Buddy Dive Resort

Overall a very good experience and I would go back. The hotel and dive set up has things down well. They were waiting for us at the airport, had our luggage at our room before we finished checking in, oriented us to the facilities, dive shop, our truck. Rooms were adequate, nothing special though my only complaints are we couldn't lock the porch doors from the outside and the main door had a large enough gap for a lizard and a roach to sneak into our room. Otherwise, the room was comfortable, AC worked well, great view out the front to the water and pool area. Breakfast was pretty average hotel continental breakfast with fruits, breads, coffee, buffet style eggs, sausage, etc. We had lunch at Blennies fairly often and the food was decent and usually generous enough portions to have leftovers for lunch the next day especially the club sandwich. Dive shop was great and had anything you might need. They set up our AI transmitter on their rental regulator as well. The drive through tank station makes getting in and out with fresh tanks a breeze for those motivated to do a lot of diving. Rental truck was adequate. Drove fine, held all our gear, AC worked. They will loan you a drybox to take the keys with you on a dive. Diving directly off the shop at the house reef is pretty good and make it a snap to fix anything you might have messed up or needs worked on before you head out to the rest of the island.

I booked this place as an RCI exchange thinking I would be able to dive and stay in the resort. But there was a kids diving camp that week and the dive center was fully booked, so we had to find another dive shop instead. The resort is old, but the staff is really nice. Ingredients restaurant had good food. Blennie's restaurant and bar had so so food, but the drinks were decent. Wish there was screens in on my door and window to keep the mosquitoes out. But the thing that completely ruined the stay for me was the cockroaches in the kitchen we saw twice. We washed our dishes, didn't leave them dirty, cleaned the counters and didn't leave open food out.

The dive shop and the diving convenience of a vehicle and air tanks excellent. Accommodations are awful when it comes to bedroom, evidently they do not really know what beds are and what it means to be comfortable in a bed. The sleeping Comfort was awful awful awful awful! If you order a queen size bed you will end up with two twin beds pushed together with a little thin something laying over top. you still end up with a split in the middle and a valley. If you're going as a couple I suggest going to another place to stay, if you're interested in room and sleep comfort.

Great place other than the drive through crew. All the drive through tanks leaked. Bring your own o rings (alot of them). Drive through crew does not change them and will only give one o ring a day if you beg. The food at the bar is well just eat somewhere else. Other than those two issues it's a great place.

I have heard about Buddy Dive Resort forever, the one other time I was in Bonaire, we had stayed at another resort. If you're looking for a nice, clean, basic place to stay while diving, then this is for you. We had booked a package including breakfast. Checking in the day we arrived was an ordeal. We couldn't get into our rooms so had to wait, and leave our luggage at the desk. When I asked if they could bring our bags to the rooms, I was told they don't normally do that. Checkins tend to be mobbed as they have everyone arrive at the same time. The restaurant and bar are fine, food is decent and servers friendly. Breakfast was WEIRD. There was a buffet, which was fine, but if you didn't get there at 7-8, everything was gone and they don't refill. One day I picked up a doughnut to take to my friend who was sharing my room, as she doesn't usually eat breakfast but said she'd like a doughnut. We had PAID FOR BREAKFAST. One of the workers came over and said I couldn't take the doughnut out of the restaurant. Um. what. This happened to me TWICE. I told the front desk and they said that shouldn't have happened but watch out for the doughnut nazi in the breakfast dining area. We ate one night at the high end restuarant and our meal took almost 3 hrs. Not kidding. And no one was there. Only one other table. Food was not that great either. Stick to the regular restaurant (Blennies). The dive crew as professional and helpful. We only did boat diving one day however as we mostly did shore diving. The swim up bar and pool were nice when the little kids weren't sitting on the pool bar seats. I would not stay here again, so many other choices in Bonaire.

Buddy Dive is summer camp for scuba divers. It caters to new divers and those seeking certification. They are very good on safety briefings and doing a roll call after dives. I wish every dive operator did. Only issue with the briefings is they sometimes scold the divers a little, like kids at camp. The dive plans run down a reef and turn back at 25-30 minutes, and they are back to the boat by 50 minutes. The last 10 minutes or so are spent killing time under the boat. I think if they see they have an experienced group they should loosen that up a little. They skimp on surface intervals, which surprised me, doing a second dive usually after about 40 minutes. It’s certainly safe, but not a best practice by any means. I just finished 2 weeks there as a solo diver and give it good marks overall, but it’s really not for advanced divers. Staff is great, from the shop to the boats to the restaurant people, everyone was polite and attentive. Boats are great, their nitrox tank fills were usually 3200psi, which is great. I did a number of solo shore dives on their house reef and it is very nice, probably the best I’ve been on in the Caribbean. I enjoyed the easy access to shore dives, and with their car and gear I did a few shore dives elsewhere. It’s a fine operation and easy to get a lot of time underwater, which is what I wanted. Great location, great sunsets, nice place.

This was a perfect place for our scuba diving trip. We had a great spot on their house reef for day and night diving! Plus renting on of their trucks for shore diving and boat diving. It was nice to mix it up for the week. The rooms were nice, clean and comfortable! Kitchen was great for quick meals and early coffee. Complementary Breakfast was nice every morning with a Buffett of pancakes. Bacon, sausage, eggs, fresh fruit along with pastries and many extras. Omelets made special right on spot if you wanted. Staff was pleasant and welcoming early every morning. Pool and restaurants on site were great too. Lots of variety all week for menu. Plus enjoyed every afternoon watching sunset from the many lounge chairs on sandy beach. Dive staff was helpful every day prepping for dive. A place to relax and enjoy! Kid friendly too!

This was our third visit to Buddy Dive and sadly our last. The location to dive sites both north and south is great and the tank drive through is convenient to shore dive. The room was great with a good view and was cleaned well daily. The bigger issue is with the majority of the staff here. The front desk and 2 of the restaurant servers were the only staff that were friendly and helpful. The bar staff was basically non existent and it was a chore to get any type of service. We didn’t do any boat dives but our limited experience with several dive shop staff was not friendly and even rude at times. It seemed since we were not with a big group or boat diving that we were an inconvenience to deal with. We don’t expect over the top service but basic friendliness and not avoiding eye contact to serve you should be a minimum.