I have booked our first trip to Bonaire for July. Need to decide on where to stay. So far looking at Sand Dollar, Capt. Don's and Divi (Buddy is full)

Here is the thing, when last in Cozumel I fell due to some wet, slippery concrete and tore my rotator cuff. Painful and very irritating, and it has taken several months to get to where I can dive again. I just read this about Capt. Don's:

"The stairs at Habitat. They caution you repeatedly to be careful, "slippery when wet", etc., but you cant imagine how dangerous they are. I was cautious and almost cracked my head twice. Another lady broke her ankle 4 hours after arriving. Another guy was in a sling. Really, really bad. Be careful (and if anyone from habitat is reading, please fix. asap.)"

I REALLY don't need to take another fall, especially on the same side of my body. This could put me out of action for the rest of the trip and then some. This alone may make me want to avoid Don's.

Can anyone tell me what the entries/exits are like at the other locations?

Thanks for any help.

JD - I'm sure you're aware but just in case you're not - they were talking about the stairs at the resort itself, not the dive entry/exit.

Oh, well, no, I missed that. I guess my slippery steps paranoia got the better of me. I assumed they were exit steps. Now I feel silly.........

Perhaps falling on slippery steps is only part of my problem!

Thank you for alerting me to my senior moment.

JD

We are at Don's now and in an upper floor delux apartment. The steps do have gripper treads an the edges, but as ever caution is needed if it rains in the morning. The dive entry here is giant stride off the dock and wooden steps back up to the dock again.

JD - it seems every flooring surface is tile pretty much everywhere on Bonaire, which, when it gets wet, is slippery as *@!!. Be extra careful, and don't go barefoot (as I did walking thru the restaurant) when you're trying to navigate wet tile flooring. Bad move, really, really bad move on my part.

We had an upper apt. at Buddy Dive last time and, sorry to say, no gripper treads on the stairs there. Surprised I didn't kill myself during one of those early morning departures after a rain shower.

We are familiar with the Sand Dollar set up. Sand dollar has lower level condos as well as second floor condos. all are accessible from exterior individual entrances. first floor units have concrete sidewalks and second floor units have wide steps and wooden walkways.
Next door to the Sand dollar is Bonaire Dive and Adventure.There are three options for getting into the water. They have a very nice wooden dock(Not slippery) with wide metal steps for entry /exits into the water. There are also 2 areas on the dock where you can go down about 3 very wide steps and do a giant stride entry into the water. the third option is a small sandy beach adjacent to the dock for shore entries.

We own a studio at the Sand Dollar and think it is great-we love staying there and diving there. It is convenient to a bank, Chat n Browse internet cafe, small supermarket and ice cream shop next door. the Sand dollar also has lighted tennis courts, pool and restaurant on site.

Have fun in Bonaire-wish we were there!
Vann Evans

JD, I have been staying with the Divi for my last 3 trips to Bonaire and I wouldn't go anywhere else.

The resort is quiet, laid back and relaxing. It is well manicured and clean. THe resort staff is friendly and helpful. The rooms are comfortable and clean. The main restaurant has great food and service, as well as a wonderful view. Breakfast buffet has everything you could want. The beach is small but still nice. It is located between the main restaurant and the beach bar so getting food or a drink is convenient.

If diving is not your thing you can stay at the south end of the resort which is furthest away from the dive shop and boats.

Both ends of the resort have their own pool; there is a fitness center centrally located on the resort grounds; nothing fancy but enough equipment to get a good workout and sweat going.

The resort is a short walk from town, along the water, and there are many good restaurants within walking distance.

There is a full service dive photo shop on site, as well as a Hertz Car Rental office and a full service spa.

The dive shop is Divi Dive with friendly staff. The boats are spacious and well maintained. All are fully equipped with safety gear and marine radios. The dive set-up could not be easier. The dive lockers are very spacious and located on the large partially covered dive dock...so no lugging dive gear around to get it to the boat. It is literally steps away. 2 large, fresh water rinse tanks which have always been clean and full, a fresh water hose and showers on the dock. The house reef is a short 20 yard swim from the dive dock. Tanks are available 24 hours/day.

All rooms have some type of tile floor which, as previously mentioned in this post, gets very slippery when wet so you always have to be cautious if you or your floor are wet. The topside resort stairs are typically wooden and in good condition with large handrails.

There are 2 sets of dive dock entry/exit stairways; both are very wide, wooden stairways with large, full length handrails. The stairs are in good condition, very sturdy, can accommodate 2 divers comfortably side by side.

There is also a sun dock adjacent to the dive dock with a wooden ladder stairway leading down into the water. Also in good condition.

Both the dive dock stairs and the sun dock ladder are partially submerged, and as with any surface that remains submerged in shallow water it has a tendenancy to become covered with alge growth and can be quite slippery. This has been my only complaint with the Divi and I have suggested they look into ways to mitigate this every time I am there. I don't know how often, if at all, the dive shop scrubs their stairs, but I think they should make it a point to do it on a daily basis.

Anytime you are going to try and walk or climb on some object (stairs, rocks, etc) that are submerged in shallow water or continiously expoosed to water, you should always assume it is slippery and exercise appropriate caution.

Have fun in Bonaire

I just got back from Sand Dollar and the stay was excellent was in B7 a 2 bedroom unit it had a large living room with a/c the 2 bedrooms had individual a/c a full kitchen with large fridge oven stovetop microwave 2 bathrooms,utensils,dishes, 2 tvs, a large screened patio. It was $1200 pp for 2 people for a week with truck and unlimited nitrox from BDA. Very easy entry exit from the property with parking right next to the unit. The dive shop and restaurant are a 30 second walk away. Breakfast was included in the stay at the Reef restaurant and was excellent. Buffet with made to order omelletes, pastries,french toast ,fresh fruits,cereals, a variety of breads,bagels,coffee,and a good selection of teas. The Bari is the house reef and it is excellent.

Thank you for the comments. I have reserved a condo at Sand Dollar and purchased BSDME, so now I'll start planning some dive sites and other trip details.

Thanks again, and I'm sure I'll have some more questions before too long.