We were 2 couples visiting Bonaire for the first time and we all agree that we had a very good vacation during our 1 week stay. A very positive experience. Flights, weather, accommodations, diving, snorkelling, island tripping, hotel meals, restaurant meals, people, staff and service were all good to excellent. A top 5 on our list of 20 plus Caribbean vacations and a definite "must return to" spot.

Here is the long list of the details and highlights of our trip.

Flight
Direct from Toronto to Bonaire on Canada 3000 in about 5 ½ hours. 2 movies, good service and on time. Rtn. Flt. was about 1 hr. longer with a stop in Curacao to board more passengers. No delays or luggage problems. Excellent flights. Based on some of the trip reports I've read concerning other air carriers, we were fortunate to have this service direct from Toronto.

Divi Flamingo
Location was excellent. It's a short walk into town for dinner, shopping and people watching with a cold one at a number of outdoor bars and restaurants.

Room was newly renovated, clean & comfortable with excellent maid service and plenty of towels. Would have liked a fridge in the room to keep our personal beverages cold but made due with frequent trips to the ice machine and used both the ice bucket and trash can to keep it all cold. Some hooks on the patio to hang wet dive gear on would also have been a nice touch.

Meals at the Divi were purchased on a meal plan that included 7 breakfasts and 3 dinners. Buffet breakfasts were adequate to start the day and dinners in the Chibi were all very good. We experienced some very minor problems with the service in both the buffet and the Chibi when it was busiest but nothing too serious or unresolved when brought to our server's attention. The Chibi's open air dining on the water provided an excellent atmosphere. We had a few lunches at the Chibi and all were good as well.

Diving the Divi house reef was all we needed to do this trip. It was nice to be able to gear up and get in at our own unhurried pace and not worry about being on a schedule every day. We found the house reef interesting every time we dove it and always saw enough variety and activity to have a great dive. We did a couple of night snorkels around both the Divi stone and diving piers. Spotted many colourful and interesting creatures including fish, lobster, shrimp, anemones and hard and soft corals. Our 3 mm warm water wet suits were perfect to use day and night.

Overall we found the Divi to be a good choice for us. There were always beach, pier or pool lounge chairs available. The staff were helpful, friendly and the service for the most part was good. Service at the bars was quick (Rudy does a great job), the food was good and the casino was small but entertaining. I'm sure that with the additional planned renovations to be completed over the next several months the Divi will again become one of the more popular spots to stay at while in Bonaire.

Woodwind Snorkel Trip
We did the Wednesday full day trip with beach barbecue lunch. Sailed to Klein Bonaire, 2 guided snorkels with Rene, an excellent lunch, more snorkelling on our own and headed back. Rene and crew do an excellent job. Just a great day.

3 Hour Island Tour with Petrie as our Hostess
Ex U.S.A., she's been living there some 17 + years. She's a hoot. We got a quick tour of the island, slave huts, salt works, coastal road, flamingos, Rincon, the lookout and lots of history and information about the island and the dive/snorkel sites. Get her to tell you the story behind the dive site named for her. This was a great way to learn some history and get a feel for how easy it is to get around the island.

Car Rental - Web Cam - Snorkelling Jeff Davis & Windsock - Island Tour - Lunch at Sand Dollar.

Budget provided the vehicle. No problems and good service.

Easily found the Richter's house and posed with our custom made sign Sat. Mar. 31 @ approx. 10:44 a.m.. Disappointed not to find a web cam capture when we got home but will try to find it when the access to archives is available. Soon we hope!

Snorkelled Windsock and Jeff Davis. We thought Jeff Davis was the best. Conditions were just perfect in the morning with lots of sun and excellent visibility/activity in the shallow reef areas to our left when entering the water. Windsock was good too.

Toured the island again on our own. Birds, flamingos, lizards, goats, donkeys, caves, Indian writings, windward side wave action and lunch at the new Sand Dollar sports bar. The burger was huge, the beer cold and the service great.

Restaurants Visited
We visited Beefeater, Capriccio and Compadres for dinner and all provided excellent meals, good service and reasonable prices. In talking to other visitors, we learned there are many more great restaurants to visit on our next trip to Bonaire.

We hope our trip information will be helpful to those planning a visit to Bonaire. We certainly found the information on this site to be beneficial to us in learning more about the island and all the latest news on hotels, weather, diving, etc., prior to our trip.

Sounds like another great vacation, Mike. Thanks for giving us your input. Sorry we didn't catch you on the cam - if you do find it in the archives, post it for us, OK? We need to compare our tans with yourn' :)

Your trip report brought back a lot of great memories! We also loved the Divi and it's location. Thanks for the detailed report.

MIKE, thanks for the report, enjoyed it very much.

Glad you like the Divi!!:) and Bonaire, Masha danki for your great report!