I've been reading the wonderful and helpful messages you frequent Bonaire visitors have posted. I wanted to get opinions for a first time visitor - one week stay early February- and we do not dive, just snorkel - and we are not very experienced. I would like to be oceanfront and air conditioning is a must. I've looked at Captain Don, Buddy Dive, Plaza and Harbour Village. Where would you recommend?

Meg,

Don't rule out Divi Flamingo..excellent snorkling and close to town...

you probably can't go wrong with any of your choices

Welcome to the board. AC is commonly ONLY in the bedrooms. If it's a must for the rest of the rooms, check carefully with the resort. I know for fact only the bedrooms at Buddy are ACed. That said, we don't find it uncomfortable without it in the rest of the rooms. We open the windows and doors and let the CONSTANT breeze blow through. It's part of the charm of Bonaire. With the possible exception of the AC requirements, any of the places you and Gregg mentioned are nice places to stay. You can also check out Sand Dollar and Lion's Dive, they are nice places as well.

If air conditioning in both the living room and bedrooms is a must Eden Beach has it. If there are only two of you, about any resorts' 1 bedroom or studio will be adequate. I like Herman, usually turn the airco off and enjoy the trade wind when awake and in my apartment.

Beach access at Eden is easy although the house reefs at Sand Dollar, Buddy's and Captain Don's are more exciting especially for snorkelers.

They all are great, just find the best package for you and enjoy!

We are former Sand Dollar people but have stayed our last three trips (and next one in 3 weeks) at Belmar belmar-bonaire.com. It is a bit south of the airport, smaller than sand$, Capt Don's, beautiful apts and grounds, nice small oceanfront pool. very peaceful and has nice views. No restaurants, but a 3 min drive to Plaza Resort, 5 min to town, less than 10 to Sand$/Buddy/Lion's/Capt.Don's.
Airco in BR's only, and they installed a gizmo that turns it off when you leave the room for more than a few minutes. Diveboats from Plaza pick up in front of your room and will take snorkelers.

Wow - thanks for the fast responses. If we just want to walk out from the shore to snorkel, are Captain Don's, Buddy and Sand $ easier? (I'm not comfortable with small boats.) Also, are "just snorkelers" out of place with all the divers? Thanks - Meg

Hi, Meg! Welcome to BT. Joe and I are timeshare owners at the Divi Flamingo Beach Resort. The snorkeling there is excellent and the entry is as easy as it can get....stick your feet (by walking from the sandy beach) into the water and let the show begin! If you are looking for "easy entry" and excellent snorkeling on the oceanfront along with two restaurants, spa, etc. then Divi is to be considered as an option, as well. There are hotel rooms directly on the water....if you go to my Profile (click on my name in this posting box and it will take you to my profile page), you will see the hotel rooms...the yellow structures behind my husband's head (he is in the water snorkeling). If you can get an oceanfront room on the hotel side it will be air conditioned and will fit your bill.

Caradonna Caribbean Tours can help you with air and accommodations and rental vehicle, if you want one (get one!).

http://www.caradonna.com/caradonna/

http://www.caradonna.com/caradonna/

We spend the entire day and sometimes an evening snorkeling in the waters right at the Divi. You can't go wrong.

Boy...when you get to Bonaire you will become one of "us"....Bonaire addicts! You should start counting the days now!! Keep us posted as to the progress of your trip planning, OK? Ayo. Carole

"just snorkelers" are welcome and are certainlyh NOT out of place in Bonaire! Consider Lion's Dive as well-right next to Cap'n Don's, nice small place. You'll love Bonaire-Cap'n Don's and Lion's Dive have very easy entries, right off the dock!

Meg, if you want to just walk out and snorkel, Divi, Plaza (has more of a beach), Sand$, Buddy's, and Cap' Don's, Belmar are all good choices. We have friends that stay at the Belmar David (they LOVE it) and the pool and set up looks really nice as well.

So Meg, you still have many choices! Really depends on what accommodations you like. Sand$ and Belmar have kitchens so you can make meals, not sure about the rest (as far as having full kitchens).

Snorkelers and divers mix very nicely We (divers) won't go pushing you around One point of "etiquette", if you are entering or exiting the water via the stairs off the docks (at most of the resorts), just be courteous to divers or other snorkelers either waiting to enter, or waiting to get out of the water via the stairs. In July at Buddy's, Kelly and I were done with our dive, and ready to get out...and there was a group of 3 snorkelers "getting ready" to enter the water...they took at least 30 minutes...going down one step, "eeking" about the water temp or something, then going back up...taking FOREVER to put their fins on, mask, etc. They seemed to be completely oblivious to the fact that Kelly and I were at the bottom of the steps, full gear, waiting to get out. We finally decided that it was really going to be a while, so we took off for a few minutes and just snorkeled under the pier as it appeared that they had no clue what we were waiting for, or that they were holding the line up at both the top and the bottom of the stairs (there was an instructor at the top with a child in gear for a bubble maker lesson)...the courteous thing to do would have been to get off the stairs and let everyone get in/out and then proceed with their folly. (Oh, I fully understand if they were new to snorkeling, and were a bit "scared" but being courteous to others is still nice)

Meg -- you can stop calling yourself "just a snorkeler" here on BT and in Bonaire! When we first started going to Bonaire we did not dive either and NO ONE ever made us feel like second class citizens! It is a great big friendly ocean there with so much for all of us and remember -- divers are snorkelers too! (Carole are you here to second that and to tell Meg more about the Divi or are you digging out of snow like us?)

Have you checked out the site www.infobonaire.com ? There is lots of helpful stuff there as well.

You said that you are not very experienced which makes Bonaire ideal as there is little to no current and the sea life starts as soon as you enter the water. If you snorkel from Buddy or Captain Don I believe it is a ladder entry and at Sand$ a choice. But you should certainly consider renting a vehicle and trying out some of the other wonderful sights with very easy shore entries. You will want to think about having some kind of hard soled footwear (many people use dive booties and open heel fins) as the entries are not smooth sand.

Keep those questions coming -- folks here love to help!

Thank you all. I feel at home already. Am checking out all your good ideas and will keep you posted! BTW - I am not an "eek!" snorkeler - in fast and eager! We were in Curacao in November but heard too much about how great Bonaire is and are excited to see it.

Carole ... too funny ... you were posting as I was writing and looking for you ... came back to see that you beat me to it! Saw your frozen fog picture on CC -- I can't bear to look out at the snow right now so am playing around as much as I can on BT! Susan

We stayed at Eden Beach in October and loved it! The beach area is really nice and there was more fish life right in front of the resort than any where we been diving. We plan on staying there again next year! Very reasonable prices too.

You can walk out of your door and snorkel from any of the waterfront hotels/apartments. But you'll want to explore the island. There are dozens of great spots (see elsewhere in this forum) where all you need to do is pull off the road, pull on your gear and walk in.

WRT small boats, unlike Curacao, the lee side of Bonaire is almost always lake-calm. Consider getting over to one of the sites on Klein bonaire during your trip. Some of the boat operators post their destination beforehand so you know where you are going (sand$ eg). Some are by vote such as Toucan.

An advantage of Sand$/Buddy/Lions/Capt.Don's is that they are adjacent, so you have the restaurants of all 4 to choose from w/out getting in the car.

Meg, these "eek" snorkelers were pretty funny at first, then just got really annoying as everyone was waiting for them to get on with it!

You may also want to check out the Woodwind, they do a snorkel boat tour. David's right, the waters are calm between Bonaire and Klein Bonaire. YOu will LOVE Boanire!

I, too, am digging out of the snow (near Valley Forge, PA) but thinking of all the beautiful fish waiting for me. It was too late today to get in touch with Caradonna, but will definitely contact them on Monday. Will probably go for one of the four resorts that are all grouped together and will also get a car. And will try a boat!! Thanks everyone!!

Hi, Meg! Glad we could all be of help to you. When you call Caradonna ask for Amy on extension 114 and please tell her I said "hey, there", too, OK? She's a sweetheart. Did you check out my Profile page to see the rooms I was referring to at the Divi? Ayo. Carole

Meg...forgot to point out to you that the Divi beach is small and intimate...you can see it in the very far left upper background of my Profile pic. I will see if I can post another one for you now, too. Carole

Hi, Susan....we are waiting until tomorrow to dig out as it is still coming down up here in Morristown. It had stopped for a while, but....Joe is sweet...he will dig both cars out for us. We are in an an apartment complex so we have a lot of digging around the sides and front of the cars, mostly. Too much for our liking!

Meg: The pic I just posted is the view from the beach out to the water, obviously. I was trying to resize some shots but ran out of time and will come back later on and add some more pics for you. You can see how easy it is to access the waters at the Divi beach, tho, and how calm the waters and and how easy it will be for you to snorkel from here. There are millions of little fishies right there in two inches of water to enjoy, too! Definitely a nice homebase snorkel spot. Go out and enjoy other spots on the island, as well, but this is nice for when you are back at the hotel to relax. Two pools, too. Ayo. Carole

Thanks for the pictures, can't wait to be there.

Hey Carole ... still coming down really heavy here as well. Our plow guy has not even attempted our driveway yet but fortunately our 4 wheel drive will get us out in the morning if we need to go. I remember when we lived in Philly this much snow was really crippling -- how is it for you in Morristown? Sure am thinking about Bonaire right now! Are you all set for the house for your second week? Has anyone checked it out yet for you?

Hi, Susan! When we have heavy snows here in the Morristown area it is sort of like New York City being slammed....on a "smaller scale" tho. Mo'Town, the little town itself, is only 2 square miles in size but it is mostly city streets...short blocks and tons of traffic so it becomes crippled very easily in a big storm...or even just a few inches. The town is not known for its great snow removal, either, so that does not help. We end up with gridlock even in good weather so you know what snow and ice can do in addition to the "normal" traffic jams! Folks either work in downtown Mo'Town (as I do) or they are traveling on the small roads that go through the town to access other roads and other towns surrounding it. It is the "hub" of the County of Morris. Very historic area but not geared for the heavy volumes of traffic and definitely NOT geared for inclement weather. It will not be fun on Monday trying to get out of our place and into town. In good weather it can take me 20-25 minutes to drive 1.5 miles into downtown...tons of traffic lights and traffic. Oh well. Could be a lot worse! LOL.

No one has reported back to me about #7 Kaya Turkesa as yet. I have only seen the pics on the Website. I know it must be nice, however. Can't wait to be there. You leave soon, right? I'll keep my fingers crossed that you have good weather to fly out from and good weather while you are there, too. When are you leaving again?? Hang in there!

I have a cousin who just moved to Rockland, Maine about two months ago and she has been bragging about how warm it has been up there so far....LOL....well, reality hit her today, I am afraid! It should be really nice there, tho, as it is not overpopulated like New Jersey and they know how to handle the snow up there. It is most likely a lot of fun up there today!! Ayo. Carole

Meg,
Here's my trip report from our first trip to Bonaire.
http://www.oldbonairetalk.com/newsgroup/messages/1022/31140.html?1021997999
We're returning to Capt. Don's in April.

Re airco 'all over': The studio condos at Sand$ have airco in the one room, thus 'all over'. The rooms are large, with kitchen and all; suspect there is at least one pic on the SandS condo web page.