We've been following the threads in preparation for our second trip to Bonaire - got home early this morning. Now it's time to stop lurking and add some content.

We considered several 2 bedroom condos, but the kids (13 and 16 year old boys) wanted to return to Divi, even though it meant an efficiency. We love the dive lockers right on the pier.

We left Baltimore Saturday, Aug 2 to meet the nonstop Delta flight from Atlanta. No issues - luggage arrived and flight was nearly on time, circumventing weather in route. Rented from AB again this year, with the $1500 deposit and the AMEX premium rental insurance we discovered on BT. Truck had 62K kilometers, but enough scratches and rust that there was no issue with "new" marks. Our tailgate stayed on... seatbelts worked, but were sticky on release and tires were a little past their prime. The rental process took about 20 minutes after we got to the Plaza - van met us promptly at the airport after our flight.

Went on to Divi, where our studio wasn't available for the first night because renovations weren't slower than planned. They put us in the ocean front rooms right on the water - nice, but crowded for 4 with dive gear - and moved us the next morning (after the dive brief and first dive).

Dive operation at Divi is first class- low key and understated but very professional. Tanks are right on the pier, available 24/7. There were always 80's and 63's ready for that night or early morning dive off the dock. The parking lot exchange hut was also fully stocked and easy to use. Full height dive lockers at the end of the dive dock have plenty of space to share with a buddy. Only steps to and from the boats, or a short walk to the back gate to load gear in your vehicle.

We did the BNMP orientation and "checkout" dive on the Divi house reef Calabas Sunday morning, then drove to Alice in Wonderland.

Monday - Invisibles and Angel City - love the double reefs- and night dive on Calabas

Tuesday - boat dive to Klein. Visibility the whole week was not as good as last year, about 50-70 feet. 8 people on the boat. Seahorse, turtles, reef fish and nice coral on Joanne's Sunchi and Keepsake. Highlight of the day and trip was the Town Pier night dive led by Jenne from Divi. We started at twilight, and explored the shallows, finding an octopus. Then, spent about an hour exploring the riot of color from sponges and anemones on the pilings. We stayed shallow to avoid stirring up the bottom, and the other divers that showed up as our time slot wore on. Saw the elusive frog fish, baby trunk fish, orange ball coral, and sponges of every shape and color.

Wednesday - Bari, Oil Slick (great fun to jump off the rock cliff)

Thursday - Angel City, Cliff

Friday - Boat dive to Bon bini cas and Barcadero. 15 divers on the boat, but well managed by the Divi captain/divemaster. Mix of families, singles, and small groups. 20 minutes following a turtle back to the boat and a large spotted eagle ray. Husband and boys took a kiteboarding introductory lesson. Three hour intro lesson with great instructor, Eric.

Food - We did breakfast and lunch in the room with food from home supplemented with chocolate milk, meat, cheese, bread, fruit from the local markets. We brought a soft cooler for shore days, and used frozen water bottles to keep the other drinks cold, and refill with water as they melted.

The Divi beach bar was good for quick burgers or sandwiches. The Saturday barbecue buffet at Divi was also good for the price with live music, open air beachside. Divi's Chibi Chibi is over the water, with lights to attract small fish. Also great atmosphere was Richards on the water and just a few blocks away. Our favorite food was Cactus Blue, Salsa and Casablanca. Another plus for Divi was the back gate, which let us walk to town restaurants in minutes.

Delta flight left at a very leisurely 3pm Saturday. Cleared immigration in Atlanta, but waited about an hour for the bags, which we had to rush to recheck before making the connecting flight. 5 of the 7 bags made it to Baltimore - the other two by courier the next day.

Great trip - now we have to go back to work to rest.

Trina! Thanks for sharing your trip report. Sounds like a great time was had by all and I totally agree about coming back to work to rest LOL!

We did the Delta/Atlanta from Baltimore flight in May and it was OK but also got bottlenecked waiting on bags to make the connection back to BWI. I hope that works itself out but have my doubts!
We flew first class and had all our bags stay with us both going and coming. We live another 2.5 hours south of BWI so that would have stunk to wait for them to be curried to us Thankfully we have friends in Edgewater though that are our standby luggage getters LOL!

We've been flying out of BWI for 14 years to get to Bonaire. We're not overly happy about our selection of flights but ATL so far looks best minus the getting back to BWI late!

Hope you are planning your return trip to Bonaire; it always helps with the post BON depression

Welcome to BT, Trina. Great trip report. Glad you liked Divi enough to return. I feel the same way, husband and I were there in May for the first time and everything was great. Love your "go back to work to rest". I say that a lot, too!

Sorry about your troubles on the return in Atlanta. We were very fortunate not to run into any problems at all, things ran very smoothly in Atlanta ... both going (May 3) to Bonaire and coming back (May 10).

Welcome Trina,
Thanks for sharing.
Skip

Trina, Welcome to BT.
Thanks for your great report.
Sounds like your family had a wonderful time.