What is going on with the auction scheduled for the Sand Dollar as mentioned in the Bonaire Reporter?

check out www.bonaireauction.com.

There are apparently two auctions. One is the one Michael pointed you at, the other is one, which according the Bonaire Reporter, is for the Sand Dollar Dive & Photo business, on February 6th, I believe. The former is the current owners of certain parts of the area surrounding the Sand Dollar Condos wanting to get the best possible price for something they no longer want, while the latter (dive shop) is a creditor driven event.

Don't know much more...

Jake

jeeez, the dive shop too? that is bad news

OK, for all BT'ers there during the 23 Feb to 9 March time frame that want to meet us- we'll be the ones huddled around the camp-fire in the Sand$ parking lot trying to adapt spare tires for use as dive tanks.

Geeze Chet,
Does this mean I'm going to have to worry about flat tires as well as broken windows at the dive sites?
Bob

Chet,
Will be diving with WannaDive at Eden Beach March 5 through 13. I will be more than happy to put two extra second stages with 7' hoses on my set- up and have you and Jean breath off of my cylinders. Better than having you two trying to breath off of your spare tire and the air would taste better as well.

Backroll and Giant Stride entries might be a bit interesting, but I bet some agency would declare this adventure a new Advanced Diver Certification. ;{)}

ps: Yes I know it would make for some short dives, but we sure could log a lot of them each day!

Wanna Dive is temporatily running the dive shop at Sand Dollar Property.

this has made me soooo sad. we had such a great time at the sand$ in september, and loved the folks at the dive shop. do you think that someone will buy the dive shop and keep running it, or will it just end up another empty building?

Rest assured it will not remain empty. Sand Dollar Condominuim Resorts will have an operational shop and many of the familiar faces will be there.

thanks Michael, as bari is my favorite "dive at 5" and "dive at 10' and 'dive at 1' and 'dive at 3'...i would be really bummed when we get there next! good luck to all those that are working there. does wanna dive have the old sand$ crew? erica and the rest, are they still there?

Things happen in businesses and many times the new Phoenix has the same form with even brighter plumage.

don't we all love the people @ Sand Dollar....can't wait to see everybody there on thursday morning..even if I do have to sit thru that stupid orientation class again...hope the best for the dive shop..may it have continued success

I tried to contact Sandollar since we are going in May..but no one has written back...yet anyway...Is Andre,Lionel and Alvin there? Wanna dive is now their dive shop? Is the dive shop auction the same day as the other auction in Feb? I'm full of questions today huh? They are our favorite place and we are already scheduled ...just would like to know what to expect.

The dive shop auction is scheduled for 6 Feb., according to this week's Bonaire Reporter. You might try calling the Florida Sand Dollar reservations telephone number for info about your reservation. An 800 number but the office is in FL.

I just talked to Kathy @ Sand Dollar reservations in FLA. She assures me that nothing will change as far as the guests will know. It is financial manuvering concerning ownership of the land the condo's are actually sitting on. The same is true of the dive shop.
I must admit I have changed my reservation to the Plaza, I will return to Sand Dollar after I go check it out this trip but just didn't feel like playing games with my R&R for the winter. If anyone returns from SD I would be very curious about an update. You guys are great by the way I never would have even known what was going on until I got there if not for this board. THANKS one & all. Jack

Please keep in mind folks that the Sand Dollar Dive and Photo and the Condos are separate busnesses. The Dive shop is a forced auction while the one for the Condos is by the owners of the property and have nothing to do with financial woes other than liquidation.

Sometimes 'forced' auctions are part of voluntary planning.

The hotel operation is running as always with no changes. The developer of the property is having a voluntary auction of their personal holdings, which includes the grounds, shops, restaurant, garages and three apartments. Many people are confusing this with a forced auction which it is not. In addition, the apartments that are being auctioned were never part of the rental operation anyhow. If sold, they may be an addition then! All of the other Condos are privately owned and the Association will continue as always. We have a new maintenance manager who is making great strides on improving the units as well. The developer has placed requirements on each parcel so that the new owner could not disrupt the operations and would be required to maintain them for the use of the condos. (As the developer currently is responsible)

The dive shop is however a more complicated issue. The Sand Dollar Dive and Photo is currently closed. While negotiating for new permanent operator we have an interim set up in which we are offering all of the services at the same price as was advertised by SDD&P. We have subcontracted various organizations to accomplish this, but the best part of it is that we have most of the services being provided by the previous staff members, so you will see lots of familiar faces. The actual shop is closed so we are operating from the outdoor portion to provide all of the services that we had previously. The gear storage lockers and tanks are available 24 hours as usual. There is no retail area currently though we can bring over things that you may be looking for. Once the premises are vacated we can proceed to a more permanent set up. One of the keys to our discussions with potential operators is to hire as much of the previous staff as is feasible.

I hope that we will have more information soon, but we have not missed a dive (or services) yet and do not plan to in the future! If you have any questions feel free to contact us directly!
Pamela Teitel-Werdath
General Manager (PADI CD17996)
Sand Dollar Condominium Association

TKS, Pam.

no kidding...thanks Pam...keep us posted.

Pam...I guess this means Andre is gone? So who is left? Alvin ? Lionel? Erica? can you give us details?

Can anyone comment...? I know there are condo owners out there...we are die hard Sandollar fans...an have put up with a few years of their misfortune. (They being the sufferers...) I just want to see familiar faces....Will miss Andre and his dog Coco...(who I have become quite attached to!) Andre if you get this I would love to see you and Coco on our next trip in May...Lionel, ALvin, ET, ERICA! Susie, Jerry, Jon,,,hope to see you somewhere on the island ....Please email us if we could be of any help.... SGiamporcaro@comcat.net

Coco, at least, is available for loving at Kaya Neerlandia #1, just behind Voz di Bonaire, when she (C!!) isn't out running. She (C again!!) has made a small pit in the earth just outside the front wall, in the shade of a tree, that is cool during the day. Also the other 2 4-leggers that come to Sand Dollar with C.

Glen Thanks! I think I will miss her the most! (only kidding guys!) But at least now I know where to stop to see her.

Meryl,

Sent you an email at the address above; 2 times the Daemon says, 'user inknown'.

Glen sorry! Its SGiamporcaro@comcast.net

Hi all,

I read in the paper that Al Catalfumo (owner of the Black Durgon inn up the street from us here at WebCam Central) bought the remaining Sand Dollar Dive & Photo dive boats for NAF 76,000 (about $43000). Those would be the two boats on sees at far right on the North BeachCam.

Jake

Auction must be over by now...anyone know any out comes.....

I will be with my family there at sand dollar withing the next few weeks, can someone update us on the situation?

According to www.bonaireauction.com the auction for the pieces of Sanddollar is not till Feb 19.

Pam Teitel, the General Manager of Sand Dollar Condominiums, posted a report here: http://www.oldbonairetalk.com/newsgroup/messages/24/18661.html?#POST47776. I expect she will answer an email request for more info, especially a few days after the auction on the 19th. Perhaps she will post here then also.

Correction on my previous post about the NAF 76,000 - that was for ALL FOUR boats. Bonbini Divers got the Sand Tiger, Al's got two, and Mike from the Pirate Yacht got the fourth one.

Jake

ANY news on the results of the auction? is the Sand Dollar still operating? what about their diving facilities?

The diving facilities are a separately owned business from both the condo association (which is in full operation) and the Weisburgs (who owned all the things being auctioned yesterday). The dive business was declared bankrupt a few days ago, and will be dissolved (not unexpected, and leaves the door open for a new business with less politics and better ownership - the Weisburgs were a majority owner in the dive shop).

As far as yesterday's auction went, nothing got sold. As it was a voluntary auction, the owners (the Weisburgs) had final say on whether they would accept any offers. They didn't. So nothing has changed on that front.

Jake

Don't know if thats good or bad news...what about a LOTTERY....sell tickets,I know I'd buy a few..and when you get to the amount they
want....have a drawing....Someone has to do better then what we have seen in the past few years!

Does anyone have any real insight as to the Sand Dollar woes? I am planning my ninth trip and have stayed there all but one because I really like the condos. I know the dive shop and condos are seperate but from my standpoint they still operate as one. I am however looking into elsewhere this year simply because of the uncertainty at Sand Dollar. It's a shame. There is so much lost potential there.

Thanks Jake, has Sand Dollar guests missed any diving? since the shop is not functioning any more? who is covering (if any) for them now? is it safe?

WannaDive is still covering.

The following was posted on BT on 5 February. Still true, I expect.

"The hotel operation is running as always with no changes. The developer of the property is having a voluntary auction of their personal holdings, which includes the grounds, shops, restaurant, garages and three apartments. Many people are confusing this with a forced auction which it is not. In addition, the apartments that are being auctioned were never part of the rental operation anyhow. If sold, they may be an addition then! All of the other Condos are privately owned and the Association will continue as always. We have a new maintenance manager who is making great strides on improving the units as well. The developer has placed requirements on each parcel so that the new owner could not disrupt the operations and would be required to maintain them for the use of the condos. (As the developer currently is responsible)

The dive shop is however a more complicated issue. The Sand Dollar Dive and Photo is currently closed. While negotiating for new permanent operator we have an interim set up in which we are offering all of the services at the same price as was advertised by SDD&P. We have subcontracted various organizations to accomplish this, but the best part of it is that we have most of the services being provided by the previous staff members, so you will see lots of familiar faces. The actual shop is closed so we are operating from the outdoor portion to provide all of the services that we had previously. The gear storage lockers and tanks are available 24 hours as usual. There is no retail area currently though we can bring over things that you may be looking for. Once the premises are vacated we can proceed to a more permanent set up. One of the keys to our discussions with potential operators is to hire as much of the previous staff as is feasible.

I hope that we will have more information soon, but we have not missed a dive (or services) yet and do not plan to in the future! If you have any questions feel free to contact us directly!
Pamela Teitel-Werdath
General Manager (PADI CD17996)
Sand Dollar Condominium Association"

Hi everyone! Sorry I have not had a chance to get on line lately! All of the above is still accurate. The auction is done and as Jake mentioned already, nothing was sold, the developer turned down all bids (as they were quite low). It was only the personal holdings of the developer for sale anyhow, none of which would have affected the condo operations.
As for the dive shop, we have not missed a single beat. The island is great as everyone is helping out to make everything go perfectly. On other islands what would likely be hostile rivals are here helpful competitors. Wanna Dive is doing a superb job with the overall operations and staffing with the old faces. Leonel and Malin are coordinating the daily operations for them here. Various operators are leasing boats according to the needs of the number of divers. (using dive masters from the old operation so you will likely see John, ET and others) Kayak tours, Bike tours, nature tours and everything else that was offered in the past is still going on. We still are missing the retail area, but hopefully very shortly even that will be back in order. All operations are going on as in the past, drive up tank pick up, lockers on the property, by the water and easy access for drive up pick up, and free shuttle to the marina a 700yard drive to the dock. We hope for a quick opening to a new operation. Nobody has nor will miss a dive! If you have any other questions feel free to e-mail me directly at pam@sanddollarbonaire.com
Pamela Teitel-Werdath
General Manager
PADI CD 17996

Thanks Pam, it would take some really bad news for me not to stay at Sand Dollar.

Thank you so much Pam, it is so good to know that things are going ok specially when we will be there withing a month; we are looking forward to your place.

Jorge & Clara