Finally getting around to this...
This was our fifth trip--always for Christmas--in Bonaire. Previously, we've stayed at the Sand Dollar, Caribbean Club, and Buddy's. This time we stayed at the Belmar Oceanfront Apartments.
First off, we had a lovely first-floor two-bedroom corner apartment with an fully equipped kitchen and outstanding view—the water was literally right off our porch. The apartment was nice, large, and comfy, except for the bad lighting which seems to be the usual complaint in these resorts. (Reading in bed or in the living room is particularly difficult.) Only the bedrooms are air-conditioned, so the living room does get stuffy; flies and mosquitoes will get in if you leave the porch doors open as there is no screen. Iguanas and birds are frequent visitors to the porch. And did I mention the view?
There is a very affable security guard during the evening, and he does his appointed rounds hourly. I know this because I was up one night—insomnia--sitting at the kitchen table and reading, and saw him walk by.
There is wifi in the apartments, but access is spotty. I can count on one hand the number of times we were actually able to connect. I don’t care so much about that—on vacation, I really like to unplug from all the electronics, and we didn’t even turn on the provided television—but not everybody feels this way, I know.
Maid service is supposedly every other day, but we actually only had it twice during the week we were there--the towel situation got a bit dire towards the end. The office staff is very helpful, but the office itself closes promptly at 5 p.m., which can be inconvenient if you have questions or problems or just need some new beach towels.
Although our apartment was ready when we arrived early in the morning, we couldn't get our truck until after 3 p.m. and there is no place to get food within walking distance. We had to pay for a $25 taxi to go get some lunch, and obviously we were also stuck at the apartment until the late afternoon. It was not a great start to our vacation.
We dove the house reef twice--once in the daytime for our check-out and once in the evening. I’m sorry to report that both times were very disappointing. Certainly it cannot compare to house reefs like Bari or Buddy's. I think it is among the worst reef I've encountered in Bonaire, and I've been to nearly all of them. It is convenient, however--nice dock and ladder—with a comfortable place to sunbathe or use the small pool. The Belmar is also close to the Southern sites, of course. We had decided to focus on the Southern sites this trip, so that made the Belmar an attractive property—and the fact that Belmar guests still had access to the drive-through at Buddy’s.
We didn't do any boat dives--we come to Bonaire to shore dive--but the little contact we had with the dive staff was pleasant. We brought our equipment back to our first-floor room each night--they like to reserve the (small) dive locker for those on the 2nd floor. I can imagine it would be a hassle to haul your gear up and down the stairs.
This is a small place, with a lovely and relaxed vibe, but I don't think we'll be going back. The house reef is too important--particularly if you enjoy night dives, as we do--and the house reef at Belmar, in our opinion, just isn't very good.
---------- Post added January 6th, 2014 at 09:42 PM ----------
Now about the diving.... We had great weather—fabulous diving conditions—except the water was colder than I ever remember. I was hearing “78” but it definitely felt colder. And I wasn’t the only one remarking on the chilly water temps.
We think there are fewer fish now in Bonaire than there were in earlier years, but I have no idea if that is an accurate assessment. There may be fewer fish (still finding too many lionfish!) and maybe the corals aren’t what they were 20 years ago—who knows?-- but there is still plenty to see and experience and we still love Bonaire.
Some stand-out dives:
Karpata: Conditions were close to perfect for entry and exit and visibility was absolutely amazing. This is such a gorgeous dive, even if we have NEVER been able to find any of the three anchors!
Candyland: Aptly named and some generous divers have further embellished the marker so it’s near impossible not to find it. Outstanding dive and very much worth the trouble!
Buddy’s: We did two night dives at Buddy’s. Very happy to see they have fixed their dock and even happier to see the orange cup coral making a big comeback (I’d seen it last two years ago.) The tarpon and the mutton snappers were out in full force, using our lights to help them hunt. On the other end of the spectrum, I found a group of cryptic teardrop crabs on a purple sponge. Gorgeous! How do they decorate themselves with sponge, I wonder? How do they know to use red sponge? At what age do they start decorating? How do they know when to start and how to do it? Has anyone (human) ever seen the process?
Oil Slick Leap: This is a fun dive—we did it twice! Saw a Spotted Eagle Ray here. Best of all, IMHO, is the colony of red-lipped blennies that lives on the rocks by the stairs. Notice that the really large and fat ones live towards the top where the current is rougher and (I presume) brings in more food for them. Go down a bit and see that the smaller red-lipped blennies occupy less advantageous territory. Fascinating! Just as it is described in Humann/DeLoach’s Fish Behavior book!
Windsock: We went looking for the three frogfish that live there. (found one!) We were also there on Boxing Day when the pier was open and there were lots of families enjoying the day. Unfortunately, there were also kids fishing off the pier. I didn’t know this. I found a line and, thinking it was yet another discarded line, pulled it off the coral. It was, of course, active and I ended up getting the hook in my thumb. Ouch! A few scary moments—I even lost my reg for a couple of seconds—until I could get free. So...stay away from the pier when it's open.
Something Special: Awesome night dive, as always. I was using my light to try to find anemone shrimp and a Pederson came flying out and “attacked” it. Weird.
Alice in Wonderland: This is one of the double reef Southern sites, but with a very easy entrance and exit. Saw a huge school of Boga on the second reef—with barracuda and bar jacks looking for an easy meal.
1,000 Steps: I appreciate some time on the stair master after all that gelato at Gio’s! The only place we saw a turtle during our week; also a very large grouper, several schools, and a Goldentail.
This was our fifth trip--always for Christmas--in Bonaire. Previously, we've stayed at the Sand Dollar, Caribbean Club, and Buddy's. This time we stayed at the Belmar Oceanfront Apartments.
First off, we had a lovely first-floor two-bedroom corner apartment with an fully equipped kitchen and outstanding view—the water was literally right off our porch. The apartment was nice, large, and comfy, except for the bad lighting which seems to be the usual complaint in these resorts. (Reading in bed or in the living room is particularly difficult.) Only the bedrooms are air-conditioned, so the living room does get stuffy; flies and mosquitoes will get in if you leave the porch doors open as there is no screen. Iguanas and birds are frequent visitors to the porch. And did I mention the view?
There is a very affable security guard during the evening, and he does his appointed rounds hourly. I know this because I was up one night—insomnia--sitting at the kitchen table and reading, and saw him walk by.
There is wifi in the apartments, but access is spotty. I can count on one hand the number of times we were actually able to connect. I don’t care so much about that—on vacation, I really like to unplug from all the electronics, and we didn’t even turn on the provided television—but not everybody feels this way, I know.
Maid service is supposedly every other day, but we actually only had it twice during the week we were there--the towel situation got a bit dire towards the end. The office staff is very helpful, but the office itself closes promptly at 5 p.m., which can be inconvenient if you have questions or problems or just need some new beach towels.
Although our apartment was ready when we arrived early in the morning, we couldn't get our truck until after 3 p.m. and there is no place to get food within walking distance. We had to pay for a $25 taxi to go get some lunch, and obviously we were also stuck at the apartment until the late afternoon. It was not a great start to our vacation.
We dove the house reef twice--once in the daytime for our check-out and once in the evening. I’m sorry to report that both times were very disappointing. Certainly it cannot compare to house reefs like Bari or Buddy's. I think it is among the worst reef I've encountered in Bonaire, and I've been to nearly all of them. It is convenient, however--nice dock and ladder—with a comfortable place to sunbathe or use the small pool. The Belmar is also close to the Southern sites, of course. We had decided to focus on the Southern sites this trip, so that made the Belmar an attractive property—and the fact that Belmar guests still had access to the drive-through at Buddy’s.
We didn't do any boat dives--we come to Bonaire to shore dive--but the little contact we had with the dive staff was pleasant. We brought our equipment back to our first-floor room each night--they like to reserve the (small) dive locker for those on the 2nd floor. I can imagine it would be a hassle to haul your gear up and down the stairs.
This is a small place, with a lovely and relaxed vibe, but I don't think we'll be going back. The house reef is too important--particularly if you enjoy night dives, as we do--and the house reef at Belmar, in our opinion, just isn't very good.
---------- Post added January 6th, 2014 at 09:42 PM ----------
Now about the diving.... We had great weather—fabulous diving conditions—except the water was colder than I ever remember. I was hearing “78” but it definitely felt colder. And I wasn’t the only one remarking on the chilly water temps.
We think there are fewer fish now in Bonaire than there were in earlier years, but I have no idea if that is an accurate assessment. There may be fewer fish (still finding too many lionfish!) and maybe the corals aren’t what they were 20 years ago—who knows?-- but there is still plenty to see and experience and we still love Bonaire.
Some stand-out dives:
Karpata: Conditions were close to perfect for entry and exit and visibility was absolutely amazing. This is such a gorgeous dive, even if we have NEVER been able to find any of the three anchors!
Candyland: Aptly named and some generous divers have further embellished the marker so it’s near impossible not to find it. Outstanding dive and very much worth the trouble!
Buddy’s: We did two night dives at Buddy’s. Very happy to see they have fixed their dock and even happier to see the orange cup coral making a big comeback (I’d seen it last two years ago.) The tarpon and the mutton snappers were out in full force, using our lights to help them hunt. On the other end of the spectrum, I found a group of cryptic teardrop crabs on a purple sponge. Gorgeous! How do they decorate themselves with sponge, I wonder? How do they know to use red sponge? At what age do they start decorating? How do they know when to start and how to do it? Has anyone (human) ever seen the process?
Oil Slick Leap: This is a fun dive—we did it twice! Saw a Spotted Eagle Ray here. Best of all, IMHO, is the colony of red-lipped blennies that lives on the rocks by the stairs. Notice that the really large and fat ones live towards the top where the current is rougher and (I presume) brings in more food for them. Go down a bit and see that the smaller red-lipped blennies occupy less advantageous territory. Fascinating! Just as it is described in Humann/DeLoach’s Fish Behavior book!
Windsock: We went looking for the three frogfish that live there. (found one!) We were also there on Boxing Day when the pier was open and there were lots of families enjoying the day. Unfortunately, there were also kids fishing off the pier. I didn’t know this. I found a line and, thinking it was yet another discarded line, pulled it off the coral. It was, of course, active and I ended up getting the hook in my thumb. Ouch! A few scary moments—I even lost my reg for a couple of seconds—until I could get free. So...stay away from the pier when it's open.
Something Special: Awesome night dive, as always. I was using my light to try to find anemone shrimp and a Pederson came flying out and “attacked” it. Weird.
Alice in Wonderland: This is one of the double reef Southern sites, but with a very easy entrance and exit. Saw a huge school of Boga on the second reef—with barracuda and bar jacks looking for an easy meal.
1,000 Steps: I appreciate some time on the stair master after all that gelato at Gio’s! The only place we saw a turtle during our week; also a very large grouper, several schools, and a Goldentail.
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I have done Divi once, Buddy twice and now CCB. CCB is my favorite so far. All of the convenience of Buddy but without the big resort feel. Others there that I spoke with felt the same way. We did a couple of dives at Buddy as that is as easy as it gets and you have the same access as their guests to tanks etc.
