After learning so much on the Bonaire Talk site it was much easier than having had no information to go on.

We left Baltimore at 8:30 AM and arrived in Montego Bay at 12 then right onto plane to Bonaire via Air Jamaica. The flight went very smoothly - no problems there.

Arrived at Flamingo Airport around 4:00 and find AB Car Rental office to pick up our reserved truck - there were four people in our group consisting of two divers so we needed the dual cab. There were so many new looking trucks sitting in the parking lot but low and behold we get one that looks ancient. Hard to imagine that we were paying $389 for this vehicle. Oh well, off we go to check into the Plaza.

Upon arrival at the Plaza we are told there are no safe deposit keys to check back tomorrow. This went on for several days and I guess you just ignore the little signs in your rooms that say "LOCK ALL VALUABLES IN SAFE". Hard to do without a key. We also had to pay the extra deposit for a second key.

Initial reaction to the Plaza was not very good but as we settled in and after checking out other resorts we decided it would be the best place to stay on any future trips. The staff there are not very accommodating but you eventually get use to their rudeness and stop asking for anything. We stayed in the Grand Oceanfront rooms and they were extremely large. Actually too large for two people but wonderful view from balcony. The coffee pot that is advertised as an amenity is actually a hot pot and you get two servings of instant coffee a day if you are lucky. You may need to raid the coffee bin if you see it unattended. This was my most serious disappointment but I adapted.

We ate at City Cafe our first night and the food was actually quite good and the view was beautiful.

Day Two - We had breakfast at the buffet restaurant at the Plaza. It was ok. Not much choice as our husbands needed to get to the dive shop to get set for shore diving and to obtain their marine park tag.

Spent the day on the beach and the men went diving at the 18th Palm. They really enjoyed it and everything they saw. I went snorkeling and saw a turtle. I was very excited about that. I kept looking for it the remainder of the week to no avail.

Had dinner at ZeeZicht's on the waterfront. Great view but the food wasn't all that great.
Not bad but certainly not the best we had.

Day Three - Feb. 14 - Valentine's Day - Had breakfast at the City Grill - wouldn't recommend it. Still searching for the perfect breakfast spot. The men went diving at Oil Slick and the women went along and hung out on shore. After all the talk about leaving your vehicles I was a little nervous about hanging out along shore but it proved to be a very nice place to catch some sun and a beautiful view.
Went to dinner at Croccantino's. they were offering a special Valentine's menu - Starting with Champagne, then proscuitto stuffed with cream cheese - beautiful presentation, ravioli with lobster sauce for an appetizer - delicious, a choice of entree Wahoo or Chicken Marzella. Three of us chose the chicken and one the Wahoo. The chicken was definitely not what I expected. the sauce wasn't the marzella I am use to. Dessert was a Raspberry Parfait. I would definitely go there again. Unfortunately, our table was right next to the band and you had to yell at each other to be heard. Not a good thing, reservations should be made for the outdoor patio in front.

To be continued, need to pick up my son....

Back again,

Day 4, Feb 15 - Walked to Divi Resort and had breakfast at their buffet - was very good and the best coffee I have had so far. Checked out the resort and wasn't too impressed as they really didn't have much in the way of a beach. they did have a tanning pier but how do you get out of the sun?? A few umbrellas but not much shade!!

Went to the beach for the day and enjoyed a champagne sunset with our friends, Dinner at the Tipsy Seagull located at the Plaza. Dinner was absolutely excellent. Once again, most restaurants offer a 3 course dinner special. Appetizer was baby shrimp cocktail, tons of shrimp - very good, entree was salmon with a saffron sauce and dessert. Excellent food and beautiful waterfront dining.

Day 5, Sunday, Feb 16 - Went shopping and lunch at Subway. It is nice to have something familiar on the island although there are plenty of wonderful restaurants if you want to take the time. Diving and snorkeling off the Plaza beach. Dinner at Richards. Absolutely wonderful food and a great place to eat. Highly recommend it. Had 3 course special with beef as the entree, excellent.

Day Six, Monday Feb 17, Rented Scooters and took off to tour the island. What a great experience!! Stopped at the Sea Horse Cyber Cafe for breakfast. The Cafe Au lait was excellent. Did the north end of the island in the morning stopping at a few sites along the way, namely the Flamingo sanctuary. Unfortunately they were too far away to get a good picture but it was still really neat to see. Went through Rincon and back to Kralendijk.

Headed to the beach for snorkeling and sunning then headed back out to do the southern end on the scooters. The salt mines and slave huts were very interesting to see and then we went to Lac Bay to see the windsurfers and back into town to fill up the tanks.

Dinner at Mona Lisa's consisting of a wonderful salad with marinated scallops, olives, etc. - delicious, filet mignon topped with shrimp and lobster with a sauce. Apple dessert with cinnamon ice cream. Very good. Although you don't have the waterfront view this is an excellent restaurant and shouldn't be missed.

Day 7, Tuesday, Feb 18 - The ladies went shopping and the men went shore diving at Karpata. I can't say what they saw diving but they really enjoyed it. Shopping is very nice in town with Littman's and Island Fashions being my favorites. Since this was our last night we once again enjoyed a champagne sunset on the beach followed by dinner at Tipsy Seagull with another wonderful dining experience. Must try.

We did buy some beer and snacks at the Cultimara grocery store. They have a wonderful bakery there as well which we really enjoyed. Don't be confused there is a bread spot in one corner and a pastry shop in another.

All in all, we fell in love with Bonaire and can't wait for our next trip. Thanks to all of you who posted suggestions and helped make the dining decisions. We also enjoyed ice cream at Lover's Ice Cream shop. The cappucino ice cream was delicious.

Would be interested to know how the dock that they are building off the Plaza Resort will affect the resort as far as the beach, will it be loaded with people from other resorts???

Forgot to mention the iguanas. There are a lot of them at the Plaza. Pretty intimidating at first but you get use to seeing them on the walkways and beach after the first day or so.

Cindy,
Great trip report and all those great meal descriptions are making my mouth water!

I forgot to tell you about the return trip home. It started out on Wednesday, Feb 19th. We had breakfast at the Divi resort buffet again and then walked back to the Plaza to finish packing and checked out. Drove to airport and checked our luggage in then went driving around a while with another stop at Lover's Ice Cream. Got back to the airport at 3:30 for a 4:00 flight and as it turned out didn't leave the ground until 6:00 PM flying Air Jamaica. I had asked at check in if my connecting flight from Montego Bay to Baltimore was running on schedule due to a huge snowstorm there earlier in the week - 25+++ inches. I was told that all flights were on time and there was no problem with the connecting flights. I then called home and told them we would be home on schedule.

We finally took off at 6:00 and were told that our connecting flights were being held in Montego Bay for our arrival. We were told in flight what gate to meet our connecting flight and then when we got off the plane and headed to the terminal we were told that there were extreme delays with our connecting flights.

In the end, they loaded 14 of us onto a bus and were going to transport us to the Half Moon Resort for the night. As we pulled into the Half Moon the driver got a call that they were booked and he was instructed to turn around and take us back to the airport. Upon arriving there we were then told that they could take us to the Starfish resort that was about 1/2 an hour past the Half Moon. We asked that in lieu of this they just give us all round trip tickets. No doing!! We got to the Starfish around 9:15 and had dinner at their buffet, checked in around 10:30 and were picked up at 1:30 AM and returned to the airport for a 4 AM flight...

At 4:00 AM we were boarded and ready for take-off but it turns out that there are two missing passengers. We waited, and waited, and waited and finally they unloaded the luggage compartment searching for the missing passengers luggage and then reloaded and we finally took off around 5:00.

It was quite an experience and the only travel glitch I have experienced in the last 15 years so I really can't complain. Just another adventure for the travel journal.........

So glad you enjoyed Bonaire. Time to plan the return trip now! Carole

Great breakfast tip (for your next trip):
New restaurant downtown that has great breakfast items (as well as lunch and dinner!): The Lost Penguin. I've eaten breakfast there six times in the last couple of weeks, and particularly enjoy the eggs benedict and belgian waffles. For dinner last night I had linguine with smoked salmon: absolutely superb. Prices are VERY reasonable (the pasta with smoked salmon was about $12).

Josie, I wish we had known about the Lost Penquin when we were there. Look forward to trying their eggs benedict next trip. Do you live there or are you just visiting??? It would be great to have two weeks there. We already decided next trip will have to be at least ten days.

About the coffee (or lack thereof) in the Plaza Resort rooms ... we also had a regular drip coffee maker. My wife and I are kinda picky about our coffee, I knew I wouldn't be very satisfied with most of the free hotel coffees, I packed some Starbucks coffee from home and brought it down with us.

It was a wise decision ..... our room did not have any coffee whatsoever ... no instant or coffee in those filter packets.

Having said that ... most the coffees I had in restaurants in Bonaire were very nice. Strong .. the way I like it.

Cindy -

Thank you for taking time to give us such a current and detailed trip report.

I must say we grinned knowingly as we read it. It sounds so much like the one we wrote the first time we were on Bonaire. We were not impressed with the service in restaurants; the beach at the Plaza was a "non-beach;" the Plaza staff was indifferent; the restaurants were hard to find; the roads had no names posted; etc.

Then some way, some how, day by day, person by person, fish by fish, view by view, we fell in love with Bonaire. Probably the strongest appeal to us is the very difference that is Bonaire. It is just right at the top of our list of favorite places.

The short story: we're headed back for our third trip!

We do hope your next trip comes soon.

Charles Poteet
Dallas

"Not all bad"... some thoughts on your report...

As I read through your posts I thought you might have a generally "thumbs down" overall verdict, with your report detailing so many inconveniences, disappointments and lackluster moments. I am glad that your net assessment appears to be generally a good one. It would be easy to find fault and get bitter after you have set mental expectations that turn out simply different from what you thought or read. No simple words - like those found on BT - can fully capture the spirit and sense of a place. Only being there can do that. Apparently Bonaire worked its usual charm on you -- I doubt that I could blithely go along with the totally unreasonable way that your return flights were resolved.

So, on to the comments (rebuttals, I suppose) about your report...

1. My experience with service in restaurants on Bonaire is that they are wonderful - IF you can appreciate the European-style approach. I find it delightfully refreshing that I can sit and talk for two hours over a meal and not be accosted by waitstaff every 5 minutes. I got the same kind of service the last time I was in Europe (too many years ago). I get frustrated in the U.S. by the constant pestering and the perceived rush-you-out-the-door mentality. Some of the best food on Earth simply takes longer than 12 minutes to cook. So, I can wait for it.

2. My experience with the food itself in Bonaire is that part of its appeal is that it IS different from what you can find at home - but not so different that it doesn't please the pallet. Indeed, I now sometimes recreate dishes that I first tried in Bonaire, usually to rave reviews from local friends and family. And in spite of its relative isolation, the island's restaurants nearly always have the finest, freshest ingredients - often better than I can find at home at any cookie-cutter chain restaurant.

3. In my book, a beach is anywhere people can sit down at the water's edge, be it on sand, coral, stones or even grass. Although Bonaire has no real reputation for fine beaches, it actually offers quite a variety of them. Plaza has the closest thing on the island to the picture-postcard tropical white sand resort beach. Actually, I like Pink Beach better because of its length and comparitive lack of anyone else around to disturb your moments there; it is often totally deserted for hours at a time.

I admit I am mystified by your pan of the staff at Plaza... I've heard so much better about them.

JMHO, FWIW

I was generally pleased with our experience with the fine folk at the Plaza Resort. Can't really find anything about them in which I would find fault.

Chas, thanks for describing the "Bonaire Addiction" process so beautifully.

I could REALLY use a fix right now!

Deborah
Annapolis
Where it's snowing... again!

Cindy, enjoyed your report but have to say it did sound like there were many disappointments. I visited Bonaire last April for the first time and spent two weeks. Stayed at Carib Inn and found it to be quite sub-standard. Since I fell in love pretty instantly with the island, the people, the restaurants, the diving and the whole experience I began a search for a better place to stay for our next trip, already planned and booked for September! From reading this board one learns that people tend to find their special spot and return year after year. Rather than settle for poor service, rudeness and lack of amenities, seek them out! Fine tune it to your needs and wants. Find a place that has a real coffee maker (or pack one). Our place had one, we brought our own coffee from home and that worked great. One of the things I was not willing to settle for were stinky, moldy towels. All the bathroom towels, though freshly laundered were foul. We found the place to be run down and a bit depressing but know many frequent Bonaire visitors who feel that it is totally wonderful. We visited several other accomodations one afternoon to find something that had a better feel to it for future trips. There is a whole range of places to stay and all offer something for someone. We will be staying at the Belmar. Some folks want an actual sand beach which they don't have but they do have two great docks, one covered for shade, to access the water, sit and read and stare at the water and sunsets. There is also a lovely pool with ocean views. Since we dive we get to sandy beaches daily and spend time relaxing on them after coming out of the water and getting the gear loaded back in the truck. Like you, we enjoy going out for dinner. I enjoyed your restaurant comments, and now have several new ones to try next fall!

Ok everyone, I really did fall in love with the island and loved the restaurants. I didn't mean for my trip report to sound like a huge disappointment. I had a wondereful time in Bonaire. Next time I would have to bring a coffee pot along and if in the end that was my only problem then that is just something I need to get over. I am looking forward to a return trip to Bonaire. I will probably stay at the Plaza again as the beach is an important part for me. If anyone is aware of another place to stay, on the water, with a beach and within walking distance to town, please advise. Thanks, Cindy