We are planning a trip to Bonaire at the end of October this year and are looking to stay in a 2 bed Ocean view room at the Plaze Resort.

Does anyone have any experiences of this resort and of the Ocean View apartments. Also any views on the on site dive operation.

Thanks

Neil

You can read my review that was posted 5-25 on Plaza Resort. This was our 3rd time to Plaza and loved every minute of it. Sorry , we do not dive, I can not give you any information on it. E-mail me with questions about Plaza if you would like.

We have been in an ocean view room with 2 queen size beds twice, but that is 5 and 6 years ago. We were there with our oldest , that times only child from 3 years old. We loved it there, quiet, nice beach, very big room, good diving with nice divingschool then. I think it is still good. The breakfastbuffet in the morning is delicious. We are coming again in August this year, now with two children, 5 and 9. I do not know with whom you are traveling, but it is absolutely suitable for people with and without children. It is never crowded, and in oktober it is of season for families. I hope you will enjoy the trip!

stayed in Villas for 3 years. found them to be a bit "tired" this year. we are going to Belmar in 2006.

Dive shop is very good. People are professional. They were having some mechanical problems with boats in Feb and were down a boat (Red Tide), which has gone over to Buddy's, from prior years.

Only suggestion would be to email them & book boat dives before your arrival so you won't be disappointed. Since they are a large resort they attract big groups and boat space, especially AM 2-tanks, can be hard to come by at the last minute. You can always cancel the day before.

Don't know if you have kids, but AquaKids is great for kids 5-10.

We stayed at Plaza last year and found it very nice. The dive operation was excellent. Tanks were always available for shore dives. There is a nice beach and the house reef is a great dive. The breakfast buffet has a good variety and is a good way to begin a day.

we have always been happy at plaza resort and it is a short walk to a great restaurant called Richards.

We have been diving with Toucan Dive operators for approximately 4 years, and we have been very happy with them. Great dive masters, very knowledgeable, and they go out of their way for you. We have no complaints about them. The Plaza is a very beautiful hotel, make sure you lock things in your safe, and make sure the locks on the doors work well. You know, common sense things.

Thanks for all the advice. Myself and my son aged 13 will be diving whilst my wife and daughter will be sun bathing and snorkling so I was looking for a resort that catered for both.

Are there any rooms to avoid (ie near noisy bar of resturants) as I will probably be booking this afternoon and will try and put a request in.

Thanks again

Neil

Neil,
ask for second floor as close to the "Tipsy Seagull" restaurant as you can get. This will put you at the far end of the resort and even though I say "close to the Tipsy Seagull", it isn't really that close and is the quieter end of the resort. The other end is closer to the pool. I like the "Tipsy Seagull" end because you are really closer to the water and also closer to the little dock with stairs next to the Tipsy Seagull. Second floor because you don't want to listen to people walking overhead (sometimes a problem). The Tipsy Seagull is only open for dinner and is not loud (in spite of the name). You don't want to be anywhere near the "Coconut Crash Beach Bar" (if you want quiet)

Neil, Toucan Divers are great. We have dived with them 3 times over the last five years. The beach at Plaza is nice and the dive site 18 Palms is the house reef and is nice, also good for snorkeling. Tipsy Seagull is a good place to eat and is not all that noisy. Can't give you any info on the rooms as we have never stayed at Plaza. But it sure looks good.
Andy

To add to what Carol said, of the ocean-view Grand Suites, the following 2nd floor rooms have a larger opening on their balconies and a window in the main room that when opened provides better cross ventilation and more comfort when sitting on the balcony: G116 (2nd floor end unit closest to the Tipsy Seagull and directly above the honeymoon suite); G112; G111; G108; G107; G104; G103. All of the listed rooms are 2nd floor so have vaulted ceilings and no one above you. Higher numbers are closer to the Tipsy Seagull. You can try requesting specific rooms in advance, although they usually assign rooms upon arrival. Only down-side of this style room vs. the other Grand Suite style is that the bathrooms/closets of the adjacent room share a common wall so voices from that room can be heard in your room. Problem is easily solved by keeping the doors to the bathrooms and closet closed.

As Andy & Dave said, Toucan Divers are great. We have been diving with them twice a year since about 2002. Was told in May by Monique and others at Toucan that Plaza and Toucan are going to be very busy for most of October through December. DAN is hosting a Hyperbaric Medicine course at Plaza the week of Oct 23 – 30, plus several other large groups will be there in mid - late October. We have been there at other times when they have had large groups and Toucan does an excellent job handling all the divers. My only suggestion would be make sure Toucan knows well in advance of your trip, that two of you plan to dive with them and the number/type of boats dives (i.e., 6 1-tank dives; 6 2-tank dives, etc.) so they can put you are their schedule. You may not get a choice of morning or afternoon dives, but advising well in advance should help. We were assigned all afternoon 1-tank boat dives on one trip vs. our previously normal morning 1-tank boat dives with the afternoon for shore dives, and came to really prefer the afternoon boat dives. Makes for a lazy morning (no rushing to get the 8:30 boat departure and more energy for shore dives), so ever since then, we have requested (and gotten) afternoon boat dives. Toucan always posts the names of the divers assigned to each boat on the afternoon of the previous day, and limits the number of divers on each boat so as to not to crowd them. If you want to go diving on a particular day and you have not been assigned, you can usually try to go “standby”, meaning if someone doesn’t show (fairly often), you can get that spot at the last minute. We have always found Toucan to be very cooperative within the limits of their available boat slots (they are due to get another boat soon, just not sure when), equipment, choice of dive site, etc.

Regardless, enjoy.

Have not stayed there since 1999. However, the dive operation was splendid and most reasonable in price during the 20 or so times I used it in the last 3 years. Do dive with them. You will not be displeased.

Regards, Pag

I have stayed about 6 or 7 times at the Plaza. Carol Eddy and Dr. Director have it right. 2nd floor GS ocean view, near to the Tipsy Seagull as possible. Great snorkeling south of the Tipsy Seagull. Go out to the entrance of the channel - clouds of fish! Also, some big ones in the deeper spots. On one snorkel I counted nearly 90 different types of fish (counted juveniles separate from adults). On calm days, we have rented a boat and gone snorkeling off of Kleine Bonaire. Exciting - flying fish greeted us and the coral on the south side of the island was magnificent. Hear that there are sea horses about, but have not seen any.

See my posting on the trip report section. Toucan was wonderful, but did have some problems. Second floor is a must for security reasons.