TRIP REPORT 8/5/00 – 8/12/00

What a trip!! We had a fantastic time. Bonaire is truly an enchanted place.

FLIGHT:
We flew on Air Jamaica from JFK, New York to Montigo Bay, then to Bonaire. Except for an hour delay both ways, the flight was very good. No lost luggage, cancelled flights, etc. We will use them again. We have heard they are going to start Wednesday flights as well (yeaaa!! 10 days next time!)

HOTEL:
We stayed at the Plaza Resort. Beautiful!! The grounds were immaculate. The Grand Suite oceanfront was very roomy and well kept. The staff was very helpful. The breakfast buffet was great and they had a very good beach BBQ at the Coconut Crash. One tip – IMO, the balcony rooms are better than the ground level in that the shrubbery is kept rather high. Ground level doesn’t get much of a view, and I don’t think they get much of the breeze.

SNORKELING:
The snorkeling from the Plaza beach (and at Tipsy Seagull) was fantastic!! We saw so many fish of all kinds, eels, squid, tarpon (at night), X-mass tree worms, I could go on and on. It is a good place for beginners (like us) as there is very little wave action compared to other spots we went. The kids went crazy with all those fish and it was a good spot for them to start our new family activity.

The guided snorkel from the Sand Dollar with Ann was perfect for us. She was excellent with the kids. With the slides, she taught us how to connect the fish with their names. It was nice to be able to put a name with the face when we went in the water. Just super!

The guided snorkel with Renee on the Woodwind is one of the most memorable experiences we had. We went to No Name Beach on Klein. Renee is a wonderful guide, super with the kids, with her trademark “Yoo hoo!! (Turtle, squid, file fish, etc)!!” We did see 3 turtles there along with all the other denizens of the reef. Janice did a great job with the video. It is so nice to watch it back here in chilly Connecticut and see all the friends we made and sights we saw.
Renee’s night snorkel at the Tipsy Seagull was just a memorable with a huge and hungry Tarpon cruising by, red shrimp, an adult spotted drum, needle fish...

1000 Steps & Webers Joy were also great snorkel sites. The waves there were bigger and the kids had a little struggle getting past the breakers, but once in, WOW! Elk & Stag horns, soft corrals, loads of fish (we saw a beautiful juvenile French angel), a large school of squid. Well worth the effort.

BONEFISHING:
We used Multifish and had a great time. We caught a few Bonefish and a small Barracuda. Very relaxing and beautiful walking the flats by the salt works.

FAVORITE RESTAURANTS:
Richard’s, Mona Lisa, Mi Poron, and Prisca’s for the best ice cream.

WORD OF CAUTION:
I would NOT recommend horseback riding to any one that has little to no experience. ONLY if you are VERY experienced AND can handle yourself in an emergency AND have the means to be able to contact someone (i.e. cell phone) in case of an emergency AND have your own riding hat (helmet? at least for the children), would I say do it.
We had an incident when we went and it became horrifyingly clear our wellbeing was in the hands of a very petite 13 year old who had no way of contacting the outside world. Luckily, there was no serious injury, but it is something I will not soon forget.

SUMMARY:
This was a fantastic trip! In spite of our mishap, we had an absolutely wonderful time. This was our first “big” vacation with our children and it was super for all of us. Everyone we met was very friendly and helpful. There is a real sense of “community” in Bonaire. The snorkeling was better than I ever imagined it would be, even though I had been reading this board for some time and had high expectations. Thank you, Bonaire.

Wonderful report, Ken. Glad to hear that you had such a great time, and found out for yourselves what makes Bonaire so very special.

Might I inquire as to the diffuclty with the horseback riding, was it just fact of the young girl or was there actually a problem. My wife and I are returning to the island in February and she is an avid rider. She is planning on checking out the riding situation on the island because if our plans work out and we win the lottery, we will move to the island and she would like to bring at least her horse if not all three of ours.

Barry Baker

Nice report Ken! Happy to hear Bonaire lived up to your exspectations and that you went with Renee, she's super, always fun.

I to am curious, since I know the girl.

OK. My daughter's horse went one way and she went the other, ending up face down on the gravel road (luckily not in the cacti). The girl handled the situation OK, but there were no precautions (riding hats, for one) taken and she had no way of contacting any one if my daughter (or any of us) had been seriously injured. We also learned when we got back that no one was at the ranch anyway.
My point is not to point fingers at anyone in particular, but to warn other rider wannabee's to give it a second thought. As beautiful as the scenery was, IMO, it was not worth it. My butt still has scars! :-)

Thanks for the reply, Ken. Glad to hear your daughter wasn't seriously hurt.

Thanks for the reply I was just interested. Also glad to hear that your daughter is ok %^)

My husband and I will ba visiting Bonaire for the first time in March and are taking along our kids.We have read some very negative remarks from other travelers who feel kids should be left at home. Did you meet any people who made your family feel unwelcome? How many children do you have a what are their ages? We will be staying at the Plaza as well.

Please dont pay any attention to the very small numbers of negative people. It is very strong in the Bonairean culture to include children in all the family actviities and the properties welcome them and Plaza has a program especially for kids. Bonaire is a place for families and it is a great experience for kids to learn about other cultures and the enviornmment. You and your children are more than welcome.

My wife, daughter and I will be coming back to Bonaire for the week of thanksgiving. This will be our third trip. Our Daughter, Caylin, was five on our first trip in 1998. That trip and the second trip were great for her. While we dived she participated in the children's program at the Sand Dollar, which she loved. In our trips around the island she was greeted and accepted by both visitors and the natives of Bonaire. The memories she has of the times spent in Bonaire are all positive. She still has and treasures a drawing of a French Angel fish done by a waiter at the Green Parrot. Bonaire is great for adults and even better for children.

I agree with Michael and Dean. At no point did we feel our children were unwelcome by anyone. In fact, it was quite the opposite. My daughters are 9 & 11 and had the time of their lives! This was their first time ever snorkeling, which is all my wife and I do so we did a lot of that together. I could not say enough good thing about how Renee and Ann interacted with our kids and visa versa! We met a wonderful family from Aruba on Renee’s trip and our kids hit it off great. It was rewarding to see them all playing and splashing about in the water! We went to the party at Cai and there were kids everywhere, no “unwelcome” vibes there. At Richard’s (a short walk down the road past the beach, great food!), they were more than accommodating, giving a smaller portion (and $) of an “adult” meal to our 8 year old.
There were quite a few kids on the beach at the Plaza as well. Though there was at times a language barrier, fun and laughter are universal. We are all looking forward to a return trip. I am sure you and your family will enjoy the experience. (PS, If your kids like hermit crabs, every evening on the beach they come out and ramble about, leaving little tire-tread tracks, fascinating!!)

As if you need even more reassurance after the previous messages, we have been taking our daughter with us to Bonaire since she was 4...she will be 8 in three weeks. She has always been welcomed wherever we go when on Bonaire, at Cai on a Sunday afternoon, going fishing offshore, or just hanging around the Divi Flamingo, swimming and snorkling together with the many other children who come with their families. She has accompanied us snorkling on the Woodwind with Renee each year...and considers herself the best buddy of the captain's son (same age). And I have to agree with Ken's comments about Richard's, where Jessica spent one evening being taught the tricks of the trade by the bartender.
By all means, kids are welcomed by the vast majority of inhabitants and visitors---as long as we are not talking about baby-sitting an infant on a dive boat.

Trip Report Oct14 - Oct 28
Our flights with ALM were uneventful departed and arrived within 1/2 hr of schedual about 3:45 on Sat.
We had a fabulous time!!
This time time we stayed in an enchanting villia just south of Bachalors Beach just across the street from the water with a beautful view of the Caribbean from the patios and the jacuzzi on the roof!It was just the 2 of us for a special occasion, very romantic. This house does have 4 bedrooms and is beautiful.A friend of ours owns it. We usually are in Bonaire in May at our timeshare at Divi. This was a special treat for my birthday.
We dove at Divi and saw 2 seahorses right under the dock along with the usual angels, trumpett, Tarpon eels and Octopus to name a few fish we saw everytime we went out on the Callabass reef. We kind of missed the morning boats because we loved just staying at this house so much, so we did a dive out in front of Divi, in the late AM at our leasure and like I say" the best things are right off the Divi dock". We saw a sizeable frog fish when we went diving on the boat off of Klien.
On the way to our last boat dive on Thurs. afternnon,going North up to 1000 steps, just past the webcam site, Lutty spotted DOLPHINS. off of Klien
and took us over. It was large pod jumping all around us under the boat, playing in the waves for about 20 min. What fun!! no one minded we were late for the site. We did not see turtles, which we saw frequently in May this time, although others had. The water seem a little warmer then in May with the same visability(80-100ft?) It only rained on the day we left. Saw a few rainbows from the patio hammock.
The divi looked great!! we had lunch at the ChibibiChibibi a few times and fed the fish. and I am happy report the renovations on the hotel side are completed and has taken the Divi back to it's standing on the list of best places to stay. The rooms and the planting and the new resturant and peir make it a pretty place to stay again.Would recommend it to anyone now.They say they will start work on the Calabass resturant next. Then some promises on the timeshare side. Let's hopre they keep going. There is new patio furniture everywhere. Susan,from Green Parrot,I believe get's credit for the fabulous decorating job I will send Robert Deal the pic to post. They say they might open the Flamingo Nest again for happy hrs and activities again. Hope Divi keeps it going strong. The friendly staff is still there with some new faces at the dive shop. They are gearing up for the hight season and looks like everyone is happy and entusiastic about things. I will comment about the this when I get the new names straight.Great diving with them . All in all a wonderful trip!! Cann't wait to go back again(7 months) but who's counting?

My comment about feeding the fish at the Chibichibi rest. was only to let others who had been there in the past that dining was as usual with the fish coming around. The menue is terrific and the food was delicious!! You can get a special flamingo swizel stick that reminds me of the defunked(:( ) Green Parrot too.

Lorraine: Sounds like another great trip! I've been waiting for your trip report. From what you say, the ChibiChibi might be a good bet again: it is mentioned in Sharon's trip report above, too. Glad that you had such a good time on your special occasion!Looking forward to seeing your photos---I'll be happy to post them.

ChibiChibi was excellant. My only regret is that we didn't try it till almost the end of our stay.