Just returned from week at Sand Dollar. The best thing about it was the new restaurant, Mangos, as well as the easy access to the water from the new pier and the ladders. The warm outdoor showers were also nice. The condo itself was nice and was kept clean. The maintenance crew came and fixed the broken screen doors and windows promptly when asked.

Just to warn you of a few things that were a little bit suprising: Most of the staff was very blaze and bored and didn't really seem to be at all excited to see customers, even though we were virtually the only folks staying there out of 85 condos!!

You can begin to see the evidence of the lack of business there, the garden areas are not as well taken care of as they could be etc..

We were suprised to not have air conditioning except in the bedroom, but maybe we should have guessed this ahead of time. But anyway, with having to close the windows every time you leave due to theft, it was hard to keep the main rooms at all cool. Air conditioning is very expensive on the island, so I quess I can understand why the condo owners don't have it in most of the condos.

Most of the the dive shop staff appeared bored and not too thrilled to help, so I basically went elsewhere for the most part.

We still had a great time and enjoyed the wonderful island - but will probably stay elsewhere next time!!

good luck on your vacations!!

Opps - this previous Sand Dollar message was meant to go under the accomodations section - sorry!

Actually, air-conditioning in the bedrooms only is generally the rule here on Bonaire. As you pointed out it is very expensive to run. Most people only run their ACs while they are sleeping again to save money.

Mango's is a great addition. My kids love the option to swim while we eat.

thanks linda, i just posted on the other thread that i thought ac was only typical in the bedrooms (which is where i spent most of my down time last year!)...

I understand that a/c is not required or normal on Bonaire or at the Sanddollar, I am just warning other travelers, so they can be less suprised and more prepared!

Before getting to the snorkeling, I'll comment on Sand Dollar where I stayed for the last two weeks (11/4 - 11/18). First, we were not without problems as the dishwasher died (replaced by Sand Dollar the next day), no screen in the kitchen (replaced the next day) and warnings of locking valuables in the room safe whenever we left. The people we dealt with were always professional and seemed eager to help. There was a night guard on duty from 6:00 pm to 7:00 am who we became friends with due to our night snorkeling outings. Overall, we were very pleased with the accommodations (air conditioners were only in the bedrooms). However, it was the rainy season and the no-seeums were out in force but bug repellent worked fine.
As for snorkeling, we averaged twice per day. Our favorite sites: (all accessed from shore)
- Andrea I and II: The coral was finest here and the fish plentiful and seas always calm. We saw a turtle, octopus and squid along with the usual Bonaire assortment of fish - which was outstanding compared to the other areas we've snorkeled (BVI, Grenadines, Key West)
- Karpata: We saw the largest turtle of the trip here and good coral. The road is one way at this point so you have to circle around the island on paved roads to get back to Sand Dollar (or bushwack over dirt roads, always an adventure - on some of the dirt hill climbs the gravel tends to get larger and larger as one ascends to the size of baseballs - will we make it to the top??). We always did but after a few climbs we suffered a total of 4 flat tires. We found that cactus will puncture a tire quite nicely.
- Windsock: Very good snorkelilng with lots of fish. Saw squid. Calm waters.
- Tori's Reef: Very easy entry with a small ledge close to shore to explore with lots of fish including a Spotted Drum.
- Thousand Steps: Interesting for the fish but only 70 steps.
- Nukove: A very small beach with a narrow passage through the reef for snorkeling. Interesting area for the fish but coral limited.
- Playa Funchi: A good beach area and good snorkeling for the fish to see. We ate lunch here and retreated to the car since our lunch drew 30 or so lizards! Throwing bread crums resulted in lizard food fights! This site is in Washington Slagbaai National Park. The charge is $10 apiece and you need a "park approved" vehicle for the journey. All the roads are dirt and the first half is fine with views of huge waves breaking on the beach through blow holes and generally rough terrain. The second half of the trip is over "hills" back to the entrance. Many of the roads (trails, ruts, loose gravel (boulders?), "where's the road?", etc.) were in bad shape due to the rainy season but we bounced around on home (roughest on the rear seat occupants!) However, the scenery was unique.
- Weber's Joy and Jeff Davis: Both were good.
- Bari: Since this reef was right outside our apartments at Sand Dollar, we wound up snorkeling this more than anyother. For sheer quantity of fish, this couldn't be beat. However, we didn't see a turtle or octopus but we saw everything else we had seen at the other sites. The coral is badly damaged in this area but the fish make up for it. Entrance to Bari is off a newly finished pier with a ladder leading into the water - what could be easier? Sand Dollar has two other ladders further west which you can drift to while snorkeling. We did all our night snorkels here which were a first time for us. On the first night a 4 to 5 foot Tarpon passed directly under me and I managed to get a photo - but what a surprise to us first time night snorkelers as it appeared out of the gloom! It was using our lights for fishing since we saw it glup a fish as we followed it swimming with us.
We didn't get to Klein Bonaire since we were warned off by several people that the snorkeling there was not good due to Lenny. For reaching the Bonaire snorkeling sites, we rented a mini-van for transportation and followed their recommendations of leaving the van unlocked and the windows down while snorkeling. Needless to say, we left nothing of value in the van and had no problems. Whenever we left the apartment at Sand Dollar, we not only locked the doors but also put in slide preventers on all the sliding windows and doors as they recommended. Apparently, there's a theft problem on Bonaire but taking the precautions above we didn't have a problem.
In comparing Bonaire snorkeling to BVI and the Grenadines (Tobago Cays), the most obvious difference is in the quanity of fish - Bonaire has more! The second difference is in the size of the fish - they are bigger in Bonaire on average. There are good and bad spots at all sites for coral although Andrea I and II were very good and compare well to Tobago Cays. The major difference is in access. In the BVI and the Grenadines, you must have access to a boat to reach the best snorkeling sites (we chartered) but on Bonaire you can reach them from the beach. Of course, snorkeling is not diving so I'm only talking from the snorkeling point of view.
That's it. We had a great time and plan on returning soon - but maybe during the dry season without the no-seeums?!

Robert, nice report. I can't get Joan to go night diving, may be the night snorkeling is an option. When you get a chance can you please drop me an e-mail about the night snorkeling at Bari. Thanks

In response to the question about night snorkeling: There were four of us but for my wife and I it was the first time out at night. The entry at Bari couldn't be easier since the wooden steps with handrails led right into the water at a comfortable 45 degree angle. Three steps were underwater so you could sit on the lower steps and puts your fins and mask on. Lights from the nearby restaurant provided enough illumination see around the entry area.

Once in the water, we snorkeled along the shore while staying together. Just east of the entry ladder is an old concrete pier that forms a fish bowl with literally hundreds of fish day and night. What we saw at night that we didn't see in the daytime were the Tarpon I mentioned earlier, lobsters, coral that opened up at night, more spotted drums and more squid. We seemed to be able to get closer to the squid during the night than during the day. They seemed mesmerized by our underwater lights and you could get right on top of them for a photo. We saw a grouper grab a fish illuminated by our lights which we never saw during our day snorkels (we saw groupers during the day but not in the action of feeding).

We were not all that brave since we had a ready exit via the nearby stairs. We knew there would be no fumbling through a rocky passage to shore, just stepping onto the ladder and out. Of course, it helps to have good, bright lights and the company of others. In our two weeks of twice a day snorkeling, we never saw a shark. We did see barracuda but not at night. In all, the night snorkeling was different and exciting and very easy off the pier ladder.

Thanks for the great snorkeling detail!!!! I am glad that you had such a nice trip!!! For the record I snorkel over at Kline all the time and yes Lenny did do damage but there is plenty to see there for fish!! My favorite was snorkeling over a 4 ft Loggerhead turtle for at least 15 minutes. Another great siting was a HUGE Green Moray eel. At least six feet and really thick and he was free swimming!! I have seen lots of Queen Angels and spotted drums as well as many others. Perhaps a guided snorkel with Renee on the Woodwind might be helpful to a good time over at Kline the next time you are in Bonaire!

I've posted a few photos taken while snorkeling. They don't rival the outstanding photos taken by divers but we've enjoyed them and they are representative of what you can see snorkeling. I used a Sea&Sea MX-5 II with a strobe.

The French Angel practically bumped into the camera


Very hard to see this fish from very far away!

We only saw the lobsters at night. We night snorkeled only at Bari.

Once he moved, he was obvious. Until then no one noticed him.

We saw spotted drums at almost every dive site.

Squid were also numerous.

The Tangs were just beautiful to watch and swim along with.

Very friendly.

Swam over this turtle for several hundred feet at Karpata.

Enjoyed the pix and adventure story, Robert! Thanks. What was the "friendly" image?

The missing image was of a trunk fish that photoshop said was 49.4KB. I resized it for this upload. The "very hard to see" fish image in the first upload, we think is a sea robin.

Wow, they are great photos! Don't down play they them just because you were snorkeling. Some are right up there taken by any diver 60 feet down. You should be very happy with your pictures

Robert, Those are great pictures for someone snorkeling!!!! You did better than I did with the MX5. Thanks for sharing!

Robert, thanks for the trip report and the great photos. I have "saved" your report for future snorkeling reference for our future trips. Sounds like you had a wonderful time. I remember our first night snorkel...we thought a giant barracuda was coming after us and we high-tailed it out of the water very clumsily by beating feet....only to find out it was just the hungry tarpon looking to feed from our lights! It was sooo funny at the time! I love to snorkel...so peaceful and relaxing and very entertaining, too. Thanks again. Carole