Paradise On Earth In a Bonaire Tour

The Best Bonaire Tour On land

Approximately 2,540 miles from the place I call home, I found paradise. Though I was only in this newfound wonderland for 14 days, it’s not hard for me to call it a home away from home. Welcome to Bonaire, one of the world’s best shore diving destinations.

Although I can say this title was well-earned, it’s hard to revel in the fact that the island itself is often overlooked. Most visitors focus on the underwater realm, but I found peace in exploring the nature above sea level. 

Bonaire Tour On Land

It was my first weekend on the island and I booked an adventure with Shekhinah Tours. I was picked up from my accommodation by a professional guide who was soon to become our new local friend, Nigel.

Bonaire only has 111.2 square miles of land to explore, so you could technically cover this in one big day. From the looks of the tours on Shekhinah Tour’s website (use ‘LNL2024’ for 5% off your booking!), they seemed to understand this as well. We set off along the coastline for our first iconic stop: 1000 Steps.

Visiting 1000 Steps Bonaire

Nigel told us not to worry, as it wasn’t actually 1000 steps that we’d be trekking, it just felt like this for scuba divers that needed to carry their gear back up the hill. 1000 Steps a popular snorkel spot, known for spotting turtles and parrot fish and other exciting creatures. However, we had much more to see and after taking in the breathtaking view, we continued up the coast slowing for the occasional wild donkey grazing in the ditches.

I know to most, the idea of a wild donkey is exciting enough and though Bonaire has over 1000 of these, there’s something else with an even larger claim to fame on the island: Flamingos.

This will become pretty obvious once you take your first fresh breath of Bonaire in Flamingo Airport, but with 20,000 of these elegant pink birds roaming the island, we of course had to check out one of their favorite stomping grounds: Goto Lake.

Goto Lake

This flamingo sanctuary is a completely protected reserve with one of the largest populations of Caribbean flamingos in the entire Southern Caribbean. Though you can see these beautiful feathered friends right from the side of the road, Nigel knew the best spots.

We parked at the panoramic viewpoint to take in the scenery of the park. I’d been hopping the ABC Islands for the past 5 months and, unbeknown to most, these are actually desert islands. Though this was an intriguing concept, I grew up in Wisconsin and am used to seeing a little more greenery. Goto Meer had no shortage of this.

I peered over the bushy trees here to the far out rolling green hills (or mountains, as the locals called them) lining the backdrop. They created a sort of circular perimeter for the clear blue skies to reflect in the swampy lake below. This, speckled with pink dots and lots of feathers made for a view one could only describe as paradise on Earth. I could’ve sat here all day and watched the magic sway in the breeze, but it was time for a pitstop.

Cadushy Distillery Bonaire Tour

Rincon is the oldest village on Bonaire, as well as in the former Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. It was built in the beginning of the 16th century to keep out of sight from pirates, which I’m sure must’ve worked because the town truly popped up in the middle of nowhere.

We parked in the gravel lot as a stray cat ran up and greeted us. As we walked toward Cadushy Distillery, she seemed to look back as if she was our tour guide welcoming us in. Here, we were about to try the world’s only liqueur created from cactus.

The brewer greeted us both with a sample of the Cadushy of Bonaire liquor. The vibrant green color tasted a bit like a green apple lollipop and I could see it making a great cocktail. However, there were more flavors than this. In fact, every one of the Dutch Caribbean Islands had their own unique flavor: Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Statia, Saba and Sint Maarten.

She shared these traditional flavors with us while walking us through the process we were all wondering about… How the heck do you make a cactus into a cocktail?! I have to admit, we tried everyone of them before leaving- Statia was my favorite.

Seru Largu Viewpoint

It was time to start heading back down to the other side of the island, but Nigel had one more viewpoint up his sleeve and to be honest, this one might have been my favorite. “Seru Largu” translates to “large hill” and indeed that’s all it looks like from the bottom. However, if your island car can make it to the top…you’re in for some enchantment.

We could see EVERYTHING from here- even downtown Kralendijk. The vibrant green leafy trees seemed to go on for miles, only stopping to make room for the ocean to share a slice. A herd of wild goats trickled by, snacking on the vegetation and, I’m sure, taking in the view as well. However, golden hour was beginning now and we were in a race with the sun.

Salt Pyramids At Salt Pier

If there’s one destination tourists normally have on their land bucket list in Bonaire, it’s the Salt Pyramids, and I don’t blame them. We arrived here as the golden honey sky was outlining these piles perfectly, as if Mother Nature was using a highlighter to say, “Check this out!”

The pyramids can get about 50-feet high, containing about 10,000 metric tons of 99.6% pure salt. I know- wow. The Salt Pyramids sit above the sparkling pink lake and across the road is Salt Pier in the turquoise blue waters. This was one of my all-time favorite places to snorkel and a known place for spotting squid.

Slave Huts

Just down the road from here, are the historical White Slave Huts, built back in the 1850s. Before these were constructed, the slaves either had to sleep in open air or wooden huts and many of them lived back in Rincon, meaning it was about a 7-hour walk to go to work.

These small homes used to house up to 6 slaves at a time who would work in one of the 18 salt pans on the island. There is a larger hut next to these smaller ones where the bomba (overseer) would stay. This place is an eyeopener, in a world where most of the gruesome history has been erased.

Te Amo Beach Sunset

The sun was getting dangerously close to setting now and we still had one last stop. Te Amo Beach, which translates to “I Love You” is a popular spot for locals to catch up on the weekends with friends and family. I had booked the Sunset Island Tour with a Prosecco Beach Picnic and it was time to indulge in that last part. Nigel grabbed the cooler and some champagne flutes and helped us lay out our flamingo blanket in the sand.

We popped the bottle and gave each other a cheers, as the sun dipped below the Caribbean Sea. I couldn’t have created a more relaxing way to end the day if I’d tried.

This Bonaire Tour Included:

• Roundtrip transportation
• Professional local guide
• Cold water and soda
• Beach Picnic: Bottle of prosecco, glasses, blanket
• Local appreciation gift at the end (I won’t spoil it for you)

I highly recommend Shekhinah Tours for all of your land adventuring, even if you’re renting a car because the knowledge of a local guide was truly invaluable. You can use the Bonaire tour promo code ‘LNL2024’ from now until December 31, 2024 for 5% off of ANY of their tours.