Bonaire
Caribbean Netherlands Island Ringed By The Bonaire National Marine Park (1979), Often Ranked Among The World'S Best Shore Diving; Flamingos And Washington Slagbaai Park · Kralendijk, Bonaire
Bonaire is a dry, flat, sun-baked island off the coast of Venezuela, part of the Caribbean Netherlands since 2010 and a special municipality of the Netherlands, where the currency is the US dollar. It is famous among divers for one thing above all: the entire coast is protected as the Bonaire National Marine Park, created in 1979, and the reef starts a few steps from the shore, so you can rent a pickup truck, load your tanks and dive dozens of sites marked by yellow painted stones along the coast road without a boat. Above water there are flamingos in the salt lakes, pink salt pans and the stone huts of enslaved salt workers in the south, the windsurfing lagoon of Lac Bay, the rugged Washington Slagbaai National Park in the north, the islet of Klein Bonaire and the small, relaxed capital Kralendijk. The honest caveat: Bonaire has few classic sandy beaches, much of the shore is rock and coral rubble, cruise ship days crowd Kralendijk, and prices for food, cars and rooms are high because almost everything is imported.
Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands; Kralendijk and the shore-diving coast, Flamingo International Airport, Kralendijk, Bonaire, Netherlands
An all-year island with warm weather in every month. Shore dive sites and the coast road are open at any hour, though most divers keep to daylight. Washington Slagbaai National Park opens daily in the morning and stops admitting cars in the early afternoon - confirm current hours and closures. Shops in Kralendijk often close on Sunday. Pay the STINAPA Nature Fee online before diving, snorkelling, swimming in the marine park or entering Washington Slagbaai. Flights land at Flamingo International Airport from Amsterdam, the US and Curacao.