My family of 4 is trying to decide to go to either the BelMar or Bellafonte. We snorkel, want a kitchen and have never been to Bonaire. Our previous favorite island is St. John. Any recomendations? I have been reading this board and seem to have narrowed it down to these few.
Thanks
Joanne

Joanne, they are very close to each other (in fact, I think right next door). I don't think you can go wrong with either one. Do a keyword search at the bottom of this page for Belmar, and Bellafonte in the "Accommodations" and "Trip Report" sections and you will get folks first hand thoughts.

They are not quite next door but close. Going town from Playa you come to Bellafonte first, then BelMar. Bel Air apts are in between them and a few houses. BelMar is great! we have stayed there twice and really like it.
Andy

I believe one difference would be that Belmar has a pool; I don't think Belafonte does, nor Belair? Anyone know?
Also, it may be worth considering that Belafonte sits right at the end of the runway - the jet noise may bother you, or not, but I would want to know that before I decided!
We have stayed in the Belnem area twice also, we tried the North end this time for a change. Would happily return to either!

Hi Joanne,

We've stayed at Ballafonte and it is beautiful, has well-equipped kitchens, and is quite new. The reef is soooo close and has a grid in the water left over from a site survey done many years ago. Access to the water is easy.

http://www.bellafontebonaire.com

It is close to the airport but the air conditioning in the bedroom(s) should cancel the plane noise unless you are a very light sleeper.

There are no screens on the windows and air conditioning only in the bedrooms. To get more of a breeze through our rooms we opened up the front door. The bedroom and living room have a connected balcony which faces the sea.
We stayed in a grand suite.

There is a place to lock up your gear, I believe that there are two outdoor showers (we only used one!) and there are safes en suite.
Hope this helps,

Mare

Joanne,

We've stayed at Belmar a number of times and like the apartments, location and presence of a diveshop on-site, as well as a pool. The lack of screens described for Bellafonte is the same at Belmar. The Belafonte is newer, and I understand has free wireless internet. No pool or diveshop. The Great Escape across the street from Belmar is under new management and has a restaurant.

Belmar also has in-room safes, outdoor showers, and large gear closets outside the front door of most units, lockers near the dive shop for those units w/out gear closets. There is cable TV, phone, and a small stereo in each room.

It sounds like in most ways they are fairly similar.

The staff at Belmar is very helpful and accommodating. We sometimes arrive on a holiday when the stores are closed and they stock our fridge with the essentials of life - bread, juice, diet coke, beer, etc. - we just send an email w/ a short shopping list. Diveshop staff is helpful for snorkelers as well as divers - they will recommend sites, can book boat trips for you etc. We have considered trying Bellafonte, so far have stuck with Belmar and are booked there for December.

I doubt you will be disappointed with either!

-David

Joanne,
The reason Belmar and Bellafonte are so similar is that they were built by the same group of developers. Bellafonte was built later however, with minor corrections that the developers didn't like about Belmar. Most correction are minor and perhaps subjective. Such as the issue of a pool for example, some think it's not necessary and promotes noise while others maybe with children prefer to have it. The other minor difference is that bedrooms at Bellafonte face the ocean unlike Belmar.
Anyway, with all that said I have stayed at both places and you will not be disappointed with either one.