BONAIRE Travel Guide! 🇧🇶 (30 BEST things to do, cost, & more - our vlog)
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- Опубліковано 9 лип 2024
- This is BONAIRE, a hidden gem in the Caribbean known for its incredible diving! We've spent 10 weeks on the island so in this vlog we're going to show you around the island, some of the best things to do on Bonaire (for non scuba divers!), share some important information, and cover the prices to expect! We also have some friends visiting on this trip so it will be double the fun! :)
We're Brandi & Alan, full-time travelers and creators since 2018. We post fun vlogs and informative guides to both document our travels and help you on your own journey.
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Planning your own trip to Bonaire? Add these to your itinerary!
1. Flamingo International Airport!
2. 1000 Steps - the most popular snorkel & dive location
3. Bonaire's Caves - Bonaire has a few cave systems
4. Karpata Dive Site - amazing diving
5. Landhuis Karpata - a historic plantation!
6. Goto Lake Overlook - Frequently has wild flamingos and there are a few hiking trails nearby.
7. Donkey Sanctuary Bonaire - a wild donkey rescue
8. Panorama Rincon - a great view over Rincon
9. Rincon - the cultural center of Bonaire
10. the Cadushy Distillery - a distillery making local liqueurs
11. Posada Para Mira - try Bonairian Cuisine here!
12. Andrea 1 - another popular dive site near town.
13. Andrea 2 - " "
14. Weber's Joy (AKA Witches Hut) - another popular dive site
15. Klein Bonaire - A tiny island off Bonaire
16. Kralendijk - the capital of Bonaire!
17. Snorkeling in Kralendijk - located right on the water
18. Seru Largu - a monument locoated at the hill top and is great for sunset!
19. Suriname food - a must try while in the Netherlands or the Dutch Caribbean!
20. Willemstoren Lighthouse - a lighthouse that marks the southern tip of the island.
21. Flamingo sanctuary - there are TONS of wild flamingos to spot!
22. Bonaire Salt Pans - See how they make salt and the stunning pink water!
23. Kiteboarding Bonaire - a popular destination for wind surfing
23. Salt Pyramids - just a neat stop
24. Slave Huts & Obelisks (white)- a historic site on Bonaire
24. Slave Huts & Obelisks (red)- another set of old slave huts
25. Salt Pier - one of the most popular dive sites
26. Tori's Reef - a. southern dive site
27. Mangrove Kayaking & Snorkel - awesome tour of the mangroves
28. Lac Cai - a beautiful bay with shallow water
29. Conch Graveyard - a sad sight that reminds us of the need to protect our oceans!
30. 1000 Steps overlook - a great photo spot with a trail!
Note: drones cannot be used on Bonaire without special permission. We used stock footage!
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CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
0:38 Double Airbnb Tour
1:40 Flamingo International Airport & Our Friend's Arrival!
2:28 MUST WATCH TIPS!
4:28 1000 Steps Bonaire
5:06 Bonaire Caves
6:01 Karpata & Goto Lake
8:05 Donkey Sanctuary
9:48 Rincon
10:15 the Cadushy Distillery
12:23 Posada Para Mira (Bonairian Food)
15:21 Andrea I & 2
16:55 Weber's Joy (aka Witches Hut)
17:25 Klein Bonaire
19:27 Kralendijk
20:55 Seru Largu Sunset
21:20 Surinamese Food
22:44 Southern End of Bonaire & Lots of Salt
24:05 Slave Huts
25:20 Salt Pier & Tori's Reef
25:33 Mangrove kayaking
27:54 Lac Cai & the Conch Graveyard
29:10 Airport Drop off & One Last Stop!
29:48 Thanks for watching! Subscribe for more adventures! :D
i was born there and i live there and it is a vry fun island have you guys go to chogogo it is a hotel and it have slide and the water in the pool have waves and the water gose rond chogogo with you put you have to sit in a flooty they have so many flooty and they have a restaurand
Wow, that is so cool! Such an awesome place to be from.
We have not stayed at the chogogo, but our friends did and said they enjoyed it, I am not sure if the pool was done when they stayed though, we'll have to check it out on our next video!!
Dive boots and skins or wetsuits are a must! Learn when jellies are out.( a few days after full moon) Protect your skin, the boots kerp your feet safe from coral, etc. Too bad it's been discovered but still fabulous. Locals are the best people in the world..be respectful of them and the precious reef please.
Oh absolutely!! And nowadays they recommend washing your dive gear between dives.. I guess there is a pretty bad disease spreading in Bonaire right now affecting the reefs. :(
It is a bit of a bummer Bonaire has been more discovered, even in the last few years it has exploded with development and you can already see the decline in the reef health and water quality... I hope they can opt to preserve this, as it is what makes Bonaire so special. We don't need more resorts, we need more nature.
Anyways, thank you for commenting!
We recently had to pay a “tourist tax” of some kind to enter Bermuda on a cruise. We had to pay $40 each when we submitted our Covid paperwork to enter 😒
That snorkeling was stunning!!! So so beautiful 🤩 The donkey sanctuary was so fun too! And more cool snorkeling!! Epic!!
The slave huts were sad to see but fascinating as well. Always interesting to see history.
The mangrove kayak looked super fun too!
This video was so fun to watch! Thanks for sharing this beautiful island!!
Tourist taxes are getting quite common, unfortunately for our tourist wallets! :( I feel like it's more shocking when it's all due at once, as opposed to a nightly fee. I just hope they're used properly!
Thanks so much for watching! Happy you enjoyed it, it's really a fun island that you have to find things to do on (minus the diving of course lol). Hope it helps in your future travels!
I wasn’t that familiar with Bonaire 🇧🇶. Looked like so much fun! 🦎 🍳?!?! Donkey invasion was cool. Your dive sites had such a great variety of sea life. It has been a while… glad you’re still filming.
It's a little known island, but its popularity is definitely on the rise. (Which I have conflicted feelings about lol)
It was a blast! And yeah, so sorry, we're not dead... yet! lol We did 13 cities and 4 countries last month - running out of breath just thinking of that lol.. but many videos are in the process!! :D
Hope youve been doing well. I have SOOOO many videos to catch up on from everyone. We decided that maybe we need to slow it down here, so hopefully that will help lol.
@@IfWeGoTo by the outro i can tell that you guys definitely went to The Netherlands hope you had fun.
This was awesome!! 🤩 Loved the "twinkling" light filtering through the water, the coral reefs, the fishies, turtles, donkies and the environmental care reminders. You two are great. Stay safe and take care! (p.s. we would love to learn how to dive with you some day!)
Ahhh thanks guys!!! It's a lovely place, I hope it can stay that way!
You do the same.
And yessss!! 100% serious, we're down!!
JThank on BBC t
I was born in Bonaire as you can see by my pfp behind me when i was younger. this is such an amazing video, im happy i was born in this amazing wonderful planet and country
Wow you are so lucky!! Your island is incredible and we certainly look forward to visiting again! Thanks for warmly sharing it with us visitors and for your kind words! 🥰
@@IfWeGoTo Thank you, and have an amazing travel with all your friends and family!
Thank you!!! ❤️
BONAIRE 🇧🇶 ❤
The best!!!!
I did about 80 scuba dives in about 7 years back in the 1990's. I think it is the best place to dive and did both from the shore and a boat. Thanks
Absolutely agree with you! Bonaire is the best! We could only imagine how amazing it must have been in the 90s! Thanks for stopping by!! :)
Beautiful drone shots. Cool caves. Aggressive donkeys! The mangrove kayaking looks really fun.
Thank you so much!! Bonaire is really an awesome place - aggressive donkeys and all!! hahaha.
You just made a video right? (saw a post on IG!) I need to play some catch up on videos again! lol
I'm the one that needs to catch up, you guys have been on a roll lately with the production!
Hahaha don't worry, we have 0 expectation for anyone to watch them all!! lol. Too many and too long!
So helpful. Thanks!
Glad to hear it was helpful!! Thanks so much for watching!
Fantastic video!! I loved every minute of it! What was your favorite part out of this whole adventure? I loved the donkeys!
Thank you so much! Definitely the diving for us.. although the joy of that doesn't capture well on camera! lol
Enjoyed your video. We gave been going to Bonaire for the last 7 years. Last year we stayed three months and will again in 2023.
I've heard about the underground caves and we haven't been adventurous enough to try the local food but your video inspired us to try it in 2023. Good job!
Thank you! Really happy you enjoyed it! Bonaire is such an amazing place, right??
Have you noticed any change in the water clarity over the years??
Definitely check out the caves, the ones we visited were free, but they offer tours as well. And the food is totally worth trying! I think there’s a higher-end option in Kralendijk too!
@@IfWeGoTo It was a bit murkier this winter but I think maybe weather patterns are affecting it. We just got back from Roatan and I was not as clear as last year. The storms creating weird thermoclines in the water.
Yes we absolutely love Bonaire although it's getting busier. We were shocked how busy it was when we arrived in January. We thought it would be quiet but noooo.
I wonder what's happening with the water, we noticed it was much murkier on our last visit too. Hopefully it clears up soon.
Oh yeah, and so much busier this time... I hope they don't turn it into Aruba.. which is cool in its own way, but Bonaire being a peaceful and remote location with an emphasis on preserving its natural beauty was so special!!
@@IfWeGoTo I do believe the government is working on changes. And many of the divers are not happy. It's been their quiet little paradise for years. I know one guy who has been traveling their for 35 years. I'm happy to see progress for the people of the island but I just don't want to see the reef get destroyed.
Watched a few of your other videos and will continue to watch. What a wonderful adventure!!
There is definitely a balance to be found.. and if the reef is destroyed I can't imagine Bonaire being as popular... it doesn't have the beaches like Aruba or the diverse options like Curacao!! I feel they are reliant on the nature.
Wow thank you!! Always happy to meet fellow divers and adventurers. :)
Awesome video!
Went there for the 1st time this past January.
Im a kitesurfer and went for that. But my friends suggested to take snorkeling gear. Didn’t know anything about bonaire. Fell in love with it.
Great place for those who love respectfully exploring nature.
It was disappointing hearing the part where you said tourists were entering water from prohibited areas and stepping on coral.
Judging from the video upload time stamp, this video was taken around July 2022???
What would you say is the best time of the year to visit bonaire?
When i went, water wasn’t cristal clear but wasn’t too murky either.
However, i did not see the beautiful coral you did. Perhaps because im a beginner and mainly snorkeled close to shore.
Perhaps the best coral views are a bit further and deeper in?
Cheers!
Ohh, hope you had an amazing visit! It's a lovely little island... and totally agree, the nature is fantastic! It is a huge shame about people who don't know how to treat corals, but it happens everywhere.
And that's correct, we visited in April/May 2022, took a while to get the video edited and out though!
We're not sure on the best time of year to visit, it is supposed to be pretty good any time of the year because it has relatively mild weather. We visited in July/August one year though, not sure if it is the year we went or the time of year, but it was a lot more clear and had generally better weather.
To add on to that, the water was FAR more clear that first time we went in Jul/Aug 2018... it may have been time of year, but we suspect the murkiness may have something to do with the recent (and massive) increase in development on the island. We follow a facebook group and the water just always seems so much more murky now... any time of the year people post. Beyond the murk, between 2018 and 2022 there was a lot of change.. more fish sick, murkier, fewer animals, corals less healthy, etc etc. We can't draw any conclusions from our limited experience, but it just seems that time/development are having a negative impact.
That said, the best coral life we have seen is maybe about 20m deep. Where did you go snorkeling during your visit? That has a big impact too... some spots are just much better for snorkeling! Our favorites are 1000 steps and karpata.. but some spots, especially near the windsurfing locations, like Tori's Reef or Salt Pier tend to be murkier.
Great video look amazing hope all well
Thanks James! Long time no see. Hope everything is good there!
@@IfWeGoTo I be ok so cold winter here no lockdown enjoy frist winter 2 year
Crazy!! So happy the world is finally recovering!
@@IfWeGoTo me too
I am actually there right now, we go every year. It's amazing there.
Ahhh so jealous!! It is such a special place! How has the water clarity been?? It was quite murky for our whole visit!!
When we visited in 2018 it was the most crystal clear water I’d ever seen!!
@@IfWeGoTo It was slowly been getting worse bit changes depending on the weather. Last year t was murkier because of high winds. So it really just depends.
Also, one thing I did not see in your video is land sailing, I deferentially recommend it if you go back. Even if you already have I love it so much.
Ahh that makes sense. There was quite a bit of rain during our time there too.
I didn’t even know that was there!! Is it on the east side of the island?!
Googled it and it looks so fun!!! We’ll definitely try that next time.. hopefully next time won’t take 4 years lol
In Florida they call the Conch, “conk”.
they call it that there too!!!
Are there a lot of free walking (street) dogs on the island? I read that somewhere online and I'm quite scared of dogs, so I was wondering if you've noticed that.
Hi Justine! We totally get where you're coming from - street dogs can be really scary. I would say the feral dogs in Bonaire are very minimal. We've seen 3 in total, but that's over 2 trips and ~2 months spent in Bonaire. They were in the suburban neighborhoods in the middle of the island like Santa Barbara and Republiek - I suspect someone feeds them or they're loose pets because we've never seen them near the beaches, out hiking in the more remote areas, or in the towns at all!
Lots of donkeys and goats though, but they mind their business! :)
I hope that helps! :)
Bonaire looks incredible! Do you think it’s worth a day trip from curaçao?
It's our fav ABC island - but I think we're biased lol!!! For whether or not it's worth it, I think it really depends on what you like to do! What do you want to see and like to do?? And how much time you have planned for Curacao in the first place??
I will say that Curacao probably has most of what Bonaire has to offer.. and honestly probably more. In our opinion Curacao is a lot more well rounded. It has a bigger, better city & cultural scene, better food, more accessible nature (and more beautiful landscape), beaches (bonaire has almost none), plus more options for tours, etc...
...butttt I think Bonaire is a great pick for someone who really loves diving or really wants to take it slow. If I'm honest, it's the type of place you have to TRY to find things to do. lol. That's not to say it wouldn't make an awesome day trip, but I really just think it depends on what you guys want to do/see, how strenuous of a travel day you're up for!
Also if you guys Scuba, remember you can't fly for a day after!!!
@@IfWeGoTo When im bored i usually just go to a movie theater are mini golf are landsaliing. You should go to this "club" called cuba on thursdays cause there are salsa nights and its really fun.
@@arionisgay4829 on our next trip we will have to check them out!! The outdoor theatre Bonaire has is super cool, but we haven't done the land-sailing or cuba!!
@@arionisgay4829 thank you for the recommendations! :D
@@IfWeGoTo haha np
Any advice on how to avoid stings?
Hi!! Most of the jellyfish in Bonaire are harmless and only cause minor stings, but you can prevent them by wearing a spring suit, wetsuit, or rash guard.. or really any tight fitting clothing to protect your skin.
You can also rub a layer of vasoline on your skin!
Hope that helps! :D
@@IfWeGoTo Thanks so much. I have a full coverage swim suit (it looks like a full scuba suit but it’s only made of a bathing suit material) and I was wondering if it would offer any protection.
It does!! The stinging cells of jellyfish are super tiny and can’t penetrate the fabric.
But we’ve been swimming a ton in Bonaire, most stings are very mildly uncomfortable. Like a slight burning. We’ve only gotten 2 stings that hurt more like a bee sting would, but the pain doesn’t last very long.
I think there’s only one jellyfish that can cause serious pain, but it’s extremely rare!
Also jellyfish are more common for like 5-10 days after the full moon, just as a heads up!
Hope you have an amazing trip, don’t worry too much about the jellies!!
Hi guys like your video. Nice to see Bonaire from your point of view 🌴🌴👍👍
Iam going the 5 of December again back to bonaire . Can't wait guys .
Its the 6 ste time i think. Last December was the first time again after 2 year of corana shit break 🥱🥱😠.
See you and once a visitor always a friend 🌴🌴💫💫👍👍🤟🤟🍺🍺🍻🍻
Peter de Groot
Thank you so much, we're so happy you enjoyed the video!
That's so awesome that you're traveling there again! Definitely corona was a bummer for traveling, but glad things are starting to get back to normal!
We'll definitely be back, Bonaire is a wonderful island and we love it dearly!! Happy travels in December! :D
@@IfWeGoTo for you two also lovely people 😂✌️✌️🌴🌴🍀🍀
Is Bonaire good if you dont snorkel or dive?
Bonaire is still fun regardless, but I would say it depends on what else you like to do! I personally would not make a dedicated trip to bonaire unless you’re a wind surfer, snorkeler, or diver of sorts, but if you’re stopping in for a day or two it could be fun!
Curaçao is more fun if you’re not into diving and want more cultural stuff to do, hiking, a better city… Aruba is better if you want big beaches and resorts.
@IfWeGoTo thank you so much for your honesty! Been to aruba and loved it mostly bc you can just be by the beach, calm water. Thanks again!
@@idk-hiw of course!! Having fun on your trip is important!! Bonaire only has like 1 beach and it’s nothing like the ones in Aruba!! Curaçao has some great beaches as well but they’re smaller!
I have never been there.
You should go!! It's an amazing little island!! Unlike anywhere we've been!
You are supposed to suck the yolk out of the iguana egg. Don't eat the rubbery shell 🤦🏽♀️ love your videos
Ommmg hahahaha... we had no idea... now sitting here dying of laughter... I was wondering how people got through that texture.
Thank you!!
🤣 you're welcome ❤
Never trust a guy who describes a beer as delightful.
Dang, you don’t take delight in your beer?! 😂
I hate this video. It makes me hungry and want to go diving. LOL
Hahahahah sounds like you need a trip to Bonaire, ASAP!!!
@@IfWeGoTo Yup. Let's go. When do we leave?
I’d leave right now if I could!! 😆
@@IfWeGoTo I would happily join you. We would surely have fun together.
Are there a lot of black people on the island? I'd like to go but I don't want to be robbed again.
I'm really sorry that you ave been robbed before... it must have been traumatic. Where are you from?
The demographics in Bonaire are largely mixed... there are people of African, Dutch, Asian, Amerindian, Latin American, American, descent. (And plenty more that I missed I'm sure) But yes, given the history of this region, a lot of people in the Caribbean are black, including Bonaire... but just because somewhere has a large black/mixed population doesn't mean you're going to get robbed. Bonaire is a very safe island - we're actually here right now for the third time.
As a woman, I have always felt extremely safe in Bonaire. We've spent several months here now. It's a developed country and part of the Netherlands. Of course, it is wise to take basic precautions (like basic travel precautions, not leaving electronics in a car, using dry bags for essentials when diving, not bringing valuables to the beach when you go swimming, etc). I've lived places with a LOT of petty theft issues and that's what I would recommend doing. If you were to face any crime on Bonaire, it would probably be petty, violent crime is very rare.
Didn't see much of Bonaire mostly just your faces
You clicked on a video that said “things to do” and “vlog”… you should search “Bonaire cinematic” if you want shots of the island itself. 😃
Not much there
It is an incredibly small island… if you’re not into diving or remote areas we probably wouldn’t recommend it! Lol