Bonaire has by far the best snorkeling in the Caribbean. We have been to St. Lucia, Virgin Islands, and Cozumel and Bonaire's fish and coral populations are far superior. We are certified divers but did not dive during our trip to Bonaire. (Isn't there some kind of law against that?) 

We find that we really enjoy the freedom that snorkeling offers. No rental equipment, no tanks, just put on some fins and a mask and jump in.

We absolutely LOVED staying at Bellafonte. What an awesome place. We give this place our HIGHEST recommendation. 

If you want a nice condo on the water, then this is your best bet. It does not have a restaurant or bar on site, but it is a very luxurious place to stay.

The Bellafonte is first class all the way. They even greeted us as at the airport when we arrived on Bonaire. The architecture is very "old world" which really made it stand out from the rest of the "normal" looking places.

We lucked out and were upgraded to the "Grand Suite" which is a two bedroom condo. Very nice indeed. Above is a picture of our balcony which opened up from the living and the bedroom.

Here is a shot of the living room which opens to the balcony.

The kitchen was very gourmet. All of the appliances and furnishings were brand new. We LOVED the refrigerator because it had an automatic ice machine and ice/water in the door. Very convenient to just grab a nice big glass of ice water. And the water in Bonaire is awesome. (We thought the tap water tasted better than some bottled water we purchased)

The master bedroom had its own bathroom and opened up onto the balcony. It was also air conditioned which was needed at night.

There really aren't many beaches in Bonaire, but Bellafonte has its own private dock which is a great place to catch some rays. This was the view from our balcony

There is very good snorkeling up and down the coast from Bellafonte. Click here to see some underwater shots taken within a stones throw from Bellafonte.

Each night we had a spectacular sunset from our balcony.

Bellafonte is located near the airport but we did not find this to be a problem. The planes were not that frequent.

This was our corner view towards the city. Very nice way to spend an afternoon. One afternoon we spotted dolphins just off shore. 

They even had a nice little "dryer" to dry your clothes on the balcony.

The grounds were very nice. We toured a lot of other places and the Bellafonte has the best kept grounds on the island. 

(At least from what we saw)

A few nights we barbequed our own meal. The mini electric grill came in real handy for making dinner on the balcony.

Carroll enjoys a glass of wine while she looks down at the fish in the crystal clear blue water.

We spent many a night on the dock at sunset.

Bonaire is the largest of the ABC islands off of Venezuela. The island is desert-like with nice year round weather. The main attraction to Bonaire is what is under the water.

We rented our car from Netty's Car Rental. Netty provided a great price and great service but the mini-van we rented was not in that good of shape. Overall the vehicle was OK but it wasn't near as nice as the Toyota Corolla we had on Aruba.

Shopping

Don't come to Bonaire if you want to spend your time shopping because there is very limited shopping on the island. There are a few nice stores, but mainly t-shirt and dive shops.  We really like the WannaDive dive shop located next door to City Cafe. Their prices were very good and they had quality merchandise. Carroll purchased a new Mares mask and it was only about $40 US. Carroll donated her old equipment to Photo Tour Divers. They have a program that donates old snorkel/dive equipment to the local children of Bonaire. 

Lion's Den

Bonaire has some pretty nice restaurants but we were surprised at how the menu's all seem to look the same. We were also surprised at the amount of fresh fish on the menus. Instead of having a wide range of fresh fish, each place usually had a catch of the day as their fish offering. We ate lunch at "The Lion's Den" and really liked the food and location. It is perched over a cliff on the water.

Casablanca

Another one of our favorite restaurants was called "Casablanca". It is a relatively new place near downtown. The food was very good and very affordable. We had ribs, rib eye steak and a bottle of wine. Our total bill with generous tip was $75 NAF. (About $40 US) We highly recommend this place. Only negative is that it is not on the water. We also had a great meal at "City Cafe" one evening. Carroll had the Barracuda which was awesome. I had the chicken sate. We each had a glass of wine. Total bill with tip was $60 NAF. (About $35 US). 

City Cafe

We also used the "City Cafe" as our Internet connection. They had a nice air conditioned Internet room that was reasonable and the connections fast.

It Rains Fishes

One night we ate at "It Rains Fishes". This was one of our least favorite meals. The menu was very "eclectic". We really didn't see anything that looked all that wonderful so we each had a chicken Caesar salad and a glass of wine. Total bill $66 NAF.

The Rib Factory

"The Rib Factory" had very good ribs at reasonable prices. We each had a salad and split a full order or ribs. Total bill with a glass of wine was only $40 NAF. They are upstairs from Karel's on the water.

Pasa Bon Pizza

We also had some "lighter" meals while on Bonaire. "Pasa Bon Pizza" is located just north of town. The pizza was good and pretty reasonable. We each had a salad and split a medium pizza. With wine and tip the bill was $32 US.

One day for lunch we had a burger at "Zeezicht's" near Karel's. Two burgers and two Amstel Brights was $24 US. Nice thing about this place is that it is on the water and air conditioned!

Coconut Crash Beach Bash

On Tuesday we headed over to the Plaza and attended the "Coconut Crash Beach Bash". They had some live entertainment, good happy hour, and a barbeque. Total bill for the barbeque and a few Amstel Brights was $30 NAF.

Karel's

Karel's was a nice enough looking bar. Located on a pier near downtown. We both had the WORST Margarita we have ever had here! 

It was happy hour so thankfully it wasn't all that expensive, but it was just tequila and cheap mix. Very disappointed in Karel's margaritas but it is a great place to sit and watch the sunset.

A few nights we actually prepared our own meal in our Bellafonte Condo. Grocery shopping in Bonaire is a REAL experience. The first thing that you notice is that every grocery store has a different selection. You will also notice that fresh foods are very scarce. 

I noticed right off the bat that beer was VERY expensive in Bonaire. All of the beer is sold in these tiny 8 oz bottles. Wine on the other hand was VERY inexpensive. Since we are both on diets and not supposed to drink beer anyway, the economics of Bonaire made it real easy to stick to our guns and not drink beer.

Our first grocery experience was at Cultimara. We load up our cart full of food and drinks. After checking out we notice that the checker didn't bag our groceries. Carroll went to put the groceries in some bags and we were informed that "those bags are for sale". "They cost $.75 a piece". The checker then proceeded to help the next person in line. So we had to walk out of the store with our arms full of groceries. We never went back to Cultimara!

We really like the "More for Less" store located just east of town. They seemed to have the freshest produce and meat. Not quite the selection of Cultimara, but they gave us bags! The store is very Dutch. Almost everything in the store is Dutch so it made it a very interesting shopping experience.

We also liked the "Flamingo Market". It is located just north of downtown behind the Napa Auto Parts store. They had good prices and a decent selection. The grocery stores have very limited hours. Most are closed early and they also close around lunch time for a few hours.

The scenery in Bonaire is very striking. Mainly cactus but it was pretty, much like the southwest of the United States.

Bonaire is full of wildlife. Donkeys are everywhere! If you go to the backside of the island you'll also see quite a few goats.

We also spotted a few Iguanas and Flamingos. 

The entire south portion of the island is salt pans. The pink colored water is caused by bacteria which is used in the salt farming process.

These used to be the Slave Huts for the slaves that worked in the salt fields.

More slave huts.

At the far south end of the island is Willemstoren lighthouse.

At the far eastern tip of the island is a point called Lac Cai. Very scenic spot. Had mountains of Conch Shells!

We spent a lot of our time on the balcony of the Bellafonte.

We went out on the Woodwind for their Tuesday sail to Klein Bonaire. We had a wonderful time. We left at around 9:00 and returned at about 2:00. So it was a full day of sun and fun.

The Woodwind is a beautiful catamaran. During our trip there were about 16 people on board. It was a very comfortable number. Not busy but fun.

De is one of the owners and dive master on the boat. Her husband Ulf is the captain. They recently purchased Woodwind. They are both super people.

Once you get to Klein Bonaire you swim to shore and then walk along the shoreline for quite a ways. This affords you the luxury of "drifting" back to the boat during the snorkel. Drift snorkeling is very cool because you don't really even have to kick.

Klein Bonaire has some very nice coral. Huge variety and it looks very "untouched".

During the snorkel, De, points out fish and helps people "see" things that they normally miss.

This guy loved having his photo taken!

Carroll swims with the fishes.

After Klein Bonaire, we made a stop at Andrea I. (Actually it was more like Andrea 1.5) The snorkeling here is fantastic. You can reach it by car. Probably our favorite spot to snorkel on the island.

De points out "Fire Coral" to the group. 

Staghorn Coral

A nice sponge.

Carroll gives the "OK" signal which means that this sail is "A-OK". On the way back we ate a nice deli lunch and had a few adult beverages. This was one of our favorite days in Bonaire. There is something special about spending the day on the water in a catamaran.

1000 Steps is really only 72 steps. (But we really didn't count to confirm.) 

Even though the bay is protected, we did hit some rough water while snorkeling at this site.

Ready, set, let's snorkel!

The coral at 1000 Steps is very developed. For the most part it is a rather deep snorkel. Most of the wildlife was in about 15 feet of water.

We saw lots of Anemones and soft corals at 1000 steps. 

We did a "drift snorkel" from Petrie's Pillar to Andrea I. This was one of our favorite snorkels. We had purchased a water proof "fanny pack" which we used to carry our thongs. We were then able to walk down to Petrie's Pillar, snorkel to Andreas I and then use our thongs to walk back to the car.

You can park your car on the bluff above Andrea I. If you walk to the left you will see a big X painted on the road. Follow the trail to the water from that spot. When you get to Andreas I then you can easily walk back up to the car.

When we first entered the water we spotted a "cleaner station". Here a Blue Tang is being cleaned by Juvenile Bluehead.

The area was loaded with Blue Tangs.

An eel poked his head out of the coral for a quick look at us.

Andrea I and II are very shallow. Most of the snorkeling can be done near shore in less than 10 feet of water. Be careful because there is a lot of fire coral in the area. (But that shouldn't matter because you are not supposed to be touching coral anyway!)

Even though it looks like I am touching the coral, I am not. Never touched any coral the entire time we were there.

Probably our favorite place to snorkel on the island.

We did a lot of snorkeling between the Bellafonte and Windsock. The reef was not as developed as other sites, but we saw tons of stuff directly off the pier of our hotel.

We did numerous "drift snorkels" where we started at Windsock / Donkey Beach and swam back to the Bellafonte.

The picture on the left shows a Juvenile French Angelfish. The picture on the right shows the adult French Angel.

A Yellow Tail Damsel hangs out in the coral.

We also saw lots of Eels in the coral heads. The eel on the left is a Goldspotted Eel. The eel on the right is a Goldentail Moray.

Spotted Trunkfish are also very numerous.

Can you spot the Peacock Flounder?

Trumpet Fish hang out under the piers.

Split Crown Feather Duster Worms living on a coral head.

Sand Dollar

Reef squid were also pretty common.

There were tons of Rainbow Parrotfish everywhere we snorkeled. The picture on the right shows a "Super Male" Parrotfish which can get rather large. 

One night we did a night snorkel off of the Bellafonte pier. They have lights at night which made it very safe and easy. 

Each night you can see at least 5 Barracudas swimming in the shallows off of the Bellafonte pier. We stayed clear of the Barracuda during our night snorkel, even though they are pretty shy creatures. 

Orange Cup Coral hanging on to the pier.

Orange Cup Coral at night comes alive!

Karpata was beautiful underwater. There are a few stairs down to the water.

Carroll checking out the reef.

You could hear "chomping" in the water from all the Queen Parrotfish chomping on the abundant coral.

The best aspect of Karpata was the beautiful Gorgonians. 

Karpata can get rough, but the vegetation is awesome. Do this snorkel/dive if you get a chance.

The area called La Machaca is near Captain Don's. We entered the water at the Hamlet Oasis and then snorkeled over to the Lions Dive Resort. This was not a very good snorkel, but we did see lots of fish because it looked as though Captain Don's restaurant crew feeds the fish.

Occasionally we spotted an Anemone.

Spotted some big Reef Squids.

A Scrawled Filefish was being "cleaned" by a juvenile.

Oil Slick Leap is an adventurous snorkel because you get the opportunity of "leaping" off of a cliff into the water.

Carroll uses her Scuba Diving skills to perform a "Giant Stride" off of the cliff.

Oil Slick Leap is a "wall" snorkel. We found it not to be as spectacular as other places.

New stairs have been built to make it easy to exit the area.

Our first snorkel on Boniare was Tori's Reef. It is on the south end of the island by the salt fields. The entry into the water is very easy. The picture above shows our mini-van parked across the road from a windmill.

First underwater picture taken with my new camera. (And was I ever nervous!)