I am planning a trip to Aruba and Bonaire for my Honeymoon and really wanted to get some advice about where to stay in Bonaire. It seems that the Harbour Village is very nice but a little to pricey in my book. Where can I find a nice resort that has it all? My soon to be wife is a new Diver. Is there good diving for beginners there? As you can tell from my username, I love to fish for bonefish. Any info on bonefishing on the island would be great as well.

Douglas, welcome to BT Go to the bottom of the page can click on "keyword" search and do a search for bonefishing. You will come up with some good info.

If you can give us an idea in regard to what your top things you want? On the water, pool on the water, restaurant on site, a kitchen? There are a lot of places to choose from that offer different ameneties. Why don't you go to www.infobonaire.com, take a look at some of the places in your budget and then post them and you will get a lot of feedback about each one from folks who have stayed there.

Again, welcome to Bonaire Talk. Bonaire will be a great place to honeymoon, and dive together!

Cynde

Douglas..To my knowledge the consumate expert for Bonefishing is Capt Chris Morkos (Piscatur). However you should be able to find places to fish on your own if you have the time & inclination..

Go south on the island's coastal road & you will pass a number of salinas (salt pans) used for production of salt. You will then find places where the road passes over culverts leading to/from the sea. This is where you will find many sq miles of flats fanning out from Bonaire.
From what I understand there is also permit on these flats as well as other species.

Additionally there is also some tarpon at entrance of Lac Bay, plus backcountry mangroves of the interior offer some snook, baby tarpon & more bonefish. I can't say I've been there & done it since for one reason or another I never had the time (too much diving, eating etc).. I intend to do so however at some point in the future. Good luck to you..
Are you using spinning or fly?

To answer one question Douglas - you'd be hard pressed to find a place with better diving for the beginning diver. Don't worry about that part, your wife to be will be good to go on Bonaire as a beginning diver.

Thank you all for your welcome. I really am looking forward to this trip. To answer some of your questions: Vince, I fly fish for bonefish. I have read that the wind on that side of the island is pretty intense but I think I will manage. I have heard mixed reports if it is legal to fish in the salt flats or not. Does anyone know?

Which hotel has a pool, nice rooms, and has a great reef in front of it? These are probably the most important things that I am looking for. With the acception of the Harbour village, I would be willing to spend the money if it was worth it.

Thank you all for your input

Doug

Doug,

Can't help you with fishing. I realized about a decade ago that if more than a tiny fraction of humans hunt and/or fish that the impact on the critter/fish populations would be severe. Put more simply, we got em cornered, outnumbered and out gunned. I leave my share for those who love the sports too much to give up. I even quit consuming ocean protein around that time (with the exception of two or three meals during my Bonaire trips). It's the only wild protein source that we continue to harvest with a vengeance. If your curious, there is good info on ocean over fishing and predicted extinctions on the UN's Ocean web site www.oceanatlas.org.

Regarding the accommodations, we've been on the island a number of times and toured all of the big resorts. They all look inviting. We have always stayed at the Carib Inn. It is a very small operation with excellent staff and dive operation. The largest complaint I've heard about the Carib is that it's hard to get reservations. They have a loyal following. We book almost two years in advance to get the room and time we want.

Enjoy your trip. I think you'll love Bonaire.

motorpsycho,

Thankyou for your input. Please don't take this the wrong way but I think you are generalizing when it comes to fishing. I am a sport fisherman and have been a devoted flyfisherman since I was 4 years old. I feel I am very connected with the water and all it has to offer. Let me just say first that I have a degree in wildlife management specializing in fisheries management and Habitat. Most of the fish loss comes from commercial fisherman and our ever growing world populations of humans. More dollars are spent in research and protection for our oceans from sport fisherman than any organization world wide. I myself, do mostly catch and release fishing (sometimes a few yellowtail snapper or grouper fall into my cooler). I travel to destinations all over the world to fish and dive because it is my passion. I own a trolling company that specializes in trolling products. Can you tell you hit a very sore subject for me? I consider myself as a conservationist. Some people define a conservationist as someone who would never hunt or fish. I consider the definition as someone who cares and respects what mother earth has provided for us. Someone who consumes her products in way that stablizes the populations with selective harvesting.

Do you scuba dive? Just by entering in the water you cause chemical imbalances in nature. You said you stay at the Carib Inn. How many animals died while that hotel was being built? Not just humans are to blame either. Canada Geese destroy more vegetation and polute more rivers and streams than the public really knows about. The crabs walking over coral can kill them. The fish consuming each other could throw off the food chain causing an over population of one species or another.

My point to this story is please don't judge something without hearing all the facts. There are several ways to look at things. I respect your decision not to eat fish and meat, please don't preach to me about why I shouldn't.

Thankyou

Doug

Doug..I have found from my own personal experiences that the majority of individuals who actively hunt & fish are really very closely attuned to the environment. I am a strong proponent of both sports & although I am not an avid hunter I do love fishing for both fresh & salt species..

I especially enjoy being on a large lake in Maine at dawn & seeing some bass jumping! I consider it a priviledge to play a large fish on light line, with the drag set just right & after a good fight release for another day (however in all honesty if I'm hungry, I'm not so quick to release)..

I do believe however that the majority of people who visit Bonaire are conservationists at heart.

Doug,

There are a lot of places to choose from, just depends on how much you want to spend. I've never stayed at Harbor Village, but it is supposed to be VERY nice. Here are a few:

On the water - all great reefs - North end
Cap Don's Habitat - pool
Buddy's - pool (I believe they have a new pool and bar by the water)
Sand Dollar - pool is not by the water
Eden Beach - where the cams are. Big beach area - Reef has a lot of rubble but lots to see in it
Harbor Village

South end
Carib Inn (small and quaint)
Divi (larger resort)
Plaza
Belefonte - no pool but fabulous rooms
Belmar - pool on the water - no on site restaurant but Great Escape is right across the street and serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner and apparently has the best beer selection on island (I'm checking this one out myself next time).

I"m sure I"ve missed a few but someone will certainly correct me

Eden Beach Resort has a small pool right behind the bar area.

thank you all for your input. I booked Belmar this afternoon. Everyone had so many nice things to say about it. This message board is worth it weight in gold.

Sorry if I seemed a little on edge before, I just don't like when people push their ideas onto you and tell you that what you stand for is wrong.

Anyway, does anyone know the best walk-in dive sights on the island? I am sure I will get numerous ideas.

Doug, when I was a new diver I really liked Windsock, at Donkey Beach, the end of the airport runway, for easy walk-in shore dives. The sea would be flat there even when there was a chop elsewhere. The reef is easy to navigate. Most everywhere in fact.

You will have a great time. :-)

Our countdown is still more than 90 days....

Doug, buy Shore Diving Made Easy. It will be the best dive guide book for Bonaire you can buy. Windsock is nice and easy, just make sure that you DUCK behind your truck if there is a plane taking off!

Oh, and the house reef at Belmar is superb Take a lot of time going out to the reef and back, there is a LOT in the shallows in the sand You will LOVE Belmar

Go across the street and have some Cuban food at the Great Escape. Kevin also has Internet access for 5 bucks a day. You can surf the net and look out over their beautiful pool.

No apologies necessary on your response. We all have our passions

Doug,

When I endeavor to describe my concerns about the fisheries as I did above I do my level best to not preach, rather to describe the situation as I see it. That is why I didn't tell you what you should or shouldn't do. I told you what I do and why. I even told you that I basically abdicate the sport so that people such as yourself, will have a larger resource to enjoy. Actually, I do still fish about once every other year. I go to the Quetico (Canada), paddle toward the middle for a couple of days and then fish my heart out for a few days. I even eat some of what I catch. That is the one location I have fished over the years that does not seem to be over fished at present.

Sounds like you have a good understanding of the resource and the problems it faces. I am sure you also know that most people do not. Many people think of the oceans as a VAST resource that we cannot seriously damage. I am willing to weather the negative feedback that invariably results from comments like the one I made above on the off chance that it will get an occasional person thinking about it. It is a major concern of mine. If you are aware of what's happening, then it has to be a big concern of yours as well.

I also know that commercial fishing is the main issue and that my abstinence contribution will do little. But abstinence and trying to get people to think about the resource is all that I can do.

As for diving having an impact, no doubt about it. Compare the dive sites frequented by dive boats on Bonaire to the shore dive only sites and the impact is brutally obvious.

Please accept my apologies for my rhetorical inadequacy. Since I will raise this issue again from time to time, any suggestions you may have on ways to make it more palatable would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

MP

Doug,
Two sites that we liked are Tori's reef and Bachelor Beach. Both are easy entry and exit.

Andy & Dave

Bachelor Beach is easy once you're at water's edge, but the steps down used to be tricky at the bottom. Anything new there in the past few years? Also, since it's sandy, the shallow visibility can be murky, due to surge (an experience we had). I don't mean it isn't an easy dive overall, though.