Heading to Bonaire for the first time August 6 through the 16th.

My question is 3 part:
1) How bad are the bugs
2) What kind
3) Best defense

Most appreciative,

Craig

Craig,

I just provided the following information to a very similiar question

"The Bonairian mosquito, although somewhat agressive, does not care for any product that contains 100% DEET. I am unaware of any disease issues arising from a bite, remember Bonaire is an island and as such is somewhat isolated from the ills of the "outside" world. One particular fun flying critters is what you would call "no seeums", on Bonaire they are called Limpi's (spelling not withstanding) and that liberally translates to Flying Teeth. They are inclined to flying into your ears, ears nose and throat and driving you mad. Again DEET serves as an almost protective barrier.

Only thing on Bonaire that flys and might serve to make you nervous should be the local airlines... and DEET won't help ya there.

What about the crawly kind? Roaches, Palmettos, etc? I must prepare my wife now. lol.

I've seen one roach, and been there three times. I must admit, it was huge. But it's not like they're crawling all over the place in broad daylight.

It's a given that there are bugs, and big bugs in the tropics.

In our 11 days on the island last week, we did use any bug spray and Sue got bite once, myself not at all. We've heard tell of bugs but no proof. We did see some water bugs (translation big, big roaches) but only late at night and typically running around outside on the walkways.

But as Mary said this is the tropics and bugs are pretty prevalent.

Flying palmetto's... Yep we got em, ants too if you leave foodstuff out. Oh.. did anybody mention iguana ??? BIG iguana !!! and a whole bevy of smaller ones, the occasional scorpion, crabs (waterborne), donkeys, goats, dogs, cats, free flying parrots, bats, aww heck, this place is overrun with wild life.

Bonaire Bugs.

Craig,
I was on Bonaire this month and it was relatively mosquito and limpi-free. We even went stargazing in the mundi and mangroves at night and had no problems. Summer is best for no bugs, but with the new rains and predictions, it is best to bring bug stuff.

If you consider red ants to be bugs, Bonaire is wellendowed, like all tropic islands with these pests.

August is a great month on Bonaire, btw. Sometimes the wind dies down and the east coast is easier for access. You can read more about the incredible east coast offerings elsewhere on BT.

Happy trails.

Bud

I've heard about mosquitos but never seen them. Nor roaches. But I'd take deet and maybe Avon SSS just in case. I had a bad case of tiny ants last time when I was negligent about putting my food stuffs in the fridge. Bonaire is not nearly as bad as , say, Mexico or Texas.