Spectacular Oceanfront Condo

2 spacious bedrooms: one king bed in the master bedroom, two twin beds in the second bedroom, both bedrooms with lots of storage and floor space

2 spotless bathrooms, one with a tub shower, and the other with a commodious walk-in shower

air-conditioning in both the bedrooms

air-conditioning in the living/dining room and kitchen (not necessary to use because of the constant trade winds that blow through the condo, and not recommended to use because it is better to listen to the wind and waves than to the ac unit)

Large screened porch with ceiling fan

four other ceiling fans and a movable floor fan

free and always reliable internet connection through our own router and wifi

free cell phone loan (when available at reception)

cable TV

maid service twice a week

large electronic safe for laptop and cameras

free starter supplies: soaps, paper towels, toilet paper, trash bags, dishwasher soap

gear-hanging and drying area on the porch (in case if you don't leave your gear in the nearby dive shop storage lockers, which we recommend)

two on-site dive shops offering full, five star PADI services: Dive Friends and Bonaire Dive and Adventure (both offer drive-up tank exchange, boat dives, equipment rentals and repairs, rinse tanks, storage facilities, courses, and other outdoor activities)

10% discount on dive packages for our guests at Dive Friends

discounted car rental rates available for our guests through Avis car rental (with airport pick-up and drop-off)

Fully-stocked kitchen, with all the appliances and cooking and eating utensils and food storage containers that you will need (including crock pot!)

The walls have been tastefully decorated with local art and original photographs.

Perhaps the best thing about our condo is the location and design of the resort. It is in the middle of the island, thus it occupies the most convenient location for diving up and down the coasts; and you can look out in wonder at the ocean from almost all rooms save the bathrooms (unless you keep the door open to the master bathroom) and the second bedroom. The ocean feels like it belongs to you, and the sky as well. And even though our condo is part of a resort, Sand Dollar is a quiet, peaceful, and private paradise. We love the choice of socializing with guests and residents or just keeping to ourselves. What a joy to be able to walk out our screened-in porch and jump into the sea at any time of the day or night for a swim, snorkel, or float. Our kids love it here, too. They like to go back and forth from the sea to the pool to the beach and to the condo (usually for food). They can disappear for hours and we have no worries at all about them. What a joy to see them waking in the morning with plans to spend the entire day outdoors using their imaginations, hunting for sea glass, sporting with the iguanas, and playing with other kids in the resort, making life-long friends. They too appreciate the soul-expanding, upward-looking vistas.

Often a herd of goats comes marauding through the grounds of Sand Dollar, and we help to usher them away before they nibble away at the work of the many owners (like us) who take pride in their gardens; and sometimes a few wild donkeys wander through, seeking their own version of respite.

So yes, the condo has the amenities you will need to enjoy your stay comfortably and amply, but the real reason to be here is the direct and broad access it affords to the ocean, through eyes, ears, and touch. They say you ought to try not to touch the marine live, but after a while the sun and salt and breezes and the dust blown over from the Sahara will touch you in such a way-- assisted all the while by what flows into the other senses--that you will undergo a 'sea change,' as Shakespeare calls it, into something rich, strange, and better than before. But that usually takes more than a week to happen. It happened to us when we lived here for a year. So come and stay as long as you can. And come back year after year, as some of our guests do. We will do our best to make this possible for you. We offer increasing discounts on longer stays, and we are willing to negotiate these discounts further. For our aim as owners is to cover our expenses and invest in the condo by making improvements, so that your next stay here will be even better. So tell us what you think would make this condo and the life it affords approach the perfection that nature holds out as a model.

And let me not forget to mention how much we like living in our bathing suits or a pair of shorts and without shoes much of the time as we move in and out of our condo. And no wristwatch either: for there are two times on Bonaire, day and night, and two places, sea and land. Life is simple here, but elemental and close and real. It is not for addicts of the man-made, but for those who have the soul of the Psalmist and accept the burden of leisure without fear of failing to put it to good use.