Bonaire's marine park has more than 86 public dive sites and most of them are entered from the shore, so the week below is organised by stretch of coast rather than by boat schedule: south, north, far north, Klein Bonaire and the park. Dive two tanks a day, not three, and keep the last day dry so you can fly. The one site worth planning around is Salt Pier, which is closed whenever a ship is loading.
Starts in
Kralendijk
Vehicle
a pickup with a tank rack
Diving days
six; the seventh is dry
The route below assumes two dives a day and one afternoon off in the middle. If you are diving with an operator, hand them this list; every site on it is reachable by road except Klein Bonaire.
What do you do on which day?
1
Day 1 — Check dives, close to town
3 stops · by car · 4 h · ± 10 min travelling
Start shallow and start close. Three sandy entries within ten minutes of Kralendijk let you sort out weights before the terrain gets serious.
A shallow finish to the day, five minutes from town, with the gear already wet.
Worth booking for this day
affiliate
Booking runs through Viator. It costs you no more; we receive part of their commission. Price, duration and rating were read on 21 August 2026; check the current ones before you book.
Shore diving here runs on packages, not per dive. Six days of tanks matches the six diving days below with the dry day left over; nitrox costs a little more.
The surface interval: no facilities, no shade, but the right stretch of sand to sit out an hour.
3
Day 3 — Klein Bonaire by boat
4 stops · on foot and by boat · 6 h 20 min · ± 25 min travelling
The one part of the marine park you cannot reach from the shore, so this is the day the truck stays parked. Two dives off the boat, back in the middle of town in the early afternoon, and the rest of the day is the same walk the other routes end on. Keep it to two dives: this is the middle of the week and the tank package has three days left to run.
The boats leave from the pier beside the bar, not from the cruise pier. Be there for the first crossing and photograph the time of the last one when you board.
Twenty-six named sites around one islet, most of them a wall that starts at ten metres and drops. No current to speak of on the lee side, which is why briefings here are short.
Back on the pier with salt in your hair, and two minutes up from it the Italian ice cream everyone ends up at. The right order is: boat, ice cream, boulevard.
The last hour of light, walked slowly with Klein Bonaire straight ahead of you — the island you spent the day on, from the other side.
Worth booking for this day
affiliate
Booking runs through Viator. It costs you no more; we receive part of their commission. Price, duration and rating were read on 21 August 2026; check the current ones before you book.
Klein Bonaire is the one part of the marine park you cannot reach from the shore. The first is a dive boat; the other two are snorkelling, for the non-diver in the group.
Lunch in the old village on the way home, out of the wind and out of the salt.
6
Day 6 — Into the park
3 stops · by car · 4 h 15 min · ± 40 min travelling
A different kind of diving day: unpaved tracks, no services and a long way from any dive centre. Ask your operator first whether you may take tanks into the park and how late you must be back out.
On the way back out: the 1824 store house, and the one dry hour of the day.
7
Day 7 — The dry day
4 stops · by car · 3 h 30 min · ± 40 min travelling
No diving today. The usual guidance from the diving organisations is to leave at least eighteen hours between your last dive and your flight after a week of repetitive diving; check the exact figure with your own operator or agency table.
A last walk along the water with dry hair, which is the correct way to end a diving week.
What this route asks of you
What this route asks of you — A diving week on Bonaire
What it costs
Fixed: USD 75 visitor entry tax per person aged 13 and over, USD 10 for children up to 12. Add USD 40 nature fee per person per calendar year as soon as you enter the sea; children under 13 are exempt. A rental car, fuel and meals come on top — we have no current prices for those.
What you need
A pick-up truck rather than a car, a tank package from a dive centre, the nature fee, a dive light for the wreck and a surface marker for the boat day.
Skip
A third dive on days four and five. The north coast entries are over loose rock, and tired legs are how ankles get twisted here.
Time at the stops
30 h
Time at the stops is our estimate of how long each one is worth, added up. Travel time between them is calculated from the coordinates — a straight line, a quarter added for the bends in the road, at 28 km/h by car, 4.5 km/h on foot, 18 km/h by boat. Add the journey from your own hotel.
Sort this before you go
A rental car
Bonaire has no bus network worth planning around. For the days below that leave Kralendijk you need your own wheels; book before you fly, because the island runs out of cars in high season.
Bonaire is outside EU roaming, so your bundle from home does not apply and the bill can be unpleasant. An eSIM you activate before you land is the cheapest fix. The app works offline either way — the map and every stop below are stored on the phone.
Questions people ask
How many dives do you do in a week on Bonaire?
Ten to fifteen is realistic. Shore diving costs little time here, so two a day is normal and three is possible, but keep the last day dry: leave at least eighteen hours between your final dive and your flight.
Do you need a guide to dive on Bonaire?
For most sites, no. The entries are marked with yellow stones along the road, you park beside them and walk in. For the east coast and the deeper sites off Klein Bonaire, yes — there current and swell decide whether it goes at all that day.
What does a week of diving on Bonaire cost?
A package with unlimited air fills and a pick-up truck runs around 400 to 500 euros per person per week. Add the nature fee of 40 dollars, which is compulsory for divers and stays valid for a year.
Before the first dive
The nature fee is compulsory for everyone entering the water and runs per calendar year. Carry proof; it is checked.
Sites are marked by yellow stones at the roadside. Note the name before you park, not after.
Salt Pier is closed to divers whenever a ship is at the pier. Have a second site in mind every time you plan it.
Never leave anything visible in the truck at a dive site. Local advice is to leave it unlocked and empty rather than locked and full.
Keep the last day dry. Flying too soon after a week of diving is the one mistake on this island that cannot be undone.
Take this route with you
All 23 places on this page are in the free Bonaire app: a map that shows where you are, walking and driving directions to the next stop, and the whole lot downloaded before you leave — so it keeps working where the signal does not.
1 Te Amo Beach 1 h 30 min
2 Bachelor’s Beach 1 h 30 min
3 Donkey Beach 1 h
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