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Dive Review of Divi Flamingo in
Bonaire

Divi Flamingo, Sep, 2014,

by Deborah W Campbell, MD, US (Reviewer Reviewer 4 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 7733 has 2 Helpful votes.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 4 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 4 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments Seventh or eighth trip to Bonaire (but it had been a while... last trip was in 2008.) Flew on Delta's Friday flight, which going and returning was only about half-full. It was great to travel on Fridays: fewer airport crowds everywhere, the only large plane landing in Bonaire that afternoon (less time in line for Immigration and waiting for luggage.) Took less than an hour to get through Immigration, Customs and TSA security in Atlanta when returning to USA. Not sure Delta can continue this Friday service unless it becomes more popular, but it was a lot less hassle than Saturday travel.

First time at Divi. Resort is older, but room was clean and everything worked. Breakfast buffet was good, as were the couple of meals we had at Chibi Chibi restaurant. Enjoyed 2-for-1 happy hours at the beach bar, accompanied by gorgeous sunsets. We'd purchased round-trip airport transfers with our package, which turned out to be screwed-up. While our Divi voucher said someone holding a sign would be outside at the airport, waiting to take us to Divi - that wasn't the case. A driver from another resort told us, "Divi never sends anyone to pick up people." So we took a taxi, and happily, the Divi front desk clerk paid the driver. We received a note in our room a couple of days before our check-out date. It said that our pick-up time to return to the airport would be 12:30pm, and to confirm this by calling the front desk. Did that and was told "thank you." After checking out, I asked the front desk clerk if we could just sit in the lobby until our 12:30pm pick-up to go to the airport. She told me there was NO pick-up. Again, called a taxi and driver was paid by Divi. This wasn't a huge issue, but why did Divi personnel put that note in our room?

Excellent dive operation with friendly, professional employees, particularly Serge, the manager, as well as Orlando, Endro, Ruud and Rofino. Spacious dive boat ("Sea Queen") with large shaded area forward. Safety and environmental sensitivity were paramount with all Divi Dive people. Maximum divers we experienced on the boat was 11 one day (generally fewer, with one afternoon boat dive only 2 of us.) Convenient locker and rinse tank setup on dive dock. The only issue with Divi Dive is that they REALLY need to replace the O-rings in just about every tank. Fills were consistently 3000 psi or a bit more.

Calabas, the Divi house reef, is quite a good dive (heading either north or south) with lots of fish and other critters. The dive sites on Klein Bonaire were simply spectacular, more colorful and with better viz than on the west coast dive sites. We were fortunate to see many turtles, a couple of tarpon, a large seahorse, a few schools of squid and a frogfish, among all the typical tropicals. Lionfish didn't seem as plentiful here as in other areas; we didn't see them on every dive.

All in all, an excellent week of diving.
Websites Divi Flamingo   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving Numerous Caribbean destinations, Florida
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy, dry Seas choppy, no currents
Water Temp 80-81°F / 27-27°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 50-80 Ft/ 15-24 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Depth limits 60-70 feet, time limit 45 minutes (although most dives were longer)
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 5 stars
Small Critters 5 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics N/A

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 5 stars Boat Facilities 5 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 5 stars Shore Facilities 5 stars
UW Photo Comments Large camera-only rinse buckets on boat and on dive dock, divemasters and boat captains very careful with camera equipment
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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