Dive Review of Toucan Diving/Plaza Beach Resort in
Bonaire

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Toucan Diving/Plaza Beach Resort: "Started good, finished bad due to injury", Jan, 2022, by Frederick R. Turoff, PA, US ( Top Contributor 35 reports with 15 Helpful votes). Report 11945.
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		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	At the start of my trip, I learned that bad New England weather had prevented my dive buddy from making the trip (along with several others) so I wound up with a room to myself. Our group had a briefing on the day we arrived, and all was set for a fine week of Caribbean diving. We dove Bonaire sites on our side of the island and nearby Klein Bonaire. We generally scheduled 2 boat dives in the morning and a beach dive in the afternoon. Despite relatively calm conditions, wave action made entry and exit difficult for me when we did beach dives, as I'm small, light and I carried a large camera rig in addition to regular gear. The boat dives allowed us to see many regular Caribbean attractions: turtles, seahorses, a few large groupers, morays and trevally, rays, frogfish, healthy corals. The dive crew guided us well and pointed out some interesting sights and critters, including the largest fireworm I've seen. Dive guide Spider was a champ at culling lionfish during our dives, some of which we enjoyed as ceviche later. However, on the third day of diving, at the end of an afternoon beach dive by our hotel on which we found a cooperative octopus and a seahorse, I was knocked over by a wave in the shallows as we exited and snapped my left Achilles tendon (which obviously had a weakness). With the help of my dive partner and a gentleman on the beach, I was able to get out of my gear and the water. I was helped to a beach lounge where I took off my dive clothing and we called the resort staff to transport me to my room. Later that day, our group leader, Burt from At the Water's Edge in Massachusetts, took me to the hospital and waited 2 hours for me to be seen by a doctor. After evaluation, I was put in a cast and told to see an orthopod once I returned home. I wasn't able to arrange sooner flights, so I stayed at the resort for the next 3 full days before heading back to Philly. During those latter days, our group made sure I was well fed when I arrived at the restaurant. Being a former gymnast, using crutches to get around was like swinging on parallel bars, so it wasn't a problem for me. One of the restaurant workers brought me a wheelchair that used to belong to his deceased grandmother, so I had that means of getting around as well. I was pleased with all those who provided us with services, the dive crew and the resort staff. I had previously taken a trip in October, 2021 on the Bahamas Master to dive with tiger sharks. That trip ended abruptly when, after 2 days of prep diving with nurse sharks (no others showed up), our dive boat was struck by a cargo ship during an overnight crossing to Tiger Beach. The good thing is that no one was seriously injured, as the cargo ship struck our rear right corner and not amidships. But that required us to return to port. So my two dive trips spaced 3 months apart were certainly disappointing.
Websites	Toucan Diving Plaza Beach Resort
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	USVI, BVI, lesser Antilles, Bonaire, all three Caymans , Coco Island, Revillagigedos, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Philippines, Micronesia, Red Sea
Closest Airport		Getting There	fly from MIA directly to Bonaire
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm, choppy
Water Temp	78-81°F / 26-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	60-80 Ft/ 18-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	when diving from boat, keep with group; when beach diving, no restrictions but your own
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	1 or 2	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	There were rinse tanks on the boat but more or larger were needed. Cameras were kept in our rooms rather than a room dedicated to cameras. Boat crew handled cameras well.

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Dive Review of Toucan Diving/Plaza Beach Resort in Bonaire

Toucan Diving/Plaza Beach Resort: "Started good, finished bad due to injury", Jan, 2022,

Photos Submitted with this Report

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

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

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

Dive Review of Toucan Diving/Plaza Beach Resort in
Bonaire