Unspoiled Bonaire is only gently touched by development. Although your options range from bird-watching to doing nothing, Bonaire is foremost a scuba diver's delight and also offers some of the Caribbean's best snorkeling. This sleepy island doesn't attract crowds and has none of Aruba's glitzy diversions except for a few small casinos with minor action. Instead, turquoise waters beckon travelers to discover colorful clouds of tropical fish. Come here for the diving, not the beaches.
Bonaire is also a bird-watcher's haven, where flamingos nearly outnumber the sparse human population. There are about 200 different species of birds -- not only the flamingo, but also the big-billed pelican, parrots, snipes, terns, parakeets, herons, and hummingbirds. A pair of binoculars is an absolute necessity.
Bonaireans zealously protect their precious environment. Even though they eagerly seek tourism, they aren't interested in creating another Aruba, with its high-rise hotel blocks. Spearfishing isn't allowed in its waters, nor is the taking or destruction of any coral or other living animal from the sea. Unlike some islands, Bonaire isn't just surrounded by coral reefs -- it is the reef, sitting on the dry, sunny top of an underwater mountain.
Boomerang-shaped Bonaire is close to the coast of Latin America, just 81km (50 miles) north of Venezuela. Part of the Netherlands Antilles (an autonomous part of the Netherlands), Bonaire has a population of about 10,000 and an area of about 290 sq. km (113 sq. miles). The capital is Kralendijk (Kroll-en-dike). It's most often reached from its neighbor island of Curaçao, 48km (30 miles) to the west; like Curaçao, Bonaire is desertlike, with a dry and brilliant atmosphere. Often it's visited by day-trippers, who rush through in pursuit of the shy, elusive flamingo. Its northern sector is hilly, tapering up to Mount Brandaris, all of 236m (774 ft.). However, the southern half, flat as a pancake, is given over to bays, reefs, beaches, and a salt lake that attracts the flamingos.
