What Cruise Travelers Should Know
Ships tender or dock at the Kralendijk waterfront, right in the center of the small capital. The town is immediately walkable — a few streets of Dutch-Caribbean architecture, a colorful waterfront fish market, and the town pier (one of the famous shore dive sites, with seahorses under the dock).
**Diving:** Bonaire has over 80 named dive sites accessible from shore. Dive operators line the waterfront and rent gear with the freedom to dive independently. The **Town Pier** is the most storied site — you need a guided night dive to visit the underside of the pier. **1,000 Steps** (actually 67 steps, but a long climb back out) on the west coast has exceptional reef wall diving. **Karpata** and **Ol'Blue** are top sites in the northern marine park.
**Snorkeling:** You do not need to be a diver. Many of the beach entry sites have shallow coral gardens at 1–3 meters depth. The inner reef at Lac Bay on the east coast is accessible by wading and has remarkably clear water.
**Flamingos:** Bonaire has the second-largest flamingo colony in the Western Hemisphere. The salt pans in the southern part of the island often have hundreds of pink flamingos visible from the roadside. Free to observe.
Salt, Slavery, and the Caribbean's First Marine Park
The Dutch West India Company took Bonaire from Spain in 1636 primarily for its salt production — the southern salt pans were worked using enslaved labor from West Africa for over two centuries. The red-painted slave huts (casitas) near the salt pans are preserved and accessible, a sobering testament to the conditions under which the industry operated.
The island's ecology was protected relatively early: Bonaire established its marine park in 1979, one of the first in the Caribbean. No anchoring on the reef has been permitted since then; all boats use mooring buoys. The result is visibly healthier coral than most Caribbean destinations, and the fish biomass is exceptional.
Bonaire became a special municipality of the Netherlands in 2010 (along with Sint Eustatius and Saba), making residents Dutch citizens with access to European Union benefits. The US dollar replaced the Netherlands Antillean guilder as the official currency in 2011.
Getting Around Bonaire
**Walking in Kralendijk:** The town is very small and walkable in 20 minutes.
**Rental car or scooter:** Essential if you want to reach the northern national park or the salt pans in the south. Rental agencies are at or near the waterfront. The main ring road is paved and well-maintained. Bonaire drives on the right.
**Bicycle:** The island is flat and the distances are manageable by bicycle. Several operators near the pier rent bikes. The road to the southern salt pans and flamingo viewing is an easy 8 km.
**Diving operator transport:** Most dive operators offer van pickup and drop-off to remote dive sites for customers renting gear with them.
Tipping in Bonaire
Bonaire is a Dutch special municipality. The US dollar is official currency, and tipping norms lean American.
- **Restaurants:** 15–18% if service is not included. Many restaurants add a service charge. - **Dive operators:** USD $5–10 per person per dive if the divemaster was helpful, more for a guided dive. - **Taxis:** Round up or add 10–15%. - **Currency:** US dollars are official. No need to exchange money.