After being high on my bucket list for years, it was finally time for a trip to Bonaire. A small island in the Caribbean with only 20,000 inhabitants. It feels a bit like a village. It has a very chill vibe, friendly people and is truly beautiful. The island is known for flamingos, marine life and bounty beaches. It feels almost unreal that this is officially part of the Netherlands. The language matches, for the most part, but that’s all it has in common. Everything is different. Not just the temperature (love it!), but the whole culture is different. The pace is a lot slower, people don’t fuss easily. Honestly something I sometimes find a relief compared to the rat race in the Netherlands.
Working from Bonaire
The first thing people said to me when I told them I was going to work remotely from Bonaire was “uh is there good wifi there?”. I’ve heard that before and it was also the reason for me to go and do my own research. I spoke to many locals before my trip who guaranteed me that it’s not nearly as bad as it was years ago. And that was true! I myself first stayed at the fine Van der Valk Plaza Hotel, which really comes highly recommended. For some variety, I also went to a small-scale hotel from great nice Dutch owners, check out The Hut Bonaire here.
It may not have the wifi you’re used to at home everywhere, but the whole idea of
travel is also that you’re going somewhere different from home.
Of course you just have to be able to do your work and video meetings with your colleagues, but that went fine. In fairness, I must add that that was not always the case, in some places you do indeed have poor coverage and doing your online work is a challenge, but then you move the meeting to another time and work offline for a while. Not the end of the world either. Especially considering a workation is usually not too long. Then it’s best to adjust for a week.
Working with time difference between Bonaire and the Netherlands
The time difference with the Netherlands keeps some people from going to the Caribbean on workation. There is 5 hours time difference in winter, Bonaire falls in time zone UTC -4. If you start your workday in Bonaire at 7 a.m., it’s 12 p.m. in the Netherlands and you have plenty of overlap for meetings with your colleagues and clients. This allows you to stop in time in the afternoon and go out. Personally, I found that a very nice daily schedule.
Top 5 to do’s during your workation in Bonaire
- Snorkeling
The underwater world in Bonaire is fantastic. You can dive and snorkel beautifully. My favorite snorkeling spot is 1000 steps. It’s called that because there are quite a few steps down that would feel like 1000 steps, but honestly I think that’s complete nonsense. It is perfectly doable to walk down there and have a wonderful time in the water. We saw turtles and beautiful fish there. Salt Pier is also very popular, here you are very likely to see turtles. - Windsurfing at The Hangout
Looking for a chill Caribbean vibe, this is the place to be. It’s a great place to windsurf. But even if you don’t want to go windsurfing, it’s great fun to watch everyone dash across the water while enjoying the fun at the beach bar. On Sunday evenings there is a party from late afternoon and you can dance. - Scooting around the island
My favorite way to discover a new place is on a scooter. Then you can see so much and easily stop everywhere to explore. This way you can also hop to different beaches and to several snorkeling spots in one day. Be careful though, the roads here are sometimes full of potholes and Bonaireans are not the best drivers.
- Campfire Evening at Delfins
On Monday evening around 8 p.m. Delfins Beach Resort is the place to be. There is then a cozy campfire on the beach, with fun music. We were even lucky enough to have Miss Montreal and Chef’Special there on vacation and performing. Goosebumps! Toes in the sand, a cool breeze, cold beer, good food and enjoying the music. - Lunch at The Beach
My favorite beach club is The Beach, near Windsock. Not too big and right on the water. You can walk right into the water via the stairs at the restaurant. You can chill on a bed, have a nice meal and then jump right into the water. The ultimate island life.
Practical tips for your workation in Bonaire
There are a number of preparations you can make to ensure your workation goes smoothly. Here are the most important things:
– Your calling bundle is not valid outside the EU so you will not have 5G and calling will be costly, so use wifi everywhere or buy a local SIM card or calling bundle. – Bring a world plug so you can always charge your laptop anywhere. – To navigate offline, download the map on Google Maps in advance or use Maps.me. – Read blogs about your destination so you know where you want to spend your free time. – Bring water shoes, as there are many rocks in the water. – Make sure you have mosquito spray, otherwise you will get punctured if you are unlucky. – Don’t forget your snorkel set because the underwater world is beautiful, you can then enter the water anywhere you want. I personally use the one below.
Want to go to Bonaire alone, with someone together or with your team on a workation? Then check out these wonderful accommodations we work with. We would love to help you arrange the ultimate tropical workation for you.
