Attractions

Bonaire Sightseeing Tours (tel. 599/717-8778) will show you the island, both north and south, taking in the flamingos, slave huts, conch shells, Goto Lake, the Amerindian inscriptions, and other sights. You can take a half-day City and Country Tour, lasting 3 hours and costing from US$26 (£14) per person, which allows you to see the entire northern section and the southern part as far as the slave huts.

Kralendijk

Locals call Kralendijk Playa, Spanish for "beach." A dollhouse town of some 2,500 residents, Kralendijk is small, neat, pretty, Dutch-clean, and just a bit dull. Its stucco buildings are painted pink and orange, with an occasional lime green. The capital's jetty is lined with island sloops and fishing boats.

Kralendijk nestles in a bay on the west coast, opposite Klein Bonaire, or Little Bonaire, an uninhabited, low-lying islet that's a 10-minute boat ride away.

The main street of town leads along the beachfront on the harbor. A Protestant church was built in 1834, and St. Bernard's Roman Catholic Church has some interesting stained-glass windows.

At Fort Oranje, you'll see a lone cannon dating from the days of Napoleon.

The Tour North

The road north is one of the most beautiful stretches in the Antilles, with turquoise waters on your left and coral cliffs on your right. You can stop at several points along this road, where there are paved paths for strolling or bicycling.

After leaving Kralendijk and passing the Sunset Beach Hotel and the desalination plant, you'll come to Radio Nederland Wereld Omroep (Dutch World Radio). It's a 13-tower, 300,000-watter. Opposite the transmitting station is a lovers' promenade. Built by nature, it's an ideal spot for a picnic.

Continuing, you'll pass the storage tanks of the Bonaire Petroleum Corporation, the road heading to Goto Meer, the island's inland sector, with a saltwater lake. Several flamingos prefer this spot to the salt flats in the south.

Down the hill, the road leads to a section called Dos Pos ("two wells"); the palm trees and vegetation here are a contrast to the rest of the island, where only the drought-resistant kibraacha and divi-divi trees, tilted before the constant wind, can grow, along with forests of cacti.

Bonaire's oldest village is Rincón. Slaves who used to work in the salt flats in the south once lived here. The Rincón Ice Cream Parlour makes homemade ice cream in a variety of interesting flavors; there are also a couple of bars here. Above the bright roofs of the village is the crest of a hill called Para Mira, which means "stop and look."

A side path outside Rincón takes you to some Arawak inscriptions supposedly 500 years old. The petroglyph designs are in pink-red dye. At nearby Boca Onima, you'll find grotesque grottoes of coral.

Before going back to the capital, you might take a short bypass to Seroe Largu, which has a good view of Kralendijk and the sea. Lovers frequent the spot at night.

The National Park

Washington Slagbaai National Park (tel. 599/785-0017; www.washingtonparkbonaire.org) has varied terrain that includes desertlike areas, secluded beaches, caverns, a visitor center, and a bird sanctuary. Occupying 6,000 hectares (14,820 acres) of Bonaire's northwesternmost territory, the park was once plantation land, producing divi-divi, aloe, and charcoal; today it functions as a wildlife preserve.

You can see the park in a few hours, although it takes days to appreciate it fully. If you want to drive through the park, you must use a four-wheel-drive vehicle. Even so, you may want to reconsider going if it's rained recently as the roads quickly become deeply mired in mud and difficult to navigate -- even in a four-wheel drive. There are two routes: a 24km (15-mile) "short" route, marked by green arrows, and a 35km (22-mile) "long" route, marked by yellow arrows. The roads are well marked and safe, but somewhat rugged, although improvements are ongoing. For those wanting a closer look, the hiking possibilities are nearly endless. The entrance fee is US$10 (£5.20) for adults and US$5 (£2.60) for children age 12 and under. The park is open daily except holidays from 8am to 5pm. You must enter before 2:45pm.

Whichever route you take, there are a few important stops you shouldn't miss. Just past the gate is Salina Mathijs, a salt flat that's home to flamingos during the rainy season. Beyond the salt flat on the road to the right is Boca Chiquito, a white-sand beach and bay. A few miles up the beach lies Boca Cocolishi, a two-part black-sand beach. Many a couple has raved about their romantic memories of this beach, perfect for a secluded picnic. A ridge of calcareous algae separates its deep, rough seaward side and calm, shallow basin. The basin and the beach were formed by small pieces of coral and mollusk shells (cocolishi means "shells"), thus the black sand. The basin itself has no current, so it's perfect for snorkeling close to shore.

The main road leads to Boca Bartol, a bay full of living and dead elkhorn coral, sea fans, and reef fish. A popular watering hole good for bird-watching is Poosdi Mangel. Wajaca is a remote reef, perfect for divers and home to the island's most exciting sea creatures, including turtles, octopuses, and triggerfish. Immediately inland is Mount Brandaris; at 236m (774 ft.) it's Bonaire's highest peak. At its foot is Bronswinkel Well, a watering spot for pigeons and parakeets. More than 200 species of birds live in the park, many with such exotic names as bananaquit and black-faced grassquit. Bonaire has few mammals, but you'll see goats and donkeys, perhaps even a wild bull.

In 2005 it became possible to spend the night in one of the park buildings; it costs US$57 (£30) per person. However, the park cannot be used as a hotel, and all overnight visitors also have to be registered at a hotel on the island. In essence, this means you'll be paying for two sleeping quarters on the same night. The park stopover is viewed as "an extra activity." To book a stay in the park, call tel. 599/785-8444. The website is www.washingtonparkbonaire.org.

Heading South

Leaving the capital again, you pass the Trans World Radio antennae, towering 150m (492 ft.) in the air, transmitting with 810,000 watts. This is one of the hemisphere's most powerful medium-wave radio stations, the loudest voice in Christendom, and the most powerful nongovernmental broadcast station in the world. It sends out interdenominational Gospel messages and hymns in 20 languages to places as far away as Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

You then come to the salt flats, where the brilliantly colored pink flamingos live. Bonaire shelters the largest accessible nesting and breeding grounds in the world. The flamingos build high mud mounds to hold their eggs. The best time to see the birds is in spring, when they're nesting and tending their young. Slaves once worked the salt flats, and the government has rebuilt some primitive stone huts, bare shelters little more than waist high. The slaves slept in these huts, and returned to their homes in Rincón in the north on weekends. The centuries-old salt pans have been reactivated by the International Salt Company. Near the salt pans, you'll see some 9m (30-ft.) obelisks in white, blue, and orange, built in 1838 to help mariners locate their proper anchorages.

Farther down the coast is the island's oldest lighthouse, Willemstoren, built in 1837. Still farther along, Sorobon Beach, Lac Bay Beach, and Boca Cai come into view. They're at landlocked Lac Bay, which is ideal for swimming and snorkeling. Conch shells are stacked up on the beach. The water here is so vivid and clear, you can see coral 20m to 36m (66-118 ft.) down in the reef-protected waters.