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Accommodations: Sand Dollar update: April 15th - 30th
Bonaire Talk: Accommodations: Archives: Archives 2000 to 2006: Archives - 2005-05-09 to 2005-08-16: Sand Dollar update: April 15th - 30th
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Doug D (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #6) on Monday, May 16, 2005 - 10:26 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

I spent two weeks @ The Sand Dollar in late April. We paid for an all-inclusive package deal, which included a two bedroom condo, truck rental, 6 boat dives & unlimited shore diving, & breakfast. Here's the good, the bad, & the ugly.

First of all, if you pay for a package including truck rental, The Sand Dollar does NOT pick you up at the airport!!!! We didn't know this, and so we waited around on the curb outside the airport for a half hour waiting for someone to come pick us up (there were quite a few other tourists on our plane, and all of them were picked up by their perspective resorts, so were figured we would be, too.) Finally we called the resort, and the person who answered told us that they didn't provide transportation from the airport to the hotel. So we got a taxi to take us to the Sand Dollar ($15.00), only to be told once we got there that our rental truck was at the airport! A little frustrating, but OK, not a huge deal. So back to the airport where we got a four dour truck in very good (nearly new) condition.

The Sand Dollar does have tennis courts & a swimming pool, but they are both located kind of across the street from the resort. The location is somewhat inconvenient, & you cannot see the ocean from the pool. This might not be a big deal to some people, but I don't see why they didn't place the pool in the courtyard area of the resort nearer to the rooms and next to the ocean . . . Regardless, as of May 1st the swimming pool & new pool-side restaurant were NOT finished, so we couldn't use them anyway!

We stayed in a two bedroom condo--# B-12 to be exact. It was very clean & comfortable, with plenty of hot water and cold, quiet A/C. The kitchen was very well equipped, and the unit had a large screened in balcony/veranda. No complaints with the room itself. HOWEVER:

At least two of the neighboring units were being remodeled, so from about 8:00 A.M. in the morning until 5:00 or 6:00 P.M in the evening there was constant construction going on, which made sleeping in or taking naps pretty much impossible, even with ear plugs. For those of you who spend every moment of daylight in the water or out exploring the island this might not matter, but if you like to sleep in on vacation or take afternoon naps, you might want to think about staying elsewhere until the renovations are finished, or at least request a unit away from where the work is being done.

Breakfast were great--as much as you care to eat and a good selection--fruits, eggs, pancakes, yogurt, cereal, homemade breads, ect. However, the best part was the location--literally on the water--and the man & woman who run the operation. I forget their names, but they were EXTREMELY friendly & hospitable. The woman is perhaps the friendliest--and seemingly happiest--person I've ever had the pleasure to encounter, and looking forward to seeing her made getting out of bed at 7:00 in the morning much easier!

I read one or two quasi negative things about the dive operation @ the Sand Dollar, but I don't have anything negative to report. We dive NITROX, (if you stay @ the Sand Dollar they give you FREE nitrox upgrades!) & they always had plenty of filled bottles ready to go at all times. The divemasters were all very nice and competent.

Overall, I don't have anything especially good or bad to say about the Sand Dollar. It was a nice place to stay. Could you find a better or nicer place to stay? Probably. Could you end up in a worse place? Definitely.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Doug D (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #7) on Monday, May 16, 2005 - 11:05 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Oops--I made a mistake! I only stayed a week at the Sand Dollar and in Bonaire--April 16th through the 23rd. The second week we stayed at the Marriot resort in Curacao.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cynde (BonaireTalk Deity - Post #13693) on Monday, May 16, 2005 - 7:56 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Doug, too bad about the construction noise...what are they doing to the units? There have been postings in regard to the pool renovation, not sure when that will be done.

The reason the pool (and the restaurant at that location) is not on the water...Hurricaine Lenny...in 1999 the restaurant on the water (the cement slab they are now using for the restaurant) The Green Parrot, the dive shop, and the pool were swept away by the hurricaine. For insurance reasons, it took a LONG time for them to rebuild the dive shop (we stayed there in 2001 and it wasn't completed, but hey, we didn't need a dock:-)). They were not able to rebuild the pool and restaurant at the same location it was, because of insurance reasons. Only recently has that changed and they are trying to get a restaurant going on the cement slab. Glad to hear the food was good:-)

For information purposes only (to newbees reading this), a LOT of the places you get the dive and drive packages do not pick you up at the airport, so if you purchase one, be sure to check with the resort on what their policy is. I know that Buddy's and I believe HHH, and Golden Reef Inn pick you up. I know that at Belmar and Sand$ you pick the vehicle up at the airport.

So...how was the diving? Bari is one of my favorite dive spots on the island:-)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Leonard J. Forys (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #2) on Wednesday, June 15, 2005 - 9:59 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Stayed at the Sand Dollar for the first time this March. For the past 6-8 years we had stayed at the Plaza Resort and enjoyed that very much (GS, ocean view). We were surprised at how much we liked the Sand Dollar. We had the bottom floor of the southern most unit (1BR). It had a large screened porch and was fabulous.
In retrospect, we like the Sand Dollar even better than the Plaza because of the quiet atmosphere and friendly people. For snorkelers, the Plaza has better reefs though. Since the Plaza is so close to the airport, you get to hear the 1-2am flight from Amsterdam come in.

Since we never used the pool or tennis courts at the Plaza, we did not miss the pool or courts at the Sand Dollar.

On balance, we will probably return to the Sand Dollar this November.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By DARLENE ELLIS (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1473) on Wednesday, June 15, 2005 - 10:08 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Leonard, You might like to try the Divi. It sounds like the best of both worlds. It has a great house reef for snorkeling. The cement pier has tons of life in it. You could walk to Plaza or do a drift snorkel down and walk back. I usually do a guided snorkel with Renee there so I don't have to do the fifteen or twenty minute walk with snorkel gear. I agree that the snorkeling at Plaza is wonderful!!

 


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