Trip there: Arrived at DIA at 5:00am for 7:00 am flight to Dallas. Had to turn around and go home because I did not have the correct "official" state birth certificate.(BIG BUMMER) Had to postpone trip 2 days until I could make it to the office of vital stats. Once we took care of that problem we had no problems on any connections and all bags made it no prob. We flew American and connected in Dallas and San Juan. Picked up rental at Budget and headed to Lion's Dive.

Accomodations: Lion's Dive. These are condos. Clean and air conditioned. Kitchen is adequate for all cooking needs. Fridge, microwave and T.V. all in room. The maids cleaned our room every day and replaced all linens and towels as needed. A.C. worked very well when needed. Beds were a little stiff (Not home, but not to bad.) but the pillows really sucked! Hard and abrasive. The bathroom was large and roomy with good light. The shower was a little hard to figure out but we managed. We had a great view of the ocean and were right on the pool. Room 2108. 2 dogs and 2 cats like to hang out around the pool. We would bring them scraps. I have nothing else to compare The Lion's Dive to because this was our first trip to Bon, but I would recomend them to anyone going. More to come...

Dain:

I had the birth certificate hassle going to Grand Cayman in 1998...got as far as Miami...luckily the county in Indiana where I was born had "expedited service" and I got it the next day (paying extra, of course), after a sleepless night in Miami. Neat city, though; you can ride all around Miami on the tram for 50 cents. What a deal!

Question: I have not traveled all that much. Were you using state birth certificates instead of passports? Has anyone experienced similar hassles using passports?

Hi Hazel - we use our passports always as our picture ID since Sept. 11, even when traveling within the U.S. Have never had any problems with anyone questioning or needing additional documents.

we have always used passports, makes travel easier and re-entry a breeze. Even when going to St. Croix, took to USA blue book.

I have never had a passport. I've always just used a birth certificate. I have never had any hassles anywhere (with 8 trips to the caribbean). The key is to have a birth certificate with a raised seal. I have heard some people say a passport is easier. Well, in my experience I have never seen anyone get through customs any faster than I have. That being said, I am going to get a passport Thursday as we plan on going somewhere where a passport is required.

I use a passport, but: A few yr.s ago I called to get an official copy of my birth cert. and was asked, printout or wallet size? So I of course got one of each! The laminated wallet size is excellent. But how can you forego the pleasure of flipping thru your passport pages and seeing all your old trips? Especially the Flamingo Stamp.

Raised seal birth cert. works fine through out the Caribbean. However, we have always felt a passport is a guaranteed thing. So why even debate it, just get a passport. You know it will work. Besides it is fun to go back through the pages and check out where you have been, and who has the coolest stamp. Our vote is for the Flamingo stamp of Bonaire and the mountain stamp of Saba.

Our son (5 yr old) does not have a passport, but a raised seal birth cert. No problems getting to Bonaire, but they did check it.

I have a passport and my husband hasn't gotten his yet. He uses a raised seal birth certificate with his license as his picture ID.I noticed that they clear me a lot faster than my husband. I hope he gets his before our next trip because it is also less things in your hand when you are in the lines. And I do love looking back at all my Flamingo stamps!!

Many people never go anywhere that a passport is required. For them, spending $60 on a passport may seem like a waste of money. The fact is that a passport is not necessary to get to Bonaire (nor many other places in the Caribbean), and I feel many people make it out to be a bigger deal than it really is. A birth certificate will do the job just fine. Enjoy your stamps

Really the biggest advantage is that a valid passport works without other documents or ids.

Some islands allow various combinations of documents but not all the islands are the same. So something that works on one island may not work on another. While other islands like the French West Indies - Martinique, Guadeloupe, St. Martin, St. Barthelemy require passports. Although the Dutch St. Maarten does not require passports for US citzens.

When I was a travel agent in the Boston area, it was a horror show trying to explain the necessary documents to some travelers. I've had many customers that did not realize they needed any documents at all to travel to Canada or the Caribbean.

And not all birth certificates are usable. I had a laminated wallet-sized one from many years ago but it did not have a raised seal. (I got into Canada with it but they did not want to let me back into the US.) Jake's original looks like the pink copy of a multi-part form and it has been questioned before.

The other problem I had being a married woman is that my birth certificate does not match my photo id so I had to carry my marriage certificate too. So at one point, it just became much easier to get a passport.

I wonder if there will be changes to some countries policies with the increased scrutiny after 9/11 as well.

I had an old birth certificate. The one from the hospital.(You know the one with the footprints.) I had used it previously to travel to and from Canada so I really did'nt even think I'd have any troubles, but thanks to Osama Bin A P....y they are really strict now. I will get a passport just for ease of mind. I plan on doing more out of country traveling. Especially now that we are hooked on diving. (And Bonaire.) Dain

Funny story about when I went to apply for mine. You need three things to get a passport, a valid raised seal birth certificate, a picture of your self and an application. After talking to the clerk a few minutes I realized that I was 0-3, I had nothing, the birth certificate (that I carried for 40 something years at that point) was a birth registration (close but no cigar), my picture did not have a white background (stupid Sears) and I had Sue's application. Sue was 1-2, she just needed a new picture and her application.

The passport is the only way to go especially now with all the restrictions. It saves time and the hassel. The picture is in it and they are standard whereas all the various birth records are just that, variable. It took about 6 weeks to get mine before 9/11 so maybe longer now.
I too found out that my birth certificate was only a "record of birth" and I had to apply for the real one which took another 4-5 weeks. So allow enough time if you are going anywhere.
Canada is cracking down also so the passport is much easier. Almost everyone I saw entering and leaving Bonaire had the passport and no one had any problems.

Cecil's story reminds me of mine. It is pretty good. I am going off topic some here, but the story is incredible.

About 9 years ago I was to leave to a place which required a passport. I waited too long to get my passport the typical way and still make the scheduled trip. So I drove to Chicago (3 hours) to the regional passport office. Doing this you can usually get a passport in about one week, rather than 3-4 weeks.

I had taken my "Passport picture" on my back deck before I left.

I got to Chicago, waited in line for a couple of hours and realized just before I got to the front of the line that I had forgot my wallet at home. I had no ID at all. The Government employee was appalled at my picture and that I would try to get my passport with no ID. (The picture of myself had trees in the background) I showed him my Pizza Hut passport card (10 punches and you get a free pizza) and a charge card. He made me go accross the street and get a $20.00 "Passport Photo" and made my wife swear (Like in Court)that I was who I said I was.

Story is that I got my passport with no ID and a bad photo. It arrived in the mail about a week later.

Absolutley true story. People still do not believe I pulled it off. The power of negotiation, looking stupid, and looking pretty average American. Bet it would not happen now.

Hah! The Pizza Hut Passport card is probably what they *really* wanted to see! Great story - thanks for the laugh!

Seb-
Speaking of the flamingo stamp in the passport, I haven't gotten that one for a few years now. Every time I get stamped at BON I get the boring, generic box stamp. What's up with that??

Years Kate? Well ain't that a bummer. I went and looked the last time I went I got the box, but only six weeks befoer I had gotten the flamingo. I would look for an agent with a BIG stamp.
I was very annoyed when I got my passport originally to go to Italy, and they never stamped it.
I think you shouold just ask loudly, "who has the flamingo stamp?"

My husband and I travel frequently with passports and have not had any problems since 9/11. In January, we did travel with 2 other couples to Curacao, neither couple had passports and upon checking with the Dutch officials, we were assured that there would be no problem with their photo ID and raised sealed birth certificates. Both couples traveled thru Miami at different times and had problems in Miami from US officials not wanting to accept the females paperwork due to difference in birth certificate names and current ID names. Both parties were rerouted to an office which was hard to locate and were required to do additional paperwork and pay a small fee to obtain more paperwork which would allow them to re-enter the states upon return. Humm. Both parties had allowed for extra time in Miami and made their flights. If they had tight connections, they would have missed the flight due to this little hassle. I highly recommend passports, and the Flamingo stamp is by far the prettiest one we have ever obtained.