Dive Review of
Divi Flamingo in
Bonaire

 Little Cayman, Saba, Cabo, Cozumel, Hawaii, Monterey, Channel Islands 

Dive Conditions

Encouraged 1 hour limit on boat dives; legal depth limit 120' as I recall;
legally mandated briefing before first dive regardless of experience and
former visits to the island  

Good photo shop at resort including the only friendly staff at resort. We
weren't photographing ourselves but they supported those who were. They
also provided the typical custom/canned trip videos.  

Overall Rating

Good: Interesting shore diving right off the pier at the resort and
elsewhere all over the island. Excellent dive pier with lockers, rinse
tanks, air, jump-in and stairs to walk out all nicely arranged, available
24x7 once you have been briefed. Nitrox available on request.
Good: Restaurants in town ranged from good to excellent. Best was
Capriccio, a true Italian with outstanding food and welcoming proprietors
who once had worked at one of our favorite restaurants in Italy. That one
dinner made our week. Si mangia bene e puo parlare italiano.
Bad: Very little variation among sites we visited on daily boat trips.
Many were shore divable without a boat. All good, none great, all pretty
much the same.
Bad: With the exception of the photo operation, resort staff ranged from
indifferent to hostile. Treated visitors as suspects to be avoided and
persecuted, not as guests or even customers. Particularly awful were front
desk and dive shop desk (except dive shop proprietor who was courteous). 
Bad: Resort food was mediocre, service slow.
Bad: Some rooms were seriously mold-infested; room changes resisted
strongly by desk staff despite good, empty rooms being available once we
insisted.
Bad: The mandatory pre-diving briefing is not disclosed very well prior to
arrival. The timing is such that many divers miss a day or even two days of
diving. Check this out carefully with your operator before booking travel.
This is likely the reason so many arriving flights are red-eyes. Some
actually get you in in time for a briefing and then the only reason to miss
dives is fatigue. Non-red-eye flights arrive after the once-daily briefing
and the briefing is after departure of the morning boats. Consider a
shore-diving only plan; the boats are an unnecessary expense except to go
to Klein Bonaire.
Bad: The transfer via Montego Bay, Jamaica was a nightmare. We were bumped
from our flight and Air Jamaica was very hostile about rescheduling and
compensation. Lots of lies. What you get varies wildly depending on how
well you negotiate. DON'T FLY AIR JAMAICA to Bonaire or anywhere else. 

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