ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ISLAND BONAIRE
Bonaire is a little island located in the southern Caribbean just North of Venezuela and right next to Aruba and Curacao. Making these 3 islands the ABC islands. Bonaire is still a laid back island, without stressful traffic, without stoplights and with lots of diving freedom and other activities that can be done.
1. BONAIRE HAS AN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Bonaire has an international airport, this makes it really easy to travel to: there are direct flights from the US and from Amsterdam. Regarding COVID Bonaire is working on making departure even easier and is setting up a test center in the airport. Bonaire's flamingo international airport is probably one of the only airports worldwide where the check-in is outside. By the way the airport is called flamingo because more than 10000 flamingos made this lovely little island their home and use it as a breeding ground.
The 2 European airlines catering to Bonaire are TUI and KLM and the Amerian ones are Delta and American Airlines. Seasonally there are also Canadian flights with Sunwise.
2. BONAIRE IS A LITTLE PIECE OF EUROPE IN THE CARIBBEAN
Bonaire is a special municipality of the Netherlands so when visiting Bonaire you will find a refreshing mix between the Caribbean laid back lifestyle and dutch culture. So don't be surprised if you hear a lot of dutch on the streets. This is the main language spoken on the island, even though english is spoken and understood by almost everyone. You will also hear a dialect spoken amongst the locals called Papiamento. That is a mix between dutch and spanish. You will also find a lot of people from south america, making spanish also a language frequently spoken on the island.
3. BONAIRE IS CONSIDERED THE SHORE DIVING CAPITAL OF THE WORLD
Bonaire is mainly known for diving. But it is the shore diving that makes it special. The choice of dive sites accessible from shore is so wide that even in 14 days of vacation it is impossible to see all dive sites. Conveniently all dive sites are marked with a yellow rock so you know which site you are diving. There are great dive guide books available if you want to dive alone with your buddy, but we are also more than happy to show you some unmarked dive sites on a guided dive or give you some good tips and tricks depending on the weather conditions.
Fun fact: Bonaire is so sure to be the perfect diving location that on the licence plates of the cars there is written "Divers Paradis"
4. BONAIRE HAS WAY MORE BEACHES THAN YOU THINK
You might have seen pictures of Bonaire and read about recommendations to bring your own water shoes to go in the water and now here you read about Bonairian beaches. Now you might ask how does that make sense? The coastal stretch of Bonaire is really long and especially the south side of the island is full of hidden litte gems. Please, don't go imagining 10km long white sandy beaches to stroll on. But here and there you will find cute little sandy stretches hidden along the coast probably sheltered by some vegetation and some mangroves and the entry is only sand. What else can we wish for?
We counted roughly 20 of those little beaches but be aware that depending on the tides and the time of the year some beaches might disappear while others appear.
5. AND A FEW MORE GOOD THINGS TO KNOW
And here a few more useful facts about Bonaire:
- The currency used on the island is the US Dollar
- The time zone in Bonaire is GMT -4
- Bonaire does not do daylight saving time
- The capital of Bonaire is Kralendijk
- There is only one other city on the island called Rincon
- The tap water is desalinated sea water and tastes awesome
- Donkeys and goats are roaming free around the island and are frequently encountered
Read more about Bonaire in our other articles:
© Tropical-Divers, Kralendijk, Bonaire, 2023. All rights reserved.