Bonaire

Best months by our weather score: January, February, March. Daytime highs, rain and sunshine are 2016–2025 averages at Flamingo International Airport (Open-Meteo historical weather archive); sea temperatures are 2022–2025 averages for the nearest sea area (Open-Meteo marine archive). Months marked in the storm row fall in the Atlantic hurricane season (June 1 to November 30); the score takes that risk into account.

Gateway airport

Flamingo International Airport (BON)

US nonstops

ATL, IAH, MIA, EWR

Distance

3,484 mi from Los Angeles, 1,998 mi from New York

Passport

Needed for US citizens

Hotel, one night

$95 on Jan 13, 2027 · $95 on Jul 14, 2027 (Kralendijk)

Visitors a year

182,181 overnight visitors (2024)

Bringing a dog

Possible: Bonaire's tourism-information site says US dogs need an ISO microchip, a rabies shot 21 to 30 days or more before travel, an export health certificate within 10 days and no quarantine, but Dutch Caribbean customs guidance describes import restrictions, so confirm with the Dutch Caribbean Government Service before booking.

Hotel prices: Cheapest 3-star-or-better double, 1 night, 2 adults, Kayak, checked 2026-10-20; Kayak showed no separate tax line for these listings. January: Hotel Islander Bonaire. July: three 3-star hotels tied at $95 (Art Hotel, Kralendijk Boutique Hotel, Hotel Islander). A cheaper listing in Hato/Rincon outside Kralendijk was excluded. Excludes the $75 entry tax and $40 nature fee.. Visitor figures: Tourism Corporation Bonaire, 2024 stay-over visitors.

Bonaire is for divers and serious snorkelers first. Shore diving means no boat schedule: rent tanks by the day, load a pickup truck and choose your own sites. It also suits windsurfers, thanks to the shallow, wind-blown lagoon at Lac Bay, and couples who want a slow, low-key week.

Skip it if your plan is beach, pool and dinner. There is little nightlife, no long resort strip and only a handful of sandy beaches. Non-divers in a mixed group may run out of things to do after three or four days. For softer sand and more going on, look at Curaçao, a short hop by air, or Aruba.

• Kralendijk, the small capital, has the restaurants, the waterfront promenade and the water taxi to Klein Bonaire. Best for most visitors.
• The coast north and south of town is lined with dive resorts and apartments, many with a house reef and a dive shop on site. Best for divers.
• Sorobon, on Lac Bay in the east, has a few small resorts beside the windsurf beach. Best for windsurfers and families with young kids who want shallow water.

On Kayak, the cheapest double in a 3-star-or-better hotel in Kralendijk was $95 for Wednesday, January 13, 2027, and $95 for Wednesday, July 14, 2027, for two adults. Kayak showed no separate tax line for these small hotels, so confirm the final price when you book. Dive resorts on the coast generally cost more.

Bonaire's beaches are short and often narrow. The best are No Name Beach on Klein Bonaire, the uninhabited islet across from Kralendijk, reached by water taxi, with white sand, no shade and good snorkeling; Sorobon on Lac Bay, where the water is knee-deep for a long way and suits small children; and Te Amo Beach by the airport, a strip of sand with a reef close in. 1000 Steps on the west coast is a stairway down to a tiny beach and a reef that drops off quickly.

Elsewhere, entries are over rock and coral. Water shoes help, and wind can push chop onto the east coast. Bonaire's beach score reflects the sand, not the water: the sea off the leeward coast is usually calm and clear, but you enter it from rock more often than from a beach.

• Shore diving and snorkeling in the Bonaire National Marine Park, at marked sites along the west coast and around Klein Bonaire. The STINAPA nature fee covers the park.
• Washington Slagbaai National Park in the north: cactus country, salt lakes with flamingos and remote snorkel coves, best explored by four-wheel drive.
• Windsurfing and kayaking at Lac Bay, including guided kayak and snorkel trips through the mangroves.
• The salt pans and slave huts in the south, where pink salt ponds, white salt pyramids and 19th-century stone huts sit side by side.
• Rincon, the island's oldest village, and the Donkey Sanctuary near the airport.

For a diver, that is a week or more. For a non-diver, it is a handful of good days, which is why the things-to-do score sits in the middle.

Bonaire is dry, sunny and windy for most of the year. The breeziest months suit windsurfers, the driest stretch runs from late winter into spring, and showers pick up from about October to December. The 12-month table on this page has the numbers. Water visibility and calm leeward seas make it a year-round dive island.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30, per the NOAA National Hurricane Center. Bonaire sits south of the main track. In NOAA's HURDAT2 best-track records since 1950, two hurricanes passed with their center within 50 nautical miles (58 miles), Anna in 1961 and Felix in 2007, and tropical storm Bret came close in 2023. A distant storm can also send swells onto the normally calm west coast. See our hurricane season guide.

Flamingo International Airport (BON) has nonstops from Atlanta (Delta), Houston and Newark (United) and Miami (American), according to the airport's Wikipedia airline table read October 20, 2026. Other travelers connect through those hubs or via Curaçao.

Bonaire is a special municipality of the Netherlands. US citizens need a passport valid for the stay; the State Department says no visa is needed for 180 days or less. Every visitor aged 13 and over pays a $75 visitor entry tax once per visit, and children 12 and under pay $10. Pay online at the government portal, which opens seven days before arrival, or by card at the airport counter; cash is not accepted. Anyone who snorkels, dives, kayaks or swims in the marine park also needs the $40 STINAPA nature fee, valid for the calendar year. See our passport rules guide.

Our Kayak checks found $95 a night in mid-January and $95 in mid-July for the cheapest 3-star-plus double in Kralendijk, with no separate tax line shown. Add $75 per adult for the entry tax and $40 per person for the nature fee: $230 for a couple who snorkel, before you rent a car or tanks. Bonaire uses the US dollar, so there is no exchange to think about. A rental pickup truck is the standard way to shore dive; groceries are imported and priced accordingly.

Bonaire Landsailing Adventures

Carts, safety gear and instruction are included; the option with round-trip transport is $79.

2 hours

5.0★★★★★★★★★★(831 reviews)

Reserve

Rating as shown on Viator

Clearbottom Mangrove Kayak & Snorkel tour

Gear, drinks and a stroopwafel are included. The STINAPA nature tag is required for non-cruise visitors and is not included.

2 hours

4.8★★★★★★★★★★(669 reviews)

Reserve

Rating as shown on Viator

Bonaire: Marine Park Drift Snorkeling with 2 Stops

Drinks, snacks and gear are included. Non-cruise visitors need the Bonaire nature fee tag, and the page is unclear about whether it is covered, so check before you go.

3.5 hours

4.9★★★★★★★★★★(191 reviews)

Reserve

Rating as shown on GetYourGuide

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