Part of the 'ABC' islands of the Netherlands Antilles, Bonaire is consistently rated among the top diving and snorkeling locations in the world. The island is ringed by a spectacular coral reef which is easily accessible from the shore. The entire coastal perimeter of Bonaire has been declared a marine sanctuary. The pristine coral reef surrounding uninhabited Klein Bonaire is particularly well conserved, and it draws divers, snorkelers, and boaters from around the globe. Bonaire is also famed for its flamingo populations and its donkey sanctuary. Flamingos are drawn to the brackish water, which harbors the shrimp they feed on. Starting in the 1500s, the Dutch raised livestock on Bonaire, and the descendants of those goats and donkeys roam freely on the island today.
Bonaire Weekly News Reports
Bonaire Dutch Caribbean - Bonaire Dutch Caribbean - Pictures, maps & information about natural attractions & accommodations in Bonaire in Dutch Antilles. Plus a calendar of events.
Bonaire Marine Park - Bonaire Marine Park - Information on diving, snorkeling, boating, and fishing in the waters around Bonaire and Klein Bonaire.
Bonaire Restaurant Association - Bonaire Restaurant Association- The Bonaire Restaurant Association represents the finest eating.
Car Hire Guide - Car Hire Guide - Bonaire car hire offers car rental in all major cities of Bonaire from 225 USD
Official Guide to Bonaire - Official Guide to Bonaire - This site offers current information about visiting the island of Bonaire.
Diving Bonaire - Diving Bonaire - Official site for the Tourism Corporation of Bonaire which provides a history of the Marine Park, plus info on water sports and good diving spots establishments on the island of Bonaire.
World Dive Adventures - World Dive Adventures - Dive travel specialists featuring Bonaire.
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Bonaire's license plates carry the logo Diver's Paradise (in English). The island is ringed by a coral reef which is easily accessible from the shore along the Western and Southern sides. Furthermore, the entire coastline of the island has been declared a marine sanctuary, preserving local fish life. Bonaire is also consistently recognised as one of the best destinations for snorkeling.
The coral reef around uninhabited Klein Bonaire is particularly well conserved, and it draws divers, snorkelers, and boaters.
Bonaire also has several coral reefs where seahorses are common.
Bonaire, while not highly developed for tourism-that is to say, it's not a slick and artificial sort of place-offers a number of activities, from hiking and sightseeing in the enormous Washington-Slagbaai National Park, to shopping, swimming, birdwatching, and just hanging out. It's an island with great potential to get busy having fun, or to relax and luxuriate in the lack of choices.
Bonaire - Azure seas, pink flamingos, and white salt pans are just part of the appeal of this Dutch Caribbean island. Join two travelers as they discover all Bonaire has to offer.
The air in Bonaire's City Café is thick with conversations that rise and fall with odd intonations and alien phrasing. Dutch, German, English (both American and British versions) and Papiamento create a din that is punctuated by laughter -- the common language in this meeting of cultures on Kralendijk's waterfront.
Summertime and the living - and diving and kayaking and biking and everything else - is blissfully easy on Bonaire. Which is just as well, because who wants to work hard at having fun on vacation?
Bonaire's beaches, though not for the faint of heart, offer multicolored stretches of white, pink and black sand. The sand is usually full of coral and rather hard on the feet, and the beaches on the leeward coast are narrow. However, several hotelfront beaches have been helped with extra sand. Almost all the beaches are uncrowded, offering some of the island's most picture perfect scenery and the ideal setting to relax, scuba dive, snorkel or sunbathe without distraction.
Sorobon is a clothing optional beach found in a private, nudist resort where non-guests pay US$10 for admission. The other side of the island has some of the best scuba in the Caribbean. Windsurfing is very popular on Sorobon's windward side, and there is a casual restaurant.
The vast Washington-Slagbaai National Park, at the northwestern end of the island, is home to three interesting beaches. Boca Cocolishi is a black-sand beach on the north coast and is evidence of the island's volcanic beginnings. Boca Slagbaai, located on the western coast, is popular with tour boats for snorkeling and swimming and you can see flamingos wading in the salinja behind the beach. There are clean facilities in a bright yellow restored 19th-century house and salt barn, and drinks and snacks are available. Playa Funchi, which is good for snorkeling but has no sand and no facilities, has calm waters full of parrotfish and coral and is also home to hundreds of flamingos.
Lac Bay has an area of mangroves at the north end of the bay, and in Playa Chiquito the surf is strong and it is dangerous to swim, but it is pleasant for sunbathing. Another reasonable, but shadeless beach is Witte Pan or Pink Beach, south of Kralendijk, past the Salt Pier. The water is shallow and good for swimming, but the strip of sand is narrow and gritty. And an interesting historical noteĀ
the beach is lined with stone huts in which slaves working the saltpans used to sleep. Playa Lechi is a crowded beach good for dining, swimming, sunbathing and snorkeling from the shore.
