I'm planning a first visit to Bonaire next July (We are 4 new divers: couple plus 2 teenagers).
I'm leaning toward diving with BDA and would prefer to stay where they have a package deal.
Can anyone offer insight into the differences between Sand Dollar & Den Laman?

Thanks!

Den Laman is the property right adjacent (south) to Sand Dollar. There are about 12 units there, some directly overlooking the water. On the first floor is a restaurant. The building for all intents & purposes is brand new. In fact we did but a bid in on one of the units but later decided against it since we didn't want to live above the restaurant.

Sand Dollar is a much larger complex & I'm guessing about 20 years old. There are numerous buildings throughout the complex with a restaurant & pool(not seaside) on site. Both have web sites where you can glean additional info. Do your research & I'm sure whatever you chose you will not be disappointed.

Vince, I've only seen pictures of the units at Den Laman, they look beautiful. I'm curious, was the unit you were looking at directly above the restaurant or on the other side, or another floor?

Cyn...Last Feb we were looking at the 2 bedroom ocean front unit on the 2nd floor on the north side (next to Sandollar) of the building. It was directly over the restaurant.We had some issues which we didn't like (if you want to know specifics PM me & will let you know) so we decided to withdraw from the deal. I believe the sq footage of the unit was approx 1400 sq feet.

Thanks Vince.....YGM ;-) They do look beautiful though! Do they have AC throughout the units?

Bob,

My wife and I spent a week at Den Laman Dec 10-18 and really enjoyed it. We dove with BDA. We rented a 1 bedroom on the third floor overlooking Klein. The views were the best!

Room had high end kitchen appliances, LCD flatscreen TV with cable, (2) AC units - 1 for living room, 1 for bedroom, a very comfortable bed and a spacious bathroom. Noise at night from the restaurant wasn't noticeable but that might be because we were doing 4 dives a day..

We have also stayed at Sand Dollar (4X), Plaza (1X) & Lions Dive (2X). Let me know if you need specifics.

Happy Diving...

I echo my husband "Msully's" sentiment. Please feel free to email us directly if you have any further questions - we have stayed in a lot of different places and dove with different folks so would be happy to offer any insight we can.

Hilde was our hostess at Den Laman and she greeted us at the airport (we were pleasantly surprised with this level of service!). The view was outstanding, and the deck nice and spacious with comfortable chairs. The A/C was working great. The room was very high end and very comfy.

The restaurant has EXCELLENT food and service. We enjoyed many many meals and cocktails there during our stay. It was Christmas season though and one of the parties had unnaturally loud music, so one night we didn't sleep hardly at all. My guess is that was an abberation due to the holidays.

It was really nice being literally right on top of the dive shop for BDA - ultra convenient and BDA is a top end shop (Andre runs a great business in our opinion) particularly for folks not traveling in a huge group.

We very much enjoyed trip number 8 to Bonaire and you can be sure we will be back with Den Laman and BDA....to cure our PBD.

Enjoy you trip wherever you stay!!