Bonaire is paradise. Before we embarked on this vacation, we reviewed the helpful and informative trip reports on this site and read about the flora and fauna on the island, but nothing could prepare us for the wonders we encountered, both in and out of water. Everyday, while we were in Bonaire, was filled with pleasant surprises and National Geographic moments. Here are some of the highlights:

Giant hermit crab taking a night stroll along Sorobon Beach;

Falling stars making bold strokes across the speckled night sky;

Off-road Indiana Jones adventure at the Washington National Park, looking for Indian inscriptions and being ambushed by Yellow Warblers, White-face doves and giant iguanas (all at the same time);

Playful Horse-eye Jacks swimming along as we snorkeled off Klein Bonaire: we swam faster, they swam faster; we slowed down, they slowed down; we stopped, they swam over to face us as if asking “Why do you stop? Or, do you need to be cleaned?”

Close encounter with Charlie, the resident Tarpon while night snorkeling off Sand Dollar's beach;

Bananaquits joining us for breakfast every morning-- we put a bowl of sugar water on the deck and the next minute a whole flock of them appeared, sitting side by side along the bowl rim, dipping into the sugar water. Some even dove right in to cool off from the heat;

Majestic Frigatebirds flying 10 feet or so above as we swam with juvenile French grunts at Sorobon Beach;

Juvenile Peacock flounder (2, maybe, 3 inches long) hopping across the sandy bottom as I practiced removing and inserting the regulator underwater during our introduction to scuba diving course;

Fanatic Smooth Trunkfish shooting jets of water obsessively at the same spot looking for prey, stirring up a mini-sand storm off Windsock Beach;

Colorful Parrotfish chomping on corals, concocting underwater symphonies off Captain Don's Pier;

Ruby-Topaz Hummingbird darting from flower to flower while we dined by the Cacti garden at Kon Tiki Restaurant;

Brown Peilcans swooping down for a catch as we marveled at the setting sun against a pastel painted sky at North Belnem.

Really enjoyed your descriptive report. We will be there in mid Sept. Since we will only be snorkeling, I was most interested in your snorkel report. We will check them out. Also, thanks for the ALM tips. We will fly the same route from Miami. Wonder if you had a long layover in Curacao? We have about 6 hrs and were wondering if it would be worth it to take a quick tour of the island.
Anyway, so happy you had such a wonderful vacation.
Cheers

Hi 2Nancys, glad you enjoyed our report. We stayed in Curacao for 2 days before returning to Boston but it was more than enough. The capital town, Willemstad, is about 20 minutes away ($18 by taxi) from the airport; its colorful architecture and the floating bridge are reason enough to warrant a visit. However, if you want to tour the entire island, 6 hours might not be enough considering Curacao is much larger than Bonaire. As for snorkeling, Curacao doesn't offer the same great visibility and abundance of sealife as Bonaire does. Anyway, wish you a wonderful time in Bonaire. Regards, Alice and Richard

Alice and Richard: Looks as though we have two more "satisfied customers"! So glad you loved Bonaire and thanks for the great trip report. Carole