Advice for older divers in Bonaire

[k8chen]

I am sure you all have answered this again and again...but please, one more time!

A group of six, older divers, are heading to Bonaire in April 2015. Some of us are unable to lug tanks and so we will be restricted to boat diving. We want to stay together so will need 3 bedroom apartment. We are all vegetarians so will be doing most of our cooking.

I would consider a 3 bedroom house in a quiet neighborhood (ocean view?) but got overwhelmed with all the possibilities...so Sand Dollar and Dive Friends seemed like a good option. Any comments? Any advice on areas of the property to avoid re noise?

This group is kind of used to "valet" diving so is Dive Friends a good fit for them? Do we have to rush to make sure we all get spaces on a boat?

Thanks for the advice...Scubaboarders have never let me down!

 

[drbill]

As an "older" dive myself, when I went to Bonaire I did mostly boat dives (except for the night shore dives). I chose Bruce Bowker's Carib Inn largely because of his reputation and the fact they would allow me to dive pretty independently while out on their boat. I don't think they have any accommodations of the size you are looking for, but they have several smaller units. You do have to carry your gear, but it isn't far from the fill station to the boat.

 

[DeputyDan]

The Belmar had three bedroom units.
I have stayed at the Belmar - but not in a three bedroom.

Apartments

 

[diversteve]

Dive Friends at Sand Dollar is a shore dive location only. The shop is located near the street and they have a small tank/gear storage house at the very south end of the property for those of you that want to shore dive Bari Reef there. Otherwise you're going to have to drive to another location to their boats - either Yellow Sub, Hamlet Oasis north (I believe there's a dock there) or Port Bonaire condos south of town. Port Bonaire suffers from being in the flightpath so probably not the "quietest" location.

Some clarity - is the issue that you would like someone with tanks already on board the boat but you all can carry your gear to it a short distance? Define short distance in your terms also.

There are a lot of 3BR houses or separate villas though all over the island. If you post some idea of a budget and how far you're willing to drive to dive or downtown etc. I can link to some of them - even give you an idea of what they're near/quiet level. Many are multi-level so LMK if that presents a problem also.

There's not a lot of 3br condos in complexes on Bonaire. Besides Sand Dollar there's BelMar south of town but their 3br units are upstairs - is that an issue? The other Buddy Dive shop is there and the whole property is very compressed so it's not much of a walk to the boat, dive dock, parking lot behind the units etc. The one thing you give up in the Belnem area is access to any restaurants - they're all 5mins north in town.

We like it, it's very quiet at night. They stock tanks on the dive dock also so that might be an option for some of you. There's only (4) 3BR "Grande Deluxe" units though - all upstairs (2nd floor) with the 3rd bedroom up an internal circular staircase. Apartments

Another option that might meet your criteria - there's several of these units that can be found on Homeaway or vrbo.com. At the north end of this row of units (there's about 10-15 oceanfront IIRC) is Dive Friends at Hamlet. (check the overhead photo) However Habitat's boat dock is literally only about 200' south of this particular villa - the 2nd/4th photos show the distance. One more BR than you need but I thought there were 3BR rentals there also - I'm running out of time now to check. Santa Barbara Vacation Rental - VRBO 3716046ha - 4 BR Bonaire Villa, Oceanfront Villa Ocean Blue, Walking Distance of Dive Shops, Restaurants

I'm off now but will check back in later this morning/afternoon with some other options based on your answers if you'd like. With all due respect to drbill - Carib Inn is probably not for you. The only property there big enough for all of you would be their 3BR rental house.

 

[deedeediver]

I am sure you all have answered this again and again...but please, one more time!

A group of six, older divers, are heading to Bonaire in April 2015. Some of us are unable to lug tanks and so we will be restricted to boat diving. We want to stay together so will need 3 bedroom apartment. We are all vegetarians so will be doing most of our cooking.

I would consider a 3 bedroom house in a quiet neighborhood (ocean view?) but got overwhelmed with all the possibilities...so Sand Dollar and Dive Friends seemed like a good option. Any comments? Any advice on areas of the property to avoid re noise?

This group is kind of used to "valet" diving so is Dive Friends a good fit for them? Do we have to rush to make sure we all get spaces on a boat?

Thanks for the advice...Scubaboarders have never let me down!

Perla Boneriano is a luxury dive resort that has individually owned homes for rent, there are 2 bedrooms sleeps from 4 - 5 divers and one bedrooms sleeps up 2 divers. Wanna Dive is across the street , the boat is there at Eden Beach/Spice.beach, they are a good company and offer many services.

 

[lmorin]

Will everyone wanting to do boat dives never do a shore dive on the house reef? That is really too bad, IMHO. At Sand Dollar, the DF op enables gear to be trundled in wagons to a gear-up site above the beach which is a short set of stairs below. There are hand rails for the stairs. If that is too much for some individuals, friends can carry BCD and tank into the water. The distances are short. The location is fairly protected, so there is likely to be little or no wave action to hinder an easy entry. I am 67 with a significant medical issue in the lower half of my body that makes balance and walking a real problem, but I can do that entry fairly easily with my gear on. Nope, not valet diving, of course, but it seems a shame to skip the house reef site altogether, wherever you end up.

 

[k8chen]

Wow. What a comprehensive reply! You gave me a lot to consider. To answer your question: Carrying the tanks themselves is the issue. So they would need to be already on the boat. Carrying gear isnt much of a problem (especially since two of us are young'uns and probably would be willing to carry stuff in a pinch).
We will have vehicles so I guess it doesnt matter if we have to drive to the boat. As far as budget, I have never rented a house so don't have a clue...Sand Dollar prices didnt scare me so maybe along those lines... Quiet to me means not on a busy highway, nor near the pool or restaurant etc. I like to hear the waves! Ocean view would be the best!
Any other advice you could share would be great! Thanks

---------- Post added October 7th, 2014 at 05:01 PM ----------

Did you like Sand Dollar? I hope some of us will do a little shore diving

 

[diversteve]

There is no busy highway on Bonaire. In fact there isn't even a highway period. About the only place maybe not optimal for your needs is downtown as it does get a little crowded when the cruise ships dock at Town Pier. Once they leave downtown is very pleasant also. Nothing is really more than about 15mins. from anything - often closer.

I'm going to cheat and use vrbo.com for most of these. All meet your 3BR criteria - some are south of town in Belnem, others just north of downtown leading to a few in the Santa Barbara or Sabadeco area. I made a few brief comments on each.

Belnem Vacation Rental - VRBO 281562 - 3 BR Bonaire Villa, Oceanfront Luxury Villa / Beachhouse from $2995,- / Week - doesn't get much closer to the water than this. The dark water seen just off the dock is the Punt Vierkant dive site.

Boat dives from there would be at Buddy Dive at Belmar condos about 5mins. north. Or Dive Friends at Port Bonaire an additional couple of mins. Lastly Toucan Dive at the Plaza has a small fleet of smaller diver boats with nice ladders/swim steps - we've used them. 12max per boat but you're competing with their resort guests for spaces also.

This is the duplex villa to this one^. Belnem Vacation Rental - VRBO 336665ha - 3 BR Bonaire Villa, Oceanfront Luxury Villa Beach House from $2995,- / Week

Both are probably 10mins. south of town. And there's no food options in Belnem. But it's quiet at night.

The 3BR condos at Belmar Condos as mentioned in my earlier post. Belnem Vacation Rental - VRBO 582008 - 3 BR Bonaire Apartment, Bonaire Belmar Oceanfront Apartments Rent Direct from Owner

I've known about this one for a while. It's near/on Bachelors Beach so probably closest to Dive Friends at Port Bonaire. Also pretty close to the airport. Looks older. Belnem Vacation Rental - VRBO 3668208ha - 3 BR Bonaire House, Cute Vacation Home with Sandy Beach

You may notice other rentals in that area. Most of them are in a small neighborhood a block or two inland. No views so I didn't mention them.

One of the condos at Port Bonaire. It's not a huge complex but I'm pretty sure jets taking off fly right over it still really low. Dive Friends is on-site there so that's one advantage. Kralendijk Vacation Rental - VRBO 801064ha - 3 BR Bonaire Apartment, Port Bonaire (Sea View Apartment)

Now we're moving north of town. There are a few 3Br condos in town but mostly in larger complexes with shared amenities. Cruise ships dock downtown at Town Pier, I'd prefer to be somewhere else when they do - downtown Kralendijk is pretty small and narrow.

For food options there's van Den Tweel or Warehouse foods a little north of the airport. There's also a pavilion right downtown where locals sell fresh stuff - I'm pretty sure it was fruits/vegetables and fish. It's the small yellow greek temple (really) looking building waterfront.

This one is just north of downtown in a residential area. I believe Dive FriendsYellow Sub location is nearby.
Kralendijk Vacation Rental - VRBO 379124 - 3 BR Bonaire Villa, Private Oceanfront Beach Villa

This is one of the 3BR villas at Hamlet Oasis. It's the villa development north of the 4BR one I mentioned previously - Kralendijk Vacation Rental - VRBO 3716206ha - 3 BR Bonaire Villa, Oceanfront Hamlet Villa 5, Near Diveshops, Restaurants, on the Water I'm pretty sure there's 2-3 other rentals along the same waterfront.

Now about 5mins north of that area to Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara Vacation Rental - VRBO 945901ha - 3 BR Bonaire Villa, Oceanfront with Pool - know nothing about it.

Lastly Crown Ridge area gets some favorable reviews here on SB. Just a couple blocks farther north. Here's a couple of them:
Santa Barbara Vacation Rental - VRBO 331753ha - 3 BR Bonaire Villa, Luxury Oceanfront Home with Pool
Sunbelt Realty - Bonaire - Sabadeco rental
http://www.villacrownridge.com/

The expectation for all of the farther north rentals is that you'd find a boat operator you're comfortable with to drive to. Most are 5-10mins. away or less. Habitat, Buddy Dive, Dive Friends - all have larger boats with ladders/swim steps. Bonaire/Dive Adventure has smaller boats - larger panga style with side mount ladders. I don't know what Wanna Dive has at their Eden Beach (main) shop. I believe the Harbour Village operator is for their exclusive use - never see it mentioned here.

Sunbelt also lists other options. Sunbelt Realty - Bonaire - vacation rentals

hth, have a good trip.

 

[new hampshire diver]

We stay at the Sand Dollar and I use BDA. I love their dock it makes diving my favorite reef easy!

 

[diversteve]

BD&A doesn't seem like the optimum solution for older divers who don't want to lug tanks - or have to reboard a panga sized boat.
Did BD&A ever get a bigger one? I wasn't overly comfortable stepping down the step past the bench then onto the boat and I don't have any issues.