Bonaire Snorkeling – See the Amazing Life that Lives Below the Waves…
Bonaire is a small island in the southern Caribbean’s Lesser Antilles, a mere 25 miles (80km) north of the Venezuelan coast. The island is a special municipality of the Netherlands. Safe from hurricanes, Bonaire has a truly amazing climate, relatively warm and dry for most of the year. Famous for it’s pink flamingos and renowned coral reefs, the island is a dream-come-true for adventurers looking for snorkeling, scuba diving and water sports.
With it’s healthy coral reefs and rich marine life, Bonaire is one of the top 3 islands in the Caribbean for snorkeling! Bonaire and Klein Bonaire, a small island less than 1/2 mile (1km) from the main island’s western coast, are encircled by coral reefs providing an amazing biodiversity of oceanic life including colourful fish, coral, sponge and more. Bonaire snorkeling can be enjoyed right off the beach at a number of spots on Bonaire’s western shores and of course there are also several boat operators who can take you to plenty of other locations in Bonaire’s Marine Park and elsewhere around the island.
Slip into the warm Caribbean sea and visit shallow corals on the edge of steep underwater cliffs – Visibility is great as you can clearly see through more than fifty feet (15m) of Bonaire’s clear blue sea. There are plenty of unique and stunning underwater wonders to explore – An underwater world below the waves awaits you. Bonaire snorkeling is an adventure that you just can’t experience on land… If you know where to go – Here’s a few of our favourite spots:
Bonaire’s Best Snorkeling Sites off Klein Bonaire
There’s over a dozen Bonaire snorkeling sites off the shores of Klein Bonaire – Here’s a few samples:
- Leonora’s Reef offers views of a large variety of corals and sponges / plumes, along with seahorses, fire worms and snails along with fish including groupers, damselfish, butterfly-fish, angelfish, snappers and trunk-fish. Great for beginners!
- Carl’s Hill is beach accessible and with views starting in about 20 feet of water, it’s a great place to see a wide variety of marine life such as sponges, gorgonians and coral along with fish, including barracudas, bar jacks and schools of blue tang
- Jerry’s Reef is a deep site that offers views of a large variety of sponges as well as corals, anemones and plumes along with turtles, rays and reef sharks as well as fish including parrotfish and puffers. A great location for beginners and underwater photography.
- Munk’s Haven is a cool underwater plateau that starts around 30 feet deep and offers views of a large variety of corals and sponges, along with shrimp, turtles and fish including groupers, wrasse and many more
- Sharon’s Serenity’s views start about 20 feet deep and provides experienced swimmers views of seaplumes, a large variety of coral along with hawksbill and green turtles along with fish including groupers, damselfish, doctorfish, parrotfish and barracuda. A great location for underwater photography
My first experience snorkeling just off-shore from Klein Bonaire absolutely blew my mind! I have snorkeled in the Caribbean before, however I hadn’t seen anything like this before. After a short boat ride over to the south side of the Klein Bonaire, I stepped off the boat and stuck my face in the calm warm water and literally yelled through my snorkel – Holy S###… We were over a reef so full of life I didn’t know where to look first. Once I settled down, I saw a variety of coral along with colourful tubes and plumes, as well as amazing fish species that I had never seen before. The sand and coral bottom just disappeared over an underwater cliff, and as I was peering into the abyss, a green turtle swam out of the deep towards us. At the second spot we snorkeled at, near the east end of the island, the current was quite a bit stronger. We just drifted with a large school of fish – very invigorating!
For more information on snorkeling Klein Bonaire, including boat operators to get you over there, check out our Klein Bonaire Snorkeling page
Bonaire’s Best Snorkeling Sites North of Kralendijk
There are 4 designated places to experience Bonaire snorkeling off the islands’ north-west shores from within Washington-Slagbaai National Park. Bise Morto and Boka Slagbaai are both accessed from nearby beaches and offer the prospect of spotting rays, eels, as well as whales and the occasional shark.
There’s over a dozen Bonaire snorkeling spots on the west coast, south of the Park and north of Bonaire’s capital, Kralendijk. Here’s a few, just to whet your appetite for taking a look ‘below the surface’.
- 1000 Steps is beach accessible and relatively shallow, offering views of turtles and rays along with a wide variety of fish including parrotfish, angelfish and doctorfish. Further offshore you can see a variety of corals and sponges along with durgeons, filefish and large night sergeants and angelfish
- Kalli’s Reef starts around 30 feet deep and offers views of a variety of marine life including turtles and seahorse
- Andrea / Pali Coco is fairly shallow and offers views of corals / anamones as well as seahorses and parrotfish. Great for beginners!
- La Marchaca / Habitat is shore accessible! Snorkeling starts at 20 feet and features a ship-wreck in 50 feet of water
- Front Porch / Eden Beach is accessible right off the beach! The fun starts in as little as 15 feet of water with views of a large variety of fish as well as a sunken upside tugboat further offshore. Great for beginners!
- Something Special / Kralendijk Marina has a sandy bottom and is shore accessible! This is a great drift snorkel that starts around 20 feet deep and offers close to a hundred varieties of fish. Great for beginners!
For more information on snorkeling Bonaire’s western shores north of Kralendijk, including tour / boat operators to get you outfitted, click on our Bonaire Snorkeling – North of Kralendijk page
The Best Bonaire Snorkeling Sites South of Kralendijk
There’s a handful of places to snorkel Bonaire’s West Coast, just south of Kralendijk. Eighteen Palms is accessible right off the beach and at 30 feet deep the views often include sting-rays and eagle-rays. A little further south at North Belnem, you should be able to swim with schools of blue tang – Great fun for beginners!
Another half dozen snorkeling spots are just south of the Slave Huts, almost all of them beach accessible. Here’s a small taste…
- Tori’s Reef is shore accessible! Snorkeling starts around 20 feet deep and offers views of coral, a large variety of fish as well as eels
- Pink Beach is relatively shallow and is also beach accessible! Experienced swimmers can view rays as well as bone-fish
- Margate Bay is beach accessible and has a limestone and sand bottom. Snorkeling starts around 25 feet deep and offers views of a variety of corals as well as turtles and rays along with fish including snapper (black margate), doctorfish, parrotfish, angelfish, trumpet-fish, grunt, butterfly-fish and barracuda
- Sweet Dreams is a fairly remote and quiet spot offering experienced swimmers views of corals, sea fans and anemones as well as turtles and rays along with fish including doctorfish, parrotfish, sergeant majors and barracuda
There’s also a couple of spots for strong swimmers to snorkel on the island’s west coast in the Mangroves of Lac Bay. The reward for venturing in these rougher waters include seeing great coral as well as some large fish.
For more information on snorkeling Bonaire’s western shores south of Kralendijk, including boat / tour operators to get you out there, click on our Bonaire Snorkeling – South of Kralendijk page
For those of you who want to go deeper and stay under water longer, but don’t have scuba diving experience, Snooba (Air Hose Snorkeling) is also available on the island. For more information regarding Tours and Boat Operators to help you snorkel and snooba, check out our Bonaire Snorkeling page
Get out there and have some fun!
ACT Staff
If you’re planning a visit to the island and you’re looking for other exciting activities to experience both on land and in/on the water, take a look at our Bonaire Adventures page
If you’re looking to explore the island at a more relaxing pace, check out our recommended Bonaire Attractions
For an overview of the beautiful island of Bonaire, click on our Bonaire Vacations page
