Bonaire

When discovered in 1499 by Amerigo Vespucci, Bonaire was inhabited for centuries by Arawak Indians. Vespucci named the island after the Arawak word "bo-nah", or "low country".
After colonization in 1527 a lot of indians where taken in captivity and sold as plantation slaves.
In the year 1648 the island became Dutch. The Dutch ruled until 1795 then the French took over.
In 1807 the English took over. In 1816 the Dutch took over again.
From 1828 until 1848 the islands where ruled by The Netherlands and Surinam. From 1848 the islands formed a separate government and in 1951 the first to the parliament responsible Antillean government was formed. In 1954 complete self-government in connection with the Dutch kingdom.

During the day the temperature is high but there's always a wind blowing that will give you some coolness. Careful for that wind when you are windsurfing because it blows real hard and before you know it you will be in Aruba! It doesn't rain that much but if it does.. well hide! At night it's getting a lot colder so you might want to take something warm with you for those cool nights. If you are going to the beach bring some slippers because the coral on the beach is sharp and the sand is very hot on your feet. The people are very friendly they speak Papiamento but most of the people also speak English.
You might want to learn some words:

The currency of Bonaire is the guilder, or florin. Hotels will expect you to pay in Dollars.
In the local stores you can pay in Dollars but they will give you change in local currency.

The choice on where to stay depends on what you want to do there.

There are a lot of hotels where you only find divers and there are hotels with a lot of things to do for children. If you are going just for the beach I would pick a hotel for divers because they are all gone during the day and you will have the beach all to yourself.

Some hotels offers full board that means all food included, you pay a much larger price but that's okay if you don't want to go out at night. If you don't have full board you can go to a restaurant, they are mostly at walking distance, remember the island isn't that big. Most of these restaurants are very good and not that expensive and you will meet some of the locals what will be fun.

A road all the way round the island brings all the things to see and do within easy reach.

Sightseeing.

On your sightseeing trip you will see beautiful spots, look for the divi-divi tree.

The beaches will look great so bring your swim clothes and take a dive in great blue water.

Slave huts.
Served as shelter for the slaves working in the salt pans.
The huts were used until the abolition of slavery in 1863.

Salt depots.
The washed crystals are put out to drain and dry in huge amounts. Three months later the salt crystals, cleaned and thoroughly dried, are ready for shipment.

Kralendijk.
Is the islands capitol. It has a mix of pretty and pastel Colonial Dutch buildings. The shops are located in the middle of town. There are lots of duty free shops. At the edge of town is the fish market.

Lake Goto.
The home of the beautiful, pink flamingoes which have given Bonaire its nick name of Flamingo island.

Washington/Slagbaai National park.
This 13,500 acre park occupies a substantial portion of the island's northern tip and is filled with the fascinating flora and fauna of semi-arid Bonaire. In its own way Washington-Slagbaai is as much a gem as Bonaire's more celebrated Marine Park, with more than a hundred species of birds, a startling variety and diversity of terrain and wildlife.

Dive Bonaire because there is something for everyone.

There are more than 50 easily accessible choice diving locations, many of which can be reached
without a boat.

Almost every hotel has its own dive shop where you can sign up for a trip or just rent what you need.

If you can't dive there are schools where you can get your PADI certificate.
Most dive schools offer NAUI and/or PADI Open Water certificate. PADI Open Water takes about
5 to 7 days before you are certified to dive.

Before your first dive, you need to buy a Bonaire Marine Park tag. You can buy this tag at every dive school. With this money, Bonaire does research and gives information about Bonaire Marine Park.
If you don't have such a tag, dive shops are not allowed to rent dive gear to you.
Keep this tag on hand so you can always show it when necessary.

While we where at the airport waiting for our plane there was a butterfly stuck in the room we
decided to help it and let it free. But as the saying goes "every good deed comes with a bad
experience" so did it with us. We where waiting for a flight number that didn't exist. The girl
behind the desk had written down a wrong number. After waiting for more then an hour we
went to the desk to ask when the plane would leave. Then we heard that we missed the plane.
We had to stay the night in the Bonaire Beach Hotel. The airline paid for the hotel and the food!

The next day they picked us up at the hotel in a VIP bus to bring us to the airport and put us on an airplane home. We didn't mind spending an extra day in paradise. Thanks Bonaire... we'll be back!