What are the "must do's" on Bonaire?

[scubaaaronh]

At Karpata the road up the coast tees. You can go right and end up in Rincon. You can go left and end up at the gates to the BOPEC storage facility. Keep going past the rock wall and make a right just before the gates at BOPEC. Follow the unpaved road all the way around the facility and you will be back on level with the ocean. You can see a road over packed rocks that goes off to the right and that is Taylor Maid. If you keep going on this road you will see some fantastic scenery and end up at a fishing village. There is another site called NUKOVE where you have to climb down a cliff to get to the water. We dove once at the fishing village itself.

They fish at night and usually have catch available in the morning. If not just ask when they will have some. The village mostly speaks Spanish. There are also some old salt pans with flamingos and feral donkeys all around. Once we left Taylor Maid and were heading back when we ran into some fishermen whose radiator had boiled over. We stopped and gave them our rinse water and some cold beer. Then they were on their way again.

Bonaire is such a fun and exciting place.

Cool thanks for the info. I am copying this so can remember. I now know where you are talking about. We started to go up that way but my wife wanted to eat dinner so we ended up on to rincon and never made it back up that far again. Next trip we have two weeks and plan on doing a little more investigating .

 

[skynscuba]

Front Porch was a great dive. A little wreck at ~75 feet, and a tremendous variety of sea life. Saw our 1st Bonaire flounder there. It would also make a good night dive.

Angel City, which I did twice. The second reef is shallow enough (under 60) to really spend time exploring, and the barracudas schooling up and down between the reefs are cool. Squid in the shallows (20 ft.)

And all the sites folks mentioned above!

All the food we had was good. Lions Den, Cactus Blue, Den Laman, Pizza Bon, Captain Don's (also got Pizza there). Bobbi Jan's was good value, and chicken was great, but I didn't care for the peanut sauce on their sate.

 

[dvrliz1]

Ok some topside stuff not to miss!
1. The Windsurfing area beach, with great little restaurant, beach, bring a book and relax, great sandwiches, cold Amstels, Brights, etc. Best Sangria on the island!
2. Donkey Sanctuary...just to cute!
3. Cave Snorkeling....way cool!
4. Samur Sailing -- Go for their Thai dinner package at sunset, fantastic!
5. Any local snack (restaurant), my favorites are Gibi's, E-Teras, Nadia's, Pue's (chinese)...oh so many, good food and cheap!
6. Blokart Landsailing...this is cool! kinda like a go-cart powered by a sail and wind, fast and fun!
7. Horsebackriding! Enjoy a morning exploring the mangrove trails and swim with the horses!
8. Rincon Marche(market)...every saturday morning, super big on the first Sat. of the Month, Go early and experience true Bonairean breakfast treats and purchase local gifts and handicrafts
9. Sunday at Lac Cai...enjoy local music, sandy beaches, huge piles of conch shells, cold drinks, just chillin'
10. The Artist Gallery...located right on playa (the road on the water) in town, where the works of over 50 local artists can be found!
11. Seru Largu...at the top of the hill, perfect day or night where you have an expansive view of the whole island, romantic at night, sunset with a bottle of wine and some munchies!
12. Washington Slaagbai Park...What a great history lesson, museum, old light houses, restored buildings, great artifacts...
13. Just look overhead and enjoy the loras and pritichikis...the colors of these birds are beautiful, but their song can be a little screeccchiiieeee.....
14. Local Softball and or futbal (soccer)...just check out any of the local stadiums. We always enjoy the softball games at the field just outside of Tera Cora.
15. The Bonaire Reporter...full of valubable information!
16. The Bonaire Update: Gives a list of all the things to do while on the island, phone numbers and contact information.
There is so much more.....Enjoy Bonaire!

Liz

 

[jhall]

No doubt Bonaire gets in your blood! I second the Cappricio's rec. Also, make sure and get the pizza at Pasa Bon Pizza. Lost Penguin for lunch, as well as lots of picnics. My favorite dive is "Rappel", but Oil Slick, Karpata, and all the northern dive sites are great, as well as the Town Pier. Drive, drive, drive. see the donkeys, the flamingos, the slave quarters, and the windsurfers. Good luck!

 

[fabasard]

OK, so people say skip the list. BUT you MUST do "It Rains Fishes" for food. It is only the second best fish I have EVER had, the first was fresh from the sea we speared and cooked up Mayan style by locals in Cancun Mexico, but thats another story....The bread was wonderful (at IRF) and the fish was to DIE FOR. YOu MUST go, its a moral imperative, oh yeah and do some diving while your down there. Fab