Bonaire

We just came back from our first trip to the island of Bonaire. It had been on our list for several years but we didn't want to go until Patrick knew how to snorkel (which he finally learned on St. John last year).

We stayed at the Harbour Village Resort because we wanted to be on a nice beach. We loved our stay there. It is a beautiful resort with a lovely beach and pretty good snorkeling off of it. We stayed in a 2-bedroom 2-bath suite which was located on the ground floor and right on the beach. The staff was really nice as well. The only thing we won't rave about is the restaurant food. It did the job but it was just okay. However, Patrick enjoyed eating there as he got to feed the fish, the iguanas and the birds.

Jellyfish got Patrick

Local fisherman brings his catch of the day to the resort

RESTAURANTS

Dinner at "Capriccio" 

Carpaccio

Caesar salad

Lasagna

Wahoo

Chocolate mousse

Dinner at "At Sea"

Gazpacho and shrimp soup

Coq au vin

Barracuda

Creme brulee

Lucky #7 (chocolate goodies)

Dinner at "It Rains Fishes"

Tuna

Wahoo

Dinner at "Bistro de Paris"

Beef tenderloin

Shrimp

Dinner at "Sonia Home"

Lasagna

Grilled blue marlin

Yeast cake

Chocolate pudding

SNORKELING

We did a night snorkel and a morning snorkel with Renee. We saw lots of eels, puffer fish, and a HUGE tarpon among many other fish. It was great. We'd highly recommend. We planned to go to Klein Bonaire with Woodwind Cruises but I wasn't feeling great the night before and couldn't imagine being on a boat for 5 hours so we canceled. We ended up going to Klein Bonaire the following day with the resort's boat. The trip was pretty cool.

That wind: We forgot how the wind can mask the sun beating down on you (we experienced that in Aruba years ago). Patrick got a mild sunburn on his shoulders/back early on the trip so we got him a sunblock shirt.

AROUND THE ISLAND

Rental Car: Budget for a week. No problems.

Getting to Bonaire: Exhausting. United Airlines from Chicago. Layover in Houston on the way there and Newark on the way back. The 1 1/2 hour layover in Newark was not enough (really United?). Thank goodness our flight to Chicago was delayed or we would have missed it. I miss living on the East Coast.. much easier getting to the islands than from the Midwest.