Hi,
My husband & I are looking for any info on Lions Dive Hotel (other than its website address). We are avid snorklers & have been looking at Bonaire for a while. We are also wondering on any other possible places to stay. We definitely need a kitchen..we're vegetarians possibly on-site restaurant & a/c & would prefer to be right on the water. Also does the island have a nice breeze in July? Any & all info would be great!! We are new to the board & it looks like everyone loves Bonaire!!!

I have walked by Lion's Dive and it's looks very nice from the water, clean and right on the water. But, I doubt that snorkeling is good right there because it's where boats from Buddy Dive and others come in and out all day. Snorkeling would be good from a small house called Ultimo Cas (do a web search for the owner, Sherri). It's a small house right on the water with kitchen and very clean. Nothing fancy though and it's right on the main road which can lead to some car noise, but mostly in the am.. You could also look into Sun Rentals, a house called Crown Courts 44A. It has excellent snorkeling right at the house, a big pool, about 10 minutes to town and grocery stores. If you are vegetarian, there's a good variety in the stores and you can cook your own meals.

Hi Andrea, e mail me direct with questions and I will answer as many as I can. I have stayed there a few times. I know that Lions Den serves good veggie food.

Hi, Andrea and welcome to BT! If you prefer to be in a small, intimate resort setting on the water with ammeneties on the grounds, the Divi Flamingo Beach Resort (timeshare side) is good, too. Great snorkeling right there with two pools, two restaurants, small market, small spa, etc. We love it there and spend approximately 8 hours of the day snorkeling in Divi's and surrounding waters. We love to do night snorkeling right there, too. Good luck and keep us posted as to where you will end up, OK? Ayo. Carole

My family will be heading to Bonaire in less than a month. We will be staying at CocoPalm. We have stayed at Buddy's in the past and like the "drive thru" concept for picking up our tanks. Is there a drive thru near the CocoPalm? Any info would be appreciated.

I've stayed at Lion's Dive 3 times, so if you have specific questions, feel free to contact me.

Sonya
It's been a little over a year but we stayed right next to CocoPalms last January and I used Toucan at the PlazaBonaire. Basically, you have the airport between you and Kralendijk, so it's maybe 10 minutes to Toucan or Photo Tours which is at the hotel just to the south of Plaza Bonaire. As far as I know there's no closer air stations, but I could be wrong.

Enjoy

Joe

Andrea:

A search on this board using "lions" will return a great many hits. I also recall reading that Buddy Dive had acquired Lions.

In terms of places to stay, there are many on the island that have full kitchens and are right on the water -- Bel Mar, Carib, Cpt. Dons, Sand $, Lions, Buddy, etc., etc. All of those have a/c at least in the bedroom.

There are many others and still more that are located close to the water.

My take: a) what is your budget; b) what amenities are important (pool, restaurant, bar, size, house reef, etc.); and c) where do you prefer to be located (none are that far away from everything but some are closer to town than others).

The island typically has a nice breeze year around although that can die down in the fall (esp. Sept/Oct).

A good place to start is at http://www.infobonaire.com/