KiteInsider
Photo
The kite/windsurf school at Sorobon, Lac BayPhoto by Balou46, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

MapCountriesBonaire (Caribbean Netherlands)Countries

Country

Bonaire (Caribbean Netherlands)

Bonaire's kiting happens on the leeward southwest coast.

Read more

Kite beaches

Inside the Bonaire National Marine Park, STINAPA allows kitesurfing only at the Atlantis entry and exit zone (2026), so Atlantis Beach is the island's designated kite beach and gives flat water for beginners, while Pink Beach just north brings chop and small wave ramps for intermediate and advanced riders.

Lac Bay, the 700-hectare mangrove-ringed lagoon on the windward side where a barrier reef tames the swell and the easterly trades blow nearly constant, is a windsurf spot: STINAPA allows windsurfing there, not kiting.

The season runs roughly December through August. Between them, the two kite beaches cover the range from flat water to chop.

SeasonNovember to Augustsomewhere in the country
How we count
Beginners
where a spot record says a beginner can ride; the Beginners page also asks for a school there, so it lists fewer

When to go

month by month, from the towns' own wind series

  1. Jan, no figure—
  2. Feb, no figure—
  3. Mar, no figure—
  4. Apr, no figure—
  5. May, no figure—
  6. Jun, no figure—
  7. Jul, no figure—
  8. Aug, no figure—
  9. Sep, no figure—
  10. Oct, no figure—
  11. Nov, no figure—
  12. Dec, no figure—

The windiest town in season each month: its share of windy days

Nothing has been measured or modelled for this place: twelve months and no figure in any of them.

No place here is in season in September and October, so those months carry no figure rather than a zero.

Which place is yours

the most spots first

How this list is ordered

The places are in the order of how many spots each place holds. None of them carries a wind score: the atlas scores wind reliability one spot at a time, against a named weather station and the distance to it, and a place that groups several spots has no single station to stand behind one number.For wind by month, see When to go above.

Bonaire2 spots · 1 school · November to Augustflat water choppy beginner-friendly sociable car needed gear rental expensive

Destinations

The one place, by name

Every place in the lists above, by name only, in the order the country guide keeps them.

Bonaire

Visa & entry

EU passportDutch citizens enter visa-free (Bonaire is a special municipality of the Netherlands). For other EU/Schengen nationals, general visa-free entry applies for up to 90 days per 180 days — Bonaire is explicitly OUTSIDE the Schengen area and EU customs territory, so this is a separate entry regime from mainland-Netherlands/Schengen rules, not an automatic extension of them.
US passportVisa-free entry, up to 180 days per 365 days - the same allowance as Dutch citizens.
UK passportVisa-free entry; the general non-Dutch/non-US allowance is up to 90 days per 180 days.
Entry or eco taxesMandatory Bonaire visitor/tourist tax: USD 75 per person aged 13+ (2025/2026 rate), USD 10 for children up to 12 and for former-Netherlands-Antilles residents with a valid cedula.Payable online in advance (from 7 days before arrival) at the official site tourismtax.bonairegov.com, or on arrival; QR code valid 30 days from first use (covers island hopping/re-entry within that window).'Lookalike' payment sites charge extra fees and are not official.Separately, an airport departure fee of USD 33.40 applies (cash or card; American Express NOT accepted).
NotesBonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba (the 'BES islands' / Caribbean Netherlands) are a special municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands but sit outside the Schengen area and EU/Dutch mainland tax and customs regimes — do not assume mainland Dutch/Schengen rules apply directly.

Money

CurrencyUS Dollar (USD) — official currency of Bonaire since 2011.
Card acceptanceAmerican Express is not accepted for the airport departure fee, so Amex acceptance is narrower than Visa or Mastercard.
Scams
  • Car break-ins are a reported issue while owners are out diving or kiting; never leave valuables in a parked car.
Cash tipsUSD cash is the local currency itself, so no exchange-rate friction for US-dollar tips.

SIM & internet

NotesOperator names for Bonaire are not published; Digicel Bonaire and TELBO come up but are unconfirmed.

Insurance

Is kiting covered?Commonly true; unconfirmed for any Bonaire-specific insurer.
RecommendedGiven Bonaire's remote-island status and dive and watersports focus, evacuation-inclusive travel insurance is the sensible general recommendation; no Bonaire-specific product or requirement is published.
Healthcare and evacuationHospital San Francisco is reportedly the main hospital on Bonaire, with serious trauma cases going to Curaçao or Aruba; unconfirmed.

Health

Tap waterSafe for drinking, though bottled water is readily available.
Emergency numbers911.

Driving

Road safetyDrive on the RIGHT. No traffic lights on the island. Speed limits: 40 km/h (25 mph) in town, 60 km/h (35 mph) outside town.
4x4 contextsWashington Slagbaai National Park's ~34 km of roads are rough and require an off-road/4x4 vehicle or mountain bike. This park is on the island's northwest, separate from the main Lac Bay kite area, but relevant for general island exploration.

Regulation

National kite rulesBonaire National Marine Park charges an annual USD 40/person fee that explicitly covers diving, snorkeling AND kitesurfing. Kiters using Bonaire's waters (the main spot, Lac Bay, sits within or adjacent to the protected bay and mangrove system) are therefore expected to hold it, though enforcement mechanics for kitesurfers are not spelled out.
Protected areasBonaire's entire coastline falls within the Bonaire National Marine Park; Lac Bay, the main kite spot, borders protected mangrove areas. Kite-launch zoning and mangrove-protection rules beyond the marine-park fee are unconfirmed.

Calendar & costs

CurrencyUSDSee Money

Kite bag rules for your airline

Flying into Bonaire (Caribbean Netherlands)

Type the carrier you are flying: what it charges for a kite bag, and the year of the policy that says so.

Every carrier, with limits and what riders report at the counter →

Where records disagree

  • topic: Bonaire 90-day allowance: per island or all BES islands combined
    version a: Up to 3 months per island (GOV.UK).
    version b: 90 days within 180 days for stays on all three islands (Bonaire, St Eustatius, Saba) combined (RCN / KMar page). Stricter version.
    sources:
    • https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/bonaire-st-eustatius-saba/entry-requirements
    • https://english.rijksdienstcn.com/justice--security/royal-netherlands-marechaussee/travel-with-a-non-dutch-passport

Still being checked

We have not verified these yet — tell us if you know.

Show the 8 open questions
  • Mobile/SIM operator names, eSIM availability, ID requirement for SIM purchase, Starlink status
  • ATM networks, fees, and card-acceptance detail beyond the Amex note
  • Tipping norms
  • Hospital standard and medical-evacuation infrastructure/pathways
  • IDP requirement for rental cars
  • Whether/how the USD 40/year marine park fee is actually collected from kitesurfers specifically (vs. divers/snorkelers) at Lac Bay
  • What do a beer, a meal, a coffee and a month's rent cost on Bonaire?
  • Yellow fever / dengue / zika vaccination and seasonal risk specifics

Last updated September 2026