Bonaire - A great place to vacation

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For Fun - Bonaire

In mid-December, 1996 my wife, Nancy, and I took a 10-day vacation to Bonaire.
We loved it. We loved it so much we returned in October of 1998 for another wonderful week of sleep, snorkle and eat.

It was recommended by a diving friend who tells us it is one of the top ten diving spots in the world. We wouldn't know, but it was great for snorkeling.

This page and the linked pages are devoted to extolling the virtues of Bonaire, the place we stayed, suggesting a few restaurants and activities, and discussing some of the snorkeling spots we explored.

Happy Holiday Homes	We stayed at Happy Holiday Homes, a set of bungalow/townhouse type residences, and we were very pleased with our experience there. They offer 1, 2, and 3 bedroom bungalows which are very nice, well appointed, and quiet. They are not on the beach but close.
Eating Out	Some amazingly good food at reasonable prices. However on our second visit, two years after the first 3 of the four resturants we loved had either closed or changed significantly. Our revised best bets are below.
snorkeling	There are many good sites - our experience on some of them.

IF you want to find out all about Bonaire try this link. Bonaire Home Page.

Some Hints on Visiting Bonaire

If you're visiting during the rainy season (Nov-Jan) bring lots of insect repellant - the tiny little bugs (we call them no-see-um's here in Minnesota) are nasty.

Throw an insulated bag full of snack things (sausage, sandwich meat, caviar) in your luggage. Imported food is a little more expensive than in the States, plus you will have a bag to throw in the car to hold your lunch.

lizard Do rent a car. Many diving and/or snorkeling sites are easily available from the coast road. It is fun and relaxing to drive down the road and decide to tryout a particular site (they are marked along the road). Pull on your gear, wade into the water and you are off. Also, driving through the countryside is delightful. In the north watch out for the lizards, they are everywhere - especially on the road. We used Avanti Rentals - or rather the folks at Happy Holiday Homes made the arrangements for us. We have been very pleased both times with the vehicles they have provided.

The drinking water is good. All the fresh water is distilled from sea water and is quite safe.

The Amstal Beer is good.

The weather is always warm. Locals told us the highest temperature they had seen was 89 degrees and the lowest 79. Even on the shortest day of the year the low night temperature was about 82 degrees.

The Rotary Club meets at noon Wednesdays at the Rendex-Vous Restaurant in downtown Kralendijk.

Eating Out In Bonaire

Rendez-Vous Kaya L. D. Gerharts 3 8454	Elegant continental menu - excellent food, entrees run about $12-$20. Marcel Nahr is the manager and very nice.
China Garden Kaya Grandi 47 8480	Very good Chinese food. Moderate prices.
Oceanfront Resturant @ Lions Dive resort. Just north of town.	The friday night reggae and Jamaican 'Jerk' night is quite good.
Green Parrot Sand dollar Condominium Resort 5454	We went for the Saturday night BBQ. Down by the water and very pleasent.
Shamballa's Hotel Rochaline 8286	We ate here twice. Good meals and both times spent less than $50. Sit outside and watch people pass on the harbor walk.

Snorkeling In Bonaire

Snorkeling (and for that matter, diving) essentially takes place only on the western side of the island. One look at the waves crashing into the volcanic rock coast on the east side is enough to send one headed for the relative peace of the leeward side.

As one drives along the coast dive/snorkeling sites are marked with yellow stones with the site name written on them. Driving south out of Kralendijk the density of dive sites keeps increasing as one nears the south end of the island - it seems there is another marker about every 300 yards. Note the yellow stone in the foreground - this is the beach marker.
Here are our thoughts on some that we explored.

The Pullover for Windsock beach.

One note: the water entry, even on the few sand beaches, usually requires crossing a lava like outcropping at, or near the water's edge.

Pink Beach	One of the few real sand beaches. White sand, but also the most crowded. There must have been 40 or 50 people here on the weekend. But it is several hundred yards long. A good spot for a day of playing in the water, or gentle snorkeling or diving. A modest amount of interesting reef life for the snorkeler.
Windsock	Probably the best snorkeling beach in Bonaire. Some small sandy areas to rest on shore, great reefs with lots of activity. It is located just off the end of the airport runway so it can be a bit noisy. There has been a lot of development of the beach since our fist visit.
Alice in Wonderland	Rocky entrance and watch out for the sea urchins. Good snorkeling - we spent 10 minutes following a sea turtle.
Punt Vierkant	Entrance is a bit rocky but the reefs are worth the work.
Lighthouse	We did not get here on our first trip. The road in required 4-wheel drive and lots of ground clearance. Our Toyota Starlet would have had its guts ripped out. On our second visit we had a pickup truck and ventured down the road. Not worth the trip.
Bachelor's Beach	Very small sand area at the foot of concrete stairs. Very gentle entrance - second only to Pink Beach for beginners or those refreshing rusty skills. Very good reefs but it is a bit tricky spotting the way back in to the beach.

Updated 11/19/98