Bonaire is a small island in the southern Caribbean. It is a special municipality of the Netherlands and was historically part of the Netherlands (Dutch) Antilles.
The island is a well known windsports destination as it benefits from consistent trade winds and flat waters. The warm weather and reliable winds make it a good option year round, we visited in late January when there are very limited wind-reliable options in Europe.
In addition the island is a well known Scuba Diving location with most of the sites directly accessible from the beach. If like me you are a diver as well as a winger this might be paradise.
The prime spot for most wing foilers is Lac Bay where the wind is cross shore and the water is very flat.
In a nutshell
Pros:
- Warm climate and water with reliable crossshore winds
- Flat water with very easy entry and no shore break
- Further out and across the bay you can find some bumps to play in
- Friendly watersports centre offers equipment hire, storage and lessons
- Good quality accommodation options
- Incredible scenery in deep water bay with coral reefs on one side and mangrove swamps on the other
- World famous scuba diving and snorkeling
- Laid back Caribbean island experience
Cons:
- Long haul travel from Europe with transfer through Amsterdam for most people
- Popular US and cruise ship destination so not the cheapest
- The Island is quite small quiet but it is by no means one of the more beautiful Caribbean Islands
- Lac Bay is a public beach with very limited facilities/shelter/seating for spectators or chilling between sessions
Where is it ?
Lac Bay is in the South East of Bonaire. The outer part of the bay off of the Sorobon Resort and Jibe City is generally too shallow for Wing Foiling. There is deep water directly opposite The Frans Paradise centre which is the ideal spot to launch.The island is very small so the bay is only 25 minutes drive from Kralendijk, the capital.
KLM is the main daily airline from Europe which means getting an 11 hour plus flight from Amsterdam for us Europeans. Visitors from the US have a much shorter journey with around 3 hours 15 minutes from Miami.
We stayed at the Sorobon Beach Resort. This is a very laid back and relatively small resort. The rooms are large and had recently been renovated, there is a big living area with fridge, hob and microwave, separate bathroom toilet and large bedroom with big comfy bed. It is comfortable and well equipped rather than luxurious.
There is one restaurant/bar. The food in the restaurant is good but the menu is quite small so you will want other options. We had gone half board figuring we would be tired in the evenings but that was a mistake. You can cook in the room as many people seemed to be doing and there are a couple of places next door if you don’t want to bother with a taxi, so you could stay here and mix it up.
You cannot wing foil directly off of the Sorobon as the water is too shallow. I stored my gear at The Frans Paradise a 5 minute walk away. On reflection this took away from my original reasons for staying there, as I had imagined stepping out from my room onto my board. I think if I did go back to Bonaire I would consider staying somewhere else, that was closer to more restaurant options and rent a car to get to and from Lac Bay.
Costs
Flights and hotel are the main costs, I will leave you to explore those at your leisure. We flew KLM and they provided a good service in my view. Given the length of the journey I spent some of the kid’s inheritance and went business class which allowed me to pack up to 32 kg meaning I took everything I needed.
The Frans Paradise provides gear rental, storage and lessons (see their web site for current price list). I had my own gear my main costs were:
- $7 per day to store my board, and one wing
- $250 for two 90 minute private lessons working to improve my gybe and toe side riding
What did I take
As mentioned earlier I had a 32kg checked bag allowance which covered my Wingfoil bag. We then packed everything else in my wife’s conventional bag which was well within 32 kg.I have the Manera 5′ Wing Bag with wheels which allowed me to take:
- A Slingshot iFly 120 litre inflatable board
- Duotone Unit DLab 5.5 m Wing
- Duotone Unit 4.0 m Wing
- Slingshot Phantasm Foil setup with mast, fuselage, G1000 front wing PFI 928 front wing P400 stabiliser
- Rash shirt and leggings and wetsuit booties
- iFly pump and hose plus Duotone Hose for Wings
- Waist Belt, Impact vest and helmet
- Bags for wings
Rigging and Launching
Great spot to wing foil with a sandy beach for rigging, deep water right off the beach and cross shore winds with flat water. There is little to no shore-break to worry about and the bottom is sand so getting the dismount wrong is not too hard on your foils.
I stored my board and a wing with the Frans Paradise team in a fairly new storage building right by the beach. You can store the board with foil assembled.
There’s not a lot there in the way of places to sit and shade but if you get there early enough you should find a spot for those recovery breaks on the beach. There’s also lots of wingers there so you can chat gear, technique etc with folks.
When we were there a food truck would come most days with tasty fish tacos (also burgers) and fabulous home-made lemonade (also coke and water). There are ok/so-so public toilets and plenty of public parking.
On the Water
The prevailing wind is cross- shore and the water is dead calm. It’s fine for beginners to intermediates so long as you are not looking for wave riding.
There were a large number of wingers about as well as windsurfers but it never felt too crowded when I was there.
For my first week we had consistent clean 15 to 18 knot winds that suited the 5.5 down to the ground with a couple of bigger days when I used the 4m. The second week sadly the wind was more capricious but I still ended up getting some fun sessions when little localised blows turned up. On one memorable evening after I had scuba dived during the day, the wind suddenly kicked in about 5 pm. I had a fabulous session, just me and a local flying around as the sun started to dip behind the mangroves.
As you get further out into the bay you get clear of the shallowest part of the reef and you can find small waves to play around using a combination of wave power and the wing power to get a bit of a feel for surfing them.
Look out for turtles, which I saw frequently. I also spotted a stingray on one occasion from the board and you should also look out for flights of beautiful pink flamingoes.
Other water users
There is no kiting in Lac Bay. There is a lot of windsurfing but the majority of windsurfers stay in the shallower water at the front of the bay off of Jibe City and Sorobon Beach.
Generally therefore the deeper water has wingers and windfoilers, so there is plenty of room. A dive boat comes out from the jetty alongside Frans Paradise (and returns) twice a day, obviously they do give way to wind craft but it is sensible to keep out of their way nonetheless.
Safety
The bay is basically enclosed, if you did get into trouble you could always get to shore somewhere. The watersports centre provides safety cover so long as you are renting either gear or storage space, however this is the caribbean and so they are not necessarily keeping a manned lookout. There are plenty of riders out though, so if something did happen you could certainly ask someone to summon the boat. I saw them pick up a few people who were struggling to make it back upwind and you won’t get cold waiting!
Weather
Bonaire has a lovely climate year round. The trade winds are reliable for most of the year, but generally expected to be lighter from September through November.
There is a live weather station at the Dunkerbeck Procentre at the Sorobon which should give a view of current conditions. It will probably be on the upper side or slightly above what you find round at Frans Paradise.
The wind forecast by Windguru was very good for the time I was there. In the second week, when the winds dropped overall it was worth keeping an eye open for an unexpected blow suddenly coming in for a couple of hours though. Because I was right by the spot I took advantage of this on several occasions, including the twilight session I mentioned earlier.
When the wind dropped – Scuba Diving
I had always planned to do some diving whilst in Bonaire. Because the wind dropped during the second week I did more than I originally planned. The diving is magnificent though, so it is definitely a first world problem.
I ended up diving 5 mornings (10 dives) with VIP Divers.
The diving was in very small groups, two days it was just me and the dive leader, the other days there were two or three other divers. All the dives were shore dives but you drop into some wonderful reefs right off the shore.
All dives were great, if I had to recommend a top 4 I’d say Lac Bai, Salt Pier, Lighthouse and Tolo. (You can only do Lighthouse when it’s not windy). That said I went with the guides suggestions on every dive and there were no bad ones. The rates are very reasonable too, I guess not having the overhead of a boat helps. You can also dive Nitrox at no extra charge, which I prefer as I get a bit less tired, so that is a big plus if you plan to wing in the afternoon.
My Conclusion
I had a great time in Bonaire as did my non-winger wife. The fantastic Scuba Diving made up for the slightly disappointing wind. If I did go back I would probably rent a car and stay at one of the many apartment/hotel options nearer Kralendijk. That said it is a long flight from the UK and there are more accessible Caribbean Islands that could also be good for winging. If I was in the Americas then Bonaire would be high up on my list of possible winter breaks.
Ready to go?
If you are suitably enthused and ready to find out more I can certainly recommend the team at Planet Wingfoil. I have been on a number of wing foiling holidays with them and they have great knowledge to help you choose.