Eden Beach

[Sophiesmom2]

My DH and I recently sailed on the Summit. I made reservations with Miguel Brito, the Activities and Fitness Center Manager at Eden Beach on 12/27/07 for snorkel equipment and chairs. I advised him that the ship did not get in to port until 1PM and we would be arriving at 1:30 or so. His email confirmation to me stated that this was "not a problem" and he confirmed the date. Well, after paying $10 for a taxi, and recommending him to some other shipmates, we got to the beach and no equipment/chairs were available. He acknowledged that he "wrote it on the wrong date" and did not offer to help us out in any way. The beach was completely packed and there was no where to even sit on the sand so we paid $20 more for another taxi and went to another beach (Sonare?). The water was so shallow you had to walk out for almost a mile to get to water past your hip. Snorkel equipment was not available, nor were there lounge chairs. We ran into several people off the ship who said they'd gone from beach to beach with the same results. Problem was that the Summit got in so late that everything was packed.

[inai]

My DH and I recently sailed on the Summit. I made reservations with Miguel Brito, the Activities and Fitness Center Manager at Eden Beach on 12/27/07 for snorkel equipment and chairs. I advised him that the ship did not get in to port until 1PM and we would be arriving at 1:30 or so. His email confirmation to me stated that this was "not a problem" and he confirmed the date. Well, after paying $10 for a taxi, and recommending him to some other shipmates, we got to the beach and no equipment/chairs were available. He acknowledged that he "wrote it on the wrong date" and did not offer to help us out in any way. The beach was completely packed and there was no where to even sit on the sand so we paid $20 more for another taxi and went to another beach (Sonare?). The water was so shallow you had to walk out for almost a mile to get to water past your hip. Snorkel equipment was not available, nor were there lounge chairs. We ran into several people off the ship who said they'd gone from beach to beach with the same results. Problem was that the Summit got in so late that everything was packed.

 

Sorry to here about your terrible experience at Eden Beach.

How many ships were in port that day?

[Sophiesmom2]

Sorry to here about your terrible experience at Eden Beach.

How many ships were in port that day?

 

Princess was there, arrived before us. I think there have been one more small one (Regency???). Since we were able to dock at the pier and not tender it was hard to tell.

 

Still no excuse for "losing" my reservation....:rolleyes: I think the thing that ticked me off the most was his nonchalance about the "problem". I work in customer service and if I had the attitude he did I wouldn't have a job. :mad:

 

Overall I wasn't impressed with Bonaire. The people there could care less about the ship passengers..I really think they think we're a nuisance. The only bright spot was our taxi driver that drove us back to the ship from the beach..he was a hoot.

[inai]

Again, I will say, I'm sorry you had such an unfortunate experience.

 

Thanks for your reply.

[kem]

I have to agree, we were quite disappointed in Bonnaire, should have booked a boat trip. Eden beach is a tiny strip of beach, all the chairs were taken, we walked past it to the next strip of beach and snorkeled but this area too was crowded with the overflow and had no chairs. The town is okay, we sat at Karel's beach bar and enjoyed the ambiance but overall were disappointed with the island. The taxis set up at the port were only interested in going to Eden, wish we had rented a car!

[pnut362]

WOW ! I am surprised... I'm sorry you guys had trouble.. out of all of our ports (St. Thomas, Dominica, Bonaire, Aruba, Princess Cays) Bonaire is one of the top 2 of my favorites...

we went to Eden Beach and snorkeled and had a great time - saw lots of fish and also snorkeled with Renee.. and took a northern island tour with a very nice local girl who was funny and informative..

i hope you have a better time if you go back - it truly was beautiful!

[inai]

We just came back on Sunday 4/6 and went to Eden beach. We have been to many carib. beaches and this was in our top two also. Great snorkeling. I ditto pnut362 comments.

[nc_cruiser1]

Our group of four went to Eden Beach (http://www.edenbeach.com/) during our Princess cruise stop at Bonaire. The CB was the only ship in port. We had emailed them twice prior to the cruise to make reservations, but never received a response. So we decided just to show up and hope for the best. We were not disappointed. The cab fare was $9 total each way.

 

The beach is small but beautiful. It was not crowded for us. We rented lounge chairs for $5 each and parked them under palm trees. We also rented snorkeling masks at the dive shop for $10 each. Snorkeling vests are available for another $10. The equipment is top-notch. They do not rent fins to non-divers, but you don’t need them. They take credit cards. There is also a nice beach bar serving drinks and snacks.

 

The beach is rocky and you should have water shoes or hiking sandals. You can either just walk out or jump off the short dock. The water is crystal clear and the snorkeling was excellent. We saw many different types of fish and there is an abundance of them. Very nice!

 

We spent most of the day here before heading back to the picturesque town and browsing through some stores. It’s a very pleasant place, quaint, but modern and colorful, with a ton of outdoor bars and bistros.

 

All-in-all, a very enjoyable day in Bonaire

[mcmarya]

How long ago were you there? Apparently the snorkeling has been degraded by hurricane Omar.

[nc_cruiser1]

We were there last Thursday, Dec.18th.

[mcmarya]

Is there a resort fee just to snorkel at Eden beach? We're not interested in renting chairs.

[nc_cruiser1]

We were not charged a resort fee. Just walked in, by the guy renting chairs and paid him. Not sure what would have happened if we didn't rent, but I think it's not a problem.

[margincall]

Our ship does not get in until 1 pm. Is there a problem renting chairs after that hour? I ve heard that if you dont go in the morning all the chairs are gone

[nc_cruiser1]

Our ship did not dock until noon, and it was the only ship in port that day. There was no shortage of chairs when we were there, but it's a rather small area, and I could see if the demand was high, they could run out. It was easy to tell who was there from the cruise by the towels they had. I would say it was less than 20 people.