Which accommodations have a beach besides the Plaza?

Welcome to BT Tim,

Plaza.
Harbor Village.

Divi

Denise, that's not a beach, that's a sandbox.

let's look for Ann's cat there :-)

Divi's beach is small, but nice snorkeling there

Sorobon Beach Resort

Bring extra sun-block!

And don't forget Eden Beach.

Cecil is correct, but watch out for the BOAT PEOPLE.

The Divi has a small beach, but nice. The boat people do not use it...

Tim..Welcome to BT..Check out Harbor Village

Tim,
Welcome to BT.

The Divi does open its beach and pier up to the cruise ship people as well as laying out a line of chaise loungers on the grass down from the time shares.

I stand corrected. We stayed at Dive Inn for 9 years and didn't see any pod action at the Divi at all... Stayed at the Divi for 3 years before D/Inn, and never saw any pod's on the beach at the Divi. Maybe last year they started using the beach...

Oh, Susan...now you've got me riled up! We are owners at the Divi and don't want to see Divi catering to the Pod People!! They will definitely hear from us soon. Sarah, Sarah, Sarah....why (other than money) would you want to do this to the Divi???

We have enuff trouble getting our own beach chairs now let alone with Pods crashing in, too.

This nonsense needs to stop (IMHO).

I think I'll mention this one on the radio show today on Mega FM 101.1 Forum Antilles...the Commissioner of Tourism will be live on the show for one hour in the second portion of the show today with Sean Paton.

Too many folks who live on Bonaire and visit (overnite) seem to be displaced and inconvenienced to no end due to the cruise ships now visiting Bonaire.

Oh....sorry to rant off topic!

We love the intimate Divi beach and reef and jetty rock areas for snorkeling, too. Oooooh, I'm hoppin' mad! LOL. Freewinds folks took over the beach one early morning last year when we were there. Lounge chairs, tanning pier chairs and all. Ooooooh! cb

Ooooh, again...if they are laying out chairs on the lawn by the timeshares that means they are most likely using the timeshare pool, as well. Not good. cb

Do it Carole. I sent an email to Sean Payton yesterday stating my opposition to excessive cruise ship traffic. Sean emailed back and said he would present my statement to the Commissioner on the show. The more input on the show against excessive cruise ship traffic the better.

I will definitely drop Sarah a note and I have spoken to Sean this week already about the ships, too. Just not right.

They (the officials grabbing the quick "buck") are going to "kill the goose that laid the golden egg"....meaning the Reef structure. Without the reef(s) being healthy Bonaire can kiss the diver and snorkeler visitors goodbye. Ayo. Carole

Thanks, everybody for the info & the welcome!

Unfortunately Divi is now catering to the cruise passengers. When we were there in January on 2 separate occasions the beach was overrun by passengers. Further, they now sell $10 day passes so the passengers can use any part of the resort including the Timeshare pool and chaise lounges. We protested and nearly got in a fight with 8 passengers but were told that is Divi's policy. I have written to Divi Member Relations but I have not received a reply yet. i will post the reply when it is received.

Oops, I placed my response on the wrong thread earlier! cb

Thanks, George. There is absolutely NO way people who paid hard earned money (and not inexpensive, either) to purhcase timeshares at the Divi should be forced to "share" their properties and amenities (other than the restaurants) with non-paying guests.

That is just not acceptable.

I will be contacting Chapel Hill as well as the resort on island to express my opinions and distain for this practice.

Does the $10.00 per head off-set our maintenance fees each year?? No, of course it does not. Is it to be used to improve the resort for all of us?? Very, very doubtful.

There are only a couple (literally) of toilets available for beach and restaurant/bar goers at the Divi so I can imagine what kind of shape they are in each time a ship or two pulls in.

As you can see I'm hoppin' mad!! cb

I'm going to contact customer relations too, Carole.
I was wondering about that too, as you know.
I too am outraged. I totaly agree with everything Carole has to say and will be in touch with some one at Divi.

I just sent a note via e-mail to customer relations, hope I get a response.
I'll let you know.

I sent a message to Sarah c/o the front office email. I'm simmering up to a boil too! We're just now getting the place back in order and they let anyone use the facilities? That's why our rates go up every year! The 2009 schedule is showing ships in while we're there in May and we may have to reconsider going. I love Bonaire and hate what these ships are doing to this island. No more quiet, laid back Bonaire. I used to tell people there were 3 islands; the tourist island, the business island and the nature island. Don't know how long I'll be able to say that

Pardon my ignorance. But What's a POD?

"Pod People" refers to those visitors coming off of the cruise ships.

I agree that your best bet would be to follow up with Divi in North Carolina. It will have more impact.

I tried calling Divi NC office, because of the Presidents Day they were closed.
I did recieve an automatic message regarding my e-mail, saying that they would get back with an answer within 5 days.
I really think we Divi timeshare owners need to let NC know how we feel about this policy.
What about the policy of the timeshare property is "only for timeshare owners and guests"? Who's guests, theirs or ours ?
I am also concerned about the security of the property.

Did you read in Trip Reports - Just returned... how a resort guest felt when the cruise ships were in port & the passengers were spending time @ the Divi?

I have received my reply to my letter to Divi about cruise passengers and the new $10 day pass offered. My reply was from Sara and she was a little defensive. It is obvious that they plan to continue the practice. She did not understand my security concern and, therefore, her response on this issue was very defensive.

When a cruise ship is in port the Zee Bad gate is opened and this obviously negates this piece of security. I have witnessed 2 incidents in the past 2 years related to this practice. Two years ago our friends had all of their snorkel gear stolen from their locked lanai. The thieves cut the screen and it was during the mid afternoon. The gate was open. Last year we witnessed a group of young boys riding their bikes down the cement ramp and then off the sun pier. They were trying to see who could fly the farthest. Of course a chaise was knocked into the ocean and not retrieved. I asked Alvin to help and he ran them off. Again the gate was open.

This year when we had a confrontation with 8 cruise passengers there was no security guard available. It seems he was sent to get change for clerks selling the $10 passes. On another day we witnessed a passenger take 5 chairs from the pool deck to the stone pier. By the time we got to the deck he was long gone. Again no security guard. The chairs were retrieved by the landscape man.

It is my position that as owners we paid for a level of security and privacy. The fact that we may not be using all of the amenities or chairs is not material. I asked that our privacy be respected and that we can again feel secure that our amenities will be there in good condition for us.

George, thanks for the update.

I had not realized the gate was "open" again....after years of it taking Divi to "secure" it to keep out folks who were not registered guests, etc. Unreal. Not good at all.

I just send a typed 2-page letter to Divi in NC..one to Member Relations and one to Corp Exec. Director, etc. In the mail in the morning. I tried to condense my "rant" to one page of comments but was unable to do so. Just not possible!!!

Can't wait to hear what they have to say in North Carolina.

I also sent an email to Divi NC with cc to local Front Office and to the Manager's email address. I guess it will upset Sarah again but we are very upset, as well. Sarah has done wonders for the Divi but this goes too far, way too far.

Actually, I Was unhappy with the Flamingo Rockers playing at the beach almost every nite as we don't feel they are that good but now that they are playing at "other" resorts it will limit the number of afternoons/evenings we have to listen to them while in the water. We love peace, quiet and serenity while on Bonaire.....we left Aruba Divi Village because it grew way too large and started with the "theme night" crapola...we are not interested in "theme nights"....just great water, great people, nature and great food.

I also brought up the security issue at the back gate, George. What the heck makes it "OK" all of a sudden to leave the gate "open" on ship days when we were forced to obtain keys from the front desk to even get in and out of the back gate area??? Money makes it "OK", apparently. Shame.

Sigh. cb

I'm so glad we go in late May. I can only hope the ships don't start to arrive all year round. If so Joe and I need to start looking elsewhere....regretfully.

Sigh. cb

We want our peace & quiet back!

Isn't that one of the reasons we all bought there?
I'm still waiting for a response to the e-mail I sent NC.

I'm still waiting, too, Lorraine. Maybe after George wrote and Sarah responded she needed more time to respond to ours. Perhaps she is off island at this time.

Corporate has not responded to the email yet, either. My snail mail letters went out in yesterday's mail to Chapel Hill. Hopefully there won't be a cookie cutter response from Divi.

Peace and quiet in addition to great diving and people of Bonaire is why we love to return...let's not lose any of them! Sigh. cb