You missed the best thing about Bonaire and that is the diving! As much as the land based part is amazing the underwater part is 100 time more amazing. We used to go every year for two weeks from 1993 till 2000. It was primarily a diving destination which began with Captain Don Stewart he was instrumental in protecting the beautiful reefs surrounding the island. The beautiful thing about Bonaire is you do not need a boat to dive the majority of the dive sights. Most all are accessable from the beach walk right in with youy gear swim a short distance and you can be on a wall hundreds of feet deep. The islet Klein Bonaire across the harbor at Kralendijk which is now part of the marine sanctuary and has dive sights all the way around the island. Dive boats make this shirt trip several times a day. The more adventurous can take a kayak across to the islet. Back when we used to go cruise ships did not visit at least on a regular schedule. In my opinion this was a good thing but I know economically speaking the industry brought more investment to the island. But this was at a price the new construction which began a few years before we stopped going started to affect the clarity of the water noticably in the visibility underwater. It also can cause coral growth issues. I still have friends that live on the island and run a dive operation and it's not like it was in the 1990s.
Hi Jim! Thank you for sharing! My husband is a diver so maybe this is a spot for him to come back. I hope the divers who are watching this video benefit from your comment! 😊 This video was what you can do/see on a golf cart as we only had a short period of time.
Hi Jen! Yes Google Maps is the app I used. What I did was download the map of the area offline. First search for the city, state or country you are interested in. Then swipe left on the buttons carrousel and tap on “Download offline map”
How long did it take you to do your self guided tour? Did you have time to do anything after or could you have stopped at other beaches? I have heard that the beaches are very rocky but that the water is beautiful. Going there in Oct of 22
Hey Linda! It took us about 4.5 hours. Only reason we didn’t do more was because the place was closing and the ship didn’t dock earlier than it did. Each stop we made, we tried to enjoy for as long as possible. Once we started to get bored, we would move to the next stop. The longest (and most fun$ stop was the donkey sanctuary. Enjoy your trip!! 🥳
Wonderful!!! Excited that you’ll going there! 🥳 1. We had the golf cart for about 4.5 hours. I think if our ship docked earlier we could have had it for longer. 2. We did the entire south side. When you check in, you are told to choose which side you want to travel to. So if you want to see the entire island, I’d probably budget 10 hours?? 3. We didn’t swim but I’m not sure what the law is there. There’s lots of areas where we can’t even walk on because they’re protected.
Hi Paul! I didn’t stay on the island so I don’t have any personal experiences with hotels or house rentals. I did a search and see there are a lot of hotels that are very inexpensive ($100-$200 per night) that are along the water on the West side.
In past cruising I thought taking food off the ship was a "no no". I know in Cozumel they were extremely strict. Is it a different policy for Bonaire, or maybe for cooked food? I am all about bringing some goodies to eat from the ship!
Thanks for bringing this up! I believe fresh fruit and meat would defintely not be officially allowed to be taken off the ship (any port). In my past cruises, I haven't seen anyone check bags when getting off. Btw, it was our first and last time bringing food off the ship. See forums below of people discussing: boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/1318398-can-you-take-food-off-the-ship/ www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/13915-take-food-off-ship-while-in-port/
![ILLSLICK - THE KING'S LANDING [Freestyle]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/feIJJnNkTfk/mqdefault.jpg)
have been to Bonaire several times, clear water, clear air, nice people, will go there again for sure.
Yes!!! I would go back one day as well. I like how much they care about the environment. Is there any place you’d recommend for people to visit?
You missed the best thing about Bonaire and that is the diving! As much as the land based part is amazing the underwater part is 100 time more amazing. We used to go every year for two weeks from 1993 till 2000. It was primarily a diving destination which began with Captain Don Stewart he was instrumental in protecting the beautiful reefs surrounding the island. The beautiful thing about Bonaire is you do not need a boat to dive the majority of the dive sights. Most all are accessable from the beach walk right in with youy gear swim a short distance and you can be on a wall hundreds of feet deep. The islet Klein Bonaire across the harbor at Kralendijk which is now part of the marine sanctuary and has dive sights all the way around the island. Dive boats make this shirt trip several times a day. The more adventurous can take a kayak across to the islet. Back when we used to go cruise ships did not visit at least on a regular schedule. In my opinion this was a good thing but I know economically speaking the industry brought more investment to the island. But this was at a price the new construction which began a few years before we stopped going started to affect the clarity of the water noticably in the visibility underwater. It also can cause coral growth issues. I still have friends that live on the island and run a dive operation and it's not like it was in the 1990s.
Hi Jim! Thank you for sharing! My husband is a diver so maybe this is a spot for him to come back. I hope the divers who are watching this video benefit from your comment! 😊
This video was what you can do/see on a golf cart as we only had a short period of time.
Did the google maps work there or what program did you use? I think you mentioned you had it downloaded before you went.
Hi Jen! Yes Google Maps is the app I used. What I did was download the map of the area offline. First search for the city, state or country you are interested in. Then swipe left on the buttons carrousel and tap on “Download offline map”
How long did it take you to do your self guided tour? Did you have time to do anything after or could you have stopped at other beaches? I have heard that the beaches are very rocky but that the water is beautiful. Going there in Oct of 22
Hey Linda! It took us about 4.5 hours. Only reason we didn’t do more was because the place was closing and the ship didn’t dock earlier than it did. Each stop we made, we tried to enjoy for as long as possible. Once we started to get bored, we would move to the next stop. The longest (and most fun$ stop was the donkey sanctuary.
Enjoy your trip!! 🥳
nice video thanks for sharing
Thank you Cynthia!!! Happy you enjoyed! 😊
We are going in October. How long do you have the cart? How much of the island did you cover? Were you able to swim? 🐸
Wonderful!!! Excited that you’ll going there! 🥳
1. We had the golf cart for about 4.5 hours. I think if our ship docked earlier we could have had it for longer.
2. We did the entire south side. When you check in, you are told to choose which side you want to travel to. So if you want to see the entire island, I’d probably budget 10 hours??
3. We didn’t swim but I’m not sure what the law is there. There’s lots of areas where we can’t even walk on because they’re protected.
any recommendations for places to rent? I was a little late and seems all the rentals are booked :(
Hi Paul! I didn’t stay on the island so I don’t have any personal experiences with hotels or house rentals. I did a search and see there are a lot of hotels that are very inexpensive ($100-$200 per night) that are along the water on the West side.
In past cruising I thought taking food off the ship was a "no no". I know in Cozumel they were extremely strict. Is it a different policy for Bonaire, or maybe for cooked food? I am all about bringing some goodies to eat from the ship!
Thanks for bringing this up! I believe fresh fruit and meat would defintely not be officially allowed to be taken off the ship (any port). In my past cruises, I haven't seen anyone check bags when getting off. Btw, it was our first and last time bringing food off the ship.
See forums below of people discussing:
boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/1318398-can-you-take-food-off-the-ship/
www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/13915-take-food-off-ship-while-in-port/
So how do we find this ? I would love to be able to do this
Hi! 😊 What are you referring to?
Where to rent the golf carts sorry I let that out
@@DestinationsDelight You can rent the golf cart from Bonaire Cruisers! They are a short walk away from the cruise port.
Thank you so so much
What? You think you are a movie star? Keep your face off camera please.
lol!