2005: Bonaire in June or Nov? (IT'S NOW JUNE)

13 votes (the majority) for November, but it's still scheduled for June; is that right?


Jeff

13 votes (the majority) for November, but it's still scheduled for June; is that right?


Jeff

In a word yes....but not in concrete. Will try to decide today. If I don't do Bonaire in June for this beta test of our singles concept then I risk getting the big project later this year or most likely next year.

Also we have no other trips for June timeframe and not sure what we could find under short notice.

And finally...we have 2 trips in Oct, 2 in Sept and 2 in Dec or Dec/New Year's timeframe so I'm worried we can't cram one more into Nov without causing problems with the trips we have.

You all may not realize but I have to fill the spots I committ too or I eat them. In some cases I can return spots but usually once I've committed I own those spots. So you can see the dicey situation this presents.

Also air is about $600-800 to Bonaire and the package will be about $1100-1200 all inclusive including a trucks for the group so you are looking at $2000. Not sure everyone who wants to go can swing that.

Any add'l feed back today rec'd will be used to make a final decision. Also we return from Fiji on Nov 5th and I was thinking about Nov 11-18-ish timeframe. WHEN IS VET's DAY??? I'd like to take adv of that Holiday.

Friday, November 11th is Veterans' Day.

I definitely see your tricky situation with the planning of this trip. I'm sure it is a very tough decision to make.

I will go to Bonaire, if it happens in November.

Any decision on Bonaire-June yet?

Any decision on Bonaire-June yet?

Hey gang...the date will be in June...June 11-18 so mark your calendars the details are coming soon. I am VERY sorry we couldn't do Bonaire in November but if that is a great time for people then we will plan one for fall in 2006. Thanks gang...I hope you can join us in June!

Oh, sh**, now I have to figure out how I can possibly swing Bonaire and the Flower Gardens!

Any decision on Bonaire-June yet?

Hey gang...the date will be in June...June 11-18 so mark your calendars the details are coming soon. I am VERY sorry we couldn't do Bonaire in November but if that is a great time for people then we will plan one for fall in 2006. Thanks gang...I hope you can join us in June!

Alas. Too soon for me to be able to swing it.... :dltears:

Any new info on this? Price, details, etc.?

Any new info on this? Price, details, etc.?

Just got the ballpark...about $1000 for 7 days d/o, 6 boat dives, unlimited shorediving which is what Bonaire is all about, includes truck rental (1 truck per 4 people) and all taxes. I'm working on airfare options but for you I've found a bulk fare for about $795.

Air will be tight on this trip...only 5 spots from Houston for which I've actually got a hold in the system for 2 of them.

Some cities will have decent air around $615 and others will be $750 to $790.

Boy...Bonaire has gotten pricey! (I guess you can when you have world class diving and WERE NOT hit by hurricanes!

Note: I'll have the final pricing and full details up by Sunday. Thanks gang...gotta get ready for my Scuba Radio interview!!!

WW,

Any more information on this trip? And what are good cities to look at to fly out of to get to Bonaire? Everything I find out of Denver is and overnight trip so I would like to look at other airports. If you have been there before, how did you get there?

I hope to have all of this posted today. The air is the trickiest part and I do have some fares I've lined up. We flew in and out of Houston via Air Jamaica last year but AJ is no longer flying out of Houston so we've had to be creative. I'll post what I have as part of the trip posting. k

Ok IU'm new but how does one sign up for the trip to Bonaire? and the details about airfare and such?

I hope to join - eagerly awaiting trip details!

WW,

Any more information on this trip? And what are good cities to look at to fly out of to get to Bonaire? Everything I find out of Denver is and overnight trip so I would like to look at other airports. If you have been there before, how did you get there?

A little far for you, but, Baltimore BWI airport. I just got back from Bonaire. Air Jamaica Flys out of Baltimore. From Baltimore to Montego Bay to Bonaire.

Two quick notes:

1) Kamala, in your earlier post, you appeared concerned about damage from Ivan. No worries, I was there in November, and very little was harmed. Some of the Staghorn coral up around Andrea II had been flattened, and Divi had lost one of their two docks, but I didn't notice anything else. I asked around, and that's about the extent of the damage. The broken Elkhorn at Andrea II was all in the shallows around 10-20', the deeper stuff was all fine. Last I'd heard, Divi had the dock repaired, or at least were working towards getting it replanked. It didn't effect their dive operations at any time.

2) A word of caution with Air Jamaica: if you *transfer* either to or from them enroute, your bags will NOT be transferred, no matter what your counter agent says. AA assured me that my bags were checked through to Bonaire, yet they stayed in MBJ. AJ's take on it was 'Tough. We don't have baggage agreements with anyone except Delta'. Really lousy attitude, and even the first-class passengers had to disembark through Customs (a 2 hour line, that day), hump their bags from the carousels over to the AJ counter and then go back through the checkpoint and reboard the plane. Until they change their snotty attitude problem, I won't be flying with THEM again. On a side note, I'm more than a little miffed at AA, 'cos they should have known about AJ's little issue, and warned me that the bags were absolutely NOT checked through from MIA to BON. It's not like it's the FIRST time an AA passenger has transferred to AJ.

In short, if you're transferring to/from AJ on the flight, MAKE DARNED SURE you have at least 3 hours of layover, or you'll have to go through the same circus I did. If I hadn't persevered, I wouldn't have had clothes or dive gear the *second* day, either... except for the mask and regs in my carry-on bag.