Groceries on Bonaire

[pdive]

What is a weeks worth of groceries (cold cuts, bread, cheese, fruit, water, case of that venezuelan beer) for two adults going for on bonaire? Going to be eating in mostly and trying to get a rough idea of what the prices are.

Thanks

 

[dartref]

It has been almost 10 months since we were there but I don't recall anything being outrageous priced. What I do recall (not even the names of the two stores) is the one closest to the airport seemed to have a smaller selection overall, but more of the common "American" items we were used to finding in stores here. I liked it better. The store "in town" didn't have many items we were familiar with, but they seemed to have more of a variety of different items available, and of course my wife liked it better. And another tip that presented a problem to us non-experts...our oven temperatures were based in Celcius instead of Fahrenheit and we screwed up a couple of meals trying to figure out the difference. We know the formula for converting the two but for some reason it just didn't work the same. Either the oven was broken, are we didn't know what we were doing. I'd bet on the latter.

 

[vladimir]

A quick search for "groceries" on bonairetalk yielded this:

Bonaire Talk: Price of Groceries,

among others.

 

[reefdiva]

What is a weeks worth of groceries (cold cuts, bread, cheese, fruit, water, case of that venezuelan beer) for two adults going for on bonaire? Going to be eating in mostly and trying to get a rough idea of what the prices are.

Thanks

You can save some grocery money by eliminating the bottled water. Bonaire's tap water is safe, pure and very good so you might consider taking a refillable water bottle along from home. The best selection of cold cuts is at Warehouse but selection varies depending on the day of the week. Prices are similar to US. Best prices for cheese are on Gouda. Best place for fresh fruit is More For Less. Again, prices are similar to US.

 

[dvrliz1]

Reefdiva,

Great suggestion, and we actively encourage guests to use a water bottle, or buy 1 bottle of water and then reuse it! Also, you may want to look into Weng Chung Grocery Store, located next to Peking Restaurant. They have a LARGE selection of American Products. Their fresh fruits and veggie selection is not great, but their prices on everything else is great. The are also open longer than any other grocery and more days.

 

[robint]

mmmm gouda!
We were told to hit the grocery stores on Saturday as that is the day the supply boat comes in. I don't know if that is true. We didn't get to the store until Monday and didn't think the selection was great. We ended up getting some cold cuts, gouda, and rolls and made sandwiches for lunch or dinner several nights. Yummm. We also bought diet sodas and beer for the fridge.

We took along a container of Gatoraid in our luggage and bought 2 big water bottles there - One for the gatoraid after each dive, and one for just water, and kept them both in the fridge in our room. We also took with us 3 boxes of granola bars to have for between dive snacks. I didn't see anything like that at the store so you might want to take those with you.

robin

 

[ClayJar]

My groceries were practically cheap, but then again, if you turn a can of chicken soup, some rice, and various seasonings into a filling and delicious meal, there's not much to it.

For my next trip (Hey, who says you can't do two in a year, eh?), I'm planning to pack a few ingredients to give me a wider base from which to work. I missed having my Telicherry black peppercorns, Tony Chachere's, and Old Bay, for starters. If I have a spare pound or two, I may even have to resort to carrying a block of a good sharp Wisconsin cheddar (a 7-year sharp would be perfect, and compared to the trip, it's positively cheap).

Basically, with a few strategically chosen ingredients, I can pick up a bag of rice and a few cans of soup and be set. Of course, fruits and veggies are local, as is Pasa Bon Pizza, which will absolutely be consumed. :biggrin:

 

[salth2owannabe]

As I recall, two of us spent more money for groceries in a week then those listed above. We ate pretty light;
Breakfast -Yogurt and fruit.
Lunch- Lunch meat and cheese.
Dinner-Noodles, some meat, side of vegies.
One thing I noticed is that milk appeared to be about $12.00/gal (from memory). A small can of cream soup to go with the noodles was about $2.50 (.50-.75 cents here in the US). I brought a couple of boxes of those individual juice packets to add to the water (Water was great) and used the same water bottle for the week.
I would love to go back and have to think about the groceries. The airfare for me to get there is about $900.00 right now.

 

[dartref]

I would love to go back and have to think about the groceries. The airfare for me to get there is about $900.00 right now.

That's the big problem! When we were there for the first time earlier this year, we paid just over $500 for a round trip ticket and were trying to make plans regarding multiple trips in the near future. Then airfares got unreasonable, airlines stopped flights, and when I checked this week it was going to cost about $850 roundtrip. As you said, the cost of groceries is of little concern compared to just getting there now. I'm afraid tourism is going to take a big hit in Bonaire.

 

[phelana]

Pdive, I wish we had one stop shopping but alas, it's a round about circuit to get the ingredients for a meal. Having said that, for cheap beer I found the Polar at Progresso on Kaya Korona fairly priced. For bread head to Exito next to MCB Bank in town. Cheese is priced best usually at Tropical Flamingo behind NAPA. Same place has many US brands. I buy organic produce at More For Less. Have a blast shopping.