Hi - I am new to this board and trying to decide if Bonaire is for us. We have become avid snorkelers over the last couple of years, but, because of some motion sickness issues we gear toward shore snorkeling. For that reason we love St. John. Bonaire sounds like it fits our needs like a glove. Two questions.

One of the great things on St. John is that there is always shade when it gets too much in the sun. Is there any of that on Bonaire?

We are coming from Boston, MA. How many connections are we talking to get there and how long? Would American be our best bet?

Thanks for any help, sue

Sue, some shade up north but minimal to none in the south. AA will have a layover in San Juan PR, sometimes as long as over nite. AJ has a short layover in MoBay, Jamaica. a lot will depend on which airline is closest to you. Andy

Sue,

St John and Bonaire have quite different "feels" to them. Bonaire is, indeed, much more arid, especially in the south, as Andy mentioned, but the snorkeling is so glorious and varied! (Except in the area from Kralendijk, the main town, going north about 2-1/2 miles to the Andrea I dive site, #20 on this map: http://www.skyviews.com/bonaire/map.html A storm surge a few years ago wiped out the shallow water corals there, but there are still lots of fish. And the Andreas and north are great!) Here's Skyviews' chart of the dive sites (all those yellow dots) showing the ones they think are good for snorkeling. http://www.skyviews.com/bonaire/divesitelist.html#Anchor-11481
Many, many more places to snorkel on Bonaire than on St John, and there's even a bit of sea grape here and there. (But nothing like the lush growth on St John, which we've visited twice. Cinnamon Bay was really good when we had small kids, but now that we're on our own and seriously loving snorkeling, we think Bonaire is the best!)

We travel Boston to Bonaire ourselves. With the current schedule, there's a choice between a crack of dawn departure on Air Jamaica, connecting in Montego Bay for an afternoon arrival in Bonaire vs. a later morning departure on AA, connecting in San Juan to an American Eagle flight which arrives in Bonaire at night. On the return flights, it's just the reverse - AA leaves Bonaire with a 5am checkin and gets to Boston in late afternoon; AJ leaves late afternoon and arrives in Boston late evening. Same day both ways on both airlines, but AJ promises you more time in Bonaire. We did the AA route last time and are trying AJ in a few weeks. Just plug in "BOS" and "BON" on the AA and AJ websites (or try Orbitz or similar) to see the alternatives.

I hope this is helpful.

David

Ah, the heartbreak of it. If only someone would invent an island that is a combination of St. John and Bonaire. You can have your shade plus nice snorkeling or you can have no shade plus fantastic, amazing snorkeling. Maybe Palau or some other Micronesian islands have both shade and great snorkeling. If you like snorkeling, give Bonaire a try. Take really big hats and plenty of water.