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Dive Review of Divi Flamingo in
Bonaire/West side and Klein Bonaire

Divi Flamingo: "Diventures Thanksgiving trip to Divi Dive Bonaire.", Nov, 2022,

by Bill Schlegel, MO, US (Contributor Contributor 19 reports with 17 Helpful votes). Report 12291.

Photos Submitted with this Report


Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 4 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving 3 stars
Snorkeling 3 stars
Value for $$ 3 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments Went with a dive club and 28 travelers. 6th time in Bonaire and 4th at Divi spread over 30 years of visits. The main reasons for return are a well organized boat diving operation (/Rick - dive shop manager) using 5 Newton dive boats of various sizes AND a very healthy coral reef system packed with tropical reef fish and small critters. They also offer shore diving with pickup trucks and a drive through refill statin near the hotel lobby. Our dive masters were Marco and Laurel. Both were enthusiastic, attentive and very competent and also described decades of experience. You will love the diving, no matter what your experience is.
Suggestions for planning a trip include the following. Consider traveling from CONUS on a weekday instead of the usual weekend to weekend trips. Airfare is lower, fewer travelers with more seat selections, less crowds. The dive package we got included 2 morning dives and an afternoon dive with breakfast before and a brief lunch in between. We were on our own for dinner but that's the way you want it as there are multiple excellent dining opportunities within walking distance (1/2 mile) of the resort. The resorts restaurant - called Chibi Chibi is also excellent but requires reservations. Most of us went off the resort for dinner due to the multiple "high end" dining options available nearby. Be sure to tour the island if you have never been there before. In other words, rent a car/truck and try some beach diving and/or go to the Sorobon windsurfing area on your "gas off day".
This is a well run operation that was able to please everyone in this diverse group and provide them all an excellent dive vacation. You will not be likely to see large pelagic creatures but will see smaller critters that may be absent on other islands such as octopus, frogfish, lots of seahorses, anemones, nudibranchs, small coral shrimp and play with Caribbean reef squid. Of course, there are myriads of the usual Caribbean reef fish. The place is an aquarium on most dives. Corals are in very good condition (some of the best you will see anywhere in the Caribbean) due to several environmental factors. This healthy coral is also due to the work of the Bonaire coral restoration project called reefrenewalbonaire.org. You could even consider volunteering to work for them, after training and if you want to give them a few weeks of your time.
The resort has nice pools. A friendly bar to watch sunsets (we saw the Green Flash). Drying lockers for gear near the boat dock. Nitrox and air refills are done on the boats with high pressure lines that remove the need to throw cylinders around. Unlimited shore and night diving although, like many resorts around the world, the home reef is rather poor.
Websites Divi Flamingo   [same)

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving About everywhere. This trip to Divi Dive in Bonaire left me at about 1630 dives. Been contributing to Undercurrent for over 25 years.
Closest Airport Bonaire Getting There Used American Airlines and no problems this time. Also, United and others go there.

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas currents
Water Temp 82-83°F / 28-28°C Wetsuit Thickness 2
Water Visibility 70-100 Ft/ 21-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions General instructions were be back on the boat in 1 hour as a courtesy to others. No planned decompression diving. Have a buddy.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 2 stars
Large Pelagics 1 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 2 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments Photographic subject matter is rated 4 stars for small subjects and macro.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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