My wife and I are trying to come back without kids in early April for a long week.The cheapest way to get there seems to be Boston-Aruba and then to Bonaire on DAE.Problem is DAE is not booking that far ahead.After 3 years of lurking around BT and a BT flag, We are sooo ready to come back.Anyone got any DAE suggestions or alternatives.I've done my homework and this is by far the cheapest way to go,but not if we get stuck in Aruba.

Marty I do love that route but the DAE schedule (if they keep it the same) is not very good for that route. Pretty much any day you are arriving in Aruba early afternoon yet you still end up in Bonaire at 7:30PM.

The one MAJOR thing to avoid is taking earlier DAE flight to Curacao and then waiting there for the later Bonaire flight. STAY IN ARUBA. Take the later flight to Curacao which will then go on to Bonaire (after it picks up some pissed off passengers).

Thats not a bad deal, you will get 5-6 hours in Aruba which is plenty of time to get to a resort and get some sun/beach. We did that on one trip and it broke up the trip nicely.

There has been talk about other carriers from Aruba to Bonaire. I have not heard anything concrete. Watch the threads in this section for word.

My family and I are travelling that route on Monday. Yeah DAE is a pita. We were limited in what days we could fly on and end up leaving Bonaire on a Tuesday. The only DAE flight that we could get that would make the connection leaves BON at 0600. That is going to be a long day.

The real pain about DAE though is their luggage restrictions, 20 kg (44lbs) checked luggage and 10 kg (22lbs) carry on. For anything over that we were quoted $4/kg each way. This is another gotcha because their website says $2/kg but because the flight from AUA to BON is actually two flights, AUA - CAU and CAU - BON they hit you for $2/kg on each of the flights for a total of $4/kg between AUA and BON. Buyer beware.

Is there a new airline starting soon?? I keep reading about something...I would love one other option aside from DAE.

I desperately looked for an option for our trip in Feb 2007. Looks as if Tiara and Insel may fly Aruba to Bonaire, but when is the question. I booked DAE, as neither had a firm start up date. The web sites were www.tiar-air.com, and www.fly-inselair.com. It's too late to help me for 07, maybe Feb 2008. Good luck.

Apologies for the dumb questions here. What is DAE's website? We are going to Aruba for a week in January and while there, want to go over to Bonaire for a day and come back to Aruba. Question is, is DAE the best, most cost effective way to do this? Is there a boat service that is worth taking and if so how long and what is the cost and return like?

Apologies, another stupid question. I cannot find a schedule online for DAE of flights between Aruba and Bonaire, i.e. from Aruba to Bonaire and back the same day. Is there?

Welcome Larry! There is no boat service. I would imagine DAE is the only way to go, unless one of the new airlines gets their act together by Jan. DAE website is www.flydae.com, and timetable gives you flight times. No flights go directly from Aruba to Bonaire. All go thru Curacao. The Curacao stop is just a touchdown to let passengers on and off. You won't get off the plane. Not all A to C flights continue on, so take another look at the schedule with that in mind.

Thanks all for the responses. Very helpful. To summarize all of the info from various sources, I understand that as of today, DAE is the only way to get from Aruba to Bonaire. There are no boats. The flights on any given day may be sold out, so you have to book in advance. The flights are not direct, they go through Curacao. DAE does not presently allow booking online but this feature is supposed to be coming before end of this year. Coming from Boston, I am told that despite criticisms appearing on this site, the flights through San Juan are the most efficient and reliable. Thanks again and have a great winter in Bonaire. We will be making a day trip last week in January to Bonaire from Aruba to investigate month long accomodations for the future relative to Aruba and Curacao.

A new airline flying form Aruba to Curacao and on to Bonaire: INSEL AIR. Also charters available.