Musings on Bonaire reopening to tourists

[Bob T]

We're from the Detroit area.

[tursiops]

That's irrelevant. You are from the US.

[Kate B]

Hi everyone,

Curacao and Bonaire have just taken Aruba out of the "protective bubble" and are not permitting flights or visitors from Aruba. This is due to the virus outbreak on Aruba, the published numbers estimated 20 - 40 people in one day, we've heard 39 tested positive on Tuesday. We know an American couple who own a house here and are in the process of moving here permanently. They are just waiting for their acceptance letter so they can get their sedula. They have spent most of the past 2 weeks in Aruba and were scheduled to fly here this week, but now cannot. This shows the uncertainty of trying to get to Bonaire through another country.

Sadly, when we heard Aruba opened to tourists from everywhere back in July, we feared this would happen. Hoping for the best for everyone affected by the virus in Aruba, and everyone who is stranded there.

All the best,

[tkaelin]

For those on the island, how does it feel and look with limited tourists coming in from Europe? Does it feel close to normal or is it still very quiet and feeling/looking empty of tourist? My May trip was pushed back to Nov. Would love to make the trip down in Nov but prepared for the possibility it will be moved again.

[petri hausmann]

hopi trankilidat - ketu ketu- very hot now at this time of year -

[MelE]

Before this past March I’ve always came to Bonaire in the summer and fall, so take my observations with a grain of salt. Kaya Grandi is the most noticeable difference to me with so few tourists during the day and no cruise ships. A couple of exceptions are Gio’s and Luciano’s. Everyone needs ice cream and they seem to have customers all day. A lot of the restaurants are pretty quiet except Friday nights. Most but not all the stores are open although quite a few have shortened hours.
We never had trouble getting a shore dive site to ourselves and still don’t. I personally have not noticed a huge difference underwater in numbers or behavior of critters. We always have seen a lot of cool stuff here. On land, I’ve seen flamingos much closer but we always spent so much time diving that maybe we never looked enough for flamingos?
There is a bunch of construction going on. New houses, a new resort. And there’s plenty of traffic and people walking around. Plenty of action so it doesn’t feel sleepy like you’d expect.

[tkaelin]

Thanks.

[Bob T]

Good Day Everybody... Can't wait to get back to Bonaire next year again. Do a little driving around again and I hope to see the donkey's. After reading the Bonaire Reporter I really hope that the donkey's and other animals will be OK there???

[smits]

Good Day Everybody... Can't wait to get back to Bonaire next year again. Do a little driving around again and I hope to see the donkeys. After reading the Bonaire Reporter I really hope that the donkeys and other animals will be OK there???

Animal welfare organization House of Animals is sending a ship filled with 25,000 kilos of hay so that the donkeys can continue to be fed.

[Kate B]

For those on the island, how does it feel and look with limited tourists coming in from Europe? Does it feel close to normal or is it still very quiet and feeling/looking empty of tourist? My May trip was pushed back to Nov. Would love to make the trip down in Nov but prepared for the possibility it will be moved again.

''

Hi,
Up until a month ago, it was very quiet. Lots of restaurants were closed (some permanently) and the beaches and dive sites were deserted. It was the first time ever that Ian and his dive buddy dove Hilma Hooker without anyone else at the dive site. They said it was rare to see another diver at any dive site. And the quiet - much less noise. Many of the homes in our neighborhood are vacation rentals, and for the first time, it was silent. No clanging tanks being loaded onto trucks early in the morning, no sail or snorkel boats passing by and no cars. We had rain when tropical storms passed to the north of us, so everything is lush and green.

Since we opened to flights from the Netherlands, there are more people downtown and more people at restaurants.. Some restaurants which had limited hours have now opened up fully again, although many still have limited menus. We were at Capriccio's this weekend and it was full. There are still not alot of divers at dive sites though.

We consider ourselves fortunate that even with the TUI and KLM flights from Amsterdam, we don't have any cases of the virus on the island. Although we look forward to flights from North America and other areas resuming, we are grateful to the government for keeping us safe. We saw what happened when Aruba opened up - a huge number of cases in under a week. I believe they are over 1,100 cases as of today.

Fingers crossed that you can make it in November!