Blissful and Breathtaking Bonaire

We have been cruising through South America and the Caribbean on the Carnival Sunshine! It’s been an amazing trip! I have many things to share…pictures and stories but I wanted to first share about one of the first ports we visited…Bonaire!  We’ve never been here and honestly hadn’t heard much about it but we were really anxious to check it out.  I worked with Tourism Bonaire and had the best experience! Bonaire wasn’t only one of my favorite ports from this trip, it was one of my favorite ports ever!

When we first got off the ship, I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful the area was! Usually when you get off cruise ports, the surrounding area isn’t always the best, it’s usually industrial or filled with souvenir shacks.  This one was beautiful with restaurants and well-kept stores.  It also felt so safe and it turns out, it’s one of the safest islands in the Caribbean! Its considered a special municipality within the Netherlands.

After walking through some of the shopping district, we arrived to the Tourism Bonaire office and met the friendly staff.  Then it was time for our tour.

We had an amazing tour guide, Rolando who was informative and entertaining!   As he drove us around, we saw so many beautiful beaches with scuba divers getting ready to dive! I had no idea that Bonaire was voted one of the top places to dive in the world year after year!  When we visit next time, this is a must for us!  I spoke with a few divers while we were there and one said, “Imagine paradise underwater, that’s what you have here!”

Next, we noticed these huge pyramids and “pink bodies of water”.  Turns out these are salt pyramids.  Bonaire has a thriving salt industry.  Cargill Corporation is responsible for the salt production here.  It was actually really beautiful to see!

These are slave huts by the salt ponds that are still standing from the 1850s.

As we were driving, all of the sudden Ella yelled, “FAMINGOS!”.  Sure enough, we looked out the window and there were hundreds and hundreds of flamingos!

It was breathtaking.  This is the island’s signature bird.  The area is protected so you can’t get close to them but you can see them on the drive, planes also aren’t allowed to fly over the flamingo reserve!

Then it was time for one of the prettiest beaches I’ve ever seen, Sorobon Beach! There is a public beach here and a resort, Sorobon Beach Resort. We rented a cabana for the afternoon at the resort, it was paradise!

Look at this water! I have to admit, this is the prettiest water I have ever seen!! It just didn’t even look real, it was that beautiful!

We all took a nap (that’s Ella under the towels, haha), played in the water, watched the wind surfers, built sand castles, and relaxed for a few hours!

That’s Judd and Camden wayyyy out there! This beach was so cool because you could walk really far our and the water was still till our waist! Not to mention it felt like bath water and was crystal clear!

Rolando picked us up and took us to lunch at Karel’s Beach Bar! We were treated to a delicious lunch! I had a chicken sandwich that was SO good, Judd had a burger, and the kiddos had chicken nuggets and fries.  We ate this while looking at beautiful water views and the cruise ships! I highly recommend this place!

If you’re looking for a place to relax with beautiful water and beaches, a place to scuba dive, or just a place to escape I highly recommend Bonaire! It is postcard perfect! If you’re planning a trip, be sure to use Tourism Bonaire to help plan!

A HUGE thanks to Tourism Bonaire and Karel’s Beach Bar for hosting us! We had such an amazing day!