Hello! I've seen a few references to rock climbing on Bonaire. I'll be there for 10 days in May and would like to do a bit of climbing if possible. Does anyone have any info to share?

Thanks!

Hiya,

Did some climbing with a friend a few years ago. He brought some ropes 'n stuff with him. We went to 4 different sites... best was north of the salina behind Playa Frans with about 50ft vertical wall with a little bit of overhang at the top. Great view, nice drive out there and nice beach for swim after climbing. We also found some spots at Ol' Blue. Nice but not spectacular.
And one off the main road to Rincon which I did not like much. The rock was too sharp and too much cactus. Most of the climbs we did top rope. We found lead climbs very difficult. Was hard to place those hooks/plugs. You'll need a big variety of those if you wanna do that. By the way... my rock climbing experience goes as far as the ones I just described. Maybe 4 different climbs/ways up at each site. Thought it was pretty cool though!
A while ago I walked up between the big rocks above Fontein and found a big vertical wall. I figure it's about 40 to 50ft. high and 100ft. wide. Sort of smooth surface that looked very interesting to climb. Could not figure out how to do a top rope there. Surely must be a way to get up there but might be quite a hike.
I don't think there's any climbing gear anywhere on this island so bring your own. And you might wanna take some pieces of carpet to protect your webbing and rope. Hiking boots to get to some of the locations also recommended because the rocks are very sharp and some cactus will go through sneakers. My friend used climbing shoes only when he was climbing.
Hope this helps.

Karla,

Just got back from Bonaire, I went there for diving, but I'm usually a avid rock climber back here in the northeast. Bas, has it about right, I found some fun stuff on the north western side the island along the coast, by the indian drawing
site. Sharp rock, good hand holds, short climbs.
But no anchor points, all castus on top. I hought this would make a incredible climbing area, hundreds of possible routes and boulder problems. Climbs\boulders are leadable with a assortment of standard gear and long slings for tie offs. There are many cliffs like this, all in the northern part of the island. Because the diving is so good and the weather so hot, it is hard to convience yourself to climb, but it would be fun if your into new routes.

Thanks so much for the climbing info so far! At this point, we're going to see big the pile of stuff is we have to bring and then decide if we want to carry climbing gear too....

My climb/dive partner is having fantasies of bringing his rock drill and setting some anchors to get the climbing scene going on Bonaire. Personally, I'd rather submerge than get dusty and hot drilling....