Visiting Bonaire with Kids

Bonaire… have you heard of it? Do you know where to find it on the map? Before we visited, I would have answered “no” to both of these questions. Bonaire is an island in the southern Caribbean. It sits off the coast of Venezuela and is one of the ABC islands – Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao – which are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with Bonaire being a municipality of the Netherlands. The Dutch influence is strong in the food, architecture, and language, although English is understood and spoken. These islands sit outside the typical hurricane belt, which makes them safe to visit during any time of the year. We visited for our Spring Break, which was in mid-March, and we had absolutely zero complaints about the weather… it was perfect!

So what makes Bonaire different from the other two islands, Aruba and Curacao? Aruba is the smallest of the three islands, but Bonaire is the least populated. Aruba has a population of just over 107,000 residents, Curacao has a population of over 157,000, and Bonaire has a population of just under 21,000. The small population of Bonaire helps the island to feel uncrowded, natural, and overall very safe. Bonaire is a diver’s paradise, especially because you can explore the island’s reef system right from the shore. Bonaire offers over 80 named dive sites, with the best part being that boats are not necessary for reaching these sites. The water is warm, blue, and visibility is typically fantastic. Predators are few and far between; in the week that we spent snorkeling and diving in Bonaire, we didn’t see one single shark! We saw a couple of barracudas and several eels, but we saw many more sea turtles and eagle rays than any type of “predatory” creatures. Another reason that Bonaire is so unique and special is that Bonaire’s reef system is very protected. All the waters around the island are included in the Bonaire Marine Park, which protects the reefs and marine life from the high water mark down to a depth of 60 meters (200 feet). This means that fishing, spearfishing, collecting, etc are all off-limits. This also means that the reef is in tip-top condition! Besides being known for its world class diving, Bonaire is also unique in that it is home to wild donkeys and flamingos.

Now that you know all about Bonaire, let’s talk about taking your family there to visit! We are a family of four; at the time we visited, our boys were 12 and 8. We live in Melbourne Beach, Florida, and our closest airports are the Melbourne airport and Orlando Airport. However, in order to keep things simple and budget-friendly, we drove about 3 hours down to the Miami airport to catch a direct flight to Bonaire. The flight was about 3 hours, and we landed in Bonaire’s International Airport, Flamingo Airport, in the capital city of Kralendijk. The airport is tiny, quick and easy to get through, and there are several rental car companies on the airport property, about a 2 minute walk. We rented a pickup truck through Budget, and although it was not luxurious (none of the rental cars in Bonaire are luxurious), it did the job. It is highly recommended to rent a truck when visiting Bonaire. Although the roads are fine, many of the pull-off areas for the dive sites involve rough dirt roads or unmaintained parking areas, so the height of a truck really helps. Plus, the bed of the truck is perfect for throwing all of your gear and equipment. We rented a condo through AirBnb and it was perfect… the space, the location, the amenities… we loved it. It had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a fully stocked kitchen (with a Nespresso machine… a necessity!), its own laundry room, a beautiful patio, a community pool, and more. Here’s a link in case you’re interested: AirBnb in Bonaire

Once we arrived at our AirBnb, we dropped off our things and set out to find some food. It was around 3pm, so we walked along the waterfront sidewalk towards the main part of town and found ourselves at Karels Beach Bar, overlooking the water. It was one of the only restaurants open at the odd hour we were looking for a meal, but it was fine. The view was the best part, for sure. Heads up though, it’s located right next to the cruise ship dock, so anytime there is a ship in port (seemed like one ship per day), Karels gets very crowded. Actually, the best part was when the boys took off their shirts and jumped in the water after we ate… how could they resist that water?!

Once our bellies were full, we had the energy to hit the grocery store for the basics. Typically when we travel, we buy groceries for breakfast and lunch, then we eat dinner out. Of course there are exceptions, but this is what we aim for. We went to Van Den Tweel, which is the grocery store that was recommended by our AirBnb hosts. It is a big store with a good variety of food and fresh produce. The only problem I had was finding the exact item I was looking for… their packaging is printed in Dutch! We ended up with cottage cheese instead of cream cheese, and garlic butter instead of regular butter. I think those were our biggest mix ups, so overall, we did pretty well. Also, it never fails, on every vacation we ever take, someone blows out their flip flop and we have to find new ones. This time, it was me. Luckily Van Den Tweel sells Havaianas, so I grabbed a pair and was all set. Phew!

We got back to the condo (everything was a close, easy drive from the condo), put the groceries away, and headed out to the water right in front of the condo to do a little snorkeling. How cool is that! There was a little, rickety set of stairs from the waterfront sidewalk down to the water. It is very common to see people snorkeling, diving, swimming, floating right off the shore; the water access points are everywhere so it is very easy to take a quick dip! There were tropical fish, coral, and plenty to look at, right in front of the condo. So fun!

Since lunch was so late and we didn’t need an official dinner, we set out to find the island’s ice cream parlor. It ended up being the first night of seven nights in a row for eating ice cream! We stopped at Gio’s every single night we were in Bonaire, usually for just one scoop on a cone. Their homemade gelato was truly amazing.

It ended up being a very long day of travel and getting settled, so we went to bed early, ready for some fun and adventure the next day!

Instead of going through “what we did” each day, I’m going to list the dive sites we visited (remember, we snorkeled because our boys are not dive certified yet), other activities we did and places we visited, restaurants we enjoyed, and anything else you need to know about a family-friendly vacation to Bonaire.

Here is a dive map of Bonaire: Bonaire Dive Map. When you’re driving, you can spot the entrances to the dive sites by the yellow painted rocks, each with the name of the dive site painted on it. So easy!

Snorkeling/Diving Spots We Visited and Would Recommend:

Karpata

Andrea I & II

1000 Steps

Alice in Wonderland

Salt Pier – can only use this spot if a ship isn’t being loaded

Invisibles

Klein Bonaire

*many of these spots are not the easiest to get into. The shore is rocky and rough and the waves break as you’re trying to enter. It’s all doable, just a heads up that it takes some effort to get in and out.

Additional Activities We Enjoyed:

Bonaire Donkey Sanctuary

Windsurfing (and lessons) at Jibe City

The Cadushy Distillery

Dive Friends Bonaire: Discover Scuba Diving course for our son

Water Taxi to Klein Bonaire There are several water taxis, this is the one we used.

Kiteboarding (and lessons) with Kiteboarding Bonaire – we didn’t do this, we chose to windsurf instead because of the ages of our children.

Bonaire Landsailing Adventures – we didn’t do this but it looks like it could be fun.

Restaurants We Visited:

Karels Beach Bar – probably the most “touristy” restaurant on the island. Can’t beat the views though!

Bon Tapa – who doesn’t love tapas?! Great variety, yummy food.

It Rains Fishes – super nice views, delicious food, great service. Make a reservation.

MEET & EAT Bonaire – really cute, great food, great service, great atmosphere.

Bonaire Blonde Brewery – locally made beers, a fun, casual variety of food.

Foodies – my children were obsessed with their commercial on the radio, so we had no choice but to go! Food was decent, wouldn’t make a special trip to go there though.

King of Ribs – food was fine, nothing special (but please keep in mind that I am a vegetarian); the restaurant is located on the second floor, so the views are great.

Sebastian’s Beach – perfect spot to grab a drink and an appetizer, and watch the windsurfers on Lac Bay.

Kite City Food Truck – good food, and although it wasn’t available when we visited, they are known for their Lionfish Burger! It’s worth noting that it took about 45 minutes to actually get our food; maybe they were short-staffed or just extra busy… you should still give it a try!

Stoked Food Truck – Adorable red, double decker bus with amazing food and quick service.

Million Dollar Bar – so cute, so tiny, the perfect spot to grab a beer to go (is that allowed? I actually don’t know, but we did) as you’re walking along the water or to dinner.

Gio’s Bonaire – the perfect way to end the day… a scoop of homemade gelato! They allow you to sample the flavors (there are some crazy ones!) unless there is a cruise ship in port.

I’ve mentioned Klein Bonaire a couple times now, so let me discuss it in detail. Klein Bonaire (means Little Bonaire) is an uninhabited island just off the coast of Bonaire. There are several water taxis that will take you over, and they each run every hour or so, each way. I think it was $20/person round trip and reservations are not necessary. It only takes about 20-25 minutes to get there by water taxi, so you can choose to go over in the morning and stay for just a couple of hours, or stay for the whole day. Several things to keep in mind when visiting Klein Bonaire: there is no shade; bring sunblock because you will be exposed the whole time you are there. There are no chairs to sit on, so bring a towel or blanket if you want to sit on the beach. There are no concessions/snack stands (no bathrooms either), so be sure to bring plenty of water, drinks and snacks with you if you will be staying awhile. When we visited Klein Bonaire, there were LOTS of people on the main beach area where the water taxis drop you off. As in, the beach was very crowded. I am not a fan of crowds, especially on beaches, so we walked a little to get away from the masses. If you want to snorkel, you can swim out from any of the beach areas, or, better yet, ask the water taxi to drop you off and you can drift snorkel for about an hour to the main beach area. We were the only ones on our water taxi to request the snorkel drop off, but the water taxis are happy to accommodate if you ask. You just have to be ready with your gear on, because when it’s time to go, you have to quickly jump in; there’s no time for getting in slowly.

The drift snorkel is definitely worth it, and I would highly recommend doing this at some point if you’re visiting Bonaire, or if you are visiting Bonaire by cruise ship and have limited time. The reef at Klein Bonaire was some of the healthiest we saw the whole trip. The reef drops quickly in some areas, and if you dive down and follow it into the deeper water, you will be amazed. It is truly beautiful; the fish and coral are abundant. You could easily just drift and snorkel along the shallower water, but I highly recommend doing a little free diving to check things out further, it’s worth it. Overall, you will be in the water for about an hour, but it could be more if you stop and watch fish, check out turtles, take a closer look at the coral, etc. Make sure you’re a strong swimmer if you decide to do the drift snorkel; there is no place to get out of the water if you get tired or cold. It is a very rocky shoreline until you get to the beach area.

Although Bonaire isn’t necessarily known as a family destination (it’s mostly just adults who are there to scuba dive and maybe some wind sport enthusiasts), it was the perfect vacation for us. So much to do, so laid back, gorgeous water, beautiful reef, friendly locals, a variety of food, and we never felt unsafe. I would recommend Bonaire to any families with children who enjoy the water and snorkeling, are great swimmers (there are definitely areas with currents), and are always up for a new adventure. There aren’t really any fancy resorts with huge wide beaches. That isn’t the vibe of Bonaire. It’s about getting in the water and enjoying everything under the surface. It’s peaceful, unspoiled, and uncrowded. We LOVED Bonaire!