We provide travel destination tips, tricks, advice and reviews all geared towards making YOUR trip easier and more enjoyable! We've got a particular passion for sunny, tropical locations where we can scuba dive, with an emphasis on Bonaire shore diving. You may also get an occasional, random rant or two.
If that sounds like you too, then we'd love to have you join our community by subscribing to our channel!
@@michaelgalietti9788 I can’t speak for other shops, but Tropical Divers uses DIN tanks exclusively. If anyone with you dives yoke, they provide adapter inserts (Liz and I bring our own). www.tropicaldiversbonaire.com/diving
Always like when you let us know if the site is snorkel friendly too, I watch all your videos with that in mind cuz we are snorkelers only. We Love Bonaire thanks for your videos
@@deancox8634 yes, most every shop and restaurant accepts credit cards (I’ve never tried my debit card on Bonaire). A few exceptions are the food trucks (Kite City, Stoked, Cactus Blue etc). Most only accept cash. Have a look at this video for answers to more FAQ’s Frequently Asked Questions about visiting Bonaire! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iFpMPpIE_X8.html. Thanks for watching Dean! Enjoy your trip!
I'm 78 and been coming there since 2005. Sneak in down at the secret entrance to Small Wall..very slipppery. I think I will buy one, fold it, and somehow attach to belt. Your videos are so great! Also asked Al if he will let us use the Black Durgon entry..Bonaire has been discovered. I remember there were only 14,000 residents when we first bought property there..thanks very much for telling people to protect the beautiful sea and island..
Great question Patricia! I’m not sure I have an answer for you. Most folks are ok without scuba gear. I have horrible balance and I’m typically ok getting in and out at most sites without gear. Liz and I find widening our stance or using each other for assistance can help when we have no gear. If you really feel a stick will help, I recommend getting a folding trekking pole or cane that has its own pouch. You could then attach it to a weight belt (minus the weights if desired). I hope this helps. Thanks for watching!
hi! Long time subscriber :) Kind of a niche question but I was wondering what you recommend for dive insurance? Totally new certified diver here and wondering what i should do. Thanks!
We’ve always used DAN for our annual dive accident plan. For trip insurance we typically use Seven Corners (DAN will piggy back this for dive emergencies), unless it’s a liveaboard trip where we most likely will use Dive Assure. Thanks so much for watching!
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It’s quite the trek Anthony. Here’s a time lapse of the drive out there Bonaire Drives - Spelonk Lighthouse ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pbgLcdwgBWg.html. The road/trail (when there is one) can be very rough, so take it slow and make sure you have a spare tire and jack (that works); or/and, a spare scuba tank with reg and tire adapter. Take plenty of water too. It’s very exposed out there. I always route the drive looking at Google Earth (not google maps). If you’d rather not venture out on your own, there are ATV and Jeep companies that run tours out that way. A quick look on TripAdvisor should turn up a few options. If you like rugged, desolate destinations, you’ll find that it’s worth the effort. Also, it’s not a quick trip. I’d plan on the entire outing to take half a day. I hope this helps. Enjoy!
Great video to help out the mrs. who doesn't dive. Any recommendations for tour guides for the two of us who do dive? Also, locations that aren't deeper than 50 feet or so? We're there all day on a cruise stop and would really like to do two dives, could be boat or shore. Thanks!
Hi Anthony, thanks for watching! The good thing about Bonaire is that every site is good above 50 ft. In fact I find that 30 to 50 feet is often the sweet spot (especially in the South). You can certainly go deeper on all dives, and there’s good reason to on many, but you’ll be quite pleased with 5 to 50 ft at most every site. Bonaire has shallows that lead to a sloping wall. That’s why it’s so great for shore diving. There’s something at every depth. Enjoy your trip!
You can pay the visitor entry tax upon arrival at the airport. It will be paid prior to passing through passport control. My understanding is that it is a fairly easy process (we’ve always paid online). The nature fee cannot be paid at the airport. Thanks for watching!
Love your videos and have found them all helpful. However, you might want to review your recommendation of Maikey Snack. We made the trek there last week but the fish and french fries were not good. My goat stew was tender and flavorful, but very little meat and mostly bone. And it was not what we consider cheap....$15 each + $3 for a warm bottle of coke with a small glass of ice. And to top it off, someone siphoned the gas out of our truck while we were there, making us cut our afternoon short and having to drive back to town to get gas. Yes, we are 100% sure it happened there. Started with nearly 1/2 tank and it was the first and only stop we made and came out to an empty tank and gas light on. We thought we were going to run out of gas and have to ride one of the donkeys by the side of the road back to town at one point. 🤨 You were spot on with the recommendation of pastechis at the airport restaurant. For $3 each they were a delicious lunch. You can also find them in the mid-morning/early afternoon at the Chinese grocery store down by Captain Don's. We also ate at Great Dragon, which is an unmarked Chinese restaurant (grey/black building with Chinese lanterns hanging out front and seating area with large sun umbrellas) that we found to have great food for a reasonable price. (~$16 per entree. We had enough leftovers for a second meal.) Thank you for making these videos.
That’s crazy! And brazen too. Siphoning gas right there in view of the restaurant. I’m so sorry that happened to you, especially at Maiky Snack, although riding a Donkey back to town may have been fun. I don’t mean to make light of what happened. Thanks so much for commenting and letting folks know about your experience.
Also not my favorite site due to the artificial nature and the "junk". However, I have seen some super cool sea life, so we keep going back. I highly recommend entering farther to the North. There is a more sandy area that direction that is a lot easier. Thanks for the info!
Living on Bonaire for 24 years. I've traveled a lot and I've never been anywhere that didn't have a problem with tourist theft. After all, you won't be here for the trial, right? Bonaire is generally very safe. I'm never afraid to go anywhere, any time of day, all by my lonesome. The roads have improved greatly in the past year. Yes, the scooters and golf carts are annoying but I can't imagine how fast we would drive if we didn't have them to slow us down. They could be saving us from more high speed accidents. 😅
Your longest topic was the whole scooters thing. I have a feeling it’s your own personal issue. You just don’t like all the tourists on scooters. I’m arriving in June and already have a scooter booked. Can’t wait
Montana Juggs, you've obvioulsy never come across a scooter accident. They happen more often than you may think, and the burns? Coming off and sliding is common on scooerr accidents. It creates very nasty burns with grit in them and coupled with the shock of coming off, for sure keeps the injured one from going in the water for several days. How do I know? Apart from general knowledge, my husband, regardless of my warning, did just that, and consequently lost the erest of his diving. Only small grazes, and as a nurse, I could treat them for him, but I had hard work for the rest of that holiday, and ababdon some of my own plans, to make sure he managed to enjoy it, and not be an unpleasant grump-in-the-corner!
@@MrsBarnabas You must think I’m stupid. I know the dangers of crashing on a scooter. It’s just a chance you take to have fun. I rode around the entire south side of Bonaire this past weekend on an electric scooter and I had a blast. If I had a line of cars behind me I moved to the side and they passed just fine.
@@montanajuggs1717 No, I don't think you're stupid! I just know the very unpleasant consequences for people less aware than you are, and even for folk like you, who are. It's not necessarily the scooter rider who causes the accident - it's other folks, and the unforeseen, just as it is anywhere in the world, and many tourists who hire scooters have never ridden them before.
#1 should be don't leave ANYTHING in your vehicle you don't want stolen when swimming/diving. You will see trucks with blacked out windows in the parking lots at dive sites, just waiting for you to get into the water so they can ransack your vehicle. Leave the windows down or they will break the window. Buy a cheap pair of sunglasses when diving at sites, they will not steal them. Big miss for this video, I've been to Bonaire many times, this is the most important DON'T DO.
Hi Chris, thanks for watching and taking time to comment! I wholeheartedly agree with not leaving anything in your vehicle you don’t want stolen, that’s why I included this in the video at 18:16.
Don't pronouce it like you Americans do. It's not Bone-air. It's Bonair-e. And the "e" at the end is not like in "Nike" but like in "ehh". And .... don't be so loud. Just a few advices from me, a Dutchman who lived on Bonaire for years.
Good vid, certainly some good points. Just back from Bonaire, another great trip. I agree about scooters and especially golf carts. The carts are especially slow and really clog things up, which is frustrating. One other "don't" we'd recommend is don't forget to keep an eye on the cruise ship schedule. The larger cruise ships really make a mess of things on such a small island, and the most popular shore diving spots can be overcrowded, while the roads are bogged down with tour busses and golf carts. We generally try to plan around their arrival, focusing on the less popular spots and routes. And if you find yourself near Rincon, check out John's Ice Cream! Great little spot for a homemade treat.
Great tip about watching the cruise ship schedules. We do this too and avoid lunch at Sorobon on ship days. We’ll definitely check out John’s! Thanks for watching and taking time to comment!
@@KevinandLizGrogan Completely agree about Sorobon, such a great place to windsurf and grab lunch. The other big draw seems to be 1000 steps. Can be hard to find parking with all the picture takers. If one were to find themselves up there without a reasonable place to park and get ready, try continuing on to Karpata. A fantastic spot to be in the water, as long as the sea isn't too rough up there. Cheers.
I am Canadian and looking to visit there. I’ve only ever heard the mispronounced way of saying it, thanks you so much for the information! I feel bad not knowing.
Don’t feel bad. I still mispronounce it most of the time. Many folks prefer the “n” on the second syllable, so instead of bone-air, bow-nair. Either way will be fine. Enjoy your trip!
According to Stinapa, it is NOT ALLOWED to dive with walking sticks. Ask Stinapa Bonaire directly, and they will tell you about the registrations on the island.
This place looks amazing. When I went to look at availability dates, everything is marked out as far as the calendar will take you and Google says it's permanently closed. 😢😢😢
Oh no!! I hope that’s not the case. We love this house! Maybe the owners haven’t yet set their dates for the year? It’s odd that it’s still listed on the Sunwise site. I’ll reach out to Sunwise to see what’s up. Thanks for letting me know.
@jennifercardinal1660 I s/w Sunwise and Kas Air is currently under long term rental. I’m not sure for how long. Oh well. I think we might try this house sunwisebonaire.com/accommodations/casa-madera-on-sabalpalm-villas/?s=&checkin=&checkout=&bedrooms=1&guests=1&location%5B0%5D=sabalpalm-villas. It’s located just around the corner from Kas Air (I think it shares a fence corner).
I don’t think I’ve ever timed it, but to drive a loop Kralendijk to Karpata to Rincon to Sorobon (back way) to Kralendijk (up west coast), or a figure 8 Kralendijk to Karpata to Rincon to Kralendijk to Sorobon (down west coast) to Kralendijk (past Donkey sanctuary) WITHOUT stopping, would probably take 1.5 hours (maybe 2). I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t include stops. The tour I cover in this video can be done probably in 5 to 8 hours depending on time at stops What to do with only ONE day on Bonaire! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VhFo27LEFpE.html.
My husband and I will take our first trip to Bonaire in a few weeks. Your videos have helped us immensely to prepare for and understand shore diving in Bonaire. Thanks so much!
What’s about drones? Im hearing you can fly( designated areas only) and that you can’t fly at all. There’s a lot of drone footage of Bonaire on RU-vid. Bonaire website says you can just conflicting info out there
I honestly don’t know the official rules/regulations regarding drones. Like you I’ve seen conflicting info in online forums. I recommend checking the Stinapa website. I’m fairly certain they’re prohibited above the Cargill salt works/pans, as well as any flamingo sanctuary (Gotomeer, Pekelmeer etc..).
I will always recommend our favorite dive shop Tropical Divers. They have well maintained gear, and are also happy to help with a quick repair to your personal gear. Of course most every shop on the island offers rental gear.
Excellent video! Thank you. One other don't I'd add is this: If you are sensitive to noise then be careful where you stay. Some streets in Kralendijk are so noisy that it can easily take a lot of the relaxation and enjoyment that you came to get here. I am specifically referring to people who constantly and deliberately rev their engines. This is a huge nuisance from which everyone suffers. I wonder why the police don't take action here, or if they do, then only half-heartedly.
