Where would you recommend a family staying on Bonaire? My husband and my two sons (13 and 15) dive. My daughter (10) and I are avid snorkelers, but can't dive for health reasons. My daughter wants to stay in a place where there might be other kids to hang with at the pool while her brothers dive. Any suggestions for this mixed bag, family of 5? Thanks.

hi sandra, welcome to bonaire talk. i'm going to suggest the plaza or the divi...i've seen more kids there than at other places. i'm sure other BT'ers will have other suggestions

Hi Sandra! I don't have kids (truth in advertising). However, our first trip to Bonaire was with a large dive group with kids in the group. One of the families that we spent a lot of time with had their kids enrolled in the Aqua Kids program at the Plaza. Wow! Those kids had a blast and we got to hear about it every day!!! They had fish ID competitions, they went out to Klein, overall it sounded like it was an excellent program - at least from what the kids said. I know that is not a first hand account, but I'm not joking when I say the kids said they loved it.

Sandra

Myself and my son (13) dive and my wife and daughter snorkel and sunbath and last month we stayed at the Plaza and it was ideal. Whilst the 2 women sunbathed and snorkelled we picked up a tank each from the beach area and went out for a dive. The pool is also right next to the beach so you can use either. There were alot of kids around the pool and beach and also lots of good snorkelling.

We managed to see a turtle whilst snorkelling just off the Plazas beach.

Neil

with your family, you probably want a 3 bedroom - BelMar & Buddy have them. The best you can do at Plaza is a 2 bedroom (no pull out couch). You could give the kids the larger bedroom (some with 2 doubles) & put the adults in the smaller bedroom w/ 2 twins & have housekeeping put them together.

when are you going? the time of year can make a big difference when kids are there. We stayed at Plaza for 3 years. Timing is everything - the last 2 years there weren't any English speaking kids hanging out at the pool.

Thanks for the speedy responses. It seems like the Plaza is well recommended and I have an inquiry in to them for a price quote. We were also considering Captain Don's and Buddy Dive. Any thoughts on the comparisons. If we stay at Captain Don's we'd be in their Oasis units which look nice but removed from the shore and "action", true?
Thanks again!

Thanks Sue

We are going in April during the school vacation in New England.

As for 3 bedrooms I think that is good advice and I think Captain Don's also has a 3 bedroom. Any preference between BelMar, Captain Don's and Buddy's?

Sandy

Hi Sandy,

My suggestion is Sand Dollar Condominiums. My sister and I were just there in September. I am a diver and she is a snorkeler so we were both happy. All the units are ocean front from studio to 3 bedroom, there is a pool and the Sand Penny Club for the kids and children's programs. The rooms are much larger than most and have kitchens. Best of luck to you!

Sandy,
We love Capt. Don's.....read this trip report to find out specifics.

http://www.oldbonairetalk.com/newsgroup/messages/1022/31140.html?1021997999

The past few years there have been several groups from New England during the April break. We have an earlier Spring Break and will be there in March.

Sandy,

We are staying at BelMar this year for the first time, so I don't have any firsthand opinions. It's a smaller resort (< 30 units), so the likelihood of lots of kids is slim, but the views and comments won us over. It's also south of town & away from the action, which could be an issue for firsttimers - we know what we want to do, so that's not an issue. (We are planning to NEVER return to Plaza - we had a horrible experience with our villa last year, despite being a repeat guest. It was fallen down alot in the past 3 years).

My daughter & I looked at all the resorts last year & here were our opinions:

- Captain Don's: better for hardcore divers. Didn't see many kids around during the day. Pools weren't too inviting.

- Buddy's: most kids of all; staff was nice; pools looked OK.

- Sand Dollar: Pool is on road side of resort; not much vegetation. Each unit is individually owned, so there is quite a variance of furnishings & maintenance. Not many people around during the day.

Hope this helps.

Many thanks to those who took the time to help me and my family. I will factor all the pros/cons you've offered along with the prices into my deliberations and take my best shot! I'm sure I'll have more questions for the forum once we've got some of the logistics nailed down.
Sandy

My family has had great experiences with Caren at Sea and Discovery. She does programs for little ones and even picks them up!

My son is 3 and he has been to Bonaire 3x. We have had great experiences with the nanny's that Capt. Don's has provided us with.

Check out the website it is great!

seaanddiscovery.com

~Ruth