Never been to the Caribbean before and as we're doing a cruise at Xmas we'd love to see something of the places we're visiting.
First stop for us is Bonaire and so I'd just like to know what are the cannot miss sites and how we might best see them.
I've been told that it's cheaper and better to use locals rather than rely on using whoever the cruise line sent you off with.
Please help.
Many thanks.

Welcome to BT, Martin. That is a true statement, but Bonaire is a tad different. All the dive sites on Bonaire are very similar. You could walk right or left off the cruise ship and get to great dive sites with great dive shops within a 1/4 mile walk.

perhaps it may be cheaper to "use locals' . but then all those touring are locals .. what do you want to do?? tour the island?? dive? snorkel?? perhaps you are differentiating between the tours offered and sold on the ship and the "freelancers"or auxiliary tours available .. bonaire is abit different .. all tour guides on the pre-booked scheduled tours must be licensed and have completed an extensive - intensive training course ..and adhere to the tour offered.. the majority of the independent tour guides and drivers have also completed this course .. .. it is strictly up to you what alternative you use .. the government controls the prices of all the tours/excursions ...so it would not really be a question of any money saved.. generally the "special"excursions(diving/ snorkeling) are available only thru the ship as bonaire is a very small island and resources are limited..whatever you choose .. this is Bonaire .. enjoy us ....

Martin,
cruisecritic.com is a good source, after registering click on "Boards" at the top, then go down to "Ports of Call" and find Bonaire.

Ray and Pam...interesting website. Do you know who owns it? I looked in the About Us, but it didn't have that information.

Martin, as Cecil said, welcome to BT. I think Pietri hit the nail on the head, what do you want to do? If you want to snorkel, Renee's your gal. If you want to dive, you could hit any of the dive shops and gear up. You can email them ahead of time to request a DM (usually around 30 bucks) to go with you. If you want to windsurf, go to the Windsurf Place and rent a board.

what i was trying to point out is that most of the dive shops and most probably Renee for snorkeling, the Windsurf place or Jibe City are booked by the shore excursion company here on Bonaire that makes the local arrangements for the cruise ship.If you have a special interest.. then inquire ahead .. again I repeat .. Bonaire is a small island and our resources limited to accommodate large numbers of tourists all at one time .... good luck and ENJOY!!!

You will be hard pressed to find a "cheaper" alternative since everyone is booked way in advance. If you really are brave, rent a car and strike out on your own. We are small easy to navigate.

Also, keep in mind that if you book an excursion via the cruise line, you're "covered"--in other words, if your on a tour arranged by the cruise, and the car/bus gets a flat & is late, you should be safe getting back to the ship (this is just a general guideline-you must check your ship's rules). If you leave the ship, rent a car on your own, it breaks down/you get delayed, you're on your own to pay to get back to the ship (they won't wait for you or pay for your flights to the next port). This is not just on Bonaire, but probably in all ports.

also a general rule is that you are additionally covered by the ship's insurance if you are on a cruise booked excursion... the independent/freelance tours are not .. an accident could be costly ... check with your ship ......

does the expression "penny wise, pound foolish" mean anything? Pietri and Ruth speak volumes of truth...

a flat on Bonaire? never

Once again, thanks Pietri, Ruth, and Michael...never truer (sp) words of wisdom

The one and only cruise I've been on, with my late mom (and one of my fondest memories of her), we were in the Port of Ensenada, Mexico. We were late leaving port because one man was missing...apparently he was drunk somewhere and late. We pulled out of port a half an hour late, and as we were heading out of the harbor, a patrol boat came zooming up...with the man, and they let him on board...lucky him.

Barry, if you are out there and I made any grammatical mistakes, I have not had my coffee yet.

My one and only cruise was a business convention in the 90s. Our first stop (out of Miami) was Key West. There were numerous announcements on-board warning us that the port of call time was going to be shortened, because of the rough seas ahead (to Cozumel), so we got out of Fat Tuesdays on time (11am, hic). Three suits from corporate in Ft. Lauderdale missed the announcements, and the ship; they were just wandering the streets. By the time they realized the ship departed, it was too late, and the ship too fast for the pilot boat to catch. All of their personal belongings were in their cabins (house keys, seemingly unnecessary documents like driver's licenses, etc), and the cruise ship holds your passports, so they were really screwed. Try arranging transportation w/o a passport or driver's license (and then getting back to your house w/o house keys...), and then one-way flights to another country...they ended up being thousands out-of-pocket (and this was pre 9/11). And of course, all of us made fun of them the rest of the cruise.
:-p

Ruth...lol...now that's a painful story for them, and entertaining for you I wonder just how many times that happens (folks miss the boat)...hmmm...things that make you go hmmmm....could be frustrating for the crew if it happens often...

Martin:

I have never been on a cruise but I have visited a number of places with cruise traffic and live near what has become a major cruise port (Seattle).

Cruise ships often (but not always) use locals as their vendors for shore excursions. That said, they often charge pax more than you could buy it directly (and they pay the vendors less than the vendor charges to someone who just shows up). Not something I like but that is for another day.

I would think the two rules of being on the cruise: a) don't get injured (I have seen more than one scooter accident in Coz or Cancun); and b) don't miss the ship.

So, what to do? Understand that some excursions are better than others. Try and learn which ones. Understand what time you will actually get to shore and what time you should be back at the dock (with some sort of margin for error.) Understand what activities each port might offer/specialize in. Understand that some islands (such as Bonaire) may have limited availability of certain activities.

Understand the trade-offs involved in booking direct versus through the cruise. Here is my guess of how that works (and it is just a guess):
a) Booking through a cruise, you will typically pay more and have fewer choices of providers (for example, low volume operations are often out);
b) The cruise ship will have weeded through some of the choices and will have confidence that what they describe is what you will get;
c) The cruise ship takes care of the details;
d) If the itenerary changes so you won't visit a port, you won't be charged for the excursion; and
e) The operator knows you must make the boat;

I think the most important thing for you is to identify what activities interest you. The "best" excursion might be an awful choice if you have no interest in it.

By yourself or with a big group? Windsurfing? SCUBA? Snorkel? Tour the island?

Once you decide that, folks here can (and already have) given lots of good advice.

I should add that I have never been on-island during cruise season.

That said, lets look at SCUBA as an example. On Princess, it is "starting from" $139 (plus a $10 MP tag). This appears to cover an orientation (good since not all ops offer on-demand orientation), gear rental, bouyancy check and two boat dives.

Pros: It is all handled for you. It includes everything. They are used to volume. They will work around the cruise schedule. You will meet and interact with people from your ship -- a chance to dive with friends or make new ones. Registration, gear rental, orientation, two dives in four hours.

Cons: Cost (especially if you already have your own equipment). You don't pick the operator (almost all are very good but some tend to offer longer dives than others). Some operators use larger boats while others use smaller boats.

Thanks for all the help, we think we'd like to go to Klein Bonaire the cruiseline charges £20 to go there for 2 hours.
Is it possible for us to make our own way there, or are there beaches closer to the port that are just as good ?.
Other than that we did wonder about an island tour, would a local taxi be as cost effective ? or would the coach from the cruiseliner be more comfortable ie airconditioned ?.
Thanks again

Martin

Sounds like you are from the "Old Country" its dollars down here not pounds ;))))

Some quick observations:

1. the water taxi makes regular runs to Klien unless it is slammed and booked out. If you go... THERE IS NO SHADE BE PREPARED!! It is truly a world class beach and there are no others here to compare.

2. There are alot of locals who can drive and run "tours". There is also a local program for certifying guides, credentialing them and issuing badges. Those who have them put alot into it and have passed an extensive and interesting course.

3. DONT MISS THE BOAT!!

4. Caveat emptor.

ciao

Again ... I repeat ,, bonaire is very small and the resources limited. I have worked in the cruise ship sector on bonaire for over 25 years. I can confidently advise you that the water taxi service - there is 1 on bonaire- and it is used by the cruise ship.. i know of no other way to get to Klien Bonaire.. so is probably your only option. There are 3 tour companies on Bonaire . Generally all their resources are used by the cruise ship .. altho if the bookings run low -1 company sells tours just outside the pier gate. Only authorized personnel are permitted on the pier . The tour companies use air-conditioned buses with a licensed guide. Also available are island tours by the auxiliary drivers using their own vehicles and taxi's. All these guides and drivers have completed the intensive course and are authorized to tour by permit from the Tourist Corporation Bonaire.They can generally be found on the pier in a line next to the tour buses.All the guides must be "locals' and bonaire residents. The price of the various tours are controlled by the TCB and posted on the pier. There is no bartering. The TCB also has an information booth on the pier and can help you.

We ended up visiting Bonaire on Xmas Day so obviuosly it was very quiet, no taxis plying for trade.
From what little we saw of the town it looked lovely and the water was crystal clear.
I did manage to leave a book behind so I hope whoever found it enjoys it as much as I was when I lost it lol...
If we get to visit again will deffo go further afield.

Actually I was wrong there were taxis but we were still a bit out of sync on time and didn't fancy a drive.