Next year – on 19 August 2020, to be precise – Buddy Dive Resort Bonaire will celebrate that it’s been 40 years since they opened their doors for the first time. This will be celebrated with various festivities and specials throughout the year.
The resort opened on 19 August 1980 and it’s a sure thing that a lot has happened and changed since then. Martien and Ingrid van der Valk purchased Buddy Dive Resort and Watersports back in 2002, when the resort only had 46 apartments, a small dive operation with three boats and 20 rental cars. In October 2004, Buddy Dive Resort acquired Lions Dive Hotel Bonaire and therewith increased the rooms inventory with 32 units.
Today, the resort offers 73 apartments, more than 100 rental cars and two restaurants. The dive operation has grown and is now a PADI five-star Career Development Centre with six dive boats, a large range of diving options, courses, kids’ programmes and one of the largest technical diving facilities in the Caribbean.
In 2012, Buddy founded a foundation to protect and restore the coral reefs in Bonaire – Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire has become a well-established foundation with multiple participating dive shops on the island and has currently planted over 22,000 corals back to the reefs.
Martien van der Valk, head of the Buddy Dive family, commented: “My wife and I look back on many memorable years. Now is the time that we proudly hand over the management to the next generation, who will follow in our footsteps and will pursue our mission of Buddy Dive Resort being the go-to resort and dive operation for your dive vacation and dive education.
“We are also very proud of the number of guests that joined our Buddy Dive family over the years and became a fantastic group of repeat guests, some of whom have been returning annually for 25 years already! The group is still growing each year.”
For more information, and to find out about the special celebratory offers, visit: www.buddydive.com
