that turned into two days courtesy of Air Jamaica. The dive sites we visited included Calabas Reef, North Belnem, Jerry's Reef off Klein Bonaire, Something Special, and Punt Vierkant. Although the visibility was not as good as I remember it from our last trip to the island, we had a great two days of diving.
I would say that Something Special was our favorite on this trip. The site was full of amazing creatures including 2 frogfish, eels, a turtle, and a few tarpon. Our last dive of the trip was at Punt Vierkant where we saw a very large black seahorse - very cool. While North Belnem didn't stand out in terms of marine life, we experienced an unusually strong and shifting current on the way back to the boat that brought with it a surge of warmth. We had never experienced anything like it on Bonaire. The divemaster actually took my wife by the hand underwater to help her swim the last few yards to the boat. For a few moments, everyone and everything underwater was swimming in place. It wasn't scary, just an interesting occurance of nature.
Lodging:
This was our 2nd trip staying at the Divi Flamingo. The ocean front room was great - practically right over the water's edge. I was very impressed with the condition of the resort grounds. The only thing that dissapointed me was that they did not open their big bar area the entire time we were there. I think it was because their occupancy level was down for the week. I think they call their bar the Flamingo's Nest. Anyway, it was a cool place for divers to exchange fish stories during our prior trip. Was dissapointed to see it closed for the duration of our stay.
Dining:
I have one word of advice for those staying at the Divi Flamingo. If you get a package deal with breakfast included each day, use your breakfast vouchers for lunch instead of breakfast. The breakfast really leaves a lot to be desired. Buy some granola bars in town and take advantage of the coffee offered in the lobby. Dinner and lunch at the Chibi restaurant at the Divi Flamingo is very good.
The other two restaurants we went to included the Lion's Den and Cassablanca. Both were really good and quite crowded. I would suggest making a reservation for both of them. I would say Lion's Den was our favorite despite the fact that their "American Merlot" is just a bottle of Woodbridge. I got a kick out of watching our waitress go through the whole wine presentation thing for a bottle that I could buy in the grocery store for 9 bucks. Oh well. The service and the food was really great and the chef/owner? is very friendly.
And that's it. Hope this helps some of you future Bonaire travelers.
John
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By John Wilson (BonaireTalker - Post #46) on Tuesday, June 14, 2005 - 10:17 pm: 
