We Needed a Break From Cold….
We hadn’t even left our trip in Iceland before Melinda decided our next vacation- even if it was a short one- was going to be someplace warm! And as beautiful as Iceland was, and as stunning as Patagonia had been, I couldn’t disagree with her. A place where the only layers we had to worry about were a bathing suit and a layer of sunscreen was what we needed.
So by Christmas we were already planning our next destination. I’m not sure how places we thought about but we quickly settled on Bonaire, in the Dutch Caribbean. It was certainly on my list- I’ve been a scuba diver since 1990, although I hadn’t been in 10 years and Bonaire is consistently one of the top ranked spots in the world. Melinda is not a diver, but she was up to give it a try and at least enjoy the snorkeling.
In a radical departure from our other trips we would not be renting an RV this time – not much point since you can drive around most of the island in a couple of hours. Instead we invited Melinda’s best friend and her family to join us, rented a villa at Hamlet Oasis and a pickup truck to hold the dive gear and flew down to the island.
Once we were settled in our trip was pretty simple. I, along with our friend Steve, rented dive gear at Dive Friends- located within Hamlet Oasis. We were also right beside the historic Captain Don’s Habitat. After a refresher dive class with Emily @ Dive Friends- something that we didn’t really want to do, (but was required to rent the gear)- we were set to go. And honestly the refresher course was a great idea just to get reacquainted with the gear and safety procedures. Emily was fun and a top notch instructor!
After that our week was diving, snorkeling and having out with good friends, plus a few restaurants as well. We stayed a few days longer than our friends and during that time we visited Washington Slagbaai National Park, in the north part of the island. It is very different, a lot of cactus and rugged roads- when I say rugged, I mean it was comparable to Patagonia and the Icelandic F-Roads (without water crossing of course). A pickup truck is required to go in this park because you need high clearance to drive here.
In lieu of a lot of text, here is a list of services & restaurants we used & visited. We are not sponsored by any of them.
Hamlet Oasis #2– a great VBRO rental. Berry is the manager and met us at the airport, which was actually quite nice as he got us through the city and to the villa.
Everts Car Rental– If you are going diving you need a pickup. Dive gear is not allowed in rental cars. Also if you want to drive up in the national park you need to have a truck- the roads are very rough!
Dive Friends- Hamlet Oasis– all the rental gear you need at reasonable prices. Easy access to The Cliff dive from Hamlet Oasis location.
It Rains Fishes– great food, a bit on the upscale/pricey side.
Cactus Blue Food Truck– right on Donkey Beach. We had a rather pricey lion fish burger. Lionfish is an invasive species that is doing a lot of damage all over the Caribbean. Catching them is a labor intensive process, so it is a fairly expensive burger- but we thought it was worth it to encourage the eradication of this species.