About Bonaire:

Welcome to Bonaire, a Dutch Caribbean island located just sixty miles north of Venezuela. Bonaire is a small island, measuring only 288 square kilometers (112 square miles) and has a population of just over 15,000. The capital city is Kralendijk, which houses many of the gift stores, grocery stores, and restaurants and is only minutes away from Sand Dollar by car, taxi, or an enjoyable walk. Papiamentu is the local dialect and is the most common spoken language, but you can also get by with English, Dutch, or Spanish.

The island has an extraordinarily pleasant climate, averaging around 84°F, which is the result of virtually constant, refreshing trade winds.

Bonaire is mainly noted for its beautiful underwater life, coral reefs, and clear visibility. There is an enormous variety of life in the most exotic colors—a true "Diver's Paradise"—whose coral reefs are managed by STINAPA, a government-sponsored foundation tasked with protecting Bonaire's marine and land parks. There is a strict "hands-off" policy which is the #1 rule for all of Bonaire's reefs in the Bonaire National Marine Park. All divers and other users of the marine park must pay an annual user fee, which goes directly toward the maintenance of the park and the reefs of Bonaire.

Diving on Bonaire can be done either by boat or by land vehicle, as all dive sites are marked with yellow stones on the side of the roads with the dive site name printed on the stone.

Bonaire is not just for divers, however, as it provides other activities such as kayaking in the mangrove forest, which is one of the best-preserved natural habitats in the world, driving through Washington-Slagbaai National Park (a nature reserve taking up nearly 1/3 of the island's northernmost area), windsurfing at Lac Bay, touring Gotomeer and the salt marshes famous for their flamingo populations, or bird-watching to see the diverse and colorful species which make the island their home.

The drinking water is totally safe and is extracted from the sea.

In summary, Bonaire is a small-scale oasis of serenity.