Planning 1st Trip to Bonaire, Happy Holiday Homes vs Sand Dollar?

[DustyC]

Look for a small place in Hamlet. Cliff is the house reef. We stayed there last year and enjoyed it. But we didn't dive much on it, so we skipped that this year. We're staying at a much cheaper place off the water.

 

[scubadada]

I've stayed at Sand Dollar 3 times, 2 bedrooms once, 1 bedroom twice. All the accommodations were fine. Bari Reef is great, day or night. I like using the Bonaire Dive & Adventure rather than Dive Friends, I don't mind Andre and love using the dock for all my dives on Bari. We generally do a few boat dives each trip. Some of the dives on Klein Bonaire are not to be missed and some dives on the island are boat only. We've also stayed next door at Den Laman, very nice

 

[laikabear]

@scubadada did you like Sand Dollar or Den Laman better? Also, why do you prefer Bonaire Dive & Adventure over Dive Friends Bonaire?

@diversteve I really appreciate your info about HHH, that's exactly what I was looking for. We may choose to stay there on a future trip but for the first trip I really think it's going to be worthwhile to pay the extra bucks and get directly on the water.

I did finally get an email back from Eden, very brief, confirming their price of $1245 per week for 2 divers in a 2 bedroom with truck and unlimited shore diving. They addressed me as Mrs. Bear in the email. LOL! I don't know why because while my email address is Laikabear, I did leave my first and last name.

And confirmed with Divi they don't have quite what we're looking for as far as accommodations. Best bet there would be 2 separate hotel rooms but no kitchens. And that would be $1608 per person. They also let me know that all their boat dives during that week are already booked up, they only do orientation dives in the AM, and you need a taxi at the airport if you rent a truck through them because you get it at the resort (that seems silly).

I think Coral Paradise is out because it's not on the water. I am going to look into Den Laman a little. I think I initially didn't look into that one because it was located next to a new development (Coco Beach) that another SB member said was full of loud, drunken, late-night partiers (also close to Eden I think). But I will check it out while I wait to hear on a few final questions at Sand Dollar. I think that's where we'll stay though.

I am sure we'll have a great time no matter where we end up staying. Some of my friends prefer not to plan much in advance and play everything by ear. I kind of got burned on a trip last year where we did that because we ended up having some problems that could have been anticipated with a little advance research. Plus, I enjoy planning my trips, it's part of the fun for me. It's nice that my dive buddy is very relaxed and doesn't mind me doing all this planning.

Thanks for everyone's advice!

 

[scubadada]

Hi laikabear,

I've only stayed at Den Laman once, I probably liked it a bit more, more modern, upgraded. Some of the units at Sand Dollar could use a facelift but are absolutely fine. I like the gear room at BD&A and really like using their dock for all my Bari dives. We generally dive Bari almost each night and use the BD&A lockers. The BD&A boats leave the dock for the one tank dives, very convenient and easy. Some don't like Andre or the orientation schedule, it's not problem for me. We generally spend 2 weeks and are quite relaxed.

Enjoy Bonaire, Craig

 

[choiahoy]

Hi laikabear,

We recently stayed at Den Laman and dove with BDA; here's a link to our trip report which would also have some info on food-

Bonaire Trip Report And Video - Feb 23rd - March 12th 2016

Have a great trip!!!

 

[morecowbells]

I have only been to Bonaire twice, but have done a lot of diving in the Caribbean in general. My theory(just my 2 pesos) is that 2 bedroom units at dive resorts are not usually offered at great prices. Dive vacations with families or groups make the 2 bedroom units appealing and there is a big demand for those units. The first time my husband and I visited Bonaire we stayed at Bonaire Seaside Apartments. Units are sleek,and modern but are on the small side. The second time, we visited Bonaire, we booked a unit at Playa Lechi. This unit was pristine and more upscale from the previous place. However, it did cost more money. Literally next door was Dive Friends Yellow Submarine. They have a gear locker and platform for loading tanks into truck. Their house reef is good, but not in the league as Den Laman/Sand Dollar. The location of the above units was ideal. Quiet at night but a short walk to the restaurants in town. There is a one way road between the units and the ocean, but it did not obstruct with the views. When we return we will book at one of these units or neighboring Elagancia condos.

 

[diversteve]

Just south of Den Laman - new this year is Coco Beach Club. Could be louder now I guess. They imported the beach, brought in watertoys etc. For years it was a hurricane trashed ex-resort area and public access to Bari Reef via a road off the rotary. To give you some perspective on the distances to the 2 resorts: Coco Photos

The pink roofed building under the 4 palm trees in the far left of the 2nd photo is Den Laman. The cluster of palm trees and small pier in the third photo is Eden Beach. So neither are really close to the loud unless there's some huge event

South of it is Eden Beach. A few years ago they re-invented it adding Spice Beach Club and a terraced beach. Also there's now a small retaining wall in front to keep the natural beach in place - before it was pretty rocky. Wannadive's main shop is on the property to the south and you can shore dive off heir dock. Wannadive also has a tank exchange at one of the south beach dive sites.

A fun dive with BD&A - we did it even though we stay south - is their Naturalist led REEF fishcount. You get waterproof counting gear and the naturalist carries waterproof fishcards. Afterwards you compile your finds and send it in to REEF. Bari has one of the highest number of counted fish species in the Caribbean - I'm sure influenced by their operation.

I marked all this recently for someone else on Google Earth - this is "resort row" north of downtown. North past this image is mostly rental houses/neighborhood, south of Harbour Village is the small boat harbor that's north of downtown - I didn't make the legend. Also our s/w reduces it so view it in a new window to zoom:

 

[KathyV]

...A fun dive with BD&A - we did it even though we stay south - is their Naturalist led REEF fishcount. You get waterproof counting gear and the naturalist carries waterproof fishcards. Afterwards you compile your finds and send it in to REEF. Bari has one of the highest number of counted fish species in the Caribbean - I'm sure influenced by their operation...

Does BDA still offer Naturalist dives? I wondered if they were able to replace Jerry Ligon after his death last year. We once did a naturalist dive with him and it was great, such a sad loss.

 

[laikabear]

I'm going to ask about doing the naturalist dive when we get down there. I do Reef Check up here and I love it! It has taught me so much about our local species.

I checked out Den Laman. It looks great, but is more expensive than Sand Dollar so I think SD is where we're going to stay.

 

[scubadada]

I have only been to Bonaire twice, but have done a lot of diving in the Caribbean in general. My theory(just my 2 pesos) is that 2 bedroom units at dive resorts are not usually offered at great prices. Dive vacations with families or groups make the 2 bedroom units appealing and there is a big demand for those units. The first time my husband and I visited Bonaire we stayed at Bonaire Seaside Apartments. Units are sleek,and modern but are on the small side. The second time, we visited Bonaire, we booked a unit at Playa Lechi. This unit was pristine and more upscale from the previous place. However, it did cost more money. Literally next door was Dive Friends Yellow Submarine. They have a gear locker and platform for loading tanks into truck. Their house reef is good, but not in the league as Den Laman/Sand Dollar. The location of the above units was ideal. Quiet at night but a short walk to the restaurants in town. There is a one way road between the units and the ocean, but it did not obstruct with the views. When we return we will book at one of these units or neighboring Elagancia condos.

Sand Dollar has a fairly large number of 2 bedroom units, both regular condos and townhouse units. The 2 bdrm units cost $150 more per week for double occupancy. The 1 bdrm units are not really set up for 2 people, sleeping separately. I don't think pull out beds are common, but you could ask