Harbour Village in Bonaire

[peaceful]

I am taking my family to Bonaire with a 7yr old daughter. She obviously doesn't dive but loves to snorkel and swim. My two older boys love to dive so they don't care where we stay.

Has anyone been to the Harbour Village Resort or seen it that can provide me information on the resort? Is there a better place to go with a family with a non-diver?

 

[Tom Smedley]

Harbor Village Resort is between the small craft harbor and Eden Rocks Beach Resort. It is an upscale resort that is rather stuffed-shirtish in appearance and attitude. The reef off the resort is barren coral rubble and the only interesting sight is the My Confidence wreck. If you go north in front of Eden Rocks there is another wreck that is the site of the underwater webcam.

The non-diver has plenty to keep themselves occupied. The Plaza has a nice beach and is a newer resort that has had great reviews on this forum. The Sand Dollar and BDR do not have beaches but have nice pool and lounging areas on top of the rocky shoreline. There is plenty of access to the water for snorkeling at any of the resorts.

Along with several smaller ones, the Plaza, the Sand dollar, and Buddy Dive Resort all have activities that cater to families plus nice house reefs. Capt Dons is a nice resort that - to me - caters to the adult crowd.

 

[vladimir]

My girlfriend actually enjoys snorkeling in front of HVR. It's definitely not picturesque, consisting mainly of coral rubble, but it is home to a lot of juvenile fish, octopuses, etc. I didn't notice the "stuffed shirt" attitude in my two visits. Service is generally friendly, if occasionally spotty. If you go, get a beachfront suite--it is very nice and worth the expense. I haven't stayed in the regular rooms, but I've heard they are not a great deal. In general, the suite approaches 5 star quality, the service is definitely not 5 star, but ok, the beach is one of the nicer ones on the island, the reef out front is rubble, but has fish, and the dive operation is well run. Etienne, the DM, is a little overbearing and wants to take charge of your dive--a lot of people don't mind that.

 

[RickSp]

We recently stayed at Sand Dollar which is right next to Bonaire Dive and Adventure. I highly recommend Bonaire D&A's Ocean's Classroom program. We signed our 8 year old up for two days. If we had known how good the program was or how much he would have enjoyed it we would have signed him up for more. He had a great time, saw a lot and learned a lot.

Bonaire Dive & Adventure (Click on kid's programs)