Plaza & Divi Resort snorkel; fins needed?

Our first time in Bonaire is just weeks away! So excited to snorkel at the Plaza Resort! We will probably stop at the Divi and "off to the left" of the cruiseship as well. Are fins necessary? Since we will be walking between the snorkel stops, I do not want to be weighted down with fins if they are really not necessary. We will definitely bring our aquasocks. DH and I are very good, confident swimmers if that matters.

Is Klein drift snorkel that much better than our plan? Those were our top 2 choices and we are leaning toward Plaza Resort.

Thank you,

Lauri

Have done both the Plaza and Klein snorkel. We don't wear fins due to the fact that I am clumsy with them on and don't want to mess up the reef. We went to the Plaza with Renee and to Klein on a ship excursion. Both are great. Bonaire is so easy to find great spots to snorkel. We are going to be in Bonaire in a few days and have plans to return to the Plaza area. If you want to pay someone to guide you with your snorkel then I highly recommend the local lady Renee. You are sure to enjoy either spot.

Thanks for the information! I think for a first time visit the Plaza Resort will be just fine! We will not being our fins.

We have 6 port stops so it will be nice to have a few that we are not paying for excursions!

I have a feeling Bonaire will be high on our list for returning for a week long visit. We absolutely love snorkeling and DH is scuba certified. Maybe then we can hire Renee and do the Klei. Drift snorkel.

Thanks again for your suggestions!

Lauri

We're actually going to be on the Legend next week. If you like to snorkel you will love Bonaire. The water is so clear it is like tooking through tap water. It is one of the few islands that I would consider going back to stay a week.

We're actually going to be on the Legend next week. If you like to snorkel you will love Bonaire. The water is so clear it is like tooking through tap water. It is one of the few islands that I would consider going back to stay a week.

I am so excited for you! I would love to know how you like the Legend. It is the smallest ship we will ever be on.

Is yours an 10 or 11 day? We also stop in Antigua, Barbados, St Lucia, Grenada and Aruba. Bonaire will definitely be the best snorkeling port. We will snorkel at all ports but Aruba and maybe not Antigua (maybe Galleon). Are you snorkeling elsewhere?

We were planning on taking a taxi to Plaza and then walking back, stopping at the Divi for more snorkeling. Have you ever walked to Plaza? Very mixed answers on the boards to that question!

Enjoy your cruise! lauri

We have never walked there before. We rode there with Renee.(she does 2 beach snorkle sites)l Will let you know what we wind up doing. We are on the 11 day cruise. We also go to Grenada. We have done the underwater sculpture snorkel before but are going back again. It is an awesome site. Susan

We have never walked there before. We rode there with Renee.(she does 2 beach snorkle sites)l Will let you know what we wind up doing. We are on the 11 day cruise. We also go to Grenada. We have done the underwater sculpture snorkel before but are going back again. It is an awesome site. Susan

Really? There were such mixed reviews of the underwater sculpture snorkel park that we decided to go to Magazine Beach instead! A lot of people complained about the clarity of the water there. I will go back and read more reviews.

thanks for the input! grenada was a tough one for us. An island tour would have been nice but we have been held captive one too many times in the back of a van doing a group tour!

Thanks again,

lauri

How is the Plaza resort if I just want a beach, swim and a sunbed?

Just getting back from our cruise. We are early birds and found the beach totally empty at 8 a.m. The beach hut opened around 830 and we payed just $10 for a day pass for the two of us. We had a Bali bed to get out of the sun a bit. The snorkeling was good around the hut but further down in front of the restaurant was fantastic. Great coral and huge fish including a huge (dinner plate sized) pair of Angelfish that were just as interested in us as we were in them! We had a great snorkel experience there except for the jellyfish stings. I got 4-5 but my DH got just 1. We were stung in the water only down by the beach hut, but not in the restaurant area. Felt like a small bee sting. My DH thought he saw small jellyfish, but I could not see them, so they must have been tiny.

We do wish we had brought our fins though since we could have covered more area with them.

If you go to the Plaza Resort for a day pass, do not expect great customer service. The resort is well taken care of and has an outdoor shower and restroom you can use. The pool is only for guests of the resort. We did have a few beers from the beach bar. Service everywhere was indifferent and not very welcoming.

Mixed emotions if I would stay here just for a beach day, especially with the jellyfish and not feeling welcomed.

Lauri

I was at the Plaza snorkelling last week, we took a cab from the port which was $10 and took less than 10 minutes. The sun beds were $5 each, and the sun shades are free, if there are any left, and there is some shade from trees too.

I was in the water for about 2 hours (2 x 1 hour snorkeling stints) and I didn't get stung at all, or see any jellyfish, I guess I was just lucky.

The snorkeling was great, I did not wear fins, but there were some currents/choppy water so it depends how strong a swimmer you are. Aqua shoes are a good idea, as it's very rocky underfoot.

It's not a very pretty beach, but I'm not sure if there are many beautiful beaches in Bonaire.

*eta* I forgot to mention I got really sunburnt on the back of my legs, so be sure to use lots of sun block.

Sitting at the Plaza Resort right now. We asked for a cab here when we came off the ship and the dispatcher said it was so close we could walk. All sidewalks just keep walking to the right. Walk past the Divi resort. About a 15 minute very pleasant walk. $5 per chair or bed. Simply amazing snorkeling. We brought our own equipment from home. We had fins but many did not. There are docks and steps and ladders into the water. You could walk in if you had water shoes. We didn't so we went off the dock. Free wifi, bathrooms, showers, changing rooms, tiki bar and restaurant. Swimming pool. I never saw so many fish in all my 30 years of snorkeling. Just beautiful. The area around the broken part of the pier in front of the restaurant was the best. You can rent equipment and vests if you want. Really a great day. Very easy.

Under this spot is the best.

The dock and some beach.

Posting live!

Shade

The pool

The beach

What about the Divi? Any thoughts on just going there.. We will be doing woodwind in the morning and would like to go somewhere off the beach in the afternoon.

Go to plaza. It was perfect. Divi looked ok from the ship. The snorkeling was excellent at Plaza. You pass the Divi on the way. Check it out. If you don't like Divi just walk a few more blocks down to Plaza.

Picture of the Divi Resort as taken from the ship.

managina, did you meet up with the pair of huge french angelfish by the restaurant? They were incredible! I got so many wonderful pictures of them! They followed us for quite some time, probably looking for food! We had amazing snorkeling at Plaza Resort. Over by the restaurant there were no jellyfish stings either! Best snorkeling next to Captain Cooks monument in Hawaii! Looking forward to snorkeling with Woodwind in Bonaire in Feb 2017!

Lauri