Best What to Do on Bonaire Day 2023

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Greetings Internet Stranger and welcome to a perfect what to do on Bonaire day. Bonaire is one of the ABC islands, and while it’s not quite as famous as Aruba or Curacao, it’s becoming better known, partially because it’s a fantastic destination for scuba diving.

It would be ideal to spend a few days on Bonaire, which has an amazing amount of natural beauty, but sadly we don’t have enough time.

If you are in Bonaire as part of a one day shore excursion, like I was on my most recent Royal Caribbean cruise out of San Juan, Puerto Rico, then this itinerary is perfect for you. You can check out the best deals on cruises that sail to Bonaire, like Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas right here.

However, even if you’re just visiting Bonaire on your own, this what to do on Bonaire day will be perfect for you! I’ll show you all my favorite spots on this stunning island! Let’s not waste any more time!

Best what to do on Bonaire day

Where to Stay?

Bonaire is an entire island, so you can stay pretty much anywhere. However, if you want to explore, I suggest staying in Kralendijk, which is the capital of Bonaire. You’ll be centrally located, and if you want to take a tour around this island, this is going to be the best starting point.

That’s why I recommend staying at the Hut Bonaire. It’s just a short walk from several beaches. It’s a charming and affordable place to stay, with a friendly staff, but it’s also got plenty of amenities like air conditioning and wifi. It’s the perfect place to stay to have a relaxing time without breaking the bank.

If you want a great deal on this hotel, click here.

And if you’re looking for great deals on tons of other hotels in Kralendijk, click here. This search engine will help you find the perfect place to stay for your best what to do on Bonaire day. With plenty of options to choose from, I’m sure you’ll find something for your schedule and budget.

Best what to do on Bonaire day

Morning: Driving Tour of the Island

Bonaire isn’t a large island, but it’s still difficult to get to see its amazing natural beauty in one day. That’s doubly true if you’re only able to see Bonaire in less than 24 hours while you’re stopped on a cruise ship vacation.

For that reason, any what to do on Bonaire day needs to include a driving tour of the island. Fortunately, I’ve found a few fantastic options that will suit your needs perfectly.

You can book a separate guided tour, like this one, that will take you to the most beautiful and interesting parts of the island.

I can’t guarantee that you’ll see exactly the same stops that I did on my shore excursion, but you’ll get to the beach and the salt flats, though lunch won’t be included. (However, I can show you where to get some good food when you get back to Kralendijk.)

You can go ahead and book this fantastic tour by clicking here.

Then get ready to fall in love with Bonaire with…

Approximately Top 5: what to do on Bonaire day

1) Salt Flats

Any driving tour of Bonaire will certainly take you past the salt flats. These are some of the most gorgeous natural features I have ever seen.

My photos don’t really do them justice. Some of the beauty is marred by the massive machines extracting salt, but even these creations have a sort of sci-fi-esque beauty.

(Yes, that’s Bonaire’s famous pink water next to the machines and salt pyramids.) These machines are actually historically important. When slavery existed on Bonaire, enslaved people were forced to extract the salt.

This was extremely harmful for their hands and skin, and the work was painful and difficult. Now machines are used to extract the salt, and no one is injured during the production.

For such a tiny island, Bonaire is a massive producer of salt. They produce hundreds and thousands of the stuff per year.

(On our tour, our guide even gave us each a piece of authentic Bonaire salt to take home with us. It looks just like any other crystal; mine is decorating my kitchen now.)

2) Slave Huts

The slave huts in Bonaire are unique. Slavery was present on every Caribbean island that I have personally visited, but the houses of enslaved people are usually not preserved.

That isn’t the case in Bonaire. Many of these homes have been restored and maintained to honor the memory of the enslaved.

On our tour, we were able to get out and walk around, so we could see the size of the houses for ourselves. It was astonishing to see how small the buildings were. It’s hard to imagine fully grown adults being forced to live here.

And yet these enslaved laborers were working at excruciating labor in the salt flats, earning most of the wealth for the island without receiving anything in return.

3) Sorobon Beach Time

I can’t guarantee that the guided tour you take to enjoy the best what to do on Bonaire day will include Sorobon Beach specifically. However, I can pretty much guarantee that you will get a beach stop on your guided tour. There are just so many beautiful beaches in Bonaire! How could you avoid seeing one?

I was happy that we stopped on Sorobon Beach because the water was such an unusual color. I’ve never seen waters that were quite that shade of blue-green.

See? Have you ever seen that color? I only went in as far as to dip my toes, but the water was nice and warm as well.

4) Lunch at Sebastian’s Beach

Lunch wasn’t included with the tour, but as we were relaxing on Sorobon Beach, we got to order lunch at our own expense at Sebastian’s Beach, the nearby bar and restaurant. It was relaxing because we all got to flop around on our beach chairs while the waitstaff came to us to take our orders. Then they just brought our food and drink directly to us.

I don’t think this amenity is available unless you are doing a cruise ship shore excursion, but Sebastian’s Beach is a real restaurant, so if you’re exploring Bonaire on your own, you can just go there for lunch.

I recommend the mojito which was most refreshing. (And if you can’t day drink when you’re on vacation in the Caribbean, when can you day drink?)

For food, I suggest the poke bowl, which was chock full of interesting ingredients like beets and seaweed salad, as well as fresh tuna. When I’m on a beach vacation, I usually like to get a light lunch so I don’t fall asleep on the beach.

5) Various Bonaire Tales

If your guide is anything like mine, you’ll be regaled with tales of life on Bonaire throughout the entire drive. One fun fact we learned is that cacti, like the ones you can see in my photo above, are considered to be a delicious delicacy in Bonaire.

Our guide John said that two of the most popular foods on Bonaire are cactus and goat. I sadly was not able to eat any cactus when I was in the ABC Islands, but I did have some goat curry when I was in nearby Curacao, and I can attest that it is delicious.

What famous singer/movie star once owned a ton of property in Bonaire? If you guessed Harry Belafonte, then Day-O to you! According to John, Mr. Belafonte sold his property to the island so that more housing could be built.

That was most helpful of him because as you can see, there’s not a ton of space on Bonaire, and more housing is always better.

My favorite story we learned on this tour of the best what to do on Bonaire day is the tale of the Hilma Hooker. This ship with a most colorful name was captured in Bonaire with a large amount of illegal marijuana on board.

No one could decide to do with the Hilma Hooker, and eventually it sank. Now it’s a popular spot for divers! So if you want to explore a sunken marijuana ship, Bonaire is the island for you!

24 Hour Tip

Those are all the secrets I can share with you for now, so go ahead and book this great tour for yourself to experience the rest!

Check rates and availability right here!

Best what to do on Bonaire day

Afternoon: Explore Kralendijk

After the tour ends, you’ll have some time to explore Kralendijk, Bonaire’s capital city, on your own. Kralendijk is the smallest capital in the ABC Islands, at least in terms of things to do. (No, I have not personally measured all three cities, so I can’t guarantee it’s the smallest in terms of size.)

However, Kralendijk has an excellent market and some lovely historic architecture, so we will surely find enough to do. That’s why you should follow me on a romp of some more of the best what to do on Bonaire day with…

Three Fun Facts: Kralendijk

1) What is there to eat in Kralendijk?

At this point on your best what to do on Bonaire day itinerary, you’re probably going to be hungry, especially if you didn’t get lunch. So I suggest going to the market for lunch. There’s tons of stands serving all kinds of treats and beautiful arts and crafts, so I’m sure you’ll find something that will appeal to you.

Technically, this is the Bonaire Arts and Crafts Cruise Market, and as you can probably tell from the name, it’s pretty much just open when there are cruise ships in town. However, it’s easy to check and see if the market is going to be open when you are in Bonaire. Just check their schedule here on Facebook to see when the market times are.

Even if you ate lunch, you can still enjoy a light snack at BonaireSno, which is the shaved ice stand at the Arts and Crafts Market. This light and fluffy ice snack goes down smooth on a hot day, which is pretty much every day in Bonaire. This lovely island doesn’t tend to get hit with hurricanes.

I recommend the tiger blood flavor. (It doesn’t actually taste like tiger blood, unless tiger blood tastes like watermelon, coconut, and strawberry.)

2) What is there to see in Kralendijk?

Kralendijk has a number of charming historical buildings and fortunately for us, it’s easy to see all of them in one short walking tour. I just went to the visitor center and took a photo of the historical Kralendijk walking tour map that’s posted right outside the building.

I can’t show you every single building on this best what to do on Bonaire day, but I can point you to a few of the most interesting spots. First off, don’t miss the Fort Oranje, which you can probably guess means Fort Orange. Remember, Bonaire is still part of the Netherlands, and orange is the official color of the Dutch Royal Family.

One of the most surprising items on this historical walking tour is a memorial to the late American First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. She was a remarkable woman, but why would she especially need to be honored in Bonaire? Was she big into scuba diving? I sure hope so!

3) What is there to do in Kralendijk?

I think Kralendijk is a totally excellent shopping city, especially when the cruise ship market is in town. Here’s a small list of things that I purchased in Bonaire at the market:

• Authentic Bonaire Salt
• Liquor made from the special local Bonaire cactus that we saw earlier on our tour. (This is from the Cadushy Distillery, and some tours will take you here so you can sample the local goods.)
• A glass sculpture of local flamingos smiling under the sun. (Flamingos love Bonaire. Male flamingos sit on their eggs while the female flamingos go gallivanting about, and flamingos mate for life. So clearly I need to find myself a male flamingo.)

I’m sure you’ll be able to find something equally wonderful when you visit Bonaire.

Best what to do on Bonaire day

Evening: Cruise Ship Fun!

If you’re like me, and you’re enjoying this what to do on Bonaire day from a cruise ship, now will be the time to head back to your ship. We’re going to have a busy evening so just kick back with a nice relaxing cocktail, and enjoy the views of Bonaire as we get ready for dinner.

I always cruise with Royal Caribbean–they don’t pay me to say that or do that–and once per cruise I like to dine at their exclusive Chef’s Table or, as I like to call it, The Fancy Table. This dinner is only open to around 12 people per night. It costs extra, but it’s tons of fun, and I always make fellow foodie friends on the trip.

How would you like some rich truffle bread to start?

There’s three appetizers, including some gorgeous scallop carpaccio…

a rich and cheesy tomato soup…

and a slightly sweet lobster salad. If that’s not enough, there’s two main courses.

One is a flaky branzino with vegetables…

and then we have a filet mignon, cooked precisely to your specifications. Congratulations if you can finish all this food because I never can.

Best what to do on Bonaire day

Tools For Travel

• A portable cell charger so that your phone won’t die a miserable death
• The best international travel adapter because if you’re American like I am, you’ll need one to be able to plug in electronics
• I always get good advice from my favorite travel guide to the Caribbean, including Bonaire. It also includes Aruba and Curacao, if your trip includes those two islands, like mine did.
• The most reliable travel umbrella that is small enough to fit in my purse, but strong enough to stand up to powerful winds.
• These great TSA approved clear toiletries bags, so I can always keep spare toothpaste and travel sized toiletries in any carry-on.
• My book Get Lost, that I wrote myself with all my best travel tips. This book will show you how travel can take your life from blah to AMAZING!

That’s the Best what to do on Bonaire day

If you thought this article was funny, check out my travel guide Get Lost.

What would you do on a day of the best Bonaire things to do? Are you ready to start booking your hotel in Bonaire right now? Please email me at stellajane@aroundtheworldin24hours.com and let me know!

Note: If you want to know how I put my travel itineraries together, just click here. Keep in mind that while each article is about how to spend 24 hours in a place, that doesn’t mean you should ONLY have a day having as much fun as you can in Bonaire.

Why not add a what to do in Aruba cruise excursion? Or how about a what to do Curacao excursion? Go for the most fun things to do in Playa del Carmen. Check out the best things to do at Roatan Honduras. Let’s head out on what to do at Riviera Maya. Find the best things to do on Allure of the Seas. Experience the best day tours in Aruba. Enjoy the best tours in Curacao.