This is my first post. We have just returned from
our first trip to Bonaire and since we benefited from the helpful posts on this site, I thought we could possibly help others from our experiences. I won't give every little detail - just the stuff that could be useful.

Overall we loved the island and the snorkeling was the best we'd ever done. Previously we had been to Cozumel and Guadeloupe (the snorkeling at Pigeon Island off Guadeloupe is spectacular but it's really the only good snorkeling place there). We would definitely return, hopefully next time as divers if we can get up the courage!

We stayed at the Plaza which we mostly loved. Not
much to add to stuff already written about it on this site. The buffet breakfast is wonderful and definitely worth the price, especially the coffee which is fabulous. On the down side, they had trouble making good on wakeup calls which they missed two days in a row. After we made a stink about it, they never missed another one. Still, I would suggest bringing an alarm clock.

The Plaza house reef is great only if you know
where to go. The first time we went where everybody seemed to go, near the beach bar, which we found to be just so-so, with most of the coral destroyed. Later we were told the right place:
walk south and enter at the pier in front of the
Tipsy Seagull. Then go under the pier and swim even further south. Only at the southern end of the Plaza is the snorkeling really good.

The guide books all mention the Bonaire Guided
Snorkeling Program (GSP) but few dive shops seem to have even heard of it. Apparently the only place still doing it is Bonaire Dive and Adventure at the Sand Dollar. The guy that does it is an American named Jerry (can't remember his last name) and he is a real expert. He gave us a computer presentation with videos of the fish and then took us by boat to the Jeff Davis site for a wonderful snorkel. $30 and worth it. This place is
also the only place we could find where they
have a good selection of prescription lenses for rental equipment. They made a tremendous difference for us near-sighted folks.

We did an excursion with Woodwind at the Divi.
$45 for 5 hours including lunch. The person who usually leads it, Renee, is away having back surgery, and she is currently replaced by a very friendly woman from Trinidad named Deirdra (sp?) or Dee for short. We went to No Name Beach and
Andrea I. Not having experienced Renee, I can't tell how well she is being replaced, but Dee was very accommodating and showed us lots of stuff,
including a turtle, often diving pretty far down to point things out. She also fed the fish with bread, which I'm not sure is right, but I didn't question her. I took some bread and held it out
but the only fish that actually took it was, of
all things, a smooth trunkfish. It was so cute!

Dee also led a night snorkel right at the Divi.
$15. Night snorkeling is something you absolutely have to do. The feeling of being under water at night is amazing and that's when you see the most
spectacular things. Among the things we saw were a moray eel out of its hiding place slithering around, several big lobsters clamoring over rocks, red shrimp, sleeping trumpet fish (they are
suspended vertically face down) sleeping parrot
fish (they lie on rocks as if they were dead), a large spotted drumfish, an arrow crab, eels which look just like snakes (Dee called it a snake eel but I found out later that it really has a different name I can't remember). If you don't need a wet suit in the day, you won't need one at night - the water is the same temperature. We did another night snorkel, just as spectacular, at the Sand Dollar reef with a couple we had met on the plane (this couple was staying at the Sand Dollar).

On our own we snorkeled at Andrea II, 1000 steps,
and Karpata. They seemed all pretty much the same (and wonderful) in terms of what you can see, except that Karpata is more difficult to swim in because the currents are rougher, so I wouldn't recommend Karpata. The way you are supposed to do all these sites at this part of the island is to first swim south from the entry point against the
current, and then drift back north with the
current, zigzagging between shallow and deep.

We spent one day at Washington Slagbaai park. When we entered we asked the official where the best snorkeling place in the park is and he said Wayaka. We are sure glad we listened to him and not the guide books which all talk about Playa Benge and Playa Funchi. Those places are all destroyed. Wayaka was protected and the snorkeling there is unique, unlike any of the other places, particularly for the density of the most gorgeous pristine coral of every type. We did Wayaka I which is shallow and great for weaving in and out of shallow coral, with no current to bother you, if you like that kind of
snorkeling (I love it). We found out later there
is also a Wayaka II and III which is less shallow. A couple we met who did it said it was incredible. The only downside to Wayaka is you have to drive through the park to get to it.

Other things about the park: we were glad we rented a pickup truck - those dirt roads are like riding a bronco. We started hiking at Brandaris but gave up because of the heat and the unspectacular scenery. We decided that Bonaire is
not the hiking island that Guadeloupe is, with
its lush rain forests, etc. But Bonaire has its own stark beauty which you can see when you drive, both north and south.

Miscellaneous:

A lot of the guide books talk about Prisca's ice
cream in Rincon as having a reputation for being the best in the Caribbean, or some such thing. Being ice cream fanatics, we tried it and were glad we didn't make a special trip for it.
We both thought it was terrible ice cream. You
can get better at almost any restaurant in town.

Best places to see flamingos without binoculars:
forget Pekelmeer and even Gotomeer, the flamingos are too far away. We had great views in two places: the lakes at the western end of Washington Slagbaai Park, not far from Wayaka and Boca Slagbaai, and several little lakes on the dirt road to Cai. We could have been lucky that they were there at the time (late afternoon at both places).

If you do two snorkels in a row, don't forget to
reapply the sunscreen in between. Our sunscreen said waterproof so we didn't and we both paid the price with really severe sunburns on the backs of our legs. Luckily it didn't happen until the last two days.

That's all I can think of for now. If anyone has
any comments/questions, we'd be glad to give more detail. Otherwise, we hope somebody finds this useful.

Thank you Stan & Linda!

What a great snorkel report, I can't wait to use the info on my upcoming trip. These trip reports are the best way to learn about a destination.

Lisa in Montreal

Stan and Linda, I really enjoyed your very informative trip report. I especially loved the part about the Woodwind as I love to sail with her and it was good to hear that Ulf and Dee are still running a good sail and a fine snorkel. I have never gone in the park yet but after hearing about Wayaka, I might have to give it a try!Thanks for sharing

Great Report! One thing though, to expirienced divers out there I would recommend Playa Benge. I dove it last October and thought it was great.

Stan & Linda -

Thank you for "paying back" the newsgroup by posting your adventure. We all know it takes a bit of thinking, time and effort to put together a good travel report.

As I've said before, even though we have been to Bonaire three times, we learn more from first-time reports than any others.

We chuckled at your experience with wake-up calls at the Plaza. Reminds us of the time the Plaza front desk told us to have our bags outside our door at 3:30am to catch a 7:00am flight. They assured us that the bags would be whisked from our door to a waiting taxi.

Of course, the only one up at 3:30am was Bandit, the Plaza cat!

Just out of meaness we started to leave our bags out and wake someone up to go get them. But we have just enough experience with Bonaire that we lost the petty streak and pulled our bags through the property ourselves hoping we didn't wake up anyone...guests or staff!
We are particuarly interested in your notes on Wayaka. We have been to other snorkeling locations in the park, but only recently, thanks to you and others, have we learned about Wayaka. Top of the list when we return.

Now, when are the Sisskins planning their next Bonaire adventure?

Charles Poteet
Dallas

P.S. Wonder if your post should also be placed/or moved to the Snorkeling thread?

What a great report! We snorkeled off the beach at the Plaza and thought it was pretty good....we would go in up near the sailboat rental and go south. We never went further than the peir at the Tipsy Seagull - we sure will next time!We are already talking about "next time" (in fact we just booked our trip for next April!) and the Washington Park is one place we plan on going this next time - now we know exactly where to go. We also snorkeled off of No Name Beach and were totally bothered by a pesky fish who would not leave us alone and actually bit both of us (and it was not a cute trunkfish). I figured that someone must have been feeding the fish over there - not a good thing to do. Thanks again for a great report. I am going to print it up and put it in the folder for next year.

thanks for the information about the guided snorkeling from the divi.we have gone on the woodwind many times and have been pleased but it might be nice to try something different.although we have snorkeled at the pier by tipsy seagull we have never tried going south ,looking forward to trying it next week.can hardly wait!

We have snorkeled Wayaka II in Washington Slagbaai Park this April, it was a great spot! Very relaxing, very nice with a romantic little sand beach! Very shallow in the beginning, would be a good place to go with kids too!

Thanks for all your feedback. It's nice to know that my writing could be helpful to people. Someone suggested moving this thread to the snorkel topic. I'm not sure how to do this. If someone wants to do it for me, please do. Otherwise, until the next trip!

Stan,

I'm the one who moves things around, and no need to move it - you posted a trip report, and that definitely goes in this topic area.

Jake