New park completion

[RIHappyDiver]

@scubadada , we’re in Parrotfish this year. My wife was hoping for Tuna again, but it was booked until March. And that was when we booked last February. We’ll be there 2 weeks this year. She went from not ever wanting to learn how to dive to “we should come back next year for 2 weeks” in a matter of a week! I’m not complaining a bit !!
Thanks again for all of the updates.

 

[cutty]

We were there the last 2 weeks of Nov... park really is coming along nicely.
This is a pic my wife took having our sundowners!

 

[undrwtr1]

Just got back 1.27.24 - still not done and no way to dive Bari Reef. They are hoping for spring completion.

 

[tursiops]

no way to dive Bari Reef.

You can dive Bari from the south or from the north, or from Den Leman and Sand Dollar if you are staying there. Bari is not closed...only the public entry from where the park is being constructed.

 

[undrwtr1]

You can dive Bari from the south or from the north, or from Den Leman and Sand Dollar if you are staying there. Bari is not closed...only the public entry from where the park is being constructed.

That’s what I meant, sorry. We were told we could gain entry thru Chocogo but someone else at Dive Friends said we couldn’t.

 

[tursiops]

That’s what I meant, sorry. We were told we could gain entry thru Chocogo but someone else at Dive Friends said we couldn’t.

Chocogo is a blight on the island, like the cruise ships.

 

[agd]

For those who have been waiting to finally get access to Bari from the new park built over the empty lot beside Den Lamen, it is not 100 percent complete, but I believe it is usable.

The sign for Isadel Beach Park is up and the entry is no longer blocked. As far as the park itself seems, I shake my head at the warped minds that designed it. The park is about 70 percent covered in concrete, but they only managed to create 23 parking spaces, with extraordinary amounts of wasted space devoted to paths and structures. The number of parking spaces is exceeded by the number of signs admonishing visitors about all the things they should not do. When you get past these to the seaside, there is only a handful of palapas since more than half the frontage is obscured by a concession building that could have easily been situated further back. Overall the park is an expensive indulgence of designers throwing everything at it, at the cost of losing the simple, enjoyable, functional space that it could have been.

But the good news is there is a sloping concrete path with access to the water. If you can get a parking space, it is a bit of a slog with gear on from it near the roundabout to the water, but finally you can access Bari again.

 

[RIHappyDiver]

The Grogans’ did a video a few days ago about Bari, and showed some of the park.
It did seem to be a lot of concrete, and I’m still concerned about the potential of a boat ramp.

Erik

 

[USC8791]

The Grogans’ did a video a few days ago about Bari, and showed some of the park.
It did seem to be a lot of concrete, and I’m still concerned about the potential of a boat ramp.

Erik

Thanks for the share Erik! I too question the boat ramp. If completed they’ll need to reconfigure the parking area to accommodate trailers. It’ll also be a cluster down near the restaurant where divers might want to drop their gear. This will be the same place where those with smaller trailers will most likely pull in to then reverse their trailer to the ramp. Inevitably there will be times when several vehicles are in that area trying to do different things. One thing is for sure, those who try to back down a trailer all the way from the parking lot will be fun to watch.

Maybe there will be park staff that monitor and direct use? Time will tell.

 

[tursiops]

Several of us visited the park in August. What a cluster. We stay at Buddy Dive, and our Bari diving in the future will be south from Buddy Dive, when there is no current to fight.