Just returned from the island. Rented two trucks from Total Car Rental. Came in on the late night flight on Friday night and had to wait forever for rental. Really. . . arrived 10:10 and got trucks at 11:30. (Only the owner was working.)Then she wouldn't give directions or show on map how to get to hotel. We got lost. Finally arrived at hotel at midnight. Had my four children with me and was so glad I sent them to the hotel in a taxi with their dad earlier in the evening. Upon arriving at the hotel, office was closed and had to prowl the property with a security guard looking for my family. Welcome to the island?????

Later found out that the same lady owns a restaurant at Den Laman. Bar maid said owner was working alone because all her employees left. When I returned the trucks on Saturday morning at 5am, there were two men there. Drop off was quick and easy.

Trucks were fine and used very little gas. I think it would be nice to show route on a map to new guests. By the way, the map lies. New maps should be drawn which accurately show the roads, especially the jag in downtown. Road signs need to be improved: more of them and writing on both sides.

By the end of the week, I could navigate just fine, but that first night I was ready to write off the whole island.

sorry to hear your 1st night was so hectic. you think total rental car would have a better system than that. i mean you are already tired from the flight to bonaire and then get there and have to wait that long. we will be in bonaire june 20th-30th and rented a truck from poppy from telerin.i have read tons of positive things about her on this forum sooo. i hope all goes well with it.

My husband and I rented from Poppy at Telerin for our May 3-10 trip and it was a great experience. She met us right where she said she would in the airport. Gave us great verbal directions to where we were staying. And was right there at the airport to meet us upon return. It couldn't get any easier than what she made it for us.

Whew, I'm not surprised by that at all. It seems to be the norm for a first time visitor, they arrive late on that crappy American Eagle flight, tired, dehydrated, wait forever for their luggage and rental car, then have no clue how to get to their hotel, their hungry and there are few places to eat open, then they have to check in find their room and unpack. All this after an already very long day traveling.




And Trish you did this with four kids. Wow.

I surprised anyone ever comes back.

Trish next time ask around, there are more civilised ways to get to Bonaire and handling the arrival hassles. Like sending someone ahead for the rental car when you clear customs before you get the luggage (gets you to the head of the line). Last time I had the rental car before they got the luggage.

Cecil, you crack me up. But you are correct. I remember our first time as well, night, 24 hours getting there from the left coast, had no clue how to read the Dutch traffic signs, and man, does Kralendike look and feel like a maze that time of night!

We do the same as you, Michael waits with the luggage (IF he is with me...lol) and i go get the truck.

I have noticed that AB rents a LOT of trucks when I arrive on AE, so the last couple of times I've gone with the smaller ops so I don't have to wait, that, and I rush over there as soon as I can to be first in line. Now with the rental offices across the street, I guess i'll have to sprint?

There are still 4 (Avis, Herts, Bugdet and Everts) rental agencies at the airport. Everts is the one we always use when we need a car. Mst of the time, we only have to wait about 5 minutes before we are able to leave with the car. The other car-rental agencies have gone to the other side of the street, with I think can provide dangerous situations. I've been passing by a number of times the last 10 days and it's scary when you come from Kralendijk, driving south and people are backing out of a drive way without watching (from what I've seen, it were locals and tourists doing this). I think it's an accident waiting to happen at that location. (JMHO)

Cecil,

Thanks for the advice. I will do that next time. My four kids were really pretty good considering we came from Minnesota and had 18 hour days for travel that started at 4 am. I have a good crew.(ages 7,9,12 and 15)

I was backing out of a space near Calimara grocery and coudn't see well. I was backing slowly, but almost had an "encounter" with a local. He stopped in the middle of the intersection to yell at me in Papimentu. I said excuse me, but felt awful. He had a dive flag bumper sticker and I wondered if he would have yelled at a fellow male diver that way.

Trish

My first trip was also an arrive very late (ALM...), long wait for the car and then drive. Somehow, we just drove right there with no directions or maps.

Here is the way I do it now, lets say that I am arriving Saturday night and departing Saturday morning.
a) Reserve my car for Sunday morning -- say around 9am. Have some snacks for Saturday night in my luggage.
b) Arrive Saturday night. Take cab to hotel.
c) Sunday at 9am, rental car place picks you up at your hotel. You get the car. You go grocery shopping, etc.
d) Saturday morning, drive to airport. Drop off luggage and part of your party at curb. They can get in line. You return the car.

The advantages: No wait for the rental car. Minimize dragging around of luggage. Someone helps load luggage into taxi. You save one extra day of car rental (partially offset by taxi cost).

The disadvantage: No car for first 12 hours (much of that spent sleeping). You pay for taxi (typically more than offset by the one day car rental savings)

I'm sorry Trish, for your bad first impression. I am happy it turned for the better.

The local you almost ran into when you backed out a space at Cultimara Supermarket was probably having a bad day. My experience as being a Bonaire resident myself is that usually the locals are very friendly and forgiving towards Bonaire's visitors.
As for your car rental problems, most car rentals provide for a road map and certainly willing to give you directions but I agree with you that the maps provided are not always the most clear and accurate. Good (free) road maps you can get at the Tourism Center Bonaire at the beginning of Mainstreet.
Anyway. I do hope Bonaire can welcome you back soon and I am sure next time will be much better.

:-))))))))))))))))))))))

When my family goes to Bonaire we just get a cab (a van because of luggage) to the Flamingo and worry about a car the next day. Most hotels/accomodations have car rentals and will give guest a discount.

coming in early morning {con} on a saturday,
weve heard all the bad stories about total, bad trucks, bad tires, no a/c
can anyone enlighten us? tips for early morning (6am) pickup? where the heck is it?
thanks in advance
2nd trip to Bon
corybaby
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We were on the Continental flight earlier this summer and our rental was with Total. You'll take a shuttle bus over to the Plaza where they have a tent set up for Total. We had a Mazda truck with 8,000 miles on it and in perfect condition.