Just returned from a week at the Plaza Resort. If your standards for hotel accommodations are low, then you will have a ball. We found the facilities to be shabby (Friday night with no electricity and the staff refusing to take our calls was interesting...never thought I would use my dive light to find my way around the hotel) and the staff COMPLETELY unhelpful. If you like to be ignored by the front desk or the bar staff, this is your place.

Bonaire itself if quiet and slow. If you want topside activities, this is not the place for you. The diving is well above average and the opportunity to set your own pace due to the accessibility of shore diving is positive, but I don't think it outweighed the two days lost in travel.

I probably won't go back to Bonaire. But its worth going once...just don't stay at the Plaza Resort if you expect a pleasant hotel experience. Try out Buddy Dive Resort...all the locals said is much better.

Just back from 7nights 8 days at the Plaza. Too bad that you give up two days entirely for travel. Arrived at 10:30 PM 10/2 left at 5:30 AM 10/9. The diving was spectacular and Toucan Diving could not have been more helpful to a couple of rookies. The resort is showing signs of aging and was renovating during our visit and we had to ask for a room change due to noise. They were accomodating and upgraded us to a grand suite however this suite was about 100 yards from the airport runway. Oh well there were only a few flights. Both suites were immaculate which cannot be said for the walkways and Caribbean Point restaurant for breakfast. The restaurant was not very clean especially the fabric chairs and the breakfast buffet was like a cafeteria both in appearance and food appeal. For the daily charge of $15.00 each it was a disappointment. The beach bar was great try a Tosti for lunch. We ate at some wonderful restaurants, Richard's, Cactus Blue, The Brasserie, City Side Grill and make sure you get some Lover's Ice Cream.
Look for Dive Packages as without it can get pricey!

Contrary to some of these reviews the place treated my wife and I well. Nice grounds and staff and the diving was unbelievable.

This is our second visit to Bonaire in less than a year. If staying in a Plaza Villa, requests an ocean view. There are only a couple Villas that have a partial view of the ocean. Other wise, you will be facing the airport or hotel rooms across the water way that leads to Toucan diving operation. We stayed at Divi Flamingo last year and this is my comparison:

Plaza and Toucan Diving:
Small dives lockers, 1/3 size of Divi, solid floor with no drainage. You must share this locker and it barely holds 2 people’s gear, minus the wet suites.
You have to hang your wet suites along side everyone else’s, not under lock and key. No way they can dry between dives because of tight fit. We took ours back to the room everyday.
They will pack 13 divers on one boat, only one way off and on boat. Can take forever to get everyone into the water to go diving.
Dive shop is located a good walking distance from Villas. If you select to drive from the Villas to dive shop, you must exit the Villa parking lot and drive a couple of miles around other hotels and reenter the resort through another security gate.
The airport traffic noise woke me up on numerous occasions. One plane land’s in the middle of the night and another early in the morning.
You have to rent an in-room safe key. Some people said they ran out of locks.
We had to wait until 2 PM to check-into our room although the front desk said it would be 12 noon. We arrived at 5 AM. Front desk has a lot to learn about customer service.
The upside to Plaza is the one bedroom Villa is large. Twice as large as the rooms at Divi. Great balcony.
Both hotels have great satellite TV. You can keep up w/ world news and programs, no FOX network.

Divi:
Full length lockers, well ventilated. You bring your own lock.
Dive shop is next to one-bedroom apartments.
Big pontoon boat with 6 areas to enter the water from. You do not have to wait for fellow divers to enter the water.
GREAT location. Near downtown.
Both hotels have road traffic noise. Divi has no airport noise.
The kitchen has a blender for those all-important frozen drinks, but small. The room can collect a kitchen odor. Bring some air freshener.
At check-in they gave us a hotel room to hang out in until our apartment was ready.
The downside to Divi is the place is getting old. The apartments are small.

If we return to Bonaire, we will look into renting a house. See Sunbelt Reality listing and visit bonairetalk web site.
Carib Inn is a good place for any repairs.
Warehouse Grocery has a better supply but the bread selection was better at grocery store in town.

Do pay the extra money and hire a dive master to dive the Salt Pier, it’s worth it. We were told they have arrested divers who dive it on their own. USA demands a secure port. We did see the authorities checking. You take your chances.

The only restaurant we have ever returned to on Bonaire is RumRunners. The setting is wonderful, the food is OK. Have a bottle of wine and a pizza (I like the chicken pizza, it is different). If I’m on an island I want to eat where I can see the ocean. Cactus Blue, Casablanca… they have good food but, I can get good food and street noise in any USA restaurant. I’m on Bonaire for the ocean sun sets.