November 26, 2020
Bonaire is called the Divers paradise!!! Lots of divers from all over the globe come here. The island has all the facilities to receive divers by thousands. Most dive sites are clearly mark with a yellow buoy on the sea and if arriving from land, there is a yellow stone marking the entry/exit of the dive site.
Renting a car to go diving is not as practical as it was in Curacao, rental companies have restrictions and small cars are not allowed to be rented for diving. Yes, I know they probably won’t even check, but it is better to be safe than sorry so for once we just followed the rule.
We rented a pick up for 3 days, first to tour the island, go to the national park and obviously to go diving. We thought if we liked it we would probably rent for more days. The tour of the island doesn’t take that long as it is small but there are quite a few things to see around. I’ll tell you more about this later. For now let’s concentrate on diving!!
We did 25 dives in Bonaire. I can confirm, it is still a diver’s paradise. On the mooring field, just in front of Kralendijk, it is really easy to see where the reef starts, so we did a couple of dives from there. Jumping off the platform from Happy Days. And few other’s with a short dinghy ride. Including 2 night dives. Remember our little “Happy nights” is only 3.5hp so we can’t go very far.
With the pick up, we had relatively “good” weather, meaning the sea was calm. As such the access from the beach was easy but we still had 2 rainy days out of 3. Anyway we had to take the opportunity of the calm sea to go as south as possible so we went to the Red Slave. The currents in the south increase the chances to see bigger fish. Which we did but unfortunately no rays or sharks.
In front of Bonaire there is a small inhabited island called Klein Bonaire (little Bonaire) which offers lots of places for diving as well. We did a few days starting early in the morning, sailing to Klein Bonaire, diving, taking a break for lunch, diving again and sailing back!!! Sailing-diving-sailing!!! Very happy Captain. Once we tried that program and liked it so much, we did the same for a few more dives north and south depending on weather conditions. Lots and lots of reef fish, soft corals, sponges, nudibranchs and lots more.
With so many dive sites to choose from, we had to pick carefully, reading reviews, talking to other divers … And as you know the last word is always the weather. It can be raining and still be a great dive. With the pick up, we went all the way north to Karpata which is a very famous dive, but when we got there not only it was dark and raining but the entrance was not very appealing, waves crashing very hard on the beach, would have made it very difficult so instead we went more south to Webber’s Joy and waited for the rain to clear a bit. The light was just good enough and visibility was more than 10meters for sure and it started a massive downpour again once we were in the water. The sound of the heavy rain while diving at the beginning is kind of scary because you can’t really see what it is, but once you realise it is actually very relaxing!!
Another site close to those is called 1000steps, and the name comes from the 64 steps you will have to go down to get to the shore with all your diving gear, which feels like 1000 steps on the way back up. But we cheated!!! We did it with Happy Days!! Just one jump from the back platform! no steps required!!! but just looking at the stairs from the sea, I perfectly agree with the name. Once submerged, the stairs seem to continue down to 50 or 60m as the slope is continuous. It is impressive and much easier to dive along the stairs than climb them back.
Most of the time we dove only the two of us, but in Bonaire we had multiple chances to go with other divers. One welsh sailor with 3000 dives, and a Belgium one with more than 20000 yes…twenty thousand. Incredible, isn’t it?.
A dive trip from the catamaran L’Alchimiste with 11 divers included a very young diver only 10 years old, Naiomi from SV L’Alchimist. First time we dove with someone so young, it is always so nice to come to the surface and start talking about the dive and how everyone saw things in a different way!!!
This is the card of all the fish in Bonaire and we can confirm they are all still there. We saw all of them. Have a look at this short video with a spotted eagle ray, just at the anchorage.!!
Sightseeing in Bonaire
With the car, we really wanted to visit the National park, It is supposed to be a treat. In the conditions for entry they asked for a 4 wheel drive pick up. Renting cars in Bonaire is quite expensive and include unnecessary, complicated rules. I think having US dollar as an official currency make them put crazy US prices to simple things. Anyway, I was very exciting thinking it was going to be a challenging drive. But guess what, we got there and it was closed. It had been raining and it could get a bit dangerous so to be on the safe side they just closed it, with no news on when it will reopen. Unfortunately, in the 3 days we had the car it rain on and off, so no park for us this time.
The island is not that big so we pretty much did the tour around in one day. Let’s see some of the places we visited
Boca Onima and wall inscriptions
The waves can get really strong here. Boca Omima is an inlet on the east coast of the Caribbean island. Near this inlet is a limestone rock wall (part of the limestone terraces that are so prominent on this side of Bonaire) where the Indians left the mysterious paintings.
They are unique expressions of the first inhabitants of Bonaire. To protect the vulnerable drawings there are fences in place. The paintings are sacred for some people, even nowadays. Descendants of the Indian population still regularly pay a musical tribute to their ancestors at this place. To these day they have not figured out their meaning. I could see something that looks like a fish(top left), but I’ll let you make your guess.
Not far from there there are few modern wind mills. Bonaire would have not been complete without them.
Kitesurfing… great challenge in Bonaire
Going around the south, There is a great windsurf spot on the east side of the island. Very disappointing though. I don’t think they like the kitesurfers that much. This exclusive site for windsurf would be a perfect place for beginners on kitesurf. Nice, protected, shallow water and constant wind in the onshore direction. However, we heard some rumours that windsurfers and kitesurfers are not exactly best friends in this island and it seems to me that windsurfers won the battle. There is still a spot for kitesurfers on the west side of the island. But it is not amateur friendly and a lot smaller. And on top of that there are regulations all over the island for kitesurfers not to launch from the beach. But there is a saying, when a door closes a window opens, so Cedric found another option, a more tricky one but still possible. Time to kite from the boat.
So one day we went with Happy Days to Klein Bonaire. Bert from SV Temanu’a came with us. He is an expert, a kitesurfer guru. He makes it look like such an easy ride. He began kiting more than 10 years ago and he has all the tricks to kite from the boat. The first time we saw him was in Antigua, we were on the beach for a BBQ and he came and left from the BBQ with his kite and foil. So he showed us all the tricks to launch the kite from the boat. Watch the video!!! Not yet my level, but Cedric was so happy he managed to come back to the buoy twice!!! Great kite session and thank you so much to Bert!!.
Driving around in the “Wild”
Driving in the wild makes you think it is not Bonaire anymore… Those desert-like sceneries transport you to a different place.
Salt works
Before the Dutch took over Bonaire four centuries ago. Wars were fought based on the salt production of these lands. When the slavery was abolished, the production of salt was reduced in 1863.However, it continued to be harvested fluctuating with market demand, tariffs and weather. In the 1960’s, a US company designed new solar salt works, revitalising the industry. Today, Cargill Corporation is responsible for its production and Bonaire’s thriving salt industry. Huge mounds of crystals can be seen on Bonaire’s south end.
Pink Bonaire Flamingos
As a child, you were probably always taught that flamingos are pink. However, many of you probably came across some grey/brown ones quite a few times… Well, here’s some good news for you! Bonaire is lucky to have beautiful pink flamingos because the island is rich in the one thing that is most important for them and their colour: (particular) food! Flamingos get their colour from beta-carotene in the crustaceans and plankton, which they can easily find on Bonaire.
So we visited the Mangroves of Lac Bay. Bonaire is lucky to have a fair amount of mangroves! Bonaire’s mangroves are filled with clear water and are full of colourful fish coming there to lay eggs. That environment is what attracts flamingos! A great variety of food can be found in these wetlands, and the pink flamingos know it!
Stop at the Dushi Distillery in Rincon is a must
Quite a small place, very welcoming, where they explained how they make their rums and how they have come up with different names of rums from every island. Small tasting and very nicely maintained and decorated. Some lessons on their wall… how to cheer in so many different languages!!!
And something else to think about…
Optimist Sailing
For the sailors, you don’t need an explanation, you most probably learn sailing on one of those. For the non-sailors, let me explain. An optimist is one of the smallest sailing boat. It is designed for kids to learn. It is still a racing category, with a maximum age of the participant to be 16 years old. When I was a kid I had no notion of sailing and the first boat I sail on was a 36ft sloop. So I do have some sailing knowledge, in some aspects probably even more than people that have been sailing all their life but in some others I don’t have a clue. I believe it is never too late, so the opportunity presented itself for some very informal Optimist lessons. My instructor was Theo, 12 years old. He is on board of SV L’Alchimist with his parents and sisters.
It was good fun for all of us the instructor, his sisters as support team and me. Every lesson something happened. On the first lesson, I arrived to the L’Alchemist Theo was ready and took the commitment very seriously. He said we would start with some theory, which I thought it was great. Back to basics, where is the wind coming from? how to rig the boat? how the boat moves with the wind? how to tack. Good for the first day. Then we left the L’Alchemist, both of us on the dinghy a big 15hp and we were pulling the Opti. However, we missed something… We did not look at the weather. We were halfway out of the anchorage to start the practice session when a big squall of rain arrived bringing lots and lots of rain and wind. The optimist flipped, more rain and more wind…. aiaiai. We were not really in danger but not an ideal situation either. As we were not far from the boats we got “rescued” by some friends that were passing by and by Cedric that was looking at us from the distance. Looking back, it sounds a lot more fun than it was on the moment. But this is a good lesson for all of us … always look at the weather before sailing. I know that, I just didn’t think the rain was going to be that big. For this very small boat it wasn’t big it was huge!!!
In the second lesson, things started to get more interesting. I could tack and started feeling the wind, boat direction … It is a great little boat that reacts so quickly that if you are not careful you can flip it in a blink of an eye. I’m so glad it doesn’t happen like that with big boats but it is true it is easier to get the feel with the Opti. Anyway Theo and I were on the Opti, practicing and Emma and Naiomi, Theo’s sisters were doing the safety support. This time, with “Happy Nights” 3.5 hp which can be temperamental at times. The girls can handle any dinghy without any problems but Happy Nights decided to stop. They started drifting and drifting, they gave a try to the paddles with no success, they kept going in circles and they were getting further and further away. So Theo and I started going back to the boats, but there were no dinghies close by, everyone was out. The girls tried to call for help on the radio, but only Cedric answered, he couldn’t help. He was on another boat preparing to kitesurf miles away. Luckily, someone on a boat saw the girls drifting and went to help them. Brought them back to L’alchemist. Theo and I went back and resumed the lesson!!! Everyone was safe and laughing. A few more tries and tricks and I managed to start “Happy Nights” to go back home. I didn’t really dare to go out again that day until Cedric came back and did a full clean to the engine. So then we could go to properly thank Mike, the gentlemen that saved the girls.
The following lessons were less eventful than those two. One day we did a sunset session, beautiful weather for it, I got better at tackling, jibbing and going downwind. It turned out very funny when I went to lunch with all the ladies from the boats on the anchorage. One of them asked Annik (Theo’s mom) if she had 4 children. She wanted to share the pictures she had taken of “the 4 children” as they were nice with the sunset. I just laughed when Annik replied she had only 3 and the lady insisted she saw 4!!! Well, I was the fourth child she saw!!!
And just to finish this great chapter on Bonaire let me share a little mishap.
This was our rental car, very nice to drive around. So nice we thought we could get closer to this monument
Have a closer look at the picture, you can see all the tracks from the wheels. Do you see something strange on the left? Yes, the tracks are deeper. We got stuck in the sand, it looked like hard sand, but because of the recent rain and all it was a lot softer than we expected. We suffered for an hour or so to get out of the sand, and even had time to call the rental company asking for help. Funny, after probably 30 minutes of calling them we got unstuck and called back to cancel. They had not sent anyone yet!!!
Well it was worth it to go and see the monument, look at the view!
We will stay a few more days, dive a bit more and start preparing for the next destination. Hopefully, Colombia until then.
Happy Days 