Chapter 129: Beauty in Bonaire

We arrived in Bonaire one week ago yesterday and we honestly love it here! Bonaire is an island municipality of the Netherlands (like Saba that we also loved!) Bonaire lies off Venezuela’s coast in the southern Caribbean.  It is part of the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao) and has a population of 24,000.  The ABC’s are extremely popular with cruisers as they lie outside the main development region for tropical cyclones.  

Upon arrival, we immediately fell in love with the beautiful water.  We loved Grenada but we have not seen this type of blue water since the BVI’s.  It is clear to the bottom and the such a vibrant shade.  Bonaire is a world renowned for it’s diving and snorkeling. The reefs and beaches on both the main island of Bonaire and the the neighboring uninhabited islet of Klein Bonaire are under the protection of the Bonaire National Marine Park and managed by STINAPA Bonaire. Because of this protection,anchoring is probited and all boats must use a mooring or get a slip in a marina.  We were very fortunate to find a great mooring spot in the downtown area of Kralendijk.  We are adjacent to dinghy dock access and a short walk to the vibrant restaurant and shopping area.  Everything is so clean and beautifully maintained – the buildings are very colorful and lots of great restaurants (and ice cream for Bob!)  It actually feels very European. There is a great paved walkway along the waterfront with step access down into the water at intervals throughout.  They have have enclosed an area along the waterfront to create basically an ocean pool.  We are moored across from it and it is used daily by locals for swimming, classes, water polo, and more.  It has been fun to watch so many people use this great free resource.  

On Monday, we rented a golf cart to run some errands and explore a little bit farther.  While our boat errands (trying to replace some needed items after the things that broke on our passage!)  was not successful, our trip to the grocery store was AMAZING.  We visited the Van Den Tweel supermarket and it was fabulous.  It had the largest selection of everything that we have seen in a while. The produce, the cheeses, the wine, and even sparkling water which has been very challenging to find across the Caribbean.  The only challenge here was that most items had labeling in Dutch! While everyone so far has also spoken English, the main official languages are Papiamento (a Portugese based creole language) and Dutch. 

On Wednesday, we took Piccola up the coast a bit to a snorkeling spot in the marine park.  We moored the dinghy and hopped in the water near the reef. It was a bit like being in an aquarium – lots of fish of all colors and sizes.  At one point we were in the middle of a large school of fish swimming past us which was really cool.  We could definitely see why snorkeling and diving is so popular here! On Thursday, we decided to head over to the islet of Klein Bonaire and No Name beach.  The only way to get there is by private boat or water taxi from the main island. It is uninhabited so there is nothing on the island except for two sun shelters and lots of wildlife.  When we first arrived, we were the only ones there so we got to see all the turtle tracks from the night before.  There are protected areas on the islet with active sea turtle nests.  They had a sign up that said there were 47 active nests!  As the morning progressed, more and more people arrived by water taxi.  The current is strong around the islet so we walked along the beach for a while and then snorkeled back to where we had our dinghy.  The snorkeling here was even better than the day before!  We again saw a lot of fish but also a sea turtle which was fun.  On land we also got to see a Bonaire Whiptail Lizard which has a beautiful blue color.  We stayed until early afternoon  but then had a wet and bumpy dinghy ride back due to the wind and the whitecaps!

On Saturday, we had a rigging inspection which is required for boat insurance that we need in the South Pacific.  Fortunately,  it was a good inspection with some minor things we will fix but no major red flags- hooray! We spent the afternoon hanging out and swimming off the boat.  Last night we had a fabulous dinner at Capriccio.  Capriccio is an Italian restaurant owned by Andrea and Lola Magnin.  Andrea is the executive chef and at 21 he was the youngest chef in Italy at the time to receive a Michelin star.  After our meal last night, we definitely appreciated his talent! We started with Bruschetta and the Polpette al Sugo (meatballs) which were delicious.  For our main course, Bob had the special, Spaghetti Bolognese and I had the homemade Ravioli with ricotta, spinach butter, and sage.  They also had an extensive wine list and made a great Negroni! Definitely a special meal in a very special place.

The weather between here and Panama is predicted to not be good for the next week so we will be staying in Bonaire at least until next weekend.  While we are anxious to get to Panama we are very grateful to have such a wonderful place to explore while we wait for a good weather window!