Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Bonaire Resorts and Restaurateurs Plan Exciting Holiday Menus and Culinary Events

With the upcoming holidays, visitors to Bonaire will be able to add some spice to their culinary exploration of Bonaire’s many fine restaurants.  Resorts and restaurants alike on the island are planning scrumptious, “one-of-a-kind” menus for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.  Advance reservations for holiday dining are always recommended. 

Here’s a selection of some of Bonaire’s special menus and events:

Bambu will be serving a Christmas menu on both December 24th and December 25th, with an a la carte menu on December 26th.  A special New Years menu will be served on December 31st, and the restaurant will be open for a la carte dining on January 1st.  Over the holidays, the restaurant will be open from 6:00 PM until 10:00 PM.  Menus will be available for viewing soon on their web site at http://www.bambubonaire.com.

Buddy Dive Resort will feature special menus for dinner over the holidays on December 24th, 25th, and 26th, with live music each night from Moogie, The Flamingo Rockers, or the Latin Jazz Band.  On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the Pool-Bar Restaurant on premises will offer two different three-course dinners with choices of appetizer or soup, entrée, and dessert. On Boxing Day (December 26th), a special holiday BBQ Buffet will be served.  To view these menus, visit http://www.buddydive.com/index.php/restaurants/xmas-menu-08.  On New Year’s Eve, ring in the new year with the Steak & Fish Buffet, live music from the Flamingo Rockers, and fireworks and champagne at midnight.  View the event menu by visiting http://www.buddydive.com:80/index.php/restaurants/new-years-eve.

Cactus Blue Bar & Grill is offering an enticing menu for Christmas and New Year’s, with a choice of appetizer, entrée, and dessert, with the added bonus of live music on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Also, a discount voucher is available for early bookings via their web site at http://www.cactusbluebonaire.com.  To view their special menu, visit http://www.cactusbluebonaire.com./christmas.html

Caribbean Club Bonaire is offering two different three-course, fixed price dinners, one on Christmas Eve and the other on Christmas Day.  Seating is limited and reservations are required.  To view the special menus, visit their web site at http://www.caribbeanclubbonaire.com:80/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57&Itemid=16.

Casablanca Argentinean Grill will be offering a delightful Christmas buffet for both lunch and dinner on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with a separate kids’ menu for the little ones.  The buffet will feature grilled chicken, oven-roasted turkey, or filet mignon, along with an assortment of starters and desserts.  To view the buffet menu, visit http://www.bonaireinsider.com/pdfs/menus_holiday2008/casablanca.pdf (in PDF format).

Divi Flamingo Beach Resort & Casino’s Calabas Restaurant will be hosting a Christmas Buffet on the evening of Christmas Day, as well as a New Year’s Eve Buffet offering holiday selections.  To view the buffet menus, visit http://www.bonaireinsider.com/pdfs/menus_holiday2008/divi.pdf (in PDF format).

Eden Beach Resort’s Brisa del Mar is offering distinctively different menus, one for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day featuring many Venezuelan favorites, and a separate menu for New Year’s Eve.  All offer a choice of appetizer, entrée, and dessert.  View the menus at http://www.bonaireinsider.com/pdfs/menus_holiday2008/edenbeach.pdf (in PDF format) or visit their web site at http://www.edenbeach.com.

Golden Reef Inn will be hosting an all-you-can-eat Christmas buffet prepared by Chef Giby.  View the menu at http://www.bonaireinsider.com/pdfs/menus_holiday2008/goldenreefinn.pdf (in PDF format).  Reservations required.

Kontiki Bonaire is offering a 5-course, fixed price menu for Christmas Day, with a choice of appetizer, entrée, and dessert.  View their special menu at http://www.bonaireinsider.com/pdfs/menus_holiday2008/kontiki.pdf (in PDF format) or visit their web site at http://www.kontikibonaire.com.

La Guernica will be open throughout the holiday period, serving their regular a la carte menu, which will be expanded with Christmas specials.  Dinner is available from 6:00 PM until 10:00 PM.  For additional information, visit their web site at http://www.laguernica.com.

Lion’s Den, located at Buddy Dive, will be serving a variety of menus over the holidays including a traditional Christmas platter, a gala dinner, a classic dinner, and a vegetarian dinner.  To view the various menus, visit http://www.bonaireinsider.com/pdfs/menus_holiday2008/lions.pdf (in PDF format). 

Patagonia Argentinean Restaurant will be offering a special holiday menu on both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, which will be available soon on their web site at http://www.patagoniarestaurant.com.  The restaurant will be closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

Philip’s Cooking offers the ease of dining at home coupled with the enjoyment of gourmet, chef-prepared meals.  As a caterer, Philip’s Cooking prepares and serves private holiday dinners for visiting tourists in their rental homes.  There is not a fixed holiday menu, but Philip can prepare a meal entirely to the diners’ whims. There is still availability for special Christmas or New Year’s dinners.  Philip’s Cooking will purchase all groceries, prepare, cook, and serve the meal, and then complete the dinner with all the clean-up.  For more information, visit http://www.philipscooking.com.

Plaza Resort Bonaire offers a selection of events and special menus at their various restaurants throughout the resort on December 24th, 25th, 31st, and January 1st.  View the schedule and menus on the Plaza’s newly renovated web site at http://www.plazaresortbonaire.com/holiday.htm.

Sunset Bar & Grill, located at Den Laman Condominiums, will be offering a variety of special menus throughout the holidays, including a two- or three-course menu, a fine-dining menu, or a traditional Christmas buffet.  All holidays, with the exception of New Year’s Eve (when there will be a special menu) also offer the availability of ordering from the regular menu.  Lobster will be available on New Year’s Day.  For more information and to view the individual menus, visit http://www.bonaireinsider.com/pdfs/menus_holiday2008/sunset.pdf (in PDF format).

Unbelievable Restaurant is offering a fixed-price menu (NAFl 75.00 per person, including service and sales tax) with salad, choice of entrée, side dish, and dessert.  View the holiday menu by visiting http://www.bonaireinsider.com/pdfs/menus_holiday2008/unbelievable.pdf (in PDF format).

Wil’s Tropical Grill will be serving a fixed-price special menu on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day (December 26th), with a choice of appetizer, entrée, and dessert.  To view the menu, visit http://www.bonaireinsider.com/pdfs/menus_holiday2008/wils.pdf (in PDF format).

(Source:  Bonaire Insider Reporter/TCB-NY)

Monday, December 08, 2008

Dive Friends Bonaire Announces New Programs and Enhancements for 2009

Dive Friends Bonaire, the island’s largest independent dive facility, has exciting plans for visiting Bonaire divers for 2009, with new programs and other enhancements to make each dive vacation unique.

Photographic and videographic services will be augmented on December 21, 2008 when Capture Photo Bonaire joins Dive Friends at the Dive Friends @ Dive Inn location on the southern section of the oceanfront promenade.  Capture will provide underwater camera rentals and sales, classes in underwater photography or videography, digital image processing, as well as camera repairs.  Having the expertise of Capture’s imaging specialists will enable guests of Dive Friends Bonaire to begin, or improve upon, their own underwater photographic endeavors, or let the experts join in on a dive to capture the moment forever in video or still photography, so divers can share their underwater vacation memories with family and friends.  There will be a Grand Opening in early 2009 to celebrate.

Dive Friends Bonaire’s two retail stores in Kralendijk—Dive Friends @ Divers Discount and Dive Friends @ Dive Retail Outlet—offer a complete selection of dive equipment and surf and beach apparel.  Additionally, Dive Friends is pleased to announce that they have been named an authorized dealer for both ScubaPro and Uwatec, and therefore, new equipment from both manufacturers will be available in January.

For popular beach- and surf-wear, the new 2009 collection of Oceancore board shorts is available, along with new Body Glove rash guards.  The high-quality t-shirt line by Deep Down is available in the stores in January, 2009, and just in time for holiday shopping is the latest collection of Reef sandals and apparel.  Coming in 2009 is a Dive Friends Bonaire Buyers Card, jointly sponsored by Reef, which will provide Dive Friends’ customers with a buying card.  After ten purchases on the card, customers will receive 10% of the total value of prior purchases off their next purchase; some restrictions apply—contact Dive Friends for more information.

For those divers who enjoy continuing their diving education, Dive Friend Bonaire’s has added a new PADI distinctive specialty to their instruction roster, entitled The PADI Shore Diver Distinctive Specialty.  Since many of Bonaire’s visitors have experience with boat diving only, this course will help familiarize participants with enjoyment of the island’s shore diving locations—there are fifty official dive sites on Bonaire’s leeward coast.  The course includes a short academic session with two dives where participants will learn the necessary skills to independently plan and conduct safe, easy, and fun shore dives.

Dive Friends Bonaire is one of Bonaire’s premier diving facilities offering full diving and snorkeling services while still providing personal attention.  Two retail stores are available in Kralendijk, in addition to four diving facilities.  For additional information about all their services, visit their web site at www.dive-friends-bonaire.com, or e-mail: info@dive-friends-bonaire.com.  (Source:  Dive Friends Bonaire)

Saturday, December 06, 2008

Bonaire Continues to Preserve the Environment Through Eco-Friendly Programs

STINAPA officially launched their waste reduction campaign earlier this year at “A Taste of Bonaire”, (see prior story by clicking here) during International Year of the Reef Week. The waste reduction campaign encourages visitors to take home their used batteries instead of disposing of them in Bonaire’s landfill, and also encourages visitors to fill reusable water bottles with tap water instead of purchasing bottled water and disposing of the empty plastic bottles in Bonaire’s landfill.

Resulting from the launch of STINAPA’s campaign, hotels and venues in Bonaire have been taking eco-initiatives to encourage their guests to help keep the island pristine. Below are some of the programs the stakeholders have implemented to keep an eco-friendly environment.

Sand Dollar Condominium Resort
Sand Dollar is supporting Selibon, the garbage management company on the island, in separation of glass, by having special yellow containers for glass at all of their garbage collecting spots on the property. The property removed bottled water from their grocery stocking list, and are advising guests to bring their own recyclable bottle. The front desk is also collecting batteries and with the help of the guests and the owner they are sending the batteries to the US for recycling.

Captain Don’s Habitat
Captain Don’s Habitat announced they are now providing each guest with a reusable water bottle made from recycled plastic and that the resort, along with Rum Runners Restaurant, will no longer sell bottled water.

Ocean Adventures
For eight years, Ocean Adventures has been encouraging their guests to use rechargeable batteries for cameras and dive lights. For the guests that use regular batteries, they collect and store the batteries in a special box and ship the trash to Germany. Ocean Adventures also promotes drinking tap water instead of bottled water to their guests in their welcoming briefing.

Bonaire Tours and Vacations
During Bonaire Tour and Vacations briefings to their guests, they inform their guests that the water on Bonaire is excellent drinking water and recommend they drink tap water, instead of bottled water. They also inform guests that an air conditioner unit cools a room within 10 minutes and there is no need to leave air conditioning units running all day.

Sonrisa Rooms & Apartments
Upon guests checking into Sonrisa Rooms & Apartments, they are informed to drink water from the tap and use re-usable batteries, forks/spoons, solar energy for hot water, and to place their bath towels on the floor when they re ready for clean towels.

Wannadive Hut
Wanadive Hut asks Dutch visitors to keep their used batteries and bring them back to Holland since they provide special boxes to dispose of batteries. They also collect empty ink cartridges and put them in special envelopes to be refilled. Bottled water is also not sold, but ice water is available in a big jug for people to refill their reusable bottles.

Black Durgon and Divers Paradise
Black Durgon and Divers Paradise discourage buying bottle water and inform guests that the bottled water in Bonaire is the same as tap water. They also have guests put all fruit rinds and melon seeds in a separate container that is given to the horses, donkeys, goats and chickens daily.

Den Laman Condominiums
Den Laman is continuing efforts to seek measures to lessen their environmental impact while ensuring guest comfort and convenience. For several years now, they have used only eco-friendly cleaning products, and by the end of 2008, two new measures will be added to the list of existing accomplishments, including the installation of room sensors designed to shut off air-conditioning units when guest rooms are unoccupied, and the installation of a laundry facility on property which will enable the use of green laundering products. The laundry facility will also have coin operated machines available for guest use once completed.

Bonaire Caribbean Real Estate
Bonaire Caribbean Real Estate encourages guests to hand over their batteries to the front desk so they can put them in a special container that gets shipped to the USA.

Washington Slagbaai National Park
Washington Slagbaai National Park helps the environment as all their buildings in the park generate electricity from solar energy, waste water is collected in hard plastic containers and park vehicles receive regular service: motor service and tire pressure check.

STINAPA Headquarters of the Bonaire National Marine Park
Bonaire National Marine Park has solar guard film placed on all glass windows of the building that reduces 70% of solar rays, all park vehicles as well as outboard boat motors receive regular service, daily car pooling to and from work of employees and all air-conditioning units receive regular service.  (Source:  TCB-NY)

Bonaire Sweeps Scuba Diving Magazine’s Reader Choice Awards 2008 with Nine #1 Ratings

Once again the island of Bonaire has swept top honors while continuing its reign as one of the world’s top dive destinations:  For the seventh consecutive year, Bonaire has been rated the Top Dive Destination Overall (Caribbean/Atlantic) in Scuba Diving magazine’s Readers’ Choice Awards 2008.

Bonaire also received the #1 rating in eight other Caribbean/Atlantic categories: Top Marine Life, Top Marine Environment, Top Macro Life, Top Shore Diving Destination, Top Destination for Underwater Photography, Top Destination for Beginners, Top Value, and Top Snorkeling.

“This certainly demonstrates that Bonaire is the Diver’s Paradise. To have received nine #1 rankings reinforces that Bonaire’s continued vigilance and efforts to protect the island’s coral reefs are producing a superior dive product and in turn an amazing dive experience for our visitors,” said Ronella Croes, Director of the Tourism Corporation Bonaire (TCB).  She continued, “Such constant diver support clearly indicates the value of conservation and preservation efforts, such as those afforded by the Bonaire National Marine Park.  With roots going back as far as 1979, the park set a high benchmark for today’s marine environmental standards.”

For the Reader’s Choice awards, thousands of Scuba Diving subscribers and web users rated their dive experiences on a scale of one to five.  Results of the 2008 Awards will be featured in the January/February 2009 issue of Scuba Diving magazine. (Source:  TCB-NY)

Friday, December 05, 2008

Bonaire Health and Fitness Center Opens Monday, December 8, 2008

A new health and fitness center will open on this coming Monday, and it’s centrally located just off Kaya Grandi in Kralendijk.  The Bonaire Health and Fitness Center will offer a variety of exercise classes, as well as top-quality training equipment.

Group exercise programs will include body pump, aerobics, steps, body combat, body balance (power yoga), and self defense (full contact karate for women).  For those living on the island and who may be interested in a membership, there is a 50% reduction in rates until January 1st, 2009.  For those visiting the island and who wish to work out, day passes are available offering unlimited training during all normal business hours, fitness and group exercise for one day for FL 15.00 (about USD $8.43).

The center is located at Kaya Grandi #38 (above Addo’s Book Store), but the entrance is located on Kaya L. D. Gerharts, and they will be open Monday through Friday, 7:30 AM to 10:00 AM and 4:30 PM until 9:00 PM, Saturdays from 7:30 AM until 10:00 AM.  Sundays they are closed. 

For additional information, telephone when on island: 787-0158.  (Source:  Bonaire Health and Fitness Center)

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Kralendijk Street Closures during 2008/2009 Cruise Ship Season

We are now well into the 2008/2009 cruise ship season on Bonaire.  In connection with these port calls, some roads will need to be closed to accommodate the pedestrian traffic and alleviate traffic snarls in the area of the south and/or north piers.  It is expected that Bonaire will see about 227,000 cruise passengers, which represents a 48% increase over last year.

Kaya Grandi will close on different dates when there are more than 3000 passengers in port.  Further, other areas, such as the oceanfront promenade by Karel’s Beach Bar and the street by the Passangrahan through to the North Pier (Town Pier), will be closed when there is a ship docked at the North Pier.

When a ship is docked at the South Pier, the area of Fort Oranje will be closed.  Please note that traffic on Kaya Simon Bolivar cannot turn or continue on toward the ocean when a ship is at the South Pier, as this area will be barricaded.

TCB asks everyone’s cooperation and understanding, and one can refer to the cruise ship schedule to check when these street closures will take effect by clicking here.  Any questions can be referred to Mr. Rolando Marin or Mr. Robert Evertsz at TCB by calling 717-8322.  To view the original press release (in PDF format in Papiamentu), click here.  (Source:  TCB-Bonaire)

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Bonaire’s Department of Labor and Economic Affairs Publishes 2007 Economic Note

Each year, DEZA (The Department of Labor and Economic Affairs) publishes a summary of the prior year’s advances or declines in the economy of Bonaire.  This summary has just been published for 2007.

The Economic Note provides in-depth information and statistics regarding many facets of life on Bonaire, including stay-over tourism, cruise tourism, importing and exporting, population, labor affairs, construction, as well as other areas of importance to the Bonaire community.

Those who have an interest in this data may download the Economic Note by clicking here (in PDF format).  (Source:  DEZA)