Currency qestion Bonaire

[Rooster1]

Seriously looking at my first trip to Bonaire and was wondering what the currency is and is Bonaire pricey, reasonable, or very affordable. thanks in advance.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

The currency is the Netherlands Antilles Guilder (to currency traders, its the ANG)

It also known as the Netherlands Antilles Florin, and sometimes abbreviated NAF.

Current exchange rate for Canadian dollars is:
1Cdn = 1.11564 ANG
1 ANG = 0.896348

I'll have to leave the relative value questions to someone else.

 

[ksnooks]

My husband and I have spent a lot of time on Bonaire and have not had any problems with US currency. It is accepted as well as credit cards almost every place on the island. There are several banks available to exchange currency if you wish. Pricewise, Bonaire is expensive to get to, but pretty cheap otherwise. Since so much of the diving is from shore, the price of each dive is very little. Most of the diving packages come with unlimited shore diving, lodging, a vehicle and breakfast or even all meals included. Adding boat dives is usually only about $20 per dive. There is a lot of condo type lodging with full or partial kitchens, so meals can be prepared in your room if you are not on a meal plan. Groceries are not super cheap, but there is a reasonable super market in town. Check out some of the websites on Bonaire. I have stayed at Buddy Dive, Sand Dollar, Lions Dive, and Divi Flamingo on different trips, and have always had a great time. All of the above places offer dive packages as well as many others. Have a good time diving, Ksnooks

 

[herman]

I agree with KS. US dollars are accepted almost every where, Prisca's Ice Crean is the only exception I know of for sure. Do expect most of your change to be in Guilders and watch the value of the coins. I still have trouble dealing 3($1.70 US) and 5 (=$2.83 US)Guilder coins, just can't get use to using the larger value coins (my problem, not theirs). I find the food prices about the same as here in Raleigh. You can get a good $10 pizza or spend $35 or more on a big steak. Some of the local "snacks" have some good deals. The grocerie stores are a little higher than here, maybe by 10% or so. The exchange rate for the USD is about 1.77 (it varies a little between banks and stores). That works out to about $0.565 = 1 Guilder. I usally just figure 50 cents to the Guilder for easy math.
We are returning in early June, 2 diving couples 40-50ish, come join us if you like. We would be happy to show you around the island and can always use another dive buddy.

 

[CAMPER]

One thing that really surprised me in Bonaire was the dive equipment prices. They were very reasonable, very comparable to leisure pro online prices. You had to drive around a bit to find certain brand names and all the stores close at odd hours (for the US anyway) but pricing was great.

A couple had to take their regulator in for service there and they seemed very happy with quality and price.

Ed B