Snorkeling in Bonaire

[nato00]

My wife and I will be in Bonaire on the Princess on 5/2/07. We are looking to snorkle there. I can do a shore excursion through the ship that will ferry us over to Klein Beach. Should I do that or is there something better for the two of us. This is going to be our main snorkling stop as I have heard this is the best place to snorkle. Both of us are experinced snorklers and just want to see some cool marine. Please let us know. Thanks!

[10X]

We were in Bonaire earlier this year and enjoyed our short stay very much. I'm a scuba diver but my wife is not, although she very much enjoys snorkeling.

 

We had arranged for her and two friends to do a snorkeling excursion with Renee, but due to surgery, Renee could not make it. The three of them approached a gate guard and asked if he knew where they could snorkel and he said he heard the "Windsock Beach" was good. It was a $10 one-way cab ride to the beach where they had some of the best snorkeling of our 14 day cruise. They saw two Octopus, eels, and a variety of fish. My wife came back with some excellent photos of the octopus. The original excursion was going to cost them $25 each, for $75 total. The cab rides totalled $20 and the snorkeling was great. If you want to save some money, I would recommend that you explore this option.

 

To see some of my wife's photos while snorkeling, go to:

 

http://www.sunfield.smugmug.com

Select "Cruise 2006"

Select "Bonaire Snorkeling"

[gizmo]

Try Renee. I used her last year. She will take you to a couple of places to snorkel off shore. Your things are locked up in her van so there is no worry about having your shoes disappear.

[Library Chick]

My husband and I had a snorkeling tour with Bob Ram and his crew aboard the Mushi Mushi. We booked throught the ship, but he can be booked via the Internet, too.

The water was the best we've ever snorkeled in, too. We were talking about when we could go back to Bonaire before we even got back to the cruise ship.

After snorkeling, Susan brought out the Polar Beer and the wonderful rum punch (made with an orange punch). We became wonderfully loopy almost immediately, so be careful.

Thank you to the delightful eagle ray who came and swam near us two different times during the hour we were in the water. It was one of the highlights of our 13 day cruise.

Library Chick

[saltymalty]

10X was there any restaurants or facilities where your wife went snorkeling?

[andreak1041]

We walked to Bongo's Beach (the tourist guy said it was 1 mile, but it's definitely 1.5-2 miles). There is a restaurant and bar and snorkle equipment for rent. They are building a new bar, so it would maybe be better in a few months. There were many fish right off the shore. Taxi is $9 one way for 4 people, and snorkles, masks and fins were I think also $9 for as long as you want. There are probably better reefs somewhere, but for us, this was very nice. Got crowded on the beach though, as this seems to be the only place the tourist booth recommends as a place to rent equipment.

[10X]

saltymalty,

 

My wife said there are a few trees and the ocean - that's it.

 

She said she initially had some misgivings about going there when she saw the place but it ended up being the best snorkeling she's ever done.

 

Denny

[swom]

My wife and I will be in Bonaire on the Princess on 5/2/07. We are looking to snorkle there. I can do a shore excursion through the ship that will ferry us over to Klein Beach. Should I do that or is there something better for the two of us. This is going to be our main snorkling stop as I have heard this is the best place to snorkle. Both of us are experinced snorklers and just want to see some cool marine. Please let us know. Thanks!

Have you joined our roll call nato00? Please come on over and sign up. It sounds like we have a wonderful group of people going this time. Here's the link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=247579

Susan

[swom]

Hi again, LOL

10X can you tell me if it's easy to get to Klein Beach by yourself and how to get there?

We are thinking of doing that, but don't want to pay the high fee that the ship charges, so was wondering how difficult it is to get there on your own.

Thanks!

[10X]

vawoods,

 

Sorry I can't help you but I've never been there. We will be visiting Bonaire only for the second time in February.

 

Denny

[Emelie]

10X,

 

Thanks so much for all the pictures. They are wonderful. Do you know the name of the beach or bay where you snorkeled in St. Kitts? I've heard that the snorkeling isn't very good there, but your pics look great. Will be there on the Crown week after next. Thanks so much again for your very professional postings.

 

P.S. I'm also looking forward to airport beach in Bonaire.

[10X]

Emelie,

 

The bay we were at has an unusual name and since this board would probably reject the spelling, I'll modify it some. It's called $hitten Bay. The snorkeling isn't out of this world but it's not bad either.

 

We're going to be in St. Kitts again in February and according to the Princess website they have dropped all snorkeling excursions in St. Kitts, except for a catamaran cruise to Nevis. However, the word on the board here is that this excursion is long on the drinking and short on the snorkeling so we cancelled our original reservations. We're now looking for a snorkleing excursion there.

 

Denny

[nancycara]

I heard Cockleshell Beach had some good snorkeling in St. Kitts. We are going to try out in 2 weeks

[10X]

nancycara,

 

Let me know what you find out, please. We leave in 12 days for our cruise, but because we're doing back to backs, we won't be in St. Kitts for about 3 weeks. If the snorkeling is good, we'll try it out. I can get your reply on ship's Internet if I don't hear from you before we leave.

 

Thanks.

 

Denny

[nancycara]

Will be home on the 28th in the evening. Will try to reply then or the next day. Enjoy!

[jimw]

vawoods, You may know this by now, Klein Bonaire is a small island offshore Bonaire. It is uninhabited and reachable by water taxi. Bonaire is boomerang shaped with Klein in the crook. The auto license plate slogan is "Divers Paradise". It is a desert island, hence little runoff and the good visibility diving and snorkeling.

[nancycara]

Just got back last night. Wanted to let you know that Cockleshell had some good snorkeling over by the shack to the left as you enter the beach. It is not as good as Bonaire, where we went to Airport Beach and had incredible snorkeling, but it was good. Had the beach to ourselves for most of the time.

[OOM]

Nancycara,

 

Did you take a taxi to Airport Beach or did you use a local snorkel operator? If you used a taxi, was it easy to catch one back to the ship?

 

OOM

[nancycara]

If you have your own equipment, don't use a tour operator for snorkeling in Bonaire. We took a taxi to Airport Beach ( Windstock) and asked him to come back at a specified time, which he did. There was a tour that came from the ship there, but if you know what you are doing, that was a waste.

[OOM]

nancycara,

 

Thanks for the prompt reply. Did you leave your cabin key and ID on the beach or carry them as you snorkeled?

[nancycara]

There were 3 of us and only 2 snorkeled so we didn't even think about that, though I don't think I would have been concerned. The only other people there were from the ship.

[OOM]

nancycara,

 

Thanks for all your help. It reaffirms 10x's opinion as well.

Do you know another spot to go to in Bonaire or where the ship excusion went for their 2nd stop, if they had 2 stops?

[nancycara]

The groups that came to Airport Beach, came by land, not sea so I don't think they had another stop.

[british betty]

We stopped at Bonaire last February on the Sea Princess. If you walk along the sea front you will see some charters. We were a bit sceptacle at first but we chose a battered looking catamaran, as we hadn't pre booked anything this was a "you might never get this opportunity again " situation. Eventually, there were about six of us, plus the two crew. They were the lovliest of people, the catamaran has a "glass bottom" so we could go below and see anything that swam by. They gave us the history of the islands and obviously loved their world. They knew where to stop for the best snorkelling. As I was a "Virgin Snorkeller" I wouldn't have known the difference, but I plucked up the courage and once I had mastered how to breathe properly, I found the undersea world. I only wish that we could have had more time there. The others on our trip were experienced snorkellers and thought it was great. Sorry but I can't remember how much it cost, but whatever it is, its much less than purchasing from the ship.Enjoy!

[Merv1]

Nancycara...we will be in Bonaire end of October on a Princess cruise. How crowded did Airport Beach get when the cruiseship passengers arrived? We will be looking to do a full day of snorkeling outside of the cruiseship excursions, but don't want to go to a place with 75 other snorkelers...we somewhat want seclusion and quiet and have not yet decided if we need to leave the island (take a boat or catamaran) to get that. Or, if we can just taxi someplace and not waste the time on a boat and get some awesome time in the water right from a local beach. Your thoughts? Thanks! Mary :)