Belnem House Bonaire – National Geographic – Best of the World
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Diving vacation to Bonaire - Belnem House
Bonaire is calling you! During this diving vacation you will stay at Belnem House. In 2024, this resort was voted one of the best hotels in the world by National Geographic! During this diving vacation you will dive at Bonaire’s nicest diving school: WannaDive.
Diving on Bonaire with WannaDive
Bonaire is known for its accessible dive sites, and the Drive & Dive concept is wildly popular here. The Drive & Dive concept involves driving yourself to the dive sites in a pickup and diving on your own. With as many as 80 dive sites , including popular spots like Salt Pier, Hilma Hooker, Karpata and Red Slave, a diversity of fantastic diving awaits you.
While diving in Bonaire, you will discover colorful corals, sponges and a variety of tropical fish. You may encounter schools of fish, angler fish, tarpons and green sea turtles. If you are lucky you will also come across a ray or eagle ray, and the really lucky ones will even be able to see dolphins and sharks. Do you have 20/20 vision? So be sure to keep your eyes on the coral where you may still be able to find a seahorse….
Coming home to Belnem House Bonaire
Belnem House is your oasis of tranquility on Bonaire. In the stylishly decorated studios & apartments with kitchenettes, you’ll feel right at home. Relax poolside with a refreshing drink from the bar while reminiscing about the day’s dives. Belnem House offers the ideal blend of comfort, nature and Caribbean charm for an unforgettable diving vacation.
Best travel time for a diving vacation to Bonaire
Bonaire offers fantastic diving year-round. The rainy season runs from mid-October to mid-January, with more mosquitoes. A constant easterly wind provides pleasant temperatures, but also causes rough water conditions on the east coast and calmer seas on the west coast. There are peak crowds during the Christmas season, mainly because of the many American tourists visiting the island.
🍴 Bonaire is a foodie’s paradise, with high-end culinary experiences such as Chefs and Brass Boer. Chefs, located in Hato, is unique because you sit down with chefs Han and Mark along with 11 other guests. You look into the kitchen as you enjoy a glass of wine and the gentlemen prepare the most amazing dishes. It is an intimate and personal way to enjoy great food. On the other side of the island at Point Square you will find Bras Boer luxury, located on the waterfront with beautiful views. Known for its refined dishes prepared with fresh, locally sourced ingredients, this sister restaurant of de Librije (in Zwolle) offers an unforgettable culinary experience on this beautiful island.
Average Temperatures
Wetsuit advice for Bonaire
A 3 mm wetsuit is recommended between July & November. The other months the water temperature fluctuates between 27/28 C. For most divers then a 3mm is still sufficient, but if you dive a lot or get cold quickly then you might consider a 5mm.
What will you experience on this diving vacation?
View itinerary here
Day 1 | Flight to Bonaire
Today you will fly to Bonaire with TUI or KLM from or via Amsterdam. The flights are what you would call “direct,” but sometimes there is a short stopover on another island. Your luggage just stays on the plane, and usually you go off the plane yourself for a while, to a special “transit” area.
In the evening you will arrive on Bonaire. Here you can immediately pick up your rental car and drive on to Belnem House. You can get there in just 10 minutes from the airport.
Day 2 to 7 | Shore diving on Bonaire with WannaDive
After a good night’s sleep, you will first have breakfast at one of the nearby restaurants that are within walking distance and then do some shopping for the next few days.
Then you go to dive school where the next 6 days are dedicated to diving. Lots of diving!
At WannaDive, you have an unlimited air (or nitrox) package. That means you may pick up unlimited filled dive tanks to dive with for the next 6 days. You bring these back empty and then you get new filled tanks. You can also book a number of boat dives should you wish to dive at Klein Bonaire (small island on Bonaire’s west coast) for example.
A day of diving in Bonaire can look like this:
07:00 Wake up, breakfast
08:30 Get air at the diving school to 1st dive site in the North
09:00 Dive on dive site Tolo and after the dive continue to Karpata
10:30 Diving on Karpata and back to the apartment
12:00 Lunch at the apartment, get new air and continue
14:00 Diving south, dive site Invisibles and then even more south
16:00 Diving on dive site Red Slave
17:00 Back to the apartment and at the diving school, change tanks again for new ones… you can either use them for an evening dive or continue directly to the dive sites tomorrow!
19:00 Dinner out at one of Bonaire’s many delicious restaurants. Maybe a few more drinks afterwards….
Is the above program too busy for you? Or just too empty? Never mind, the beauty of a drive dive program is that you arrange it all by yourself. You decide how much, when and where you dive. Ideal!
Day 7 | another dive and Bonaire over land
Your unlimited dive package is a total of 6 days. That means you can also use your package today. We recommend that you don’t do too much diving on the last day (before departure). Even though flights are often in the evening, you still want to keep at least 18 hours between your last dive and flight. This is because you probably dived quite a lot this week. So give your body a chance to get rid of all the nitrogen before you fly home tomorrow.
Bonaire has several fun above-water activities such as:
- Mangrove kayak tour at the Mangrove Center
- Visit to the Donkey sanctuary; Donkey Sanctuary
- By boat across to Klein Bonaire
- Surfing at Jibe City
- Kitesurfing at Atlantis
- Hiking in Washington Slagbaai National Park
- Flamingo visits at Lake Goto
Day 8 | Flight home
The diving vacation is almost over! Most flights leave late afternoon/evening. That means you still have quite a bit of time on the island today. Start the day relaxed with a long breakfast followed by a final dip in the pool. Check-out must be before 11 a.m., but you can temporarily store your luggage at the front desk.
After checking out, you can enjoy lunch somewhere or, for example, take the car into Washington Slagbaai National Park if you haven’t been there yet. The short route takes about 1.5 hours and the long route takes an average of 2.5 hours. Keep in mind that you have to pick up your luggage on time as well as be at the airport. So ample planning is wise.
Another alternative is to spend the last day chilling out at a beach club like Ocean Oasis or Sorobon.
You can also go surfing at Jibe, because there are showers there so you don’t have to get on the plane with salt in your hair.
Then, when the time really comes to go, you can simply return the car at the airport and then board the plane to Europe.
The accommodation
The stay and surroundings
Belnem House Bonaire
This recently opened boutique hotel is a beacon of tranquility and style. The resort is small in size, making personal attention and quality paramount. Within no time you are at the hippest beach clubs, cozy restaurants and the lively core of Kralendijk. It offers direct access to well-known beaches like Te Amo Beach and the intimate coves for which Bonaire is so famous.
Belnem House has not only captured the hearts of its guests but also received recognition from National Geographic, named as a “Hotel we love. The resort has a completely off-grid energy system. Solar energy and solar water heaters make Belnem House a model for eco-friendly tourism, fitting within Bonaire’s “Blue Destination” certification.
Belnem House features 13 studios and 18 apartments for guests. In the heart of the complex you will find the magnesium pool, ideal for cooling off, or you can relax in the shaded bar. The resort offers an exclusive setting focused on the well-being and enjoyment of adult vacationers. With a peaceful and relaxing ambiance, it is the perfect place for adults who want to unwind, but children are also welcome.
Studios: The 13 studios offer modern décor with a full kitchenette, refrigerator and private bathroom with rain shower and separate toilet. Enjoy the relaxing atmosphere on your private poolside terrace. These are ideally suited for two people.
Apartments: Belnem House’s 18 apartments are housed in a 3-story building, with those on the first floor offering direct access to a terrace facing the lush tropical garden and pool.
The 1st and 2nd floor apartments feature spacious balconies with views.
Each apartment has 2 bedrooms (1 with a double bed and 1 with twin beds), one bathroom, and a large sliding door connecting the living room to the terrace or balcony.
The dive shop
Learn more about the dive center
WannaDive Bonaire
Wannadive, a five-star PADI IDC dive center, is located at both Grand Windsock and Eden Beach. WannaDive offers many services, including dive training, dive supply store, dive equipment rentals, repairs, dive stations, tanks, boat and guided dives, parking and more. The new dive store is located at Grand Windsock Resort and has a TEC/REC gas-blend station. For added convenience, you can rent your diving equipment or arrange boat dives. If you are still unsure about shore diving, they also offer guides.
Travel costs
What is included
This dive vacation to Bonaire is available from £ 1.002 per person, excluding flight, based on two people in one room. The diving trip can be expanded as desired. A number of things are included by default in this travel package.
Prices are subject to price changes, increases or changing exchange rates. Flights are always based on the cheapest possible booking class.
Want to know more about this dive vacation to Bonaire? Get in touch with us!
Included in this diving trip, from £ 1.002 p.p.
- 7 nights in a studio
- Accommodation based on lodging
- Car Rental Pick-Up Double Cabin - WannaDive
- 6 Days of unlimited shore diving - WannaDive
- Free Nitrox for certified divers
- VZR, Calamity Fund Administration fee
Excluding
- Flight Amsterdam - Bonaire from £ 720 p.p.
- Bonaire Tourism Tax $75.- p.p.
- Stinapa Nature Fee for divers $40.00 p.p.
✈︎ The quoted (international) flight prices are indicative prices and based on departures from Europe.
However, we can arrange flights from any location worldwide.
Booking your own flights is of course also possible.
Optional
- 1-tank boat dive £ 56 p.p.
- 2-tank boat dive £ 89 p.p.
- Lace diving with guide during the day £ 61 p.p.
- Side dive with guide night dive £ 67 p.p.
- Diving equipment, incl computer £ 50 per day
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Frequently asked questions about this diving vacation
Diving general
On Bonaire you will make mostly shore dives, however, it is also definitely possible to make boat dives. Would you like this? Ask us about the possibilities.
Belnem House is located minutes from the first dive sites. You can even go scuba diving at The Beach, right across the street! If you go north or really south you will be about 20/30 minutes away.
As much as you want, we offer an unlimited shore diving package. Of course the advice to keep a close eye on your limits!
You can do fantastic night diving here. A unique spectacle not to be missed is the Ostracods night dive that takes place about 2/4 days after the full moon. Ostracods are super tiny clams that you can’t see with the naked eye, but 2/4 days after the full moon they sparkle in the dark water! A magical experience where you are surrounded by brilliant points of light illuminating the darkness.
You can get into the water at The Beach, among others, or at Bachelors Beach or Corporal Meis. These are Windsock’s “house reef” dive sites.
Absolutely, WannaDive offers several diving courses. Includes the first dive certificate you need to dive independently.
Yes definitely, the diving school WannaDive is located on the property.
Diving equipment
Both are present.
Yes, this is free for certified nitrox divers
Yes, this is possible, a complete set comes to £ 50 per day.
Other activities excursions
Absolutely, some great snorkeling spots are; 1000 Steps, Karpata, Salt Pier, Bachelor’s Beach, Klein Bonaire and Wayaka (in the park).
You can go canoeing through Bonaire’s mangroves, visit the donkey sanctuary, learn to kite or windsurf and spend a day visiting Little Bonaire where you can sunbathe, swim and snorkel.
You can go canoeing through Bonaire’s mangroves, visit the donkey sanctuary, learn to kite or windsurf and spend a day visiting Little Bonaire where you can sunbathe, swim and snorkel.
Accommodation
Yes definitely.
Yes, this is free
No, but nearby you have beach club The Beach, among others, and the center of Kralendijk can also be reached in less than 10 minutes.
Yes, there is a large communal pool and the deluxe villas also have a private pool.
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