Is Bonaire Good for Kids? Our Honest Take
We visited Bonaire the week after Christmas, flying out on Christmas Day itself, and spent the week snorkeling more than we ever have on a single trip. If you're picturing a classic lay-on-the-beach Caribbean vacation, Bonaire isn't quite that. It's a snorkeling and diving island first, and everything else second. Here's how that played out with our son, and whether we'd recommend it for your family.
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What We Actually Did
We stayed at Chogogo Dive and Beach Resort, in an apartment-style room with a sea view. We booked two connected rooms, which gave us plenty of space, and our room looked right out over the resort’s lazy river, which turned out to be a big hit with our son, more on that below.
The week itself was built almost entirely around the water. We took a multi-stop snorkeling boat trip with Woodwind, then spent the following days working through individual snorkel sites around the island, right off the beach in most cases, including some inside Washington-Slagbaai National Park. We also hiked one of the park’s peaks, drove past the island’s flamingo sanctuary and salt flats, watched wild flamingos at Gotomeer, and booked an afternoon fishing charter with a local captain.
Book it: Chogogo Dive and Beach Resort
Jackson near the peak of Mount Brandaris in Washington-Slagbaai National Park, Bonaire.
How Our Son Did With All That Snorkeling
He snorkeled with us every single time, no exceptions. We brought his wetsuit along, even though Bonaire's water is genuinely warm, it sits in the high 70s to low 80s Fahrenheit most of the year, because he gets cold easily and we wanted him comfortable enough to stay in the water as long as everyone else wanted to. He also wore a swim vest the whole time.
Shop Jackson's snorkel gear on Amazon
The other piece of gear that made the biggest difference: we tied a bright pink swim buoy to him. It's a buoy we use when training for triathlons, and it worked perfectly for keeping track of him in open water, plus it has a rope, so honestly, we ended up holding onto it most of the time to keep him close without constantly having to swim over and check on him.
We also dress him in a bright rash guard whenever we are in the water for the same reason: bright colors are much easier to spot in the water than dark ones.
Shop it on Amazon
Bright colors make kids much easier to spot in open water.
He loved it. But we'd be doing other families a disservice if we didn't add an important caveat: he's used to this kind of trip. We live in South Carolina and spend a lot of time at the beach, camping, and at the lake, so he's constantly swimming, tubing, and kneeboarding. Snorkeling this much was new (he learned how during a trip to Aruba), but being in and around water all day, every day, wasn't. If your kid isn't already comfortable spending long stretches in open water, Bonaire's itinerary, which is genuinely snorkel-heavy, may ask more of them than they're ready for.
Jackson snorkeling with a turtle near Salt Pier.
The Fishing Charter Was a Highlight
If snorkeling was the main event, the fishing charter with Bonaire Fish Things was the icing on the cake. He's used to being on boats, it's one of the things he loves most about trips like this, and he adores doing anything Matt loves, so a father-son fishing afternoon was close to perfect for him. Our captain was also genuinely chatty and personable, which made the trip even more entertaining.
Jackson and Matt with their catch during our fishing charter.
It Wasn’t All Snorkeling
For as water-heavy as the itinerary was, he also got real downtime. The resort's lazy river and pool were a constant draw, he could see the lazy river directly from our room, and watching it became its own source of entertainment. He took full advantage of pool time and happily worked his way through a few virgin daiquiris by the water. The resort's layout helped here too, everything was close to our room, so shifting between snorkeling gear, pool time, and meals never felt like a production.
View of Matt and Jackson in the lazy river at our resort from our room’s balcony.
Bonaire vs. Aruba: Which Is Better for Families?
We've been to both, and they're genuinely different trips wearing similar Caribbean-island packaging. Aruba has the classic postcard beaches, wide, soft sand, calm water, built for lounging. Bonaire doesn't have beaches on that level. What Bonaire has instead is the snorkeling: the amount and diversity of marine life we saw here was far beyond what we saw snorkeling in Aruba, where honestly, we didn't see very much.
Our simple rule of thumb: if your family wants a beach vacation, go to Aruba. If your family wants a snorkeling vacation, go to Bonaire. We loved both, but they're answering different questions.
Our Honest Take
Bonaire was a genuinely great trip for our family, and we wouldn't hesitate to go back. But it's worth being clear about what kind of trip it is: this isn't a resort-and-beach week with the ocean as a backdrop, it's a snorkeling trip with a resort attached. If your younger kid loves being in the water and has some experience with it already, we think they'll thrive here the way ours did. If your child isn't especially drawn to snorkeling or doesn't yet have much open-water experience, we'd think carefully before building a whole week around it, or lean harder into the resort's pool, lazy river, and beach time instead, and treat snorkeling as an occasional add-on rather than the daily plan.
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