EAT, SLEEP, DIVE, REPEAT
Surface Interval
THE ABC ISLANDS lie at the very southwest tip
of the curving sweep of the Caribbean landfall.
Stretching from the Bahamas, Cuba and the
Cayman Islands in the north, gracefully south
and east to centrally placed Dominica and
St. Lucia, then down and west across the top
of Venezuela to the furthest island group Aruba,
Bonaire and Curaçao.
The Dutch kicked the Spanish rulers out in 1634.
Today, of the three islands, Bonaire remains the
only one to reside within the Dutch embrace and
is these days a special self-ruling municipality
of the Netherlands. The other two, Aruba and
Curaçao, have become autonomous countries
within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
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Bonaire’s appeal for divers
Huge flocks of pink
is its beautiful reef-lined coast 06
flamingos live in the salt
and warm, clear turquoise
flats and lakes of Bonaire
water. The entire area is a
national park with white sand beaches and all
the Caribbean reef fish and creatures on your
doorstep. Bonaire has long been known as “the
home of diving freedom” and it lives up to its
name, with scuba tanks available 24/7 and all
the coastal sites cleverly marked with yellow
markers, with most easily accessible from
land. Grab a tank, hire a jeep and off you go.
Alternatively, there are daily boat dives available
both around the coast and over on the little
uninhabited sister island Klein Bonaire.