We spent last Spring Break in Bonaire, and I am excited to share our 8 day itinerary as a Bonaire Travel Guide for your family. If you’re unfamiliar, Bonaire is part of the “ABC Islands” (with Aruba and Curaco) or the Dutch Caribbean.
Bonaire Travel Guide
First off, how we got there. We flew Delta to Atlanta, and right into Bonaire’s Flamingo Airport. It was tiny, and the bathroom situation was even tinier. But we were in paradise! We took a quick shuttle to our resort. Our resort also offered a return shuttle to the airport at the end of our trip.
Where We Stayed
We stayed at the Plaza Beach and Dive Resort. It was gorgeous and All-Inclusive, but I do have a few notes (see the bottom of the post).
For our family of 5, we stayed in a penthouse suite, with 3 bedrooms, a generous living space, and a massive patio. We were in the furthest back part of the resort, with a separate smaller pool and bar (that also served a non-buffet lunch). It was quiet and while the pool stayed busy, it was nothing like how packed the main pool was! There were 2 bridges to cross, and it was maybe an 8-10 minute walk from our room to the main pool/building. If you have young children or if mobility is a challenge, it’s something to keep in mind.
You could snorkel right off the “beach” area, though no one was taking “long walks down the beach” here.
Dining
As mentioned above, meals at the Plaza were all buffet-style. While there were lots of options for dinner, my picky, American children struggled with breakfast options. Lunch was also a buffet, or you could order appetizer/small plate style options fr0m the pool bar by our room, or the beach/pool bar.
We walked next door to a great restaurant called Sebastian’s toward the end of our trip, and enjoyed that meal so much, we went back for our last night on Bonaire. The ambience was great – and if we had planned on leaving the resort for meals, I would have made a reservation, so we could sit on the dock area.
One day, we grabbed lunch at Pier Dos downtown Bonaire. We still talk about this place! It was a little touristy, but the food and drinks were great! We were seated on the dock area, and got to look out over the clearest, most unreal water. After lunch, my youngest and husband even jumped into the water! I would have loved to come back here for dinner, but it didn’t work out with our schedule!
We also did a sunset catamaran ride, complete with a private chef. Hands down, this was the best meal of our trip. We ate, sailed, laughed and snorkeled. The captain made the evening so much fun, and 10/10 would do this again!
What We Did
Here’s a breakdown of how we spent our week in paradise.
Day 1: Travel Day
We left in the snow, arrived in sun — zero complaints. Our room wan’t quite ready when we arrived, so they stored our luggage while we sat by the pool and enjoyed a bevy. My girls were introduced to the concept of “all-inclusive” and NA drinks 😅 Once our room was ready, we were taken via golf cart to our room. We got settled, and spent the day looking for power plug adaptors (because while the ISLAND uses US Power Ports, the RESORT does not — good to know!), and enjoying the beach/pool at the resort, and did the dinner buffet at Momento.
Day 2
We had a lowkey day at the resort. After breakfast, we went to the main pool, and spent most of the day hanging there, until it was time to get ready for dinner. We ate at the buffet again this evening.
Day 3
We spent most of this morning trying t0 re-book all of our excursions after realizing the car I booked didn’t exist. We had planned to say trip around the island, but ended up at the resort all day. We opted to check out the smaller pool by our room, and loved the laid back vibe there over the high energy at the main pool.
The pool had a waterfall edge, and you could watch boats and turtles in the water!
Day 4: Day Trip
We finally got the car sorted out, and were able to tour the island today! While they do drive on the right side of the road, there really weren’t sides 😅 the roads were very narrow, and there were lots of buses that took up, the majority of the road. We had to pull off several times in the “busier” areas. I also don’t think we encountered a single traffic light. There were not a lot of vehicles on the island.
Day 5
Another resort day! Dave and the girls snorkeled off the shore of the resort. I would definitely recommend a water-shoe, since the rocks were slippery and we saw lots of urchins/crabs.
We had dinner at the one other restaurant on the resort, called Piazza Limone. It had literally just opened a week or so before, so it wasn’t open every night. I am sure this has changed since our visit, so I don’t want to comment on hours/days of operation.
It was SUCH a cute little lemon-themed pizza restaurant, with a super unique menu. This was also the night we had our best sunset of the trip – the only bummer was Piazza Limone is inside the resort, without a good sunset view.
Day 6
We walked from the resort into Kralendijk, and while it wasn’t terrible, with kids, I would not recommend 😅 But it was faster and easier than renting a car again and trying to find parking!
This was the night of our sunset cruise. We booked through the resort with Bonaire Yacht Charters, and they picked us up from the marina, which was about halfway between where we stayed and the main building – so we didn’t have to leave the resort! The pictures speak for themselves!
Day 7: Snorkel Day
Day 8: B0nus Day
We were originally supposed to fly home, but air traffic was stalled over Florida because of weather. We watched flights all during breakfast, and decided being “stuck” in paradise was way better than an Atlanta airport hotel. We spoke to the front desk, and they were so accommodating! We were able to extend and stay in our room an extra night!
We hung at the small pool again, soaking up every last bit of sunshine. The girls found 2 other English-speaking kids, and played with the in the pool m0st of the day. We made sure to give the bartender a big tip, as she’d been working nearly every day while we were there. She was so sweet and attentive.
Day 9: Exit Tour
We woke up and it was actually the last day. Our flight wasn’t until the afternoon, so we grabbed breakfast, and then headed back to the room to pack up. Once bags were loaded, we squeezed in a few hours at the pool, and a quick lunch before the golf cart was pulling up to take us and our luggage up to the lobby for checkout.
Overall, the trip was amazing, The resort is currently being renovated in some parts (the middle-area has very dated rooms, that give off an older, central-florida cond0 vibe), but the parts that had been renovated were stunning and modern. I mentioned above we had some notes. First, we had pre-booked our excursions and a car rental through the resort, but when we got there, there was no record of ANY of our reservations. The employee had recently been let go, and our bookings fell through the cracks. It was a stressful start to the trip, however, the staff was super helpful and got us re-booked for mostly everything we had wanted to do. So if you’re booking excursions before your trip, it might be worth a call, and don’t rely on their email correspondence! Second, dinner dining was just a buffet – but I’ll get into that later on.
Another “issue” was getting water. Our fridge was “stocked” when we got there, and we were welcomed with an amazing fruit tray. But when our room would be cleaned, we’d receive 1 or 2 bottles of water. As a family of 5, spending all day in the sun, we needed more. I called down several times, and we only got water brought up once. We ended up saving our empty plastic water bottles and filling them up at the water station by the bar (which only had tiny mouth wash-sized cups to drink from lol)
We would definitely go back, but in a few years. My fear is that the island is so small, we’d end up with a repeat trip. So, I look forward to visiting Bonaire again, someday, and being in awe of what’s changed!
Have you been t0 Bonaire? Would you plan a trip to Bonaire using our Spring Break Bonaire Travel Guide?
Looking for a couples getaway? Check out our Turks and Caicos anniversary trip here!
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xo – j
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