Having now visited Captain Don's - it is clear why this place has the mixed reviews it has on this website. That said, the place is set up for divers - it is not a place to go for 5-star luxury holidays in the sun - so if you don't dive or snorkel, there is not a great deal else to do at Captain Don's.
On the whole, the place was very good, and was only let down by the attitudes of a minority of staff members. The accommodation was clean, spacious and well maintained (for a diver's resort), and the cleaning staff were always polite and cheerful. We stayed in a 2 bedroom/bathroom bungalow on a B&B basis. The breakfasts were great! Fresh omelettes, bacon, sausage, cheese, fruits and cereal - plus a variety of breads and cakes, and the serving staff were wonderful - very welcoming and could not do enough for you.
My main niggle about this place was it's notion of 'diving freedom'. Granted, there was 24-hour access to air tanks for shore diving, and easy access to the house reef from the jetty. However, there were limits imposed on the boat dives, with one staff member stating that, 'diving freedom does not mean that they (guests) can do what they like'. This related only to the boat dives, which one or two of the divemasters insisted were kept to a maximum of an hour - surely 'diving freedom' means that if you can last longer than that underwater, then you should be allowed to do so?
That said, the dive sites were spectacular, and the majority of the divemasters were knowledgeable and accomodating.
We did eat several times in the Rum Runners restaurant on site, and found the food to be of a high standard, though very much geared to the 'burger and fries' brigade. Buddy's Dive Resort's Lion's Den Restaurant (immediately next door) have a better selection of main courses, albeit slightly pricier - but their choice of desserts was dreadful.
We found that the best place to eat (recommended by resort staff) was the Casablanca Restaurant on Abraham Boulevard 6, Kralendijk - a fantastic Argentinian menu - huge steaks, pork dishes and a chocolate mousse to die for! We cannot recommend this place highly enough!

2007 was the second year in a row that my family stayed at Captain Don’s Habitat. We thought so much of it in 2006, there was no question that we would return in 2007. While the diving is as good as it gets and the diving staff was excellent, overall we felt that this year Captain Don’s was tired. We had the distinct impression that there were cuts in support services. Maintenance could have been better. The linens were beat.

The menu at Rum Runners (the in-house restaurant) hadn’t changed a bit and the service was very, very slow. We also felt that the quality of the food had slipped. Overall, it didn’t ruin our vacation as we decided to go into town and try some of the local restaurants: Salsa, Jibe City and Louise’s (Indonesian) were excellent!!!

We hope the owners (investors) of Captain Don’s read the reviews on Trip Advisor, because there is no doubt, they need the feedback. It is a shame that such a wonderful place has been allowed to decline.

We will return to Bonaire in 2008. But we now have reason to consider other facilities.

Tom

The check in process was so slow it was ridicules. Room was clean and neat. Water pressure and temp were fine. Airconditioning work great! Resort food was surprisingly good except for breakfast, fair. They could have done something about the flies; we had to fight them for our food. The service was so slow I almost missed a dive due to a one hour wait for my sandwich. The dive schedule should be adjusted to compensate for the slow service. It was almost impossible to catch the 2pm dive after the 11 am dive if you wanted to eat lunch. The dive sites were pretty much the same, nothing spectacular. The dive boats were sometimes crowed but were diver friendly and the dive staff helpful. Only saw one tank fail due to bad O-ring, sorry I brought a bunch along. One in our group rented fins, one heal broke due to age, he had to buy a NEW replacement pair and they gave him hard time about wanting to take the fins with him. Looked at several other resorts and would stay at DIvi Flamingo if I ever went to Bonaire again.

Captain Don's was an absolutely wonderful resort. The diving speaks for itself and the fabulous dive staff made it that much better! As a matter of fact, I received my advanced and nitrox certifications with Wilco. The bar and resturant was a lot of fun with very reasonably priced food and drinks with a very friendly staff serving. The staff knew me on a first name basis and had my favorite drinks ready and waiting for me when I arrived each night. The only negative comment I can make about the bar is that is closes at midnight. As for the rest of the staff....friendly and helpful. I was vacationing with family while my boyfriend was serving in Iraq. Being able to talk with him on the telephone was an event not to be missed and the front desk staff eagerly awaited his phone calls assuring me they would personally come and find me. I hugged everyone "bye" upon departure and really hated to leave. I hated leaving so much that I am going back in September for two weeks when my boyfriend gets to take his mid-tour leave! I can't wait!