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Just came back from Bonaire. Went on August 11 and came back
eventually the 19. My flight from San Juan to Bonaire via Curacao was
cancelled. Thank god I knew about all of your experiences of ALM and
called in 2 days before departure. After some shuffling I found that
United Airlines represented ALM in San Juan and I was given a change
to a direct flight from San Juan to Bonaire and eventually made it to
Bonaire the 11th at 8:55pm about an hour after the original time.
We rented a car from budget..........(you might want to consider
different local rental companies...Budget was slow and crowded). We
eventually went to Plaza where we were greeted cheerfully and given a
fruit punch.
Recomendation: If you have the money..................Stay at the
Plaza.......it was for me the best expericence..........Also, if you
also have the money.........dive with Toucan Diving (at the end it was
cheaper).............all of the staff were extremely friendly and went
out of their way to please you. Toucan was always on time and sharp
regarding keeping to the schedule. 8:30 am the boat
leaves.................we dove with the S. E. Aruba boat
............2 tank dive....with Ebby DM and Erwin.. very friendly.
I found one buddy and was lucky that we were compatible and dove my 14
dives with him. His wife also did not dive and was happy snorkeling
and shopping with my wife. I bought a Citizen Dive watch for $ 247 US
and the cheapest I've seen it was $ 390...good deaL.
My impression...............Bonaire is top if not the top scuba diving
place................There was not ONE bad scuba site that I can
remember. Even the shore diving off the Plaza is WORLD class. Night
diving off the Plaza i saw morey ills, lobsters and huge Tarpon that
dive with your light all the way through.
On the way back I called ALM three days before departure and again my
flight was cancelled. After my non diving wife shuffled through all
the bureaucracy in person at the airport, cause ALM did never answer
their phones, we were given a few options but the best was to stay an
extra day to Sunday and leave at 6 am on Sunday........had to be at
4am at the airport on a direct flight to San Juan via American
Airlines. So they moved our last night to the Divi Flamingo where I
was greeted in the room by a huge cockroach which I killed imediately
with my sandal before my wife could scream (I start missing the
Plaza). After that it was fine. We pigged out at lunch and dinner at
the Chibi Chibi (restaurant).......everything paid by ALM.
We left on Sunday aproximately on time after some problem was resolved
with the plane regarding some overloading of the cargo bay.
Overall we loved Bonaire.............we didn't mind the
glitches............We will be back someday..............
Thanks to shaftone for this trip report ...
August 2001
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