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Trip Reports: Our family trip July 5-20
Bonaire Talk: Trip Reports: Archives: Archives 2000 to 2005: Archives - 2005-05-08 to 2005-08-03: Our family trip July 5-20
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Margy Moon (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #10) on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 7:34 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

This was our 2nd trip to Bonaire, but the first trip for our daughter and my mother in law. We flew AA from San Francisco to Bonaire without any big problems. We were slightly delayed leaving Puerto Rico. We had to fly around Dennis which meant a longer flight and more fuel. They told us what they were doing right away and why it was taking longer to take off. They were weighing everything carefully to make the weight and balance adjustments for the extra fuel. They thought we might need to leave a couple of people behind. In the end we all stayed on the plane but a few of us had to change seats to get the weight in the right place. I was glad they were being careful! This meant we got to the Island late. We were supposed to pick up our rental care at 8:30. Peiter was still waiting for us at Island Rental at 10:00 when we got in. He had checked on our flight and knew we had been delayed. He was very gracious about being there so late. The truck ran great and was in good repair. We had no problems, not even tire trouble on the difficult roads of Washington Park. I would definitely recommend Island rentals, and use them again.

We checked in at Eden Beach and set out to find food at 10:45 at night. Pasa Bon Pizza was very kind to let us come in so late. They are open until 11:00 but I don’t think you are supposed to order at 11:00. We had a fabulous vegi pizza. We knew we had to go back again. When we went back we got to try the chocolate cake. If you like chocolate do not miss this dessert, yum!!! I’ll write more about restaurants in that topic.

Back at the apartment, we caught up on our sleep. It’s now 7/7 and time to start diving. We had our air set up with Wannadive. These guys are very nice and quite funny. They let you do your orientation any time you want so we could sleep in and do an afternoon dive. Bart did ask us to only take one tank each unless we were going to the park to dive. They have been having problems with theft. No one monitored this so some people did take extra tanks for their second dive.

We did all of the usual dives and they were still great. We did not have any trouble with theft at the dive sights and never saw anyone lurking. Helma Hooker is pretty awesome when you drop down right on top. There were several large Barracuda circling at the stern and Tarpon circling at the bow. We saw Eagle Rays and on the last day we saw a turtle. We searched and searched but didn’t find a frog fish or seahorses this trip. We found “Shore Diving Made Easy” to be very helpful when deciding the dives for the day.

The best thing about diving was our daughter Christina getting certified. She had done most of the class when she was 11 but didn’t finish after she got a cold. She’s 16 now and found it much easier on Bonaire than it was in our dark lake. Chris kept things fun and she finished in time to dive with us for the last 3 days. She did her class at the City store and got to do her open water dives by town pier. She saw a turtle before we did. She wanted to see the Tarpon so we took her on a night dive and Charlie and Charlene spent about 30 mins. with us. She also spotted an octopus.
Christina Helma Hooker.jpg

We didn’t get to dive the piers. We were set up to go but when Emily got near, the permits were canceled.

This was our second trip and I wanted to talk about some of the differences in the trips. Please don’t take this as negative but different people prefer different things so it might help some one planning their trip.

We stayed at Captain Don’s the first time with our local dive shop and at Eden Beach this time. We picked Eden Beach because of the beach and Bongos for my mother-in-law and daughter. The 2 bedroom apt. at Eden Beach was very nice. It was clean and everything worked reasonably well. Even the kitchen knives were sharp. I thought the rooms were nicer than our room at Don’s. Bongo’s was fun and convenient. The food was good but you could order the same thing 2 days in a row and it would be different. We didn’t mind but some people might. Food often took a long time so leave yourself plenty of time if you need to be somewhere (like a boat dive). We ate a Captain Don’s several times and found the service to be very good and the food was also very good.

If you want to do boat dives to Klein you might not like Wannadive. They only had 1 boat a day and not everyday. At Don’s we had several choices so we could go morning, afternoon or evening, our choice. We found the rinse tanks at Eden to be small and usually had very little water in them. If a few people came back from a dive it could take quite a while to get a turn. There was no running water available. There is a hose but my husband was told he couldn’t use it.

Our biggest disappointment was not having anyone to talk to. Eden beach is very Dutch. There was usually one other group of Americans and everyone else was Dutch. Even a simple Hello would not be returned. We did some night dives at Buddies and talked to more people while we were gearing up than we had in a week at Eden. Same thing when we went to Don’s. The help at Eden/Bongo’s/Wannadive was very friendly and helpful. I’m just talking about socializing with other guests.

On our next trip to the island we will stay at Captain Don’s. The rooms aren’t as nice but the diving was much more convenient, and we go to dive.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Marcus L. Barnes (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #381) on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 8:35 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Nice report. Appreciate you being honest in your personal assessments of the resort etc. I'm an American who stayed at Happy Holiday Homes my last trip in April. I had some Dutch neighbors who talked to me every time they saw me outside my villa. This made me feel the Dutch are cool - I guess there's always a few individuals who don't want to be friendly regardless of nationality.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cynde (BonaireTalk Deity - Post #14012) on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 10:40 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Margy, nice report! I'm a left coaster too, and I have never arrived on Bonaire on time...the flight from SJ to Bon always seems to be late for some reason. In June, we took AE from SJ to Tortola, and they moved a lot of folks around for "weight distribution" and our groups bags got left behind...I agree, I'm glad they take it seriously when they fly to the islands.

On the rinse tank/water issue, water is extremely expensive on Bonaire (I mean really expensive), and for the smaller operations (and the larger ones too I imagine), it is like running money out of the hose. When we stayed at Belmar last March, the rinse tank had about a foot of water in it, and was usually not very clean. We had to wait a few times for others to rinse their gear, but it wasn't a hassle. there was a hose by the tank, and we would use it sparingly to rinse our mask and regs on occasion.

I think the water expense is right up there with the electricity expense.

We love Bongo's too, great food (all the times we've eaten there):-) Did you try a "toastie?" It is a Dutch sandwich of sort, my stepson LOVED them!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David Stewart (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #508) on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 7:41 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Margy,

I am surprised, we have stayed at Eden Beach 3 times now and spent years on the Continent and we have always found the Dutch very polite and sociable. Sometimes in a group a few will break into Dutch after all it is their mother tongue, they are not being rude it just easier for them to put a point of view across.

Often we are invited on dives with Dutch couples or groups and we have several Dutch friends we exchange e-mails with. The only problems we have with the Dutch is that we sometimes share too many beers together:-)

Give them another chance and meet them half way, also remember it is them that have to make the effort to speak another laungauge not the English speaker.

Take care
Dave

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mare (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1011) on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 1:24 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Margy,

I get stand-off-ish when I am gearing up to dive and I'm in a crowd. I get distracted and that's not a good thing. I like to 'get into the zone' and block out my surroundings so I can concentrate on my life support.

Things I've forgotten because I was chatting up rather than gearing up:

my dive computer (at a shore dive with a surface swim and almost at the buoy)
my fins (jumping off a live-aboard boat and yes, captured on film)
my weight belt (again on a live-aboard. I just hung onto Seb for the dive)
my bc hose connection (a quick fix in the water but much easier without the air on)

Besides, once I get all of my gear on it is HOT and all I want to do is get under the water.

I'll chit chat after the dive, once my gear is rinsed.

Mare

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Margy Moon (BonaireTalker - Post #11) on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 1:33 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Dave,
I usually enjoy visiting with people from other countries and other cultures. That's one of the reasons we were disappointed. I think because there were so many Dutch families everyone was speaking Dutch without any need to work at speaking English. We did dive with one Dutch family and by the end of the 2 weeks everyone would say Hello and we could ask simple questions. English was so hard for them I felt like I was imposing to ask more questions. Of course my foreign language skills are non existent so I am very impressed with how anyone switches between languages. The staff would switch constantly sometimes between all 3 languages.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By DARLENE ELLIS (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1571) on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 1:42 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Nice trip report!Thanks for sharing.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Maggie (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #3) on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 3:28 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Margy, it's Maggie from the Netherlands. Sorry we didn't meet during your holiday, my husband and I stayed at Eden Beach until July 9. The first week there were more Americans than Dutch, so the only thing we heard was American English. No bother for us, as we Dutch speak at least 2 or 3 languages (have to give ourselves a pat on the shoulder, sorry). When you say it was difficult to mix with the Dutch, we didn't get a glance from the Americans, so it works both ways, I think. I hope you choose to visit Eden and Bongo's again in the future, just as we will next year. Maybe we can meet and have a proper chat?!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ida (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #959) on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 3:40 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Margy,

Great Report.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Rich Penksa (BonaireTalker - Post #60) on Friday, July 29, 2005 - 1:36 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

The rinse tank area was never crowded. With all the heavy outer wear you had , the tanks would fill up for a whole 1-2 minutes. The hose is not used until the middle and end of the day so they can clean the tile/stone. When it's used throughout the day and outside of the tank, water stands, and mosquito's breed. There used to be a big problem with that when the hose was allowed to be used by guests. You also failed to mention that there are two outdoor showers about 20 yards from the tanks and more towards the sea,therfore away from the rooms, that guests are encouraged to use if the tanks do not suffice.
As far as the unfriendly feeling you comment on, I personally tried to converse with your husband and came away feeling that he was not looking for conversation or any interaction, so we stopped trying, other than a casual hello. Probably just us, no big deal.
The Dutch people staying at the Eden Beach while we were all there could not have been nicer. We came away with 7- e-mail addresses in the Netherlands, as well as two Dutch couples coming to visit and stay with us here in Las Vegas before this year ends. Heck, even the guy from Tyler, Texas was diving with a Dutch couple every morning by his 2nd day at the Eden.

My god, the morning we left, the Dutch family downstairs brought us a platter of meats as a gesture of kindness. Renee and I agree with you, Captain Don's is definitely better for you guys.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Margy Moon (BonaireTalker - Post #12) on Friday, July 29, 2005 - 12:08 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I will gladly admit that my husband is very shy and quiet, but he actually was glad to talk to you. I also had a chance to talk to you once, but not with Renee. Please don't feel that I am trying to criticize Wannadive. We enjoyed the staff (especially Paul and Clemo) very much. I'm just saying if you are a hard core diver you may find those things less convenient than some of the other resorts. It's always a balance, you get the beach and Bongo's and very nice rooms, but if you don't drink and go to the beach, the house reef and rinse tanks may be more important to you. As for being social, maybe it's us, I just felt like I was intruding if I tried to join a conversation.

 


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