Day 8 - Bonaire

This morning, Star Pride is docked at Kralendijk (prononced "crawl en dike"), Bonaire. This is our first visit to Bonaire, so we wanted to get off the ship and do some exploring on our own.

Kralendijk, Bonaire

As one might deduce from the name "Kralendijk", Bonaire is a Dutch island. As such, it is very clean and very safe for tourists. After disembarking the ship, we walk down a pier to the security gate exit into the city.

About to exit the security gate at the pier

After you exit the security gate, if you walk to the right, you will find the post office, a bank and a nice tourist information center. Walk to the left, and you will be headed past restaurants and shops and will eventually arrive at a nice public beach. However, if other ships are in port, this beach can get crowded pretty quickly. A better, albeit more costly option, is to take a taxi (about $5 for two people) to Spice Beach. Spice Beach is a private beach that charges a nominal entrance fee, but that fee is applied to any food purchases at the restaurant there.

Spice Beach

Bonaire is one of the world's top diving and snorkeling destinations. So, if you are SCUBA certified, or just want to float on top of the water, this is the place to book your water excursion. Windstar offers a variety of snorkeling and SCUBA tours here.

If you are looking for souvenirs (as we always are), there is a small shopping mall just down the street from where the ship docks, right on the waterfront. We found a beautiful shop, "MG Bonaire", that had everything we were looking for at reasonable prices. Another plus is that the US Dollar is the official currency here, so when you pay with dollars, you will get dollars back in change!

A great place to find souvenirs just a short walk from the ship

There is a nice wide sidewalk that runs along the waterfront, all the way to the public beach. There are lots of benches along the way where you can stop and take a short break if necessary and just admire the beauty of the ocean. We enjoyed taking a stroll along the waterfront, stopping periodically to look at some colorful fish through the crystal clear water.

Star Pride docked in Kralendijk, Bonaire

This evening, we walked around the outer decks of Star Pride at sunset to get some photos. It was a perfect Caribbean sunset after a brief rain shower cooled things off.

Sunset in Bonaire

We end up at the Star Bar, as most guests do at sunset. This is the best place to be on Star Pride at sunset to meet for cocktails and conversation.

The Star Bar at sunset

We decided to skip dinner this evening. We have been enjoying ourselves a little too much at the dinner table! The food is good and we have little self-control. Another walk around the deck to burn off a few calories is in order.

Deck 8 after a brief shower

Tomorrow, Star Pride will dock in Curacao.