My wife and I are wanting to find a one bedroom condo for a two week stay in February 2006. We prefer an ocean view, 2nd floor, that is nicely laid out. If anyone would know of a particular unit that you could recommend, we will appreciate your help.
Thank you

Hi Dave,

I am a ground floor studio owner at Sand Dollar, unit A-11. All our units are ocean front and overlook Bari Reef and Klein Bonaire so you cannot go wrong at SD. You can email me at jvp737@hotmail.com and I can give you some more information. You can also go to our site at: http://www.sanddollarbonaire.com/ and see the layouts. Bon dia!

We're considering staying at Sand Dollar Resort as a family in April. We've been looking at their three bedroom units and they appear to be very nice. We're all (five of us) divers but won't all be diving every day and prefer an upscale resort with nice amenities and a large pool or two.

Is Sand Dollar our best bet or are there other places we should take a look at? Recommendations, anyone?

Thanks very much in advance.

Hi Mark,

I can't speak to the other hotel amenities, but I believe Sand Dollar units are much roomier and all have fully equipped kitchens. The Barracuda Club has a newly remodeled pool area (not waterside), and there is also waterside dining next to the dive shop and pier. Of course the diving is "out your front door" on Bari Reef accessible from the dive shop & pier. The Sand Penny club has activities for the kids and Bonaire Dive and Adventure offers many diving and non- diving activities. The grounds are not lush but do reflect the xeric vegetation typical of Bonaire.

Best of luck in making your choice!

Dave,

take a look at Divi Flamingo Studio (not one bedroom)...can't beat the view from a second floor unit...hundred feet from the ocean or pool..restaurant and dive shop on site...great walks to town (5 min)

Divi isn't the fanciest place on the island but I believe it has the best combination of factors..particularly walking distance to a number of excellent restaurants

Mark, you say you would like "an upscale resort with nice amenities" Can you be more specific please? i.e., what type of amenities do you really have to have (besides a pool), is location of the pool important (on the water or in the middle of the property), and what do you consider "upscale?" That might help with some of the answers

Good questions, CLH. Let me try this:

A pool is a necessity. Our youngest can't stay out of the water more that 10 minutes at a time or his gills dry out.<g> When not diving, he MUST be in a pool. The closer to the shore, the better, IMO. I'd like to lounge by the pool with a book and be able to look over it at the sea. A nearby bar would be icing on the cake.

Large, modern rooms with nice furniture and good, sleepable beds. Full kitchen(ette)s, multiple bedrooms and baths. A large deck or patio. Some privacy for mom and dad. Good, family-friendly dive shop on site. A restaurant on-site is nice but not necessary, so long as we're not out of walking distance to good food, whether it's pricey or not. A spa for mom would be nice. Actual size of resort isn't important, although we've really enjoyed some smallish places in the Caribbean. Think Ambergris Caye in Belize. We've also been at Divi's resort in St. Maarten (for hurricane Lenny, ugh) and were happy with it...except for Lenny, of course.

Money's not the issue. Comfort and pleasure are the two main focii. We really want to relax, enjoy ourselves and come home with great memories.

Does that help?

Thanks very much for your replies, and I apologize for being so long in getting back. Been a bit busy of late.

Mark

Mark, that helps tremendously!

Pool on the water:

Belmar (the penthouse has a jacuzzi). I've stayed there twice, let me know if you would like more info on that. (pictures, etc.)

Bellafonte

There might be a couple more with the pool overlooking the water, but my mind is going blank! Both of these properties are condos, VERY nice ammenities. Great Escape is across the street from Belmar, and you can get breakfast, lunch, or dinner there. They also have an internet cafe for 5 bucks a day. Nothing close to Bellafonte in the way of restaurant within walking distance. I don't think Bellafonte has a dive shop located on the property per se, but they do have a shop that services the property.

Harbor Villiage is another nice place, but I'm not sure where the pool is located. Most of the other resorts have pools, Cap Don's, Buddy's, Divi, Sand$, Carib Inn, but they are not overlooking the water.

Hopefully others can chime in and help with the places I've forgotten about!

Divi Divi has a spa, pool and by the water. Very kid friendly. Has it's own restaurant too. That is what I would recommend for your stay. You can also walk into town from there. You are very close to the water as well if you request a unit closest to that. The Plaza is nice as well with lots of restaurants, sandy beach, pool, and I think most of all the resorts are so close to the water that it doesn't matter if you are on TOP of it. You can see it, it is good. MHO here.

Debbie, thanks. I thought both the Divi pools were inside the property a bit.

Mark, you will have lots of options, just depends on what type of set up is important to you

Mark, the Divi is a nice place but the pools aren't "on the water". They are near the water, but neither is on the water. The one on the hotel side has no view of the water that I recall; and the one on the timeshare side is across the sidewalk and there is a new outside bar that obstructs the view a bit.

I've also stayed at Belmar and it is fantastic. You are right on the water in the pool, nice docks, huge rooms. No onsite restaurant but there is one across the street I believe.

Y'all are awesome. Thanks and keep it coming, if anyone else can chime in.

I did take some time earlier and looked at the sites for both Harbor Village and Belmar...both look pretty appealing.

Man, this is going to be harder than I thought. It may take multiple research trips! ;)

Mark,

If money is no issue, Harbour Village might fit your criteria. The pool is not on the ocean, there is a building and a garden between it and the ocean. But, as a positive, the beach IS on the ocean and although we used the pool once or twice, we spent A LOT of time relaxing on the beach.

The ground floor beachfront suites are really on the beach, with only a four foot sidewalk between your private patio and the beach.

There is a restaurant on site, or you are a 20 minute walk from the restaurants downtown. I don't believe the suites have kitchenettes. You can call 305-567-9509 and speak with Mrs. Lourdes Abril. She was VERY friendly and helpful when we made our reservations.

The entire resort is quiet and relaxing. If you do end up going to Harbour Village, I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay. We had a perfect vacation.

For our next trip to Bonaire, we are looking into staying at BelMar or Bellafonte because they both have less than 25 rooms, they are on the ocean, both have pools (no beach, though), and they have full kitchens, and they are less expensive than HV.

Good luck choosing where to stay! Hey, I like your idea of multiple research trips. Is that tax-deductible? Ha Ha.

Amy

Mark, here is a link to a trip report with pictures from Belmar.

Mark,

The answer is multiple trips!!

Or back to back 'trips': just change resorts a few times over a month or two!! :–)

it is hard to get any closer to the water than the pool at the Divi (studio area next to the dive shop)...I've spent many hours sitting at the pool overlooking the water....yes, you do have to walk across a sidewalk to get to the water...there is a dedicated sunbathing swimming dock in front of the pool (adjacent to the dive shop dock)...a short walk 90 meters to the concrete sunbathing dock with sandy beach with floats/towels/kayaks free to paying guests

the new gazebo does not block the view at all

restaurant, dive shop, bar, small store on the premises...5 min walk to 6 restaurants, 10 min walk to town