Bonaire has a tropical climate, warm and humid with an average temperature of 85 degrees Fahrenheit or 29 degrees Celsius. There is a prevailing easterly trade wind that provides a constant breeze (gentle to moderate, force 3 to 4) throughout most of the year (September and October tend to have less wind). Bonaire experiences both a dry and wet season, with the wet season occurring between October and December, and the dry season between January and September, although in general rainfall is low (less than 22 inches annually).
Bonaire lies near the equator and is outside the hurricane zone.
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Customs is now expecting that we use sailclear before arrival. This is a change from past practice. There is not a computer onsite to fill it out so should be done ahead of time.
This has made check-in easier though.
I am in Bonaire at the moment, January 20, 2023, and have visited many times over the years. On January 1 Bonaire has substantially, to say the least, increased the fees for visiting yachts. Mooring fees (no anchoring, quite rightly, allowed) have increased from about 11 USD per day to $35. In addition to the mooring fees there are additional ones. Anyone arriving on a boat, in fact any arriving any way, are required to pay an arrival tax of 75 USD each. If you want to go in the water there is an additional fee for a marine park tag of $40 each. If on a boat, and want to go ashore, there are no public dinghy docks. The dock at Club Nautico allows dinghy dockage at $10 per week. Total all this up and you arrive at a 10 day stay, for a cruising couple, of $USD 610, which must surely be one of the most expensive places to visit by boat anywhere. Holding tanks are required. Pump out is “free”, at Harbour Village Marine, as part of the mooring fee. There are 50 yacht moorings. At the present 42 are available. Before the the price increase I would have expected 42, or more, to have been occupied. Everyone left around the new year. The bottom line, unless you are a fanatical diver, bypass Bonaire and go to Curacao where you can stay 3 months for a $25 anchoring permit and have excellent, though less convenient, diving. Additionally, Curacao has the amenities of an island ten times the size of Bonaire. Bonaire has hitched their wagon to cruise ships. A double cruise ship day, say 6000 to 8000 passengers, unloaded on a island of 20,000! Well, say no more.
I love, or perhaps loved, Bonaire since 1988. How much are you willing to pay to visit somewhere???? In the last few hurricane seasons the moorings were at 100+ occupancy. Boats were required to wait in the marina, for possibly weeks, to get a mooring. Incidentally, surprise, surprise, marina fees have increased as well. How many dollars are too many? COMMENTS PLEASE!
D
Thank you for the information, we will definitely avoid Bonaire
If you need to do a PCR test in Bonaire, the cost is US$ 300 pp. You will need to go to a GP, there is a clinic just opposite the Hospital and then take the sample to the BONLAB facility around the corner. Usual turnaround time is 24 hours.
Shuttle reservation for Vandentweel grocery store: Theresebonaire@gmail.com
Bon appetit
There is a free shuttle every Tuesday and Friday to Vandentweel’s grocery store. Fantastic store. Meet on the street in front of the Harbour Village marina or the fisherman’s dock. You need to reserve a seat, it’s a 12 passenger van. Website to follow.
Just a heads up for anyone contemplating coming to Bonaire. At this time, the mooring field is currently full and there are a number of folks in the marina waiting for a mooring to become available. There is some turnover of course, but one should be prepared to take a marina slip as many have had to do.
Research says moorings are 18 meters, 55 feet. 18 meters is really 59 feet 0.661 inch. this needs to be fixed. We are about to depart Martinique for Bonaire and have no idea what will happen or if there is room should they stick to 55 feet. Our documents are in feet.
Arrived in Bonaire mid-March 2018. Spent 9 days here. Majority of the time spent on the moorings. Mooring available for yachts up to 55ft at $10 per night (payable to the Harbour Village Marina Office. Customs and Immigration very friendly and free of charge.
Spent one night in the Harbour Village Marina so we could wash down get water etc. The Zazu Bar/ Bistro De Paris is excellent and the owner Patrice is incredibly friendly and helpful for cruisers. Our 2 children had a great time in the little pool at the marina. Snorkelling is incredible.
Reported by Rob Voorneveld of SY Rings (NL) – 18 January, 2017
All the moorings in Bonaire are taken, it is very crowded. Even the marina is almost full.
I have never seen so many cruisers in Bonaire.
Posted on behalf of SY Golden Glow.
During the daytime, Bonaire seems to be one of the best organized, cleanest and safest islands we’ve visited in the entire Caribbean. After dark, however, this appears not to be the case.
Two examples from our opinion:
1. We rented scooters for two days and the rental company insisted we check the bikes into their facility from 5 pm to 8 am. They explained that if we locked them up outside overnight, they would be stolen or completely stripped for parts by morning.
2. We are on a mooring ball right off Karel’s Bar in Kralendijk, the small capital of Bonaire. Right in front of our boat, 100 feet away on the shore, is Divers Diner. We stopped there for happy hour between 5 and 7 pm. We found out that between 12-1am that same night, a fatal shooting occurred in that bar/restaurant between locals who had “history and a grudge”. So sad.
Ellen and Rand
Golden Glow
svGoldenGlow.com
To clear into Bonaire, you must have an exit document from your prior post, in addition to passport and boat documents.
We are about to leave for Cuba from Bonaire having been here for 4 weeks.
Excellent stay with the only issue being the lack of dinghy docks. We understand that Budget Marine is trying to obtain a permit to install a floating dinghy dock near the Yellow Sub dive shop. However, an ongoing discussion between STINAPA and the Bonaire local government about the construction of larger commercial docks is not completed yet.
Until this is solved, the best options are Karel’s bar, the cruise ship pier (if no cruise ships are in port) or the marina. Only the first two are close to ‘downtown’.
Regarding the mooring system, it is a bit of a weird system with two ‘cheap’ lines to ample sized concrete blocks. We did dive on the lines and did install an additional line so we could sleep well.
For diving, this must be one of the best locations in the world for cruisers. We did multiple dives straight from our boat LILY. Amazing!! Other dives by using our dinghy. Plenty of perfect dive sites with good mooring system in place!
We spent 5 weeks on a mooring directly in front of the Yellow Sub. The dingy dock is crowded but easy to use. There are several other docks. We did do into the Yellow Sub to find out the rules for use. You cannot lock your dingy to the dock, but it isn’t necessary. There were no theft issues when we were there March-April 2019
Dear Bonaire cruisers,
There seems to be some misunderstanding about $1,- “service charge” the marine is charging. Nowadays the explanation is “mooring maintenance” but info from STINAPA (owner of the moorings) is not in line with that marina story: “By contrast with the BNMP, Harbour Village Marina manages the moorings in the bay off Kralendijk. These are available, at $10 per night, to visiting yachts no more than 18 meters.
Harbour Village Marina retains 35% of the collected fees to manage and maintain the use of the moorings as well as to collect the fees.”
Read it: http://www.stinapa.org/ourincome.html
For your information, and enjoy the diving.
Dear Bonaire cruisers,
As per 1st April, 2015 Marina Bonaire is charging a $1 a day service fee for garbage drop off or use of there dinghy dock. A rise of 10%!
There is NO NEED TO PAY THIS FEE when you don’t use these services!
Most sailors use Karels bar as a dinghy dock and the green containers on the street for garbage disposal.
So check your invoice when you pay the governmental $10 fee per day for the use of the STINAPA moorings.
Mooring Line Parted. March 2015.
During the time we were in Bonaire (fantastic diving) our mooring line and another yacht’s mooring line parted. Maintenance appears to be poor by the Marine Park Authorities. Suggest diving on your mooring block and, if needed, putting on your own mooring line.
I learned that mooring is for ships until 55 ft. Where can I go with a ship of 90 ft?
Hi Michael, yes, boats over 55ft cannot use the moorings and must proceed to a marina. For a 90ft boat the best bet is probably Harbour Village Marina, they can take yachts up to 150 feet.
https://www.noonsite.com/business/harbour-village-marina/
Hi Sue,
do you know the northwest of Bonaire? Only from map, I think it’s very interesting to stay there. I don’t like marinas.