Where to stay? Best house reef? Dilemma

[Kksmama]

The gear storage unit, the pier, and the tanks on the pier are for the use of Dive Friends customers staying at Den Laman and Sand Dollar. Other visitors to Bari Reef use the parking lot just south of Den Laman.

It's actually easier than it sounds.

I was correct to choose location based largely on house reef, because while I believe diversteve that logistics are doable (and I've done them at other shore sites) "Tanks on the pier" sounds even better than "mojito" to me. All inclusive "meh" food does not, but thanks for the honesty, mbs!

 

[AdivingBel]

.....

 

[diversteve]

Some - not all - options with tanks on the dock -

Habitat - the dive dock is 25' from the tank storage, rinse tanks etc. There;s a separate dock nearby for their boats.

Buddy Dive as the gear storage room is 25' from the dive dock.

Den Laman b/c your condo is 50' from the dive dock. It's a smaller property so everything is nearby.

The Divi in town has it all on the dock - including the lockers

WannaDive at Eden Beach has everything within about 50' of the dock.

Most have stairs into the water off the dock. One thing to chcek is hours - most only open 8-5 so you have to get tanak and store them in the truck/your condo for off hours.

One thing we liked about Belmar is your condo key gets you into the tank storage area 24/7. Others have similar options. I believe GooodDive in town even has a walk-up self-serve fill station but they're not as convenient a locationto dive from.

 

[Trailboss123]

I was correct to choose location based largely on house reef, because while I believe diversteve that logistics are doable (and I've done them at other shore sites) "Tanks on the pier" sounds even better than "mojito" to me. All inclusive "meh" food does not, but thanks for the honesty, mbs!

As @scubadada said-- there are tanks for diving at the pier at Den Laman -- additionally, there are tanks for rinsing gear and benches for gearing up right there too. After gearing up, it is a giant stride or a few steps down a nicely angled ladder right into the water and then a few fin kicks onto Bari Reef. Doesn't get any easier.
If you want to boat dive, the same pier is used for boat dives. If you want to shore dive elsewhere, the tank pick up and drop off location is in the adjacent parking lot. Load them up and go. There are also rinse tanks where you pick up and drop off your tanks for shore diving.

 

[agd]

There are so many good options in Bonaire.

We first stayed in 1996 in a fine small guest house one block back from Kaya Grandi which is still there but no longer a guest house, and you would not want to be there now, surrounded by parking lots and traffic even if it was. But it was great at the time. We have had good experiences at Eden Beach, Caribbean Club and a semi-longer term rental at Bonaire Exclusief in a charming house a couple of blocks from the sea that shares a beautiful pool with the other houses in that property.

The strip north of the circle from Den Lamen to Hamlet Oasis, including Sand Dollar, Buddy, Habitat and across the road, Bamboo Bali have a well deserved reputation and have lots of advocates here.

But an area that seems to get little attention are the places on Boulevard Craane, just north of town center. We have rented at Playa Lechi resort and Elegancia del Caribe, but there are other casual spots like Kas Hamaka and Seaside apartments, amongst others in this strip. Fabulous sea views from the properties with the cruising boats from all over the world moored out front. Step across the boulevard for great dives, night and day. Tarpon almost guaranteed and young turtles feeding on scraps from the local fishing boats, striped juvenile angel fish and morays hiding in the mooring blocks, octopus and more. If you want the flexibility of Dive Friends multiple locations, Yellow Sub is right there, but my favourite is the friendly stafff and great service of Gooodive right on DeBrot. Plus, you are 10 minutes walking distance from town centre so you can watch sunset from Karels ( if you want more sociability than the equally good view from your own place), eat at the spectrum of restaurants from the casual like Pasa Bon, Rumba or Bobbejans or the fancy like It Rains Fishes, La Terraza or Mona Lisa, amongst others, without having to count the number of Amstels or glasses of wine you imbibe since you can leave the truck keys at home and have a short stumble back without any fear of a DUI. It checks all the boxes. We like it so much here, we now have our own apartment in this area.

You can book these through VRBO, Homeaway, etc., but there can be selection at better prices through Comfort Rentals, Paradise rentals or Sunbelt, for example. You may have to arrange your truck and tanks separately, but that is fairly easy to do.

Andy

 

[mbs]

@diversteve , your info on the Plaza is dated. Tanks are staged in two areas, by the pool and also up by Typsy Seagull. You also can analyze and leave nitrox tanks to be delivered to either shore location. Yup, you have to schlepp your stuff back to the lockers at the far dive shop, but not tanks. Btw, the old locker room is now used for tanks and the analzer so its closer to move tanks to your truck. And they built a new locker room which is much less buggy thn the old! Also they no longer do the beach barbecue by the beach bar. They moved it to the beach by the Typsy Seagull, but last year just did it in the Typsy Seagull. Way scaled back.

 

[diversteve]

thx for the updates.

 

[lmorin]

I was correct to choose location based largely on house reef, because while I believe diversteve that logistics are doable (and I've done them at other shore sites) "Tanks on the pier" sounds even better than "mojito" to me. All inclusive "meh" food does not, but thanks for the honesty, mbs!

I'd like to point out a major advantage of Sand Dollar. It has the longest shore front of any resort on the island. This enhances a visit in two ways. First, it is simply very picturesque to enjoy, as it is walkable its entire length. Second, divers who are staying at Sand Dollar are welcome to use a Dive Friends wagon to pull their gear from the gear room along the frontage sidewalk and gear up at one of the two sets of stairs down to the water. These greatly increase the number of possible diving variations that are possible on Bari Reef, as well as extending some routes well northward over Buddy's Reef and coral cultivation garden. The northern section of Bari Reef and the adjacent part of Buddy's Reef, is substantially different from the rest of Bari and Front Porch, the next site south.

Bari Reef is best dived very slowly and enjoyed thoroughly, as there are many treats to be found, if you look closely enough. Three of our highlights from our stay this Jan/Feb were a black brotula, ninelined goby and a large octopus eating a king helmet mollusk (Cassis tuberosa), the latter two in the shallows and all three north of the dock.

 

[Kksmama]

Still not quite settled, I just found out the room we'd reserved at Sand Dollar has a terrible online review. I think the resort, or Den Laman, would be perfect but there is so much variation in the quality of different units I'm reconsidering. Delphin is available, can anyone give info on the house reef there (lighthouse point)? I don't mind current, it is exerting myself above the water that annoys me. A comment on tripadvisor in December said they were putting in a dock, any sign of progress on that front?

 

[Trailboss123]

Still not quite settled, I just found out the room we'd reserved at Sand Dollar has a terrible online review. I think the resort, or Den Laman, would be perfect but there is so much variation in the quality of different units I'm reconsidering. Delphin is available, can anyone give info on the house reef there (lighthouse point)? I don't mind current, it is exerting myself above the water that annoys me. A comment on tripadvisor in December said they were putting in a dock, any sign of progress on that front?

I seriously doubt that the dock will be going in. Long story.
EDIT: Their website does have an update and it appears they now are moving things along with the pier and they hope to have it completed by November.

Here is what I can tell you about the diving there. The reef is quite a ways from shore. So, either a very healthy surface swim or a longish dive across sand to reach it. Also, it is very close to the point and is susceptible to stronger than normal currents and wind and can at times be undiveable or unsafe to get in the water from shore. This happened to my wife and I once. We went there to have lunch during a surface interval and intended to dive afterward. The wind was quite strong and producing 3 foot plus waves that were crashing on shore and made it extremely unsafe to get in and out of the water. We drove down the road north a mile to Bachelor Beach and the seas were flat and calm.

I don't think there is any variation in the quality of rooms at Den Laman. You either choose a Studio, 1 bedroom or 2 bedroom. The quality is very much the same- only variation is the size of the condo.