Complete Bonaire Island Tour by Carprivate

Your friendly driver will come and pick you up at your hotel, villa or cruise ship terminal at 9:30 am. After the meet and greet, you will get in your private air-conditioned Ford Explorer and set out on a complete 5-hour sightseeing excursion of Bonaire. This small group guided tour accommodates maximum 6 people and can be slightly customized according to your preferences.

First we will drive along the so called tourist road and observe the 50 shades of blue while we go North. We will pass by the famous beach called 1000 Steps. The site exists of white sand and bleached chunks of coral, and the cove is surrounded by limestone cliffs. It's great for both diving and snorkeling as turtles are often found in the shallow, turquoise waters. We will also pass by Karpata, popular among shore divers, which is located at the end of the one-way section on the coastal road.

We will discover the town of Rincon, the oldest village on Bonaire. Additionally, it is the oldest in continual existence within the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. Originally settled by the Spanish in the early 1500’s, Rincon was strategically nestled within a valley to ward off impending danger from pirates and other threats.  

The tour will stop at a lookout point overlooking the Goto Lake (Gotomeer) where you can take beautiful photos of the lake and the small islands within it. Goto Lake sits in the Washington Slagbaai National Park, a protected nature reserve and one of the very few places in the world where the pink flamingo nests. We will drive along the Goto Lake and you will get to observe flamingos sometimes just a few meters away.

On our way back to Kralendijk, we will stop at the Seru Largu and witness the beauty of Bonaire from this lovely lookout point. Seru Largu means "large hill" and from the top, you can see the capital city of Kralendijk and the little island of Klein Bonaire. There is a monument at the site which reads in the Papiamentu language as "Kristu Ayera Awe Semper" which means "Christ, Yesterday, Today and Forever". Seru Largu is centrally located on the island and is worth a visit if you wish to experience the beauty of Bonaire from a breathtaking elevation.

Following that, we will drive along the colorful salt pans of Bonaire which covers 10% of the island's surface and produce 360-500 thousand tons of pure salt every year. The various stages of production are reflected by the different colors of the salt ponds. First, the blue sea water turns into green, then brown and, as the salt crystallizes, into pink which is caused by a bacteria. The pier on the opposite side is where the salt is loaded into cargo ships. Below the pier, one of the greatest dive sites of the island is to be found.

The tour will stop at the famous slave huts and obelisk of Bonaire. The huts were constructed in 1850 during the slavery time and served as camping facilities for slaves working in the salt ponds. Each Friday afternoon the slaves walked seven hours to Rincon to spend the weekend with their families. The obelisk was used as navigational shore marker to guide ships coming in to load. There are four obelisks on Bonaire, painted red, white, blue and orange.

We will pass by the Pekelmeer Flamingo Sanctuary, one of the only four places in the world where flamingos breed. The sanctuary is located on the vast salt pans and is home to over ten thousand flamingos. Tourists are not allowed in the sanctuary, but the birds can be watched from the road. The Caribbean flamingo is the most colorful of all species of flamingos, due mainly to the red carotene in their diet. The refuge also attracts dozens of other species, including osprey, cormorants, heron, frigate birds, and other marine birds.

We will continue driving along the coast past the famous lighthouse which still functions to this day. We will conclude our Bonaire island tour at Sorobon, a famous beach among windsurfers. Enjoy the beach, have drink at the beach bar or watch the surfers zooming through the turquoise see.

At the end of the tour, we will return you to your hotel or cruise ship but you can request to get dropped off somewhere along the way as well.