I just got back from my first trip to Bonaire. I went on a group trip put together by my local dive shop, and they let me know that this was the first time they were using Divi Flamingo instead of another Bonaire hotel, so I was a little nervous. We arrived early in the morning, and the check in process was quite slow, so it didn't seem like a good start. But that was the last disappointment of the trip - from there on the whole experience was wonderful. The dive shop is outstanding, and they make it VERY easy to do all the diving you want. They have a great pier with lockers for all your gear, and tanks of both air and nitrox available 24/7. There is a delicious breakfast buffet each morning that includes custom made omlettes/eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, waffles, and fresh fruit and juices. This made it really easy to get a good meal in before the 2 tank dive boats leave around 8:30am. There is another waterfront restaurant that made it easy to grab lunch on the morning dives, or to have a nice dinner after a day of diving.

And all the diving I did with the Divi team was fantastic. The boat was in great shape, with a nice ladder that made for easy exits after your dive. All the dive shop staff were very friendly, and the team for the boat our group used were outstanding. (Be sure to ask for Orlando and Endro when you go!). They were very flexible on which dive sites we visited, letting our group select almost all the sites we visited, and letting us know when/why certain sites might not be a good idea for our group. Both Endro and Orlando are great underwater, keeping the group together and helping point out and find the interesting coral and wildlife on each dive.

The room we had was fantastic. Very comfortable beds and pillows, so we always got a good night's sleep. Our unit had the kitchenette, which included two gas burners, a convection microwave, full size refrigerator, sink, and nice pots/pans/dishes. The A/C worked great, so we had a nice cool room to sleep in or cool off after a day of diving. We had a comfortable couch and chair inside, as well as a screened patio with a table, three regular chairs and one nice lounge chair. The screened porch really helped with mosquito control, and in our room we had way fewer problems with mosquitoes than we've had on other trips. And I was impressed that they did a mid-week mosquito fogging of the rooms just to make sure nobody had a problem.

We rented a truck for the week because we thought we'd do lots of shore diving on our own. it turned out that the boat diving through Divi was so good and took us to all the sites we wanted, so we only used the truck for a couple shore dives. The resort is a very short walk to the town center, so next time I will probably just use the rental shop on the property to get a truck for a day or two if needed rather than pay for the whole week.

Overall, we were very, very happy with the hotel and I think it was a big part of why the trip was so successful. I understand why so many of the divers we met had been to Bonaire several times already. I already want to go back, and when I do I will definitely stay at Divi Flaming again!