My girlfriend and I have only been on 2 vacations to the caribbean (and in general) and they have both been to Sandal's Resorts in St. Lucia and Jamaica. They were all inclusive and a lot of fun but the diving in both locations proved to be disappointing.

I've been doing some reading about Bonaire and after seeing some pictures of the scenery under (and above) water, I am hooked. We just got back from Jamaica yesterday and I am already ready to book a trip to Bonaire.

Only thing is, I have never planned a vacation that was not all inclusive, so we have no clue on where to begin.

I would like to stay 8-10 nights (7 bare minimum), but when I try and look up flights, I am always seeing a layover of 1 full day on 1 or both ways. I would be flying out of Washington D.C. so either Dulles or Reagan airports (Baltimore if necesarry). Also the flights on expedia were over $1500 for 2 at the cheapest. Does that sound right?

I'm not sure what resort/hotel/timeshare to stay at. I see some places (the Divi) for as cheap as $79/night and some much more. The Buddy Resort looks nice too. I want to be able to shore dive from the resort whenever I want and go on at least 1 boat dive a day. I also want to rent a vehicle and travel around the island to see the scenery and shore dive at different locations. I'm not looking to stay at the most luxurious resort, but I do want a nice clean place with great diving.

We would be on somewhat of a budget so eating out every meal might be too much. So I plan on bringing some food but I have no idea what to bring/expect other than protein bars. Do you guys go to the grocery stores on the island and cook in your rooms a lot? I have no idea what to do, I'm used to picking the restaurant of my choice and showing up, eating all I want and not paying a penny (all inclusive).

The only gear we have right now is mask/snorkel. We plan on getting Regs, BCDs and fins before the next trip, and maybe wetsuits. Anything else we should be getting?

When I have booked my Sandal's vacations I have gone through a travel agent and I always made payments on the vacation up until we left (instead of 1 full payment upfront). Is this possible when booking a trip on my own or do I need to whip out the credit card?

Anyways, as you can see I have not much of a clue on how to plan my trip to Bonaire so any help would be wonderful!

Thanks in advance!

Scott

Scott a lot of questions there. I'll rattle of some possible answers. Travel agent, you need one, I use Caradonna Travel who are very good. They can take care of all the arrangements.

There is four ways to get there from DC, American Airlines through San Juan, Air Jamaica through Montego Bay, through Aruba or through Curacao. AA is an easy choice but arrives very late (8:30PM), is not super reliable and not that cheap. AJ only flys on Saturday (miss your connection, miss your vacation), good arrival time, good service and spotty reliability. Aruba is cheap, should be a direct flight from DC but but you have to deal with Fly DAE to get from Aruba to Bonaire, reliable but lousy customer service. Curacao is tough to get to (probably have to connect through Miami), but once there quick to Bonaire (either DAE or Divi Divi). Flight can run anywhere from $550 to $1000.

No all inclusives but many good choices. I like Eden Beach, small, convenient and not expensive. There are cheaper places inland and the are more expensive. Go to www.bonaireinfo.com for choices and price ranges. Rooms range from $60 to $220 per night.

Rent a truck and purchase the unlimited shore diving option. You can always hop on the boat ala-carte and you probably should do the first few dives from the boat. Remember most of the boat sites can also be accessed from land. Shore dive till your prunney.

Scott,
Cecil's advice is excellent! I agree with both his take on Eden Beach and Caradonna Travel. I have stayed at Eden and used Caradonna and found both to be extremely pleasant!
Good luck!

Scott, welcome to Bonaire Talk! You will find a wealth of information from this website and you'll have a great trip.

Caradonna is great, I have used them before and had no problems. You might also consider contacting Ann Phelan; she is a Bonaire local resident who is also a travel agent. You can find her at ann@bonairewindsurfing.com and I believe her web address is www.bonairecaribbean.com. I have met Ann personally and she is a great wealth of island information.

Good luck with your trip planning and if we can help more, just ask!

Scott,

Try www.Bonairepros.com. I've used them several time and have been very satisfied with their rates. On BPros website you will see a range of prices, the YachtClub apts are one of the more less expensive places that get good reviews for their guests. Definitely go with the Drive-n-Dive package form one of the dive operators. You'll get a truck, a map, unlim tanks, and about 12 hrs of sunshine, good for 7 days. We usually do breakfast and lunch in the room and go out for dinner. There's plenty of choices in all price ranges. One time we found a fish monger and bought a whole Wahoo, sliced it and cooked it on a community grill. It turned out great. I'll be happy to answer any more questions you have. You'll have a great time.

I'm not sure if I agree about a travel agent - we haven't used one since some bad experiences with Maduro - but if you don't go that route you do need to do more of the footwork. If you'd prefer not to be bothered with it - I also recommend Ann Phelan - she's a sweetheart.

Continental AA and Air Jamaica all go to Bonaire (though if you want to do any days other than Saturday-Saturday, right now you're limited to AA I think, and Continental is actually a Friday late, return on Saturday).

If you research the various places you find on infobonaire and narrow it down to a few that seem nice, come back here and I'm sure you'll get opinions about them.

We love Captain Don's Habitat (http://www.habitatdiveresorts.com/bonaire) and book with them directly.

We also prefer to wait a day or so for the rental car, and just take a taxi to Habitat when we arrive. The transfers from the airport are included in the package we get, and standing in line in the hot sun trying to pick up the rental car with everyone else could add an easy hour or more to your travel time. BTDT, won't do it again.

Most of the bigger places (and some of the smaller) have diving right in front of the resort. Understand, the cheaper places, even the ones that have diving right out the door are going to be pretty spartan as far as the rooms go -- but you're going for the diving, right?

I have no experience with the place at all, but there is a soon to be opened "all-inclusive" style resort being built right now. Nick Davies, who used to manage the Habitat and then Harbor Village (I think) is starting his own place. http://www.zambezilodge.com. I don't believe it's opened yet, though.

some other flight ideas:

- drive to Newark & catch soon-to-be-announced Continental non-stop (will limit you to 7 nights)
- American flies 737s daily to Curacao from Miami. Connection on 9-seat Divi planes is fun & reliable.

Grocery stores on island are nice. Also look for Venezuelans by town pier for fresh fruits & veggies. You can save lots of $ by eating breakfast & lunch in your condo (get a place with a kitchen).

Have mixed grill for 2 dinner at Casablanca & you will have plenty of leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day.

I wasn't thrilled with the service I received from one of the travel agents mentioned. (nothing bad, just didn't see any value added, plus I think I might have been able to book everything myself & saved a few $). Most of the resorts have a dive & drive package, where they will arrange your truck rental. I think you get better vehicles from AB when you do this.

I'll offer my 2 cents. I travel to Bonaire every year as well as other dive vacations annually. So I have to find an inexpensive way to do all this dive travel. I have come to the conclusion that a network of dive friends that have already "been there and done that" helps a lot, as far as getting the best bang for your buck. You might try Brad Louth at gotobonaire.com, he can book rooms at several island hotels/condos and the rate is usually less than rack rate. Brad can also help you with the truck rental if you like. One of my favorite places to stay is Sand Dollar. I love Bari reef, the house reef, and Bonaire Dive and Adventure offers free upgrade to Nitrox, if your qualified. so you really can dive till you look like a prune. I pretty much ditto most of the above post. FYI I'm from Dallas,TX so it's AA airlines from DFW to MIA to CUR and DIVI DIVI to BON. The reason for this route is better arrival and departure times.

Jim

Scott;

First get your flight booked. I like AA and after ten years have never had a problem. But others have and usually from San Juan to Bonaire but that is part of the adventure. Stay with a single airline and do not try to save a few $ with multiple carriers. Once you have the flight information select a place to stay.

I would pick a nice resort that has dive facilities directly connected to the resort. Look for dive packages that will save you some $. Remember that Bonaire is a dive destination and all major resorts cater to divers doing all they can to make your stay enjoyable. Again do not try to save a few $ with cheap rooms. Now you are ready for a car.

For a first trip find a major company - I like AB - and get a good rate. There are many strategies to get around paying for insurance but the worst thing that can happen on a trip anywhere ourside of the US is to be involved in a car accident. Just pay the cost.

Or you can have a travel agent work with you for the first trip (Ann Phelan). A good travel agent adds a lot of value above just booking tickets.

Good Luck

Scott,

If you used to an all inclusive vacation with little planning on our part you may want to check out Golden Reef Inn. The owners, Liz and Ed, have developed a bit of an "all inclusive" package that includes airfare, accommodations, diving (Wannadive shop is on site) and meal vouchers to several restaurants on the island.

I have stayed at Golden Reef Inn and it is a nice, clean, and inexpensive place to stay with good access to town and all of the dive sites.

I know trying to get to Bonaire can be a bit of a headache but, I promise you it is worth it. I will be returning to Bonaire with a group of 11 this Thanksgiving and I am already planning my 5th trip for next June :-)

Thanks a lot for the great replies! I hope to be booking my trip soon!

My first dive trip to Bonaire was May '06. We booked thru PADI and stayed at Buddy Dive. Truck rental and unlimited air was included in the package, along with breakfast and 1/2 price lunches. Shore diving was available just a few steps from the room, dive boats going out several times a day. There were air conditioners in both the bedrooms and the livingroom, the kitchen had fridge, sink, stove, microwave. The room had a large deck with beautiful view.

Buddy's has plenty of shady sidewalks and flower gardens and cats and lizards and Puck, the dog. (She's an institution, and I was missing my own dog.) There are at least three sparklingly clear swimming pools, a dive shop, drive thru air and air at the dock available 24/7, plenty of space and no screaming kids.

I'd really like to try other places on future visits, but Buddy's treated us so well, I really don't know why I'd book anywhere else.

Oh, and the drinking water... its the best fresh water I've tasted anywhere!

Hi Scott. Hope it's not too late for my reply. I just got back from my second trip to Bonaire. Although I travel all over the place and have never used a travel agent before (why? with the internet??) but for diving, I book through an agent. He began my relationship with diving as he arranged for my open water certification in Cozumel in 1998. My husband and I dive every summer and always use him. He started small.. only booking trips to Cozumel... but eventually got bigger to now include many places including Bonaire. He is wonderful and personable and you cant beat his professionalism or prices. he will spend time with you and you will feel more like a friend rather than a client. He and his partner are divers, and they do this because they love it. His name is Al and if you use him, tell him that Bonnie from PA sent you. *wink* His email is: al@bayadventures.com Website is: www.bayadventures.com

BTW- We stayed at the Divi- deluxe room on the ocean. He can put together any package including air. We had 21 logged boat trips, 1 night dive off the pier, for an 8 day stay. We also rent our equipment (all we have is a wetsuit, mask, fins, booties, computer and lights). Divi has everything you can imagine to rent and enough of a selection of things to buy if you like. We took the breakfast plan and switched it for lunch as soon as we got there (no change in price) since we prefer coffee in the room and lunch after our second boat dive of the morning. We always ate in town, and the Divi is within walking distance of most all the restaurants.

Enjoy!!

Looks like everyone else has covered the resort/air issue so here is another important tip, when you look at fins buy the open healed type and find yourself some HARD soled booties to go with them. The shore line on Bonaire is pretty rough at most places so bare feet are not a good idea.
Not sure when you plan to travel but Continental has recently announced a direct flight out of Newark. It is supposed to start flying in Dec so if your plans can wait until then, it may be a good choice.

Scott, In the "better late than never" reply category. I've been to St Lucia 2x (and done the sandals thing) and done the Jamacia thing 3x (by the way www.couples.com is much better than Sandals IMHO)... I agree w/the diving; though the diving off of Anse Chastanet is great is St Lucia (but the hotel is another story don't stay there); the only reason we went back to Jamaica was the resort; and the only reason to go back to Bonaire is we love everything about it!

This being said, I don't recommend travel agents. If you want to call them fine, but you can typically meet or beat what they will deliver. Don't worry about the "All inclusive" vs not. If your used to paying Sandals pricing; you'll do great in Bonaire.

On my first trip to bonaire (and before I found this site) I heard that everything was "Expensive" on Bonaire - while more expensive than you'd find in the states, it is by no means expensive. You can have an outstanding lunch for around $15, and a wonderful dinner for not much more (alcohol excluded) We did on our first trip stay at Buddy dive because they had a kitchen, and honestly we brought "mac-n-cheese" and etc down because we heard about the cost- we ended up eating out every night and left the food we brought down for the maids.

There is a grocery store; it does have a fairly good selection of most standard fare you would want.

As for travel, check multiple sites Kayak, Travelocty, Expedia, and the aircarriers directly. Someone will always have a deal. Double check routing as well. BWI/MIA/SJU/BON vs DCA/DFW/DJU/BON vs BWI/HOU/BON etc. Use the "multiple segment" feature of the travel sections. You'll frequently find that one route is on sale. Typically I find that your price you saw is about right. 750ish/ticket is about normal. Air sales excluded.

Hope this helps.