We’ve been making our way through a list of dive resorts in the Caribbean to sample both resorts as well as the local reefs and their inhabitants. Bonaire had been high up on our list as one of the top, if not the top, shore diving destinations in the world. As we researched places to stay in various dive forums, Buddy Dive kept coming up again and again as a diver’s favorite.
One thing that we love about dive resorts is that they have typically been designed by divers (or at least have taken feedback from divers) and made for divers! This is clearly visible in things like ample plugs, multiple hooks and places to hang things to dry, dive lockers and rinse bins.
While we’ve done dive holidays in standard hotels. It’s inconvenient and difficult to haul heavy dripping mesh bags up the back stairs or through the lobby. Getting stern glances from the concierge as seawater seeps onto the floor is also awkward.
Further, trying to rinse gear in a small shower or deal with those anti-theft hangers that can’t be used elsewhere than the hotel closet is far from ideal when doing multiple days of repetitive dives.
Another great aspect of a dive resort full of divers is how quiet it gets in the evening. With most guests diving all day and then getting ready for a morning dive, it’s rare that you’ll hear a peep after 10pm. You may hear some tanks clanging at 7am but that’s a welcome wake-up call when you’re going out diving.
Buddy Dive Resort in Bonaire has been catering to divers for almost 40 years. In fact, they will be celebrating their 40th anniversary on August 19, 2020. With 73 apartments, 6 dive boats and an excellent on-premises dive center, this is a great place to stay for a scuba vacation in Bonaire.
Their packages include a pickup truck which is useful to get you out to the various shore dive sites on your own. The drive-through air (or nitrox) fill station makes getting tanks easy for those that want to do the shore dives along the coast.
Bonaire itself is pristine. Many of the nicest reefs are close to shore and at shallow depths. See our article on diving Bonaire for more on the sites and reefs: Diving the Pristine Reefs of Bonaire National Marine Park
The on-site Buddy’s Reef just steps from our room was so beautiful that we did all our shore dives right there!
Dive resort review
Buddy Dive is a full-service resort offering a variety of dive packages that include tanks, unlimited fills, a truck, airport transfers, a number of boat dives, and various meal plans.
There are two restaurants, Blennies and Ingredients, both of which we enjoyed. There are also other options within walking distance or a short drive including a substantial grocery store where you can buy what you need to cook in the room.
We made our lunches (convenient after the morning dives) and even some dinners in our kitchenette. There is a full fridge, stovetop and combo microwave-oven in the room. No dishwasher or oven but easy enough to manage.
Overall condition
The resort looks good with fresh paint and is undergoing some renovations with many units sporting new doors and windows. A new restaurant is being built (a new Blennies). This made for a little construction noise during our stay. But it looks like it will be finished soon and will look good with a sunset view on the ocean.
The grounds were nicely manicured, and the pools looked good although one was out of use due to electrical work on the new restaurant.
The PADI 5-star dive center, boat dock and reef entry spots with ample rinse bins and self-serve tank pickup was great. If you are here to dive you are in good hands!
The rooms
Our room was a one-bedroom apartment. There are studios and multi-bedroom units available too. We were told the latter are located on the upper floors which could offer nice views and more privacy.
The room was functional and comfortable with ample space. While the wooden doors left some cracks for mosquitoes to get in the room and the fridge’s freezer didn’t quite get cold enough to keep our ice cream hard, all the essentials were there, and we enjoyed our stay.
The bed was comfortable and there was plenty of space in our one-bedroom apartment to stretch out and manage our dive gear. Lots of plugs and a ceiling fan helped with charging and drying our stuff. There was a safe for valuables but it’s too small for a laptop. While the A/C was just in the bedroom we found it did a decent job of keeping the whole unit cool.
The pickup trucks
Our package included one of the Buddy Dive pickup trucks. These come equipped with a tank holder in the trunk. While some of the ones we saw looked fairly new, ours was an older model with 50k km showing visible rust, squeaky brakes and a clutch that clicked when depressed making me worry about getting back without incident.
All that said, we didn’t venture out a lot and it did its job. With the rugged duty of hauling dive gear, I guess they get beaten up a bit over the years.
We took their insurance as seemingly our US insurance would not be accepted. I don’t know if it’s necessary, but it gave us a little peace of mind. We were told to leave the truck unlocked with windows down to avoid break-ins. We did see broken glass in some of the shore dive site parking areas, so this is sound advice. Better to lose a T-shirt or a water bottle than worry about messing with insurance and repairs.
Amenities
Unlike many of the older reviews we read online, there was Wi-Fi in the room, and it was pretty good! It didn’t quite reach all over our unit but in most of the areas it was good enough for video and pictures.
Also, good to know is that the local tap water is treated and safe for drinking. We used it for coffee and brushing our teeth.
The pickup and drop off airport service were prompt and efficient.
Restaurants
Blennies (currently housed in a tented area over what used to be the volleyball court) serves bar food like burgers and quesadillas. There’s also a bar. It’s the informal restaurant and also hosts the Reef Renewal presentations on Sunday’s and the BBQ feast on Fridays. It has enough variety to make for a good go to place for lunch or dinner.
Ingredients is the fancier restaurant that does nice dinners with appetizers and creative presentations and delicious deserts. We enjoyed it three times sampling their salted dorado (excellent) among other things. Worth splurging at least once whether staying at the resort or elsewhere on the island.
The included breakfast was served next door to Ingredients in a buffet area. There were ample choices including an omelet or egg station, pancakes, potatoes, sausages, and typical American breakfast fare. There was also a good choice of continental options including fresh fruits, yoghurts, various breads and pastries and cold cheeses and meats.
No reservations needed for Blennies, but reservations are a good idea for the more formal Ingredients.
The dive shop
The dive center was amazing with talented professional staff. While we brought our own gear there were plenty of options for rentals (but prices did seem higher than usual). The tanks are self-serve and you go as often as you like which was easy and convenient. Nitrox measuring stations are close by.
The boat dives were well organized and flexible. You just sign up on the blackboard and let them know if you want nitrox. Simple as that (they take care of the tanks for you). Change your mind? Just update the board the night before or even the same morning if you want. No problem.
The Klein Bonaire island sites are accessible by boat and thus, these are the usual destinations for boat dives. But they also go out to the local reefs (easier access by boat than as shore dives). There is also a weekly visit to the Hilma Hooker wreck. The crew was always accommodating and asked everyone where they had already been diving and where they wanted to go.
In the week we were there, we took 6 boat dives and did another 5 dives on the house reef. There was so much to see on Buddy’s Reef (even a small wreck) that we didn’t see the point of running around the island with tanks to make more difficult shore entries. You just go down a ladder a few feet from the dive locker and follow a rope to the reef.
Once there you can dive down to 80-100 ft or stay at 20 ft going easily a few hundred feet in either direction. Some shallower dives lasted well over an hour for us as we just slowly moved along the reef taking in the sights.
Conclusions
Buddy Dive’s local reef is pristine and in itself a good reason to come and stay at Buddy Dive Resort. We saw dozens of cleaner shrimps (a rare sighting for us usually), scorpionfish, eagle rays, trumpetfish, huge tarpons as well as the local redlip blennies and all sorts of other little creatures too numerous to mention.
Would we return? In an instant! The staff, the resort and above all the diving were great and we are already thinking about a return trip to Buddy Dive!!
Note: We paid for our trip ourselves and did not receive any compensation of any kind from anyone for writing this review. All comments here are our own.