Bonaire Things to Do

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Or you can dive. I forgot my card..well didn't bring it since Kim is not certified so we went snorkeling. Klein Bonaire is a 15 min water taxi ride from town. The boat will drop you off on the East side where there is some visitors imformation posted. Most of the snorkeling site are supposed to be on the other side of the island which is a bit of a hike. Do not go thru the middle of the island in the early morning or near sunset when the mosquitos are out as I found..walked into a swarm of them and the followed me out to the beach.

There is a great little reef to snorkel if you walk to the left of where the boat drops you off. Hike down 100 yards or so (you will see the reef as you walk) and jump in. The current helped move us along it and it was great to see at 5-10' of water depth...after that most of the good reef spotting is be seen with a scuba tank at 30-40 feet.

Should also be a transportation tip also but anyway. For about $20 a day -less gas (24 hour period from time of rental or close to it) you can rent a single seat moped. In hindsight I would do it for two as it is an great and easy way to see the island. the "mopeds" come with milk crates strapped to the back which is enough room for your snorkel gear, towels, lunch and drinks..and they come with heavy chain locks. They say you can see the island in about 6 hours....that does not include much time for stops or a meal. Take the coastal road up to the Gotomeer and see the Pink Flamingos..great fun and the road North to get there is great with dive/snorkel spots marked with yellow painted stones along the road.

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Because of its location in the Caribbean, exposure to trade winds and its topography Bonaire has a desert climate and environment. It's definitely worth taking a walk through some of the open desert areas to see the unique plants and wildlife. There are huge patches of cacti and divi divi trees bent over from the constant winds, different species of lizards, and horses from nearby ranches. We had never been anywhere like it.

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The white slave huts are on the Southwestern coast of Bonaire, South of Pink Beach. Keep going South along the coast towards Willemstoren Lighthouse to see the yellow slave huts. The huts were built to house slaves working at the nearby saltworks. Conditions were obviously terrible, with 6 slaves sharing each tiny hut.

The huts have corresponding dive sites. White Slave is apparently an excellent spot to see turtles but currents can be pretty rough. Red Slave, next to the yellow huts, has groupers and other larger reef fish. Currents here can be very strong.

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The Visitor Center at the entrance to the park includes a museum, guide to the hiking trails, library and gift shop where you can get cold drinks. The Kasikunda Climbing Trail and Lagadishi Walking Trail start here and are both supposed to be nice hikes but were closed when we visited because of too much rain.

The museum is worth visiting. It's got some very basic but interesting exhibits about the history of Bonaire, it's geology, and different species of plants and animals and how they evolved or arrived on the island. We thought the display on the history of music and festivals was good too.

Ulf and Dedrie Pedersen captain the Woodwind sailing vessel and know all about the hundreds of different places to dive or snorkel around the Island. I went on a nude sail while staying at the Sorobon Resort (which is going non-nudist soon) and both Ulf and Dedrie were naked with us, having a blast! While Dedrie led us around on our snorkeling tour, Ulf came up with some delicious snacks for us when we returned to the ship. A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon snorkel trip and either swimsuits or not, Woodwind should be considered for your trip!

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If you want to check anything in the Park, you really need a pickup truck or 4-wheel drive vehicle, because the road is unlevel and very rocky, but it is REALLY worth it! There are a ton of dive sites all along the road, and places to pull over and watch the Pink Flamingoes feeding in the shallow ponds. This was one of my goals, to see these magnificent birds in one of only 4-5 breeding sites in the world! There are 2 routes one can take through the 13,500 acre park---one is 17 miles long and one is 28 miles----the longer one took me about 3 1/2 hours to drive slowly through, stopping at 4-5 places for photos and rest....I met a nice couple from Finland, just fixing to get in for their first dive on Bonaire. At the very end of the drive is a shallow lake filled with Flamingoes feeding...Did you know that the reason they are pink is because of the pink algae they eat? The very young are sort of grey.....

Woodwind came highly recommended on the Cruise Critic forum, the 1st place I check when planning independent shore excursions. I booked my cruise much later than most folks and waited even longer to book my shore excursions, by the time I got around to it, Woodwind was booked solid for the afternoon tour but they said they were organizing an earlier, slightly shorter tour for the morning so we signed up. Payment was not required to make a reservation which is nice in case the boat doesn't dock that day in port which has happened to us on a different cruise. You pay on board with either a credit card or cash.

The afternoon tour on the trimaran is from 2-5pm and costs $50, the morning tour that was organized was from 11:30am-2pm and cost $45, they said the snorkeling time was more or less the same and that the sailing time was cut. The snorkel spot Woodwind's cruise tour goes to is the reef off Klein Bonaire, a small uninhabited island off the coast of Bonaire that has been incorporated into the Bonaire National Marine Park. Although you can go off on your own, I thought it was fine following the guide as he pointed out a lot of different fish and at least 10 turtles, both green turtles and hawksbill turtles, I don't believe we saw and loggerhead turtles but that is the third kind you might see.

The snorkeling here is a drift snorkel which means you drift with the current and then the boat picks you up at the end, I think we were in the water for well over an hour, maybe 1 1/2 hours. The crew is friendly and knowledgable, we had Robert as our guide as the more experienced group, the others went with Dedrie (Dee). Of all the snorkeling tours we've ever done, I thought this one was the best run with a great crew. I would highly recommend it if you find yourself on Bonaire.

Snorkeling equipment is provided and they also provide beverages-soft drinks, beer, wine and rum punch. Plus a few local snacks were passed around.