Buddy Dive Resort

We didn't stay at the resort, but we did a reactivate scuba course and a couple of extra shore dives here. Jenn was a fun and awesome instructor and everyone else on staff was always very friendly, patient, and helpful. Nice house reef and easy drive thru tank exchange.

Buddy Dive is the perfect, fairly spartan, resort for divers! ||For the price you get so much! Unlimited nitrox, that is plentiful and easy to get to. A nice dive shop, solid breakfast, a nice home reef, incredible dive staff, charming restaurant staff. We also got a truck and dives. ||The rooms are clean, and have very good AC and tile floors which is great. ||They lose a star only because these are not super classy accommodations, no WiFi in rooms, only one TV that got one channel (lol), and their two t restaurants on premise were just okay, with their fancy restaurant overcharging for water. ||So, five stars for diving, four stars for accommodations.

Great time. Studio (clean & efficient) in building 500 ground floor was great with slight pool view being renovated the whole time here. No advance warning. Did get a free BBQ dinner our last night due to inconvenience. Pool will look awesome once completed. Dive staff, rental gear ($230 full set weekly), restaurant/staff were terrific. Great Dive briefings. Expect 16-20 divers on boats. Locations decided while on board. Do orientation as soon as you can then orientation dive is at your leisure. Breakfast buffet with great variety, go for the ham & cheese sandwich for lunch $5. lol Pizza Mare located nearby was awesome.

Dive trip perfection! Easily 10/10. First trip and we plan to go annually. The dive shop, staff (especially MVPs Jose and Jenn!), and house reef are phenomenal. Can’t say enough about the professionalism and overall vibes of the dive operation. Please don’t be put off by the negative reviews around the hospitality side of the resort. This is not a Caribbean all inclusive. If that’s the expectation, you’ll be disappointed - and it’s not appropriate given the price-point. The rooms are clean and well maintained but not fancy. The breakfast buffet is great with both American and European style options. Blennies is pricey but you’re paying for convenience and vibes (do wear bug spray). Don’t expect US or all inclusive level service - think more Europe, and adjust expectations (and gratuity) accordingly.

This was our first stay at Buddy Dive. There are a lot of reviews already so I’ll just hit the highlights and the things that could use some improvement.||Highlights ||1. The location is fantastic. Easy to get to shore dives to the north or south and great proximity to town.|2. The house reef is great for what it is, an easy hassle free dive. We saw a lot of life in the reef day and night. |3. Our room was basic but great for what we needed it for, to sleep. Beds were comfortable and air conditioning excellent. We also had an excellent view of the water.|4. The rental truck was great for what we needed it for (although our friends truck broke down on them effectively making them miss dives and they didn’t even offer an apology).|5. The process for picking up tanks was easy and hassle free. We also appreciated the plentiful gear wash stations. |6. The free breakfast was great for fueling up before dives and the view from the outside patio was awesome. ||Room For improvement |1.) we had a few boat dives in our package so we wanted to use them for Klein and other hard to reach places. They were so booked that we had to wait a few days after we arrived to use our boat dives. They then wanted us to book out the other dives for the week. We much prefer writing your name on a dive board without having to plan days in advance. This pushed us to abandon purchased boat dives and just shore dive. Shore diving is great but we paid for the boat dives so that was frustrating. ||2. A lot of staff were grumpy. We had a very grumpy male bartender at the pool. We tipped him a lot to see if that might change his mood but it remained grumpy. Service at the pool bar was slow and inattentive. We had a couple female dive masters that were short and abrupt as well. Tommy and Paulo were super nice and chill. |3. I had a bizarre interaction with an attendant at the breakfast buffet. I don’t eat much for breakfast so I just had a cup of coffee and croissant. I picked up a tiny single serve Nutella packet on my way out to have on toast back in my room after my mourning dive. The attendant literally told me I couldnt take it. I was shocked at how chintzy that was. I would understand if I had a to go box filled with stuff but a tiny Nutella packet? Very off putting.|4. The check out process was irritating. They told us checkout and luggage pickup was at 11am but they came early for the luggage and then were short with us when we weren’t quite ready. We were then crammed on a hot stuffy bus to be taken to airport. |5. Blennies food was not great (fish and chips were terrible. The fish was mushy and slimy) but Ingridients was really good. Odd that the food comes from the same kitchen. |6. The main pool was closed our entire stay, with no notice.

The provided gear lockers and locks need a little love, but our gear was safe and secure every morning. There are two hangers provided at each room so I would suggest bringing a bit of cave line for a laundry line. I can’t say enough nice things about the excellent staff at the dive shop, front desk, and rinse tank area. Breakfast was included with our package and was very nice, well stocked, clean, and always enjoyable. With the exception of a single bad experience at Blennie’s, undercooked food and very slow service, it was an excellent stay and we look forward to spending another month with buddy dive. The inability to select a room when making a reservation feels like I’m living in 1980 again, but not a deal killer. As is mentioned in many reviews the WiFi is complete trash in the rooms, you have to sit at the front desk or the restaurants for a reliable connection. Were are here to dive but lack of decent WiFi is a bit lazy. Sadly for the diving and the atmosphere that we have always enjoyed on the island cruise boats appear to be the future of Bonaire. Almost every day we were here there was a boat in port and a fleet of golf carts on the island.

Excellent !!!! . . . . for so many reasons. My husband and I traveled with 14 others from our local Dive Club. Buddy was able to meet our request of keeping our group together (in buildings near each other) and accommodate all of our special requests (1st-floor room preference; timely shuttle to/from the airport; etc.). ||The property was clean, and the unit (1 bedroom) was spacious. The water was hot and the pressure strong. The air-conditioners (2 in our unit) worked well and were quiet, though days were extremely hot outside.||The breakfast (included with our stay) was tasty and provided a variety of options (meats, cheeses, fruit, yogurt, eggs, breads, juices, coffee, etc.). The meal and wine list at the on-site restaurant, Ingredients, was wonderful !!||The views from the dock and grounds was absolutely stunning. Watching sunset was beautiful. The pools were clean and grounds provided numerous options for lounging (poolside or beachfront). The environment was laid-back and calm (not raucous music or a over-the-top party atmosphere) . . . recreation focused and chill was the vibe.||The BEST part of Buddy's is their focus on scuba diving and all the conveniences provided to divers (spacious gear lockers; excellent dive professionals; good quality rental gear; clean boats with seasoned, experienced crew; 24-hour tank access; on-site reef access via shore; multiple gear dunk tanks) and the drive-thru air-fill stations! . . . and a truck included for all days of our stay (plus transportation to/from airport, coordinated with our flight times).||The staff (front desk; housekeeping; pro-shop; groundsmen; waitstaff) were all pleasant and professional. The property is laid-out well and operations (specifically dive) are ran efficiently and safe.

I used buddy dive on a cruise stop in Bonaire. Joe was our guide - very professional and attentive. He asked what type of dive we were looking for and delivered with trips to the salt pier and red slave sites. Full of life! I signed up for an additional afternoon dive just to see the salt pier again.