Belmar Oceanfront Apartments

Very quiet and well run resort. Small but not too small, we booked this resort at short notice. Stayed in a one bedroom suite deluxe overlooking the pool and dock. The dive shop is part of the Buddy Dive Resort and is well equipped. There is a storage locker available and air/nitrox are available 24 hours for those folks that want to go for the diving freedom Bonaire is known for. Our suite was quite spacious with a good kitchen to prepare some of the meals, especially breakfast. Large deck to enjoy the sunset. The house reef is “Sara’s Smile” and is available to guests at the resort only. However, access to Buddy Dive is part of the package for diving there too. Entry/exit to the house reef is via the dive dock and stairs. There is a separate dock with stairs for snorkellers. An installed line running from the snorkel dock down to a depth of 45 feet leads to the reef. Located in the Belnam district the resort is about three kilometres to the Salt Pier diving site. Short drive to supermarkets and back into the main part of town. We were given instructions on how to find two seahorses just a bit off of the main line and saw them on every dive we did at the house reef. Melissa and her staff are very accommodating and respond quickly to queries and the occasional minor problem that may crop up. Rooms are serviced every second day and towels for the pool/beach can be exchange anytime reception is open. We tend to shy away from the larger resorts. Services at Belmar are on par with any of the larger resorts, but it is certainly less busy.

We have stayed here at Belmar Ocean Front Apartments many times over the past 25 years of coming to Bonaire. We normally have a great stay, and have even brought dive groups from our former shop down with us. Sure we have a few little whine sessions over the years, no big deal, we come back. Last year, we stayed in the Penthouse and did the Dive/Drive special again. All was good until the final day when they stuck us with damage in the way of surface scratches on the Black pickup, which we did not do. My fault for being the stupid trusting guy who didn't take photos on day 1. OK, I took that one on the chin at $500.00 BS, but done is done, We booked the same stay again, same week, same Penthouse, and upon checking in they dropped the hammer on us and mentioned the pool was out of order, and has been for the past few weeks, undergoing renovations. Well, that would be something we should have been told about earlier, beings how the entire North half of the island is closed for diving. Yes, the desired portion for experienced divers closed. We knew that part and accepted a restful vacation with less diving, but a relaxing time having drinks and sunning, dipping in the pool. Now, that's ALL shot to hell. UNACCEPTABLE! They offered absolutely NO compensation and said it would not be open the entire week that we are here. We could however get in our vehicle, drive down to another resort, and use their pool. Somehow that is just not the same, we would've been better off just staying at the other place, or another resort for that matter, had we known. This is NOT the way to treat folks coming down and spending substantial funds and loosing out on expectations for the vacation. MEGA THUMBS DOWN from now on. No more recommendations to other divers and friends. Highly Disappointed Larry Wilkinson: former Co-owner Operator DOD SCUBA.

We stayed at Belmar Bonaire in July of 2023. It was a wonderful experience, located ocean front with a beautiful Reef mere steps from our front door. Nitrox and air tanks conveniently located at the dive dock. My wife and I have stayed in many dive resorts over the years and the staff at Belmar are top notch. Melissa at the front desk handles everything with a smile and makes you feel like family. If you go once, you will return!

The hotel is beautiful but DO NOT rent a truck from here - it’s a SCAM!! On checkin they walked around the truck and noted scratches and dents from prior renters. . The woman checking in couldn’t get their iPad to work and eventually said “well, I’ve got the pictures”. We got FULL insurance but they charged a $565 deposit. Upon checkout, they identified a dent in the front fender and claimed it was ours. They said they have no prior record and thus would keep the whole deposit!!!! This is a dent in the plastic fender at the front of a beat up truck. C’mon. I was willing to accept some liability (even though I’m sure it was there to begin with) but at best they’re going to bang out the dent and call it a day. That’s not $500+ worth of work or value. Since they don’t repair the trucks, this is clearly a revenue generating scam. I’ve asked for pictures when the truck is repaired plus evidence that they lost revenue from not being able to rent the truck while being repaired. I’m doubtful we’ll get anything.

Just returned from Belmar apartment 14 which was a one bedroom on the first floor which I would request again as everything worked. Really enjoyed stay was here for 14 nights. There is an adequate supermarket within 3 minutes walking distance but you do need transport to get into main shopping area. Have tried a few different places to stay but as we dive, the house reef here brings us back 5 times in the last few years. Melissa has now joined the front desk and she brings a great personality, nothing is too much trouble, I think she is a great asset to the owner's of this resort. I would definitely recommend Belmar depending on which apartment you are allocated.

We have been coming to this sight for more than 20 years. We love the property and the people we meet staying there. This year there was lots more noise. And our unit was awful. The refrigerator barely kept things cold. The freezer and ice maker did not work. While the staff made an effort to help nothing was fixed. The Fan in master bedroom was wired to the lights so you couldn't leave the fan on at night unless you slept with the lights on. The kitchen was poorly equipped. Much of the apartment needed work. Ask a lot of questions about the apartment you are getting before you arrive.

My wife, son and I had an enjoyable week's stay at BOA. For our first time on the island, this property was able to provide us with everything that we needed for diving, relaxing and exploring the island. The resort staff was very pleasant and helpful. From reservations, to airport shuttles, to check in, to housekeeping, to car rental and food suggestions, everything was handled well. Having the dive staff and shop integrated into the resort operations helped to make the stay much more enjoyable. The dive staff couldn't have been more pleasant and helpful, and our night dive at the resort with Flavia was a special treat. Our 3BR apt. on the second floor was very nice, though carrying luggage up the spiral staircase was a little challenging. The best part of the accommodation was the large patio with the view of the water. Whether having coffee in the morning, relaxing in the afternoon, or watching the lights of the city come on in the evening, it was a great spot to be. The resort was intimate, clean and well manicured with nice accessibility to the water and a pleasant pool and lounging area. The only inconvenience of the resort, when having a rental vehicle, is the lack of parking. Some nights required street parking a distance away. The only thing we would've appreciated would have been having food options within walking distance. The apartment is well appointed for eating in, but we enjoy trying different restaurants while traveling. Overall, we very much enjoyed our stay at the resort and would return.

We just spent 8 nights in app # 15 at the Belmar (Aug 8-16) and really enjoyed our stay. We found Belmar online by chance and we were immediately charmed by the concept, e.g. : car + accomodation + valet diving. * Booking/payment Went smoothly, info given was always clear & prompt. You pay a small deposit & pay the balance about 1 month prior to arrival. * Transfers The booking included both the in & out transfer and although the airport is only a short 10' drive away, it is a nice thing to have as taxis are rather hard to find on the island. * Front desk Very kind & helpful, available from 8 to 8. Stefanie, Nicole, Iris and the other colleagues (names not noted) do a great job. This is also the place where you can change your beach towels. * Car We had a Dodge Ram 1200 single cab 2WD petrol engine manual transmission which worked well. Upon receiving the car, you check the the car together with someone of the front desk on damages and pics are made where necessary.The same is done upon returning the car. ALL cars have a wooden rack in the back where you lay your tanks. We took the additional insurance but do note that this does NOT cover you when visiting the Washington-Slagbaai NP where certain parts would have been easier with a 4WD vehicle. * Resort Has a small pool which we barely used as we prefer to swim in the sea. There are 2 pontoons, 1 for the divers, where the dive boat actually moors and 1 for swimmers/snorkelers with 4 shaded sunbeds. There is no real house reef but we snorkeled in the afternoons and saw a nice variety of fish. * Apartment (# 15) + Fantastic sea view (all units actually have sea view) with incredible sunsets. Bed very comfy - big fridge with icemaker - AC in room and living room New bathroom + good water pressure + enough towels & complimentary toiletries Nice terrace + chairs & table + drying rack + hangers for your diving gear + ventilator - Seriously outdated - not enough light - AC unit in living room not big enough AC unit in room very noisy (maintenance ?) Ventilation/extraction unit in bathroom very noisy (maintenance ?) Toaster & coffee machine not working properly (we only mentioned these issues to the front desk at the END of our stay because we did not wanted to be troubled) * Valet diving In our case, my wife was snorkeling and I was diving, so this service was perfectly matching what we needed ! We booked 6 days of 2 tanks dives + snorkeling for my wife. This was truly an oustanding experience, the whole team are pros and seem to really enjoy their job. The Belmar dive team members we interacted with were Flavia, Richard & Jason. The great thing about this concept is that you just need to be at the pontoon @ 8h30, they prep everything for you, you dive/snorkel and they bring you back to the pontoon around 12h30. We mainly sailed to Klein Bonaire (15'-20') and dove/snorkeled the various dive sites there. We are purely vacation divers/snorkelers and have travelled to various places (South Eas

We were supposed to have the penthouse but were downgraded to the suite just below it. They were doing some remodeling. I can't see how the penthouse was any better than ours. It was huge! 2 stories with the master on the first floor and 2 bedrooms and a bath on the second floor. Huge sliding glass doors opened to a huge balcony. We are scuba divers and there was so much room to hang our stuff after diving. The island's breeze made it all dry really quickly. There was a full kitchen which we made use of a lot (food is expensive in Bonaire!). The beds were comfy and the bedrooms were dark. The dive shop was great. They are part of buddy divers. They thoroughly oriented us to shore diving. Then they answered the 500 questions we had over the week. We used some rental equipment and it was all in excellent shape. The property is in a great area. There is a pier that allows for easy in and out access for snorkeling or diving. There are huge rinse buckets available. There is a huge pool that has happy hour every day from about 4-5 pm. The property is very clean and the people are very friendly. We would definitely go back!!