Bonaire Beaches

[mahjong]

I'm planning a short 4-day R&R at the end of March with my nondiving, simple-and-safe snorkeling wife. On these trips I typically sneak in early morning dives and then take my wife snorkeling in the afternoons. Given the extensive shore diving in Bonaire I was thinking I might be able to sneak in more dives while my wife hangs out on the beach and swims/snorkels. But then I read somewhere that Bonaire has little by way of sandy beaches, like Coz. Is this true? Are there nice sandy beaches to hang out on in Bonaire? Is there good swimming, snorkeling, and diving from these beaches?

Also, is there any local ethnic culture/cuisine, which my wife really goes for? Or is it mainly built up and resorty?

The alternative, right now, is Puerto Rico, which would put more emphasis on local culture/cuisine and leave me with fewer dives.

In short, I'm fishing for info to help me pitch Bonaire over PR.

Many thanks!

Paul

 

[herbdb]

The only sand beaches you are going to find have trucked in by a resort. I stayed at the Plaza Resort last summer. They have a small sand beach area in front of the resort. The shore diving is actually pretty good at the resort. This is true for most of the oceanfront hotels.

I like the local atmosphere on Bonaire more than that of Puerto Rico, it is not nearly as developed.

 

[drrich2]

But then I read somewhere that Bonaire has little by way of sandy beaches, like Coz. Is this true?

Yes. There are a few sandy beaches, like at Eden Beach Resort, but compared to what you'd see on Aruba, it is not the same by a long shot. There are other locations with a sandy beach; EBR is the one I've stayed at.

That said, what does she do on the beach? I've never understood the appeal of laying on your back on a beach chair in the sun; you can do that at home. Or on dead coral rubble instead of sand, on Bonaire. If she makes sand castles or buries herself in the sand, though, you're going to have problems. Eden Beach Resort's dive site is called Eden's Rubble; a rocky shelf, then sandy bottom with rock and scattered corals, kind of neat but not somewhere I'd plan to do a whole lot of snorkeling. On the other hand, it's cool walking around the water's edge at night looking for small chain moray eels working the shallows where water runs over the rocks.

Eating out tends to be a bit expensive. Don't assume soda refills are free; I tend to get water with supper. Load up on diet soda at the grocery store. 'Catch of the Day' tends to be Wahoo in my experience there. I've had goat strew and iguana soup on Bonaire, but neither were offered widely at the mainstream restaurants.

If you stay at a resort with a nice house reef, you can shore dive there while she takes the (stick shift) rental truck shopping, or drives through the donkey sanctuary, or views scenic Washington-Slagbaai National Park on a 3 hour drive through (including the whale skeleton on display at the entrance), etc...

Richard.

 

[akirawut]

You can hit sorobon, it's a nice beach. And you can snorkel there if you are open to a _long_ walk in the shallow water.

However if you head into the park and hit Wayaka II there is a nice strip of sand there as well as some really good snorkeling. Tonnes of fish life in the coral rubble. Definitely worth doing, then head a little further on to where the restaurant is, hit the beach, snorkel there, have a beer. Of course you can dive at these sites while the wife snorkels/enjoys the sand.

 

[diversteve]

You might consider Curacao instead as there are many sandy beaches with good dive sites directly off shore. It's easier to get to than Bonaire also from our side of the country. It's basically the same diving (same reef) with a lot more to do on the surface. And probably 10x the people but most of them live in/near Willemsted. Out west it's pretty quiet at night.

A partial list of dive sites/amenities - I've been to these:

Porto Mari - good double reef, good beach, snack shop/dive op on-site. Small usage fee req'd
Playa Lagun - good dive, turtles, dive-op at the entrance 1 blk. from the beach - nice beach, onsite beach chair/toys operator.
Varsenbaai - turtles in the shallows - 6' or less, good dive to a pontoon wreck, on site dive operator/snack shop. Small usage fee req'd.
Playa Jeremi - decent beach, good snorkeling in the cove/rock walls surrounding the dive site. No on-site facilities.
Tugboat - small rocky beach - coral offshore so not good for swimming but a good vertical wall plus the wreck and under the pier is good, onsite dive school plus a small bar/snack shop. The tugboat is only at about 15' so the cruise ships drop snorkelers there often.

The DiveBus has a more complete list of sites with descriptions/facilities: The Dive Bus - Shore Diving Sites I believe they do combo dive/snorkel escorted trips also.

Also the Marriott Emerald Casino has a very nice beach, shore dive off their property with Caribbean Sea Sports and is really as nice as it looks in the pictures. It's about 10mins. from downtown for the local culture immersion aspect. Curacao Travel- Caribbean, Curacao, Dutch Caribbean

Since a picture is worth a thousand words - compare the entry pictures at both destinations here: Scuba Shore Diving Region: ABC Islands Or the Curacao Beach list - note that at most you can dive also: Curacao Beach Hotels- Curacao Beach Resort- Caribbean Holidays

If you're set on Bonaire, besides the Plaza the Divi has a little strip of sand. And is walking distance to town. Harbour Village has a nice beach but a marginal dive. One other functional difference is that you won't find any facilities at any dive site on Bonaire except for ones adjacent to the resorts. Most of the north resorts are on the ironshore and don't have much beach. Even the ones that do often have ladders (Buddy Dive) or steps to get into the water - it's not the smooth sandy entry like you would find in many locations on Curacao.

 

[DiverVince]

mahjong..There are some natural soft sand beaches on Bonaire located on private properties, but they certainly can not compare with the long stretches found on Aruba, Coz, Grand Cayman etc. So if you're looking for a comparable beach on Bonaire you're not going to find with the same caliber as the aforementioned.

Some of the nicest resort beaches have some of the worst shore scuba diving. I'm thinking of the beach at Harbour Village (pretty nice however their shore dive leaves much to be desired) & also over on Lac Bay (nice sandy beach with food/drinks etc) which is really for the windsurfers.
In fact, generally speaking, the geographic attributes which make a fine beach, generally do not bode well for great shore diving from that location. Of course, there are some rare exceptions to this statement..;>)

 

[DeputyDan]

She could go over to Lac Bay. It's where alot of locals go the the beach. It's also where the kiteboarding occurs.

 

[RJP]

You might consider Curacao instead as there are many sandy beaches with good dive sites directly off shore. It's easier to get to than Bonaire also from our side of the country. It's basically the same diving (same reef) with a lot more to do on the surface. And probably 10x the people but most of them live in/near Willemsted. Out west it's pretty quiet at night.

Curacao is my recommendation as well. Have been there three times with my non-diving wife and non-diving kids. In a week I can typically get in a dozen or so dives without my wife even really noticing. "Honey, I'm going for a quick dive... want me to grab you a Pina Colada on the way back?"

Phenomenal "post card" type white sandy beaches that would make any Corona beer commercial proud with dive ops on site and great diving right there for you, and for her there are typically shaded lounge chairs for a few Guilder, a restaurant/bar, a bathroom, etc.

I love Bonaire, but a non-diver left on shore there might as well be sitting in a parking lot waiting for you.

 

[mahjong]

Thanks all! I'm going to look into Curaçao.

 

[chauncy19]

Lots of local places to eat either Bonairian (sp) food or Colombian food. check bonaire talk website for more info. Curacao has more beaches but its not Bonaire. It really depends on what is important to you. If laying on the beach is big deal yes Curacao would be better choice imho.