Bonaire

We will definitely not come back to Bonaire with these ridiculous mooring rates. We also have to pay $75,- pp to just get in the country and pay for the dinghy dock. Also an annual nature fee makes no sense at all, no tourist stays for a year! We visited the island in 2017 and paid $10 pp for a snorkling fee, we found that reasonable. Our visit now for two persons compared to 2017 is $210,- more…….

Sad to see that. Their loss. The impact financially that cruisers put into these places is immense. They clearly haven't done their homework. We already now pay the new Bonaire Visitors Tax of $75 each, the $25 Stinapa fee each for swimming/snorkeling, the fee for using the Mooring, the fee for using the dinghy dock and that's all before we provision, eat, drink, laundry, chandlery, fuel, water and the list goes on and on 🥴. Think again Bonaire, we love your country, but can't afford to come back.

It’s sad that the contribution cruisers make to the environment, island and community have not been recognised or considered. Many cruisers are regularly involved in beach clean ups, coral planting and mangrove planting, to name a few of the activities. Who will take their place when long term cruisers stop coming to Bonaire?

Bit unfair that cruise passengers pay less. Hopefully the cruiseships pays a lot to stinapa . Might be an idea to let the cruiseships not enter the island that closely. And do the passenger transfer with smaller boats.

We Used marina and mooring buoy for more than three months. I won’t even try to calculate how much money we spend on Bonaire but beside the mooring costs it was thousands of dollars, spend on restaurants, car rental, groceries dive equipment etc. but some on island has become to greedy to my taste, and we will definitely bypass Bonaire in the future.

After reading the article in The Bonaire Reporter concerning the Executive Council’s decision to raise fees, I am left with the following questions: why and for who? The executive council says that the decision was taken after consultations with STINAPA and other stakeholders. Stakeholders? Which stakeholders? The ones that are hoping to make a lot more money? Harbour Village Marina, for one, gets a great boost in revenue by seeing the mooring fee go up. What more are cruisers going to get for $US35 per night from HVM? Are they going to add their 10% service charge on top of that? If you add taxes, the nightly price could then be up to $US40.81 per night. What is the plan for the 250% increase in mooring fee revenue for STINAPA? Is there a concrete plan to use the money wisely or is it just going to disappear down the rabbit hole? Can STINAPA present a plan that looks forward into the future to improve the marine park and the services offered? And what about the businesses/stakeholders that are going to suffer from this decision? The marine industry will definitely see a major downturn in revenue because cruisers are already announcing that they will not be returning to Bonaire because of this exorbitant price hike. Restaurants and other merchants will also likely see a steep decline in their revenues if cruisers decide to forego Bonaire on their cruising agenda. This new policy will be disastrous for the local economy. Even those that are thinking of making a lot more money might get a very unpleasant surprise. It is truly a sad day for Bonaire. This new policy will make Bonaire a destination to be avoided by cruisers

So much simpler! Masha danki

Bye bye Bonaire, we visited twice and loved you but there’s no way we can afford to come back and pay $1050 a month 😞

As a cruising sailor, it makes no sense to me to pay $35/night for a mooring with no services. And $35 for the dinghy dock too? I can stay in the marina for less and have toilets and showers and the pool. I know many friends who will not return to Bonaire at these rates. I have no plan to return. I know it's costly to place and maintain these moorings, but this increase seems unreasonable.

This will be a mind changer for a lot of passing cruisers We will look at other island with lower mooring fees If you think that big cruising ship get you more money Don’t forget they are there for 1 day and destroy more nature in a short time lap Very sad but for 40$ a night on a mooring no dinghy dock included Big turnout

Loket bij de Airport gelijk betalen 👍🏼

Well I guess our plans to spend a few months on a Bonaire mooring are not going to happen. We were there for 3 months in 2021 and loved the experience. We enjoyed the island and were happy to support the local economy to the tune of thousands every month. No more. The mooring fees are outlandish and will discourage cruisers from visiting. Very sad.

Ehm so 75 and 40 for people who come to visit their families? And don’t even dive 😔 that’s a shame. I’m sorry but that truly hurts. I would love to have my family over and do some volunteering. Like we always do. Clean the beaches from plastic and glass. Or helping with taking care of all the sargassum.

It would have made so much sense to keep the current rate for the first two or three weeks then apply the new $35 rate for those that are taking up moorings. We know moorings space is limited. This flat rate is just not good value for money. We often stopped for two or three weeks onroute to Curacao to haul out. With this new mooring rate and the $75 per person entry fee we can think of better ways to spend our money. We won't be back

We’re sad to see the rates rise so dramatically when the only thing different is that there will be free pump out. This decision is going to dramatically affect the marine industry tradesman as many people will not be able to afford or will refuse to pay marina rates. In addition to the tradesmen, cruisers supported restaurants, grocery, rental car agency, hardware, spas, medical facilities…..the list goes on.. And lastly you can’t dismiss all of the charitable hours spent on Beach cleanups Turtle conservation Reef renewal Reef clean up and know that we cleaned all the time while diving and snorkeling not just at reef clean up events.

Hmmm. Been there... Sadly, won't be back. So glad to have experienced Bonaire. Mostly because we love to dive. Ok, and for the snorkelling, a beloved hairdresser, dive instructor, and for the fabulous fellow cruisers we met ... We'll be moving onto other shores that are NOT punishing the sailboat cruiser... We will always cherish our friends 🥰

I understand that it takes money to run the parks and amenities here in Bonaire. But, to more than triple the fees is wildly excessive. Perhaps $10/day for a mooring ball is too low, and an increase to $15 or maybe even $20 a day would be understandable. However, $35/day is telling the cruising community that you are not valued in Bonaire. Given that it's a 3-day sail to get to here from anywhere, I'm guessing that this will result in a net decrease in STNAPA's revenue going forward as fewer boats will make the trip.

A sad day for cruisers. Never will we pay $35 per day, $20 would give me pause to rethink the journey to an island that didnt allow anchoring. Glad we got to experience it while we could!

....it'll be ALL FREE in the motu~coral~lagune of MANIHIKI, Southern Cook Islands for Ya', Skipper,....so...Fair Winds thattaway' 🌞😉🐬⚓️!!!

We, too, had planned to spend a month or two in Bonaire in the spring. Looking at other options now. Too $$$...

Yes! Excelent!

Wonder if they only want wealthy, well healed visitors and to keep.out the unwashed hoards. Buzz off you peasants!

Happy we used a mooring in October 2022! At $35 a day with nothing to offer from the Marina why return?

Moeten cruiseship duikers nog steeds n dagpas van $10 kopen in 2023? Waarom niet komend jaar al de fee van $10 invoeren voor alle cruiseship bezoekers?

Ja, maar die laatste alinea: 1000 dollar per maand voor een boei in het water, belachelijk.