I am coming to bonaire on a cruise and have tried to book Renee for 6 people. First of all, she does not take 6, second, she is booked. Any other suggestions?

first of all, i'd like to congratulate renee on her restraint. i know she will take no more than four people and i'll bet it's gotta be hard to turn down two extra clients, especially when they know each other. but she also realizes that she won't be able to give each her full attention if she has too many clients at once. way to go renee!!!!!

now...you can probably book onboard the cruise ship. or you can try the sea cow. another thought would be for all of you to buy your own snorkel gear before you leave home and hire a taxi on bonaire to take you to a snorkel site or two.

when will you be arriving???

oh yeah, welcome to bonaire talk. sorry, i've been a little distracted the last day or so and forgot my manners.

Amy, Sailing on the Woodwind is a really run time. I just posted this on another thread.

I just found out on cruise ship days the Woodwind has a different schedule.
On Cruise Ship days Woodwind arranges 4 hour trips but NOT TO KLEIN. It is too crowded
there when ships are in port so they do a sail with two snorkel stops. Andrea is usually one of them. They still serve the snacks and have the regular open bar.
They start an hour or two after the ship is in port.
Signing up is either on e-mail or direct to Dedrie that is on the dock when
the ship docks. Many days are full so be early with bookings. Feb. 6 and Feb. 20 are already filled with waiting lists.

The Water taxi can only be booked on board the ship. They do not sell on the dock, as they have a contract with most of the ships.

ok, darlene, please reread your first sentence. is sailing on the woodwind really a "run" time? not much room to run onboard, you'd trip on someone and fall overboard. maybe it's a rum time....i have lots of rum times on the woodwind. or fun time? had those too. knowing you, i'm guessing you meant either rum or fun.

this can be like that game where you post a word and people have to change the word by deleting one letter and inserting another. way to go darlene, you can start a new thread.

Pat, it is a very short run with many turns and rum stops every lap or two.

so the winner is whoever gets the most laps in before going over the side? kate....you reading this? tell your brother i said hi

I can't remember if it is suppose to be RUM or FUN!! Maybe both! Yea, that's it!!

We will be going to Bonaire off a cruise ship next week. We plan to visit Klein. Can you tell me if Klein has rest rooms, changing rooms, chairs for rent and shade?

Thanks,
Sandy

Last I remember it wasn't developed at all. Is that still the case?

there is a little lean-to shack for shade...that's about it...no restrooms, no chairs, and the only changing room is the room you might find behind a bush. take sunblock (lots of it), towels, water (lots of that too), and maybe even a few 2 liter bottles of water to rinse with if you plan on snorkeling. also, if you can find a garbage bag on the cruise ship, bring at least one and pick up debris from the beach as you walk it.

Mmmm

(Message edited by carnivore on January 14, 2008)

Well this is klein, of course with out the little bottoms.

These pics make me wonder if my trip to St. John (coming up in feb) was the correct decision. sigh... I feel a little bit guilty that I have not taken my husband to other islands besides Bonaire as I am his official guide to "all things Carib". "he's all things europe" lol
I have never seen more beautiful water in my life - anywhere - besides Bonaire. Next island trip for sure will be to Bonaire.

Michelle, I haven't been to St John for many a year, but it is a very beautiful island, which Bonaire in my opinion is not so much. There are sandy beaches, lots of vegetation, and great snorkeling. We learned to snorkel in Frank's bay, and learned to dive in the shallows. We Dove Carvel rock and Tarpon Alley before we got certified.

Ya gotta try new things. Like driving on the wrong side of the road!

Michelle ... and be sure to hike the Reef Bay Trail on St John. It is beautiful, like the rest of St John.

Ok, we should snorkel Frank's bay and hike Reef Bay Trail. Got it. Thanks for the reinforcement you guys. The Bonaire Talkers are the nicest people in the world! I was hoping that I chose a good island. I've been to St. Thomas but that was about 17 years ago so I don't remember it too well, except that it was more lush than Bonaire! :-)

Michelle, St John is such a beautiful, low key island, lush and deserty,(sp) hilly and flat(mainly hilly) gorgeous vegetation. Try to avoid Trunk Bay - over run by cruise ship passengers so coral and fish are somewhat ruined. I agree, the Reef Bay Hike is very interesting. Go with a park ranger - very informative, points out glyphs, and ruins. You only have to hike down then get picked up by a boat that will take you to Cruz Bay. A good place to snorkel is Waterlemon Key. Have been to St John many times but have been coming to Bonaire for the past 4 years since my bf is more interestd in diving.
Lucky you!!!

Once again thank you for the added stop on the snorkeling itinerary. I will add Watermelon key to the list!
I LOVE you guys!!!!!!!!!!!

I think it was salt cay where we snorkeled with turtles around a tall pillar of coral.

Frank's bay was quite close to our rental place, so we walked down to the water and got in. It was not very easily accessible or popular, so the fish seemed not to care about us being there.

Susan, I second the trail with a ranger, otherwise how you gonna find out about old man stinky toe?

I cannot not ask - Seb, who in the world is Old man stinky toe? Sounds like an island legend .... lol

It's a certain tree with a distinktive nut.

My cruise ship will dock at 1PM on Wednesday, Jan 23. Since Klein doesn't have any facilities I will not go snorkeling there. I was thinking of going to the Plaza resort (South of Tipsy Seagull) but I am afraid they may be full and I will get turned away. I'm really looking forward to snorkeling in Bonaire... Please help with any suggestions. I'm leaving Ny on Friday.

Thanks,

Sandy

Sandy:

The Plaza -- entering at the Tipsy Seagull and heading south toward the inlet is an excellent choice. I'd allow an hour to an hour-and-a-half to fairly thoroughly explore the area. Be forewarned that on cruise ship days the Plaza charges a $15.00 per person entrance fee.

The Plaza is about a one-mile walk from the pier. Alternatively, You could enter at the Divi Flamingo [a nice snorkel around the Cement pier] and snorkel the mile to the Tipsy Seagull. As I understand it a taxi to the Plaza from the pier is $15.00 one way, so that's an alternative also.

Here is a link to some snorkel pictures at the Plaza.

http://falls4sale.com/Bonaire/Plaza.html

Have a great time!