Bonaire
Bonaire is an island and is part of the ‘Lesser Antilles’. As the second largest of the so-called ABC islands Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao’, it and the other 2 belong geographically to South America.
Area: 288 Km2
Population: 15000
Capital: Kralendijk
Language: around 75% of the population speak Papiamentu, a Portuguese-based creole language with Spanish, Dutch and English influences.
The northern part of the island is hilly and green, whereas the south is flat.
In the transition area is Kralendijk, where you can find iguanas and wild donkeys all over Bonaire, although most of the donkeys are now housed in a reserve near the airport.
Candelabra and columnar cacti the size of trees can be found all over the island.
A very characteristic tree species is the ‘Diwi-Diwi tree’, whose crown is orientated towards the trade winds.
In the north, there are abandoned plantations, although you can still find private mini-plantations here, the ‘Knuku’
The north-western part of the island is a nature park (Washington Nationaal Park).
A quarter of the island's total land area is now used for salt production. Flamingos can also be observed there, as a protected area has been set up for their mud nests.
Diving on Bonaire
Very attractive diving paradise, famous for its underwater world and autonomous diving.
The Bonaire Marine Park was founded in 1971 to protect the underwater world of the area. In 1997 it was officially declared a nature reserve by the government. Around 50,000 tourists come to the island every year to dive or snorkel.
Almost all the dive sites on the main island can be reached from the beach. However, you can also go out by boat, e.g. to Klein Bonaire, an uninhabited island off the west coast of Bonaire.
All dive sites are marked with yellow stones on the roadside. Well-known dive sites on Bonaire include: 1000 Steps, Angel City, Salt Pier, Atlantis and the wreck of the Wilma Hooker.
Little Bonaire
About 850 metres off the west coast of Bonaire lies the uninhabited island of Klein Bonaire.
The coast is rugged and rocky, the sea wild, facing the eternally blowing north-east trade winds, interrupted by beautiful sandy bays - this is how you can describe the eastern side of this small island (approx. 6 km2). A mangrove forest can be found in the largest bay of Klein-Bonaire, ‘Lac’, where you can still find large piles of shells of sea snails that were fished here in past centuries.