Curaco / Bonaire question

[Krteczech]

I just booked tickets for December holiday weeks at St Maarten at very reasonable price. We have week 51 TS on St Maarten, but after that, we have one more week to spend at Carribean. I was thinking about visiting C and B islands. Would 5 days be too short to experience both? We have not TS to exchange, so hotel/condo is where we would stay. Two fairly is shape adults + teenager. Have any of you done it? How would you do it? Thanks.

 

[Corinne]

We've been to both Bonaire (twice) and Curacao (once). I would pick one, rather than try to squeeze both in. Which one would depend on what you like. We are divers, and love the crystal clear water, healthy coral reefs and abundance of shore dives of Bonaire. However, there are very few nice beaches on the island. (You'll have plenty of those on St. Maarten, though). Curacao is larger and has a variety of cultural and natural sights to see, including the Dutch architecture in Willemstad, museums, caves, aquarium, ostrich farm, in addition to a number of decent beaches. Curacao's standard of living is relatively high, probably due to the oil refining industry on the island. We didn't find the diving as nice there. Overall the island looked, felt and even smelled more industrial to us than most Caribbean islands we've visited. Glad we went, but not in a hurry to go back.

I don't know how easy it is to get from St. Maarten to either of these islands, so maybe you find that out first and then go from there. I'm sure you'll have fun no matter what you choose to do.

Good luck,
Corinne

 

[Judy]

Bonaire is wonderful for diving, snorkeling, and (depending upon the wind) kite-boarding. But not much else. If you're looking for site-seeing or shopping, go to Curacao instead. I don't think one week is enough to see both islands. If you don't dive or snorkel, a couple of days would be more than enough on Bonaire. But you'll want a whole week on Curacao because it takes a long time to get from place to place - there's lots of traffic.

 

[Krteczech]

Corinne and Judy, thanks for helping me to narrow it. I will focus on Curacao, at least for now. I have till October to decide. I was also looking at St Kitts and Nevis as an option. Have you been there?

 

[Corinne]

No, I've not been to St. Kitts and Nevis, though it's on my "list".

-Corinne

 

[legalfee]

I would definately recommend St Kitts & Nevis. We stayed at the Marriott in St Kitts. There's a lot to see and do but not many hotel choices. We took the ferry to Nevis. Keep in mind if you rent a car they drive on the left and the steering wheel is on the right. It takes some getting used to. We would go again.