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Trip Reports: July stay at Belmar
Bonaire Talk: Trip Reports: Archives: Archives 05-01-10 to 08-31-10: July stay at Belmar
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Gnann (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #149) on Monday, July 26, 2010 - 1:51 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Our family recently returned from our eighth diving trip to Bonaire, but our first since 2008 (pre-Omar). We’ve gone diving lots of other places, but Bonaire is the only island we are drawn back to again and again. We were immediately struck by all of the new construction that is underway, especially south of town along EEG Blvd. And there was actual work being down, not the usual scene of an abandoned half-finished structure waiting in vain for more financing (although there are still some of those, too). The island didn’t seem too crowded in mid-July, although our Delta flight was packed. I know July is the off-season, but restaurants were all half-empty. No cruise ships during our visit (except the Freewind – didn’t see either Tom Cruise or John Travolata). The weather was a little wetter than we have experienced previously with brief heavy showers almost every day. The rain was not particularly disruptive, but it did result in some standing water, leading of course to plenty of mosquitoes. Be sure to have your repellent of choice on hand.

Travel
We took Delta out of Atlanta. Our 5:30 am departure from Birmingham got off to a shaky start when the aircraft taxied out for departure but was unable to start the second engine. Not good. We returned to the terminal and deplaned, but were extremely fortunate to get on the 6:30 am flight to Atlanta which left from the adjacent gate. As we sat on the second plane awaiting departure, we watched in vain for somebody to begin unloading baggage from the first aircraft, but that didn't happen. I knew then that the chances of our baggage making it to Bonaire with us were slim to none. Sure enough, we stood around the baggage carousel in Flamingo Airport until all the bags were gone and ours did not show up – we were 0 for 4. We filled out the claim forms with the Delta representative who assured us that the bags would likely make it the following day and would be delivered to us. On Sunday morning after our mandatory park briefing, we heard from some other guests that their delayed baggage had come in on Sunday morning, so we drove to the airport. We were ecstatic to see all of our luggage stacked in the corner in baggage claim, courtesy of Continental Airlines via Newark. So I give Delta credit - they created the problem, but they had a plan to solve it. Next time, we may consider driving to Atlanta (which we always used to do) or flying to Atlanta the night before to avoid the possibility of a missed connection.

TIP: If you are expecting delayed baggage, go the airport and look for it. It seems that delivering the baggage to you is very low on anybody's priority list.

For the Saturday afternoon departure, Delta posts that check-in will begin at 12:00 noon. We arrived about 11:15 am; there was a pretty long line by 12:15 pm, when check-in actually commenced. After checking in, we drove over to Lac Bay for a nice lunch at Kon Tiki. We were back at the airport at 1:45 pm, in plenty of time to clear security and board for an on-time 3:15 pm departure.

TIP: If you park at the airport, for >10 minutes, you have to pay to get your parking pass validated to exit the parking lot. I think it is 1 guilder up to 30 min, another guilder for 30-60 min, and then an hourly rate kicks in. The point to remember is that the parking ticket machine in the terminal ONLY takes NAF – not credit cards, not dollars. So have a few 1 guilder coins in your pocket and you will be good-to-go.

Lodging
We always stay at Belmar Apartments and I’m happy to say that their high standards are being maintained and the staff remains friendly and efficient. The 3 bedroom unit that we were assigned had a recently-renovated kitchen with new appliances, which was very nice (if only they had put in an oven, it would be perfect!). The big diving dock that was taken out by Hurricane Omar has been rebuilt and is about a foot higher than the old one, which gives you a slightly longer freefall on your giant stride. There is a new shower above the sun-bathing pier. The only drawback is that the rinse tank on the diving dock has not yet been rebuilt. The gear rinsing tanks at the dive shop have been expanded and moved around to the side of the building, which is a big improvement. Boochie (sp?), the friendly night watchman who has been at Belmar for many years, is still making his rounds.

Underground utility work is ongoing along EEG Blvd between the airport and Belnem, which requires the water supply to be turned off periodically. Unfortunately, this happened early on Saturday morning as we were preparing to depart, which means that we left behind a dishwasher full of dirty dishes. Felt bad about it, but I’m not sure what else we could have done – guess we could have washed them in the pool (or the ocean)!

Dining
We prepared breakfast and lunch in the apartment, plus went out to dinner about every other night. Of note, Warehouse grocery store is now open on Saturday afternoons, which helps if you want to shop after an afternoon arrival on Delta (they now take CC, too, except AmEx). We ate out for dinner several times. One thing that I noticed is that the service at every restaurant was friendly, attentive and professional. That is certainly a change from some of our previous experiences.
- Bobbejans – ate there Saturday night after arrival. Unpretentious, relatively inexpensive and quick. People rave about their ribs, but I actually think the grilled chicken is better. Recommended.
- La Guernica – located on the waterfront in Kralendijk, this restaurant has been there for a while, but we had never eaten there before. Outdoor seating along the main drag can get a little noisy, but the view of the water is worth it. We all ordered tapas and really thought it was a special meal. The menu suggests 3-4 tapas per person. Unless you are truly famished, I would suggest that 3 selections per person will be plenty. Most of the dishes can be easily divided up to share. Recommended.
- Unbelievable – this is one of the newer restaurants and this was our first visit there. While many of the better restaurants in Bonaire have a European of South American flair, this menu, especially the seafood, seemed more authentically Bonairian. The menu featured catches of the day (mahi-mahi and – you guessed it! – wahoo) prepared in a variety of different ways, along with pasta and other selections. The food was nicely presented and the portions were very generous. The restaurant is located a block back off the waterfront, but outdoor seating on a second-story terrace provides great ambiance (and keeps you above most of the ubiquitous mosquitoes). Recommended.
- Patagonia – upscale restaurant situation right on the yacht harbor near the Harbor Village hotel. This was the best (and most expensive) meal of the week. Steaks are their specialty and the filet mignon was especially good. Recommended.
- Kon Tiki – informal dining at Lac Bay. This was a perfect place to have lunch after checking bags at the airport and killing an hour before going through security. The hamburgers at Kon Tiki are the absolute best I have had in many a year – thick and juicy with all the trimmings. Great place to have that one last Amstel Bright and do some iguana watching. Recommended.

Diving
This was our first trip since Hurricane Omar in 2008, but I really couldn’t see that much evidence of damage. We were told that Oil Slick Leap and the Andreas sites were still recovering, so we didn’t go there. Since we were staying at Belmar, most of our dives were to the south (from Windsock to Red Slave), although we went North one day for dives at Ol’ Blue (Tolo) and Karpata. Some of our favorite southern sites are Aquarius, The Rock, Vista Blue, Sweet Dreams, and Unnamed Beach. Overall, visibility was good, despite the rain showers. It seems to me that the eel population has still not recovered since the die-off of 2008. We saw some spotted and goldentail eels, but not nearly as many as in years past. We saw no chain or purplemouth morays. I did see one viper moray, which is kind of unusual. I also saw a single very large green moray that was courteous enough not to bite my hand off when I unknowingly dangled it right in his face on a night dive. Surprisingly, I only saw one barracuda all week, when I am accustomed to seeing them on nearly every dive. I’m not sure if the barracuda population is down, too, or if we were just unlucky in spotting them. I did see large cubera snappers on several dives (geographically separated, so I’m sure it wasn’t the same fish!). Despite the attention that lionfish have received, they are not swarming the reefs in Bonaire (as they are in some places in the Bahamas). In fact, we only saw 1 small lionfish (obviously a second-generation animal) during a week of diving.

Here are a few pictures:


(Message edited by modfreddie on July 26, 2010)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Gnann (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #150) on Monday, July 26, 2010 - 1:55 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Darn - I know how to post pictures, but the board timed me out - or something!
Sorry about that - I'll try to get the pictures posted a little later.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By "Barbie"Ruth******Ken's forever love (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #4703) on Monday, July 26, 2010 - 2:13 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks for taking the time to tell us about your trip, John! Looking forward to the pix! Glad you had a good visit to the island. Countdown is 5 days for us :)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By R J (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #186) on Monday, July 26, 2010 - 2:36 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

John, thanks for the trip report. Looking forward to the pictures.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Gnann (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #151) on Monday, July 26, 2010 - 6:41 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

try again

(Message edited by modfreddie on July 26, 2010)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Gnann (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #152) on Monday, July 26, 2010 - 6:48 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Grrr...
Bigger than 100 kb. One more try...

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Gnann (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #154) on Monday, July 26, 2010 - 7:12 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Here are a few pictures:


Aqarius
my picture

Flamingo tongue
my picture

French angelfish
my picture

Graysby
my picture

Green moray
my picture

Hawksbill turtle
my picture

One of the resident Belmar seahorses
my picture

Porcupine puffer
my picture

Redlip blenny
my picture

Sand diver
my picture

Sharptail eel
my picture

Slender filefish
my picture

Smooth trunkfish
my picture

Spanish hogfish
my picture

Spanish lobster
my picture

Spotted drum
my picture

Spotted drum (juveniles)
my picture

Spotted moray
my picture

Spotted scorpionfish
my picture

Everybody’s least favorite new resident of Bonaire
my picture

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By KOB (BonaireTalker - Post #81) on Tuesday, July 27, 2010 - 6:44 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Very nice pics, John. Thanks for posting.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cecil* (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #8293) on Tuesday, July 27, 2010 - 7:44 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Nice report and pictures John. Thanks for taking the time.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Clare (BonaireTalker - Post #63) on Tuesday, July 27, 2010 - 7:46 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Great report - LOVE the pictures!!!! We've got a shot of that same seahorse from May :)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Lorraine Meadows (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1351) on Tuesday, July 27, 2010 - 10:47 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Masha danke for sharing, great photo's!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Aqua Paul (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #102) on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 - 5:00 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I have not seen a Yellow Banded Coral shrimp on Bonaire yet. Great find.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Debbie B.~ Jersey Gal(*) (BonaireTalk Deity - Post #12453) on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 - 6:34 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Nice pics! Thanks for taking the time to post them. :)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tim Howery (BonaireTalker - Post #15) on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 - 9:34 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Nice Photos.

The only green moray we saw during that time was at Tori's Reef. Where did you find your's?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Gnann (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #155) on Thursday, July 29, 2010 - 12:05 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Tim, we saw that green moray on a night dive at Belmar. I had my left fingers in the sand while taking multiple photos of a nice spotted moray. As I finished, I shined my spotting light on the camera around to the left and I nearly had a heart attack when I saw that my hand was about 6 inches in front of that big green fellow's snout. The eel could have easily bitten me if he had any inclination to do so, emphasizing again that morays are rarely aggressive unless provoked (but I was probably coming pretty close to provocation). I backed out a little and the friendly green moray (and his shrimp buddies) cooperated with a few pictures.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By MONTY FORBESS (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #264) on Friday, July 30, 2010 - 5:54 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

John, like you guys we love Belmar..after multiple stays at Cpt Don's, Sand Dollar, and Buddy's, we were referred to Belmar by another BT'er and fell in love with the place..have also struck up a special friendship with the night security guard and are especially glad to know that we will probably get to see him again in November..being from Louisiana, he'll definitely be getting a Saint's jersey and we will get to learn a few more phrases from the local language..glad you had another great trip

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mickey McCarthy (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #864) on Friday, July 30, 2010 - 7:05 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

John
Very nice shots and not the usual suspects. Also not over edited as a lot of pictures are.
Mick

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By philip gelber (BonaireTalker - Post #48) on Tuesday, August 3, 2010 - 5:20 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Great report and fabulous photos. What lens were you using for those full frame fish shots? Also noted the yellow banded shrimp on the Moray..

Never saw a lobster in 22 years diving Bonaire. Where did he live?

Does the new Belmar dive pier have benches in place like the old one? Great for donning dive gear.

We're staying in a 2br between Xmas and New Years and look forward to chatting with any Bonaire Talkers then...

Pat and Philip

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Gnann (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #156) on Monday, August 9, 2010 - 2:58 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Philip, my camera is an old Olympus C5050 with 2 external Sea & Sea strobes. That means I have to get close, then closer, then just a little closer for decent pictures (while making sure not to flog the surrounding coral). Also means that I have accumulated one of the world's premiere collections of fish-butt photos.

Yes, the new Belmar diving dock does have benches to use while you are gearing up. And the dive shop still provides full tanks (air, not Nitrox) down at the dock.

Caribbean spiny lobsters and spotted lobsters are fairly plentiful in Bonaire, but I agree that slipper lobsters are less frequently seen. I think they come out more at night, but we saw this guy on the Belmar reef, strolling around during the day.

 


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