Just returned from my first trip to Bonaire and thought I would pass along a few of my thoughts. I picked Bonaire solely based on the idea I wanted to snorkel, snorkel and then snorkel some more. Took a Continental flight from Pittsburgh connected in Houston and into Bonaire about 5:00 a.m. on Satuday. Really good airline - they actually are timely AND give you free food. My friend and I rented an apartment at Caribbean Court through the www.VRBO.com web site. It is next door to Plaza Resort where we spent a good amount of time on their beach. The apartment was fine and we were able to save a little money by eating in a couple meals each day. I had booked Renee (www.infobonaire.com web site) as a snorkel guide for 3 trips including a night snorkel. She picks you up so you don't need a car to see different snorkel sites if you don't want to drive. She took me to Andrea I and II and what a wonderful site that is - hard and soft corals all over and lots of fish. Also, good snorkeling to be had simply off the downtown pier.

I had done alot of reading in preparation for this trip both on fodors, tripadvisor and www.bonairetalk.com. I wanted to know where to snorkel. As far as snorkeling off a hotel beach, in my opinion from my one week tour, hands down the best location is the Plaza. It is easy snorkeling on your own and you will see alot. I snorkeled off Sand Dollar, Den Laman, Eden Beach (I must say here however that with my guide here at Eden I saw sand divers and scorpion fish) and Divi. Perhaps if you were to venture further out into the areas with boat traffic you might find more to see but I didn't want to go there. Off Plaza is where I saw a spotted eagle ray, spiny lobster, a turtle, squid and several eels hiding in the coral during the daytime. The amount of fish life is staggering - so much to see I could have spent all day every day just watching. It is a very busy fish community - lots going on!

Sadly one week is not enough time to snorkel all the spots around the island and see all there is to see. Bonaire is a desert island with lots of cactus. Free roaming goats,donkeys and we saw a couple pigs by the Washington National Park. The downtown area reminds me of Bermuda with its multi-color homes and buildings. I found the people friendly and the driving easy. We experienced almost no issues with the language as most people seem to speak english. It was a wonderful week and if you love snorkeling you will definitely love Bonaire and its healthy reefs!

I enjoyed your trip report. Thank you so much for posting it.

Thank you for this report. Bonaire is on our list of places to go sometime soon.

In terms of the snorkeling, did you find that the water is generally calm with no current?
On the average, how deep are the reefs that are accessible from shore?

Thanks.

Good post.
The snorkeling from the beach at the Plaza Resort is the best I have found anywhere. Glad you had a great time.

mymoosie: The only rough day we had in the water was mid-week when we took a water taxi over to Klein Bonaire to snorkel. The waves were quite high and it was tough swimming back against the current as I snorkeled - I'm stubborn though and refused to give up any snorkeling time by getting out of the water to walk back... My snorkel guide said however that in her opinion September through November is perfect weather because the water is very warm and calm then. My understanding is that there are a few dive/snorkel sites are quite rough except for during the late summer/early fall period, but we didn't experience much of that ourselves. There are alot of sites that offer coral in very shallow water (3-5 feet deep). You don't always need coral though to have a good snorkeling experience. There is so much fish life off Bonaire - look around the many piers and rocks near shore. You will be amazed. Booking a guide does help though - they will point out much that you would never see on your own.

BETHML - Thanks for that info. September thru November is good eh? Definitely in line with our usual months of travel. Bonaire is really in the list of contenders within the next year or so for us then.

I have read about Renee before and will plan on booking her as a guide for a few trips. Glad current is not generally an issue. I'm not a fan of drift snorkeling.

Nice report. I love snorkeling too. Just got back from St John and was eaten alive by No-see-ums. I am allergic and have strong and long lasting reactions to their bites. Do you know if they are a problem in Bonaire? What is the best time of year to go, lease amount of rain with good water conditions? Thanks

Puckett: I spent alot of time online at www.bonairetalk.com before my trip and had read about the mosquito problems that some experience. I brought Deep Woods with 30% DEET with me and used it one time only. We were in an apartment that did NOT have screens so we were very careful to close up by 6:30 p.m. if we were in at that time and turn on the A/C. Kept it closed up all night to avoid a mosquito problem. We each ended up getting probably 10-15 bites on legs and arms but never really saw the mosquitos - the bites just appeared. Don't think we experienced any of the noseeums - didn't seem to have alot of bites down on the lower leg area so I think they were all mosquito caused.

The island is a desert - imagine taking Arizona and placing it in the Caribbean. That's what it reminds me of. The "rainy" season is December - April. During our entire week there (beginning 4/26) it rained for about 1 minute during the night and that was it. Our snorkel guide, Renee, told us that her favorite time of the year is August - October due to it being the time frame for the calmest and warmest waters.

A question for you about St. John - I have wanted to try the island and am thinking about it for next year possibly. Snorkeling is a big reason for me choosing destinations - I have read so much about St. John snorkeling and how great it is. What did you find the highlights of your snorkeling to be? Thanks!

Thank you for posting about your trip. We would love to make it to Bonaire some day.