Dive Review of Belmar Bonaire in
Bonaire

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Belmar Bonaire: "Bonaire - Racing to Slowdown", Sep, 2021, by Lynn Thorne, NC, US ( Contributor 15 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 11670 has 2 Helpful votes.
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Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Bonaire - Racing to Slowdown Our Background: Our last visit to Bonaire exactly 2 years ago. This has been the longest we have gone from being underwater since we became certified in 1992. Although, we have been diving all over the Caribbean, for the past 8 years, we have made it a priority to go to Bonaire several times per year. During the early months of the Pandemic in the Winter & Spring of 2020, we so missed and longed for the opportunity to return to those beautiful blue waters of Bonaire. The chance to return was such a treat. Trip Prep: Although my wife & I have planned numerous dive vacations to Bonaire, this trip was the most stressful & anxiety-ridden of any of our previous trips due to the uncertain and ever-changing Covid Testing rules from Bonaire, Netherlands, & the US. On this trip, we had 3 couples joining us and all of us felt the weight of not knowing if our Covid PCR tests results would be available within the 48-hour timeframe to fly out and if these results would be negative. Additionally, keeping up to date on the paperwork mandates like the Covid Vaccine Proof, Negative PCR Proof, & the Bonaire Health Declaration Forms were taxing to say the least. Fortunately for us, we all made it to Bonaire and back home without major hiccups. Heavy Numbers: During our 3 weeks stay on Bonaire from September 4 through September 25, 2021, we observed the most vehicle traffic, most frenzied drivers, most vehicle accidents & near misses, and the most crowded restaurants we have ever seen. You must make reservations for almost all the restaurants. Traffic jams are common every day during mornings and afternoons. The road conditions are in the usual state of disrepair, but the heavy traffic had made them much worse. New building development appears out of control with new construction everywhere in and around Kralendijk. All of this took place with only 2 cruise ships seen during our 3-week visit. Shore Diving Status: As you might expect, shore dive site had numerous divers which meant you may have to check out a few sites before finding a less crowded space. Once in the water, life appeared as good or better than before. We saw very few Lionfish on our dives. We did see many of the usual smaller fish. We saw fewer turtles, rays, & squid but this may be due to our particular dive site or the season. Our Accommodations: We stayed at Belmar Oceanfront Apartment which is affiliated with Buddy Dive and it has a fully functional dive shop, tank fill station, rinse tank, and gear storage lockers. The views from all the Apartments at Belmar are spectacular. We found the Belmar Front Office Staff, Dive Staff, and Custodial Staff to go out of their way to make our stay enjoyable. We book dive packages through BonairePros which makes it easy to arrange for rooms, dives, and rental vehicle in one location. Summary: We are so thankful to have had the opportunity to return to Bonaire and enjoy all its underwater beauty. We were very pleased by the diving, our Belmar Apartment, and the warm & welcoming people of Bonaire. We were a bit shocked by the heavy & sometimes menacing traffic on the roads in and around town. Such heavy traffic & development did rob some of the core attraction of Bonaire from us. However, we will return next spring to give it another go and hopefully some of these things will be better managed.
Websites	Belmar Bonaire [same]
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	All over the caribbean
Closest Airport		Getting There	North Carolina to Atlanta to Bonaire via Delta or to Miami to Bonaire via American Airlines
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	84-85°F / 29-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	50-80 Ft/ 15-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	[Unspecified]
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	[None]

Report currently has 2 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of Belmar Bonaire in Bonaire

Belmar Bonaire: "Bonaire - Racing to Slowdown", Sep, 2021,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Belmar Bonaire in
Bonaire