Bountiful Bonaire
Bonaire is probably best known for scuba diving and snorkelling and with 86 dives sites it is easy to see why. The diving on the East Coast is by reached by boat and you can expect to see Rays, Shark and the like. 25 of the dive sites are on Klein Bonaire and again these are reach by boat but the remainder are shore dives and as you drive round the island in your hired pick-up truck with your cylinders in the back you will see the sites are cleared marked by yellow painted boulders. I think what struck me most was the sheer volume of fish and we saw a huge range of reef fish, Angel Fish, turtles, octopus, squid, eel, shrimps including pistol shrimp, crinoid and flamingo tongue, sea horses, barracuda, tuna, snapper and tarpon to name but a few along with a great selection of creatures, coral and sponges - the coral were spawning which made the night dives extra special. There are also a few wrecks for those that are interested. But Bonaire is not just for divers we spent a lovely morning bird watching with a guide and saw the island symbol the Flamingo, Yellow Shouldered Parrots, parakeets, hummingbirds, a range of sandpipers, kingfishers, frigate birds, osprey, herons, sora and Caracara to name but a few. You can cycle, take a tour of the island on a Harley Davidson, horse ride, go deep sea fishing, bone fishing, sail, windsurf, climb, play tennis, visit a spa, kayak through mangroves, see the underwater world from a glass bottomed boat, chance your luck at a casino or just sit and soak up the sun! We visited the Washington-Slagbaai national park which covers a fifth of the island and has salt pans, fresh water lakes, hills, desert, blow holes and beaches. We also visited the Red Slave and White Slave Houses, Lac Bay on the windward side of the island which the island centre for windsurfing and also one of two wetland sites, Willemstoren lighthouse and the Indian Cave Drawings.
There are accommodations to suit all pockets on the island ranging from simple self catering apartments to larger resorts with a selection of restaurants and even one with a casino. Night life centres around the restaurants and waterfront bars but there are music venues and the island hosts an annual Jazz festival. We stayed at the Harbour Village Resort just outside the capital Kralendijk (called as 'Playa' by the locals) which meant we could walk in to town in the evening to sample all the restaurants which included a french bistro, an Argentian Steak House, an Italian with an award winning wine cellar, Indonesian and local cuisine - we were spoilt for choice.
The Harbour Village has its own bar and restaurant and each morning we share our breakfast with the resident iguanas and bananaquits watching dolphins swim by and frigate birds dive for fish and in the evening we watch the Tarpo feeding by the lights at the end of the jetty. The resort has a marina, spa, tennis courts and a fantastic dive and watersports and you can include a daily boat dive and unlimited shore dives in your package.
Our one bedroom beachfront suite was well placed to walk along the beach to both the bar and the dive centre and even had its own hammock - heavenly! There are 44 rooms ranging from courtyard and marina view rooms up to 3 bedroom suites which are great for families or groups of friends. It is certainly a popular resort and during our first week I think we were the only ones that had not stayed at the hotel before and many were on their second visit of the year which speaks volumes! I am sure we will be back too!