A Week on Bonaire: Diving, Donkeys, and Desert Silence
I arrived at Flamingo International Airport (BON) at 2 PM on a Saturday, picked up a rental truck that smelled like sunscreen and old neoprene, and drove straight to the nearest dive shop to buy my marine park tag. US$45 for the year. That tag — a small plastic card with a sea turtle on it — is your ticket to 80+ shore dive sites on an island where you literally park your truck, gear up from the tailgate, and walk into world-class reef.
No boat. No dive master hovering behind you. No rush. Just you, your buddy, and the Caribbean Sea.
Bonaire is 40 km long, 11 km wide, and flat enough that you can see both coasts from the middle. Kralendijk — the capital — is a two-street town with dive shops, restaurants, and pastel Dutch colonial buildings. Population: about 22,000 for the whole island.
I checked into a studio apartment in Hato (north of Kralendijk, US$95/night — not cheap, but it had a kitchen, which saves a fortune on food). Unpacked. Drove south along the coast.
The dive sites are marked with yellow-painted stones along the road. Each one has a name: Alice in Wonderland. Oil Slick Leap. Bari Reef. 1000 Steps. You pull over, park, gear up, and enter the water.
The simplicity of this system is staggering. No booking. No check-in. No time slot. Just yellow stones.
Day 2: First Dives — 1000 Steps and Hilma Hooker
1000 Steps (there are actually about 70) descends a limestone cliff to a shore entry point with a gradual reef slope. Visibility was 25+ meters. Within 5 minutes I was face-to-face with a queen angelfish the size of a dinner plate. Staghorn coral in good condition. A green moray eel tucked into a crevice. The reef starts in 3 meters of water and slopes to 30+.
Afternoon: Hilma Hooker, a 72-meter cargo ship sunk in 1984 (drug smuggling, inevitably) that now sits upright in 30 meters of water, covered in sponges and soft corals. It's one of the Caribbean's best wreck dives. We did it from shore — swam out about 100 meters to the mooring line and descended.
Dive count for the day: 3. Tank fills at the dive shop: US$5 each.
Day 3: Klein Bonaire
Took a water taxi from Kralendijk to Klein Bonaire — an uninhabited island 750 m offshore. US$20 round-trip. No Name Beach is exactly what it sounds like: a strip of white sand with nobody on it. The snorkeling off the shore was the best I've had in the Caribbean. Sea turtles. Huge barrel sponges. Parrotfish everywhere.
I brought water, a sandwich, and a book. Lay on the sand for three hours. Took the 3 PM water taxi back. Might be the most perfect half-day I've spent on any trip.
Day 4: Flamingos and Salt Pans
Drove south to the flamingo sanctuary and salt pans. Thousands of Caribbean flamingos — Bonaire hosts one of the hemisphere's largest breeding colonies. You can't enter the sanctuary, but the viewing from the road at Pekelmeer is excellent. The salt pyramids (massive white mounds from the solar salt works) are striking against the arid landscape.
The southern tip of the island is a different world from the north. Flat, dry, almost lunar. The slave huts — tiny stone shelters where enslaved people lived while working the salt pans — are a sobering reminder of the island's history. They're preserved as a memorial.
Afternoon dive at Salt Pier — the pilings of the working salt pier are covered in orange cup corals, sponges, and seahorses. One of the most unusual dive environments I've encountered.
Day 5: Washington Slagbaai National Park
The northern third of the island is a 5,600-hectare desert park. Entry ~US$15. 4WD required — the dirt roads are genuinely rough. I spent a full day driving the long loop, stopping at Boca Slagbaai (a secluded bay for snorkeling), the flamingo lakes, and various cacti-dotted viewpoints.
The landscape is austere and beautiful. Divi-divi trees bent by the constant trade wind. Feral donkeys wandering the road (more on those tomorrow). Zero other vehicles for stretches of an hour.
Bring plenty of water. There are no facilities inside the park beyond basic restrooms at two stops.
Day 6: Donkey Sanctuary and Lac Bay
Morning: the Donkey Sanctuary. Over 700 feral donkeys — descendants of colonial-era working animals that were released when mechanization arrived. Free entry (donations welcome). The donkeys are absurdly friendly. They'll nuzzle your hand, follow you around, and pose for photos with the patience of professional models.
I did not expect to spend 90 minutes at a donkey sanctuary. I spent 90 minutes at a donkey sanctuary.
Afternoon: Lac Bay, on the east coast. A shallow, flat-water bay that's one of the world's best windsurfing spots. I'm not a windsurfer, but I rented a kayak (US$25/half-day) and paddled through the mangrove channels. The water was warm, clear, and knee-deep for hundreds of meters. The Sorobon beach bar area has a mellow vibe — rum punches and reggae.
Day 7: Last Dives and Departure
Morning dives at Andrea I and Bari Reef — both shore entries within a few minutes' drive of my apartment. Bari Reef is directly off the Sand Dollar Resort dock and is arguably the most convenient dive in the world. You walk off the dock, deflate your BCD, and you're on a reef slope within 30 seconds.
Final dive count for the week: 16. Total tank fill cost: US$80. Total marine park tag: US$45. Some of the best diving in the Western Hemisphere for $125 in fees.
I cleaned the truck of sand and salt, dropped the tanks at the dive shop, and drove to the airport.
Would I Go Back?
In a heartbeat. Bonaire is the most no-frills, dive-focused destination I've ever visited. There's no nightlife to speak of. The restaurant scene is functional, not exciting. The island's appeal is narrowly focused: reef, reef, more reef, flamingos, donkeys, desert.
