MN Lakeman
Contributor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xkt6Dnp8ps&list=UUsBMq9-LCO4yUCj1bHqq9pA
Just back from a terrific week diving Bonaire. This is my forth time now over the last 10 years, & I again look forward to returning to this diver’s paradise. This was my wife’s first visit as she is a fairly new diver, as it was too for another couple joining us, with only a few dozen dives in their logbooks. After 15 dives in a full week, all 3 novice divers gained a huge amount of confidence in their dive skills.T ravel from Minneapolis was the smoothest & least tiring of all my visits to the island – we flew United, leaving @ 9am & after a layover in Houston, arrived with all of our bags @ 4pm. A Belmar Condos rep picked us out of the crowd, pointed us to a taxi van & we quickly arrived at our condo with both our room key AND truck key. This was SO much better than the last time I stayed there, when I had to wait in a long line @ AB rental there @ Flamingo airport. We settled in quickly, jumped in our truck (not in the best condition, but it never let us down the whole week) & we were sitting down @ La Guerica restaurant by 7pm , enjoying a light tapas meal.
This is now my third time staying @ Belmar. I specifically requested the ground level 2 bedroom suite # 2, as it is on the opposite side from the office/dive shop. There, it is quiet, unbelievably convenient to the dive dock & rinse tank, & pool area. Management has done a great job remodeling the kitchen & 2 bathrooms. We enjoyed preparing our own breakfast & lunch at our place, having cocktail/sunset hour on our big porch area & going out on the town each night.We hit all the usual favorite restaurants, my favorite two being “At Sea” & “Patagonia” (best rib eye I’ve had in years…
& enjoyed a lunchtime lionfish burger @ the Cactus Blu food truck. Belmar still has a night guard (not “Butchey” any longer – sweet old guy) who patrols the premises each night, giving us a great sense of security. The only negative I would site regarding staying here is that the parking barely accommodates all the guests. We returned from dinner one night finding NO parking spots left. We were told by the night guard to park along the road opposite the complex, only to discover someone backed into the door early the next morning. I won’t go into the battle we had with management over the $350 deductible we owed other than to say we finally came up with a compromise.
Previous to this trip, I always visited the island in early January – sparse crowd, just a little cooler & great deals too on lodging & airfare. November is DEFINITELY warmer, with less winds & maybe a few more of those early morning showers that just come & go.90 degrees high each day & 81 the low – sometimes even quite humid, which made donning a wetsuit pretty nasty. Water temp was a balmy 84 or 85 @ depth. The water visibility was stunning the 1st half of the week – 100ft plus. I can’t ever remember being able to see the Hilma Hooker from bow to stern. Midweek however, a VERY strong morning surge rolled into the west side of the island, stirring things up especially on the sandy southern sites for at least a day & a half. Through the week we hit our house reef 3 times (great diving – this spot gets a bum rap from others on this forum) & all the usual favorites both north & south, with Karpata still being the best north & “Soft Coral Garden” –an unmarked site on the south side that I discovered on an earlier trip that I read about in Susan’s book . In a broad summary recalling sea life there: a healthier reef for sure compared to prior years with less bleaching. Only 3 lionfish sitings the whole week.Bigger schools of various species including sergeant majors & creole wrasses. Did not see a single green moray, but saw several spotted ones & a couple sharp tail eels.4 eagle rays – two in formation on the first dive (left the video cam in the room of course…. This is the first trip where I did not see a single hawksbill turtle, but we did however see 3 green turtles playing in the shallows @ Salt Pier.
On “gas off day” we hit the donkey sanctuary for a good laugh (we had almost a dozen heads in all of our windows @ one point, searching for carrots), followed by windsurfing & healthy portion of cold Amstels & Polars @ Jibe City. Our week sadly came to an end & off to COLD winter weather on our return, which again went smooth as ever – took off @ 8:30am & hit the Minneapolis tarmac right @ 4pm.
Just back from a terrific week diving Bonaire. This is my forth time now over the last 10 years, & I again look forward to returning to this diver’s paradise. This was my wife’s first visit as she is a fairly new diver, as it was too for another couple joining us, with only a few dozen dives in their logbooks. After 15 dives in a full week, all 3 novice divers gained a huge amount of confidence in their dive skills.T ravel from Minneapolis was the smoothest & least tiring of all my visits to the island – we flew United, leaving @ 9am & after a layover in Houston, arrived with all of our bags @ 4pm. A Belmar Condos rep picked us out of the crowd, pointed us to a taxi van & we quickly arrived at our condo with both our room key AND truck key. This was SO much better than the last time I stayed there, when I had to wait in a long line @ AB rental there @ Flamingo airport. We settled in quickly, jumped in our truck (not in the best condition, but it never let us down the whole week) & we were sitting down @ La Guerica restaurant by 7pm , enjoying a light tapas meal.
This is now my third time staying @ Belmar. I specifically requested the ground level 2 bedroom suite # 2, as it is on the opposite side from the office/dive shop. There, it is quiet, unbelievably convenient to the dive dock & rinse tank, & pool area. Management has done a great job remodeling the kitchen & 2 bathrooms. We enjoyed preparing our own breakfast & lunch at our place, having cocktail/sunset hour on our big porch area & going out on the town each night.We hit all the usual favorite restaurants, my favorite two being “At Sea” & “Patagonia” (best rib eye I’ve had in years…
& enjoyed a lunchtime lionfish burger @ the Cactus Blu food truck. Belmar still has a night guard (not “Butchey” any longer – sweet old guy) who patrols the premises each night, giving us a great sense of security. The only negative I would site regarding staying here is that the parking barely accommodates all the guests. We returned from dinner one night finding NO parking spots left. We were told by the night guard to park along the road opposite the complex, only to discover someone backed into the door early the next morning. I won’t go into the battle we had with management over the $350 deductible we owed other than to say we finally came up with a compromise.Previous to this trip, I always visited the island in early January – sparse crowd, just a little cooler & great deals too on lodging & airfare. November is DEFINITELY warmer, with less winds & maybe a few more of those early morning showers that just come & go.90 degrees high each day & 81 the low – sometimes even quite humid, which made donning a wetsuit pretty nasty. Water temp was a balmy 84 or 85 @ depth. The water visibility was stunning the 1st half of the week – 100ft plus. I can’t ever remember being able to see the Hilma Hooker from bow to stern. Midweek however, a VERY strong morning surge rolled into the west side of the island, stirring things up especially on the sandy southern sites for at least a day & a half. Through the week we hit our house reef 3 times (great diving – this spot gets a bum rap from others on this forum) & all the usual favorites both north & south, with Karpata still being the best north & “Soft Coral Garden” –an unmarked site on the south side that I discovered on an earlier trip that I read about in Susan’s book . In a broad summary recalling sea life there: a healthier reef for sure compared to prior years with less bleaching. Only 3 lionfish sitings the whole week.Bigger schools of various species including sergeant majors & creole wrasses. Did not see a single green moray, but saw several spotted ones & a couple sharp tail eels.4 eagle rays – two in formation on the first dive (left the video cam in the room of course…
. This is the first trip where I did not see a single hawksbill turtle, but we did however see 3 green turtles playing in the shallows @ Salt Pier.On “gas off day” we hit the donkey sanctuary for a good laugh (we had almost a dozen heads in all of our windows @ one point, searching for carrots), followed by windsurfing & healthy portion of cold Amstels & Polars @ Jibe City. Our week sadly came to an end & off to COLD winter weather on our return, which again went smooth as ever – took off @ 8:30am & hit the Minneapolis tarmac right @ 4pm.
