CoCo Beach has Arrived!!!

[deedeediver]

It was a very exciting grand opening event on Saturday Oct 3 at the old Sunset Beach, now to be known as CoCo Beach. The DJ had the beat pumping and energizing the moment.The two story wood structure holds on the first floor the bar, the second floor is a look out. That night they have a special Russian Vodka up there served up by a cute blonde in a fur russian hat!! I dont remember the name of that Vodka, but its good.The wait staff is efficient and the bartender makes good drinks. That night they had cocktail waitresses bringing out horderves and I especially liked the coconut shrimp!. The next day there was a Bar - B Q and the grand opening of CoCo beach watersports and they gave away a full hour of free rides. The bar - b q was quite the bargain with choice of Chicken, meat and ribs served with your choice of corn on the cob, cole slaw, rice or french fries: $15 very filling and was enough for two.
The will be serving lunch and dinner from the Coco Beach Kitchen on the beach!!
The beach will be open 9am-11pm or maybe later??? not sure
There are lounge chair rentals there for $5 per day. The beach is gorgeous and inviting with the blinding white sand that they brought in. Clean Sand, , warm water, drinks and food , what a place to be.
Bari reef is still unobstructed to get to which is wonderful for us divers. You do not have to rent beach chairs, you can bring your own if you desire as well.
The owners made sure they introduced themselves to everyone at the grand openning. Very friendly!!
I am sure this is going to be a locals favorite. I certainly enjoyed it and will be going back again this week.
:balloons:

 

[diversteve]

https://www.facebook.com/cocobeachbonaire?rf=837375032987725

Can you still get to Bari before they open in the morning? I'm talking the road just south of Den Laman that ends in the pile of rocks/rubble entry. And still park right by the water there?

 

[deedeediver]

Yes, the entrance is still open. You go in to the left of Den Lamen. They are not closing off the public entrance there, it is open 24/7

https://www.facebook.com/cocobeachbonaire?rf=837375032987725

Can you still get to Bari before they open in the morning? I'm talking the road just south of Den Laman that ends in the pile of rocks/rubble entry. And still park right by the water there?

 

[lpdiver]

This FB page also has a few good photos of Coco Beach. Also some good info on other island activities such as the new Cinema https://www.facebook.com/sanddollarF11

 

[deco_martini]

I was there 2 weeks ago. The beach itself is walled off from the tide to keep the white sand they brought in (to keep it from floating away). It seems to be a nice facility.A local snorkeling in the water around the concrete blocks by the bari reef walk in entrance speared an octopus (with what looked like a barbeque skewer) and threw it on the beach in front of me. I heard it squeak. I don't know what the Stinapa rules are for that area, but I honestly felt like punching that guy. There's a reason the only lobsters you mainly see are under the rocks in front of places like buddy dive resort. Those locals love to eat fresh.

You can walk along the unwalled portion of wild beach and still get your feet wet.

 

[scubadada]

Wow, that's just great. A big improvement for Bonaire, for people who think completely differently than I do

 

[deedeediver]

I like the idea of Coco Beach, but I am having mixed emotions on water sports and the effect it will have of one of the best reefs in the world.
I am not a marine biologist, but I cannt help but wonder what impact that the addition of a water sports facility will have on the reef eco system.
Anyone have any reassuring thoughts, opinions?

Today was the official start of Regatta and we were fortunate enough to get a dive in at Bari mid afternoon. The dirt parking area was packed. They are using that area for the sunfish sail boat race entrance into the sea. You might want to avoid this spot during Regatta unless you go very early in the morning.

 

[diversteve]

That was my concern also in your previous post - I can't see how adding all that sand and all those people tracking it into the water can't affect the visibility. It certainly does in other beach dive locations I've visited. Plus the trash - I doubt every cruise visitor is going to take the time to find a receptacle. Or chase the errant plastic bag that gets away from them. Even the snorkeling pressure of all the snorkelers on the reef just north of the beach will have an impact on the fish living on the south side of Bari.

I think the motivation was revenue over nature.Which is really sad - especially somewhere like Bonaire. I'd expect it on Grand Cayman or St. Thomas where they derive revenue from all the cruise traffic they support. But not an island which is completely within a marine park. And used to be proud of it.

Sad really...wait till someone decides Jetski's are a good idea...or the Klein tour operators buy flat-bottom boats so they can pick the tourists up off Coco Beach. We went south off the rocks at the Bari public dive entrance and there's reef to silt over with outboards long before you get to Eden Beach.

---------- Post added October 7th, 2015 at 02:16 PM ----------

And then there's the construction standards which I'm assuming were adhered to? STINAPA - Bonaire National Marine Park (my bolds)

Standards for beach creation
We strongly discourage you to create an artificial beach, because it will kill the coral. A permit from the Island Government is required if any modification to the shoreline is planned, including beach creation and enhancement.
�� Artificial beaches may not be created using locally harvested sea sand. The construction of an artificial beach on a sloping shore is forbidden.
�� Artificial beaches will only be permitted where a continuous retaining wall is designed on the seaward and landward side of the proposed beach, which is of sufficient height to prevent sand from being blown or washed into the water at any time. Where this is not possible a combination of lagooning and retaining wall may be considered. The retaining wall must be above the high water mark.
The retaining wall must be in place prior to any sand being deposited or dumped at the proposed site of the beach
�� A vegetative buffer of at least 3m must be left on the shoreward side of the newly constructed beach.
�� A maximum of 20cm depth of sand may be deposited at the proposed site.

 

[LiveTheDream]

No reassuring thoughts. I saw some appallingly bad behavior on our trip. Folks doing things like touching the reef, coral, sponges --- even turtles -- all for the sake of a good photo. Lots of "me me me" behavior including shoving and pushing at more than one dive site so yet another photographer could "get their shot" --- then they hang there without thought to anyone else. Quite frustrating.

I guess I'm a naive newbie. I found it heartbreaking to see this poor behavior and lack of consideration for the ocean, the life within, and, for other divers.

And Diversteve, if they add jetskis and that baloney for the cruise shippers I'll be gone. That's part of the beauty of Bonaire currently... it's NOT like the other cruise ship ports (mostly).

 

[Doctorfish]

Too bad that the circus has finally come to town. This sort of 'attraction' can't be good for the adjacent marine environment. I guess at the end of the day, money trumps ecology, even on Bonaire.