so
bonaire is the hidden jewel of the caribbean this dutch island is truly one of a kind
my name is eric conover and this is a video journal of my travels around the world
and bits of my daily life here in new york city i'm currently here in beautiful sunny
marbella spain and this week's episode is one from the archives back in 2018.
in this video i made a list of the most incredible places i saw while exploring
bonaire before we jump into it i'd like to thank villa1 tequila for sponsoring this video
villa 1 is an ultra premium handcrafted tequila founded by nick jonas and john varvatos and the
ethos behind this brand is to experience life as it should be with friends old and new one glass
at a time make sure to check out the link down below in the description to learn more and to
place your order and with that these are the top most incredible places in bonaire you have to see
to believe located at the southern tip of bonaire through the clouds lies the
setting out of a hollywood blockbuster film the solar saltpans of bonaire
the solar salt pans have been pumping out salt for over 400 years
the salt pans cover 13 percent of the island and to put that in perspective bonaire is very
very tiny it's maybe 100 square miles if you look off to the side there are these massive enormous
piles of dried sea salt it takes 10 to 12 months for the water to evaporate and the
salt to be fully formed the salt is then carried out through this salt
pier and it is put on big transport ships and shipped out to the rest of the world
the million-dollar question why are the salt pans so pink as the salinity increases in the
water there's only one type of algae that can grow in such a high salinity content
and there's only one type of shrimp that can then eat this algae and there's only
one bird that can eat this specific type of shrimp and that is the flamingo and that
right there is the reason why flamingos are pink if you look baby flamingos aren't pink
they're white i just find that fascinating maybe you do too the best thing to do at
the salt pans is to rent a moped grab a friend and just go for a nice long cruise
we are riding along and we came across these salt bubbles the wind was blowing across the
one salt lake and on the leeward side there was just this massive pile of white salt bubbles
also the salt pans are a prime spot to pop off fire grams wear all white go down to the pink you
will get the most cinematic pictures your friends will be on your instagram scrolling through
this is one of those places where you truly have to be here to see it just because it
is something so unique that you can't find anywhere else in the world we're gonna say
goodbye to the solar salt pans head inland and north on the island to our number two
the caves of bonaire
bonaire is a big coral reef that popped out of the ocean and there's a network of over 400 caves on
the island you can see this is all forest people cannot build houses here because under us is
cape it's all caves this is the kind of stuff that i dreamed about when i was a kid going exploring
in caves we're in a residential neighborhood we get out of the car and we just walk through this
brush i'd say about 500 meters smack dab in the middle of this neighborhood there was just a hole
in the ground an entrance to some dark cave portal under the island i'm having doubts i
don't know if i can go in you can do it though tell my grandkids that i love them i'm going to
need a new pair of underwear after this might come show how deep this is eric says it's as
big as a cathedral i thought it was going to be as like big as a con going down into the cave
i want to mention before i get into this if you are in bonaire and you're going into the cave
system do not go alone there's tours all over the island that can take you down into the caves they
know exactly where to go exactly where not to go and will keep you safe to see the rock formations
and really see the history of the island if you look closely you can actually see imprints
of fossilized fish and coral in the limestone rock just to show you how dark you can get in here
we're going to turn off all the lights and turn them back on oh so it's like 110. matt and mike
didn't want to come down just because it's so hot and mike's afraid of tiny spaces so we're gonna go
back up now to another cave and go underwater to get to the underwater cave entrance we had to trek
through the raw cactus forest of bonaire to an opening in the side of the hill to the water caves
are you scared am i scared yeah i'm not scared look behind you you're going into this oh my
god i've seen like an hour from there you have to rappel down into the cave there is a narrow
opening maybe two foot by i'd say four foot it's a portal it is the entrance to another
world the thing about the underwater cave network and underwater cave diving is that the caves are
so narrow you cannot go down there with a scuba tank it's all free diving meaning you have to hold
your breath you go under with your flashlight again it's completely pitch dark and you swim
the first swim is about 30 seconds underwater with no air then you pop up into a cavern under
the island so there's basically all these little air pockets that i have to say that i think that
everyone can do it the key to cave diving is staying completely calm that's easier said
than done watching this footage but if you can remain calm it's actually pretty therapeutic
number three on our list is day diving this island was made for diving there are 87 dive sites on
the island itself i don't own any dive gear so i have to run everything my fins my snorkel my mask
my regulator weights and my booties so you rent all your gear you load up the truck and you go
first dive with the trip and bon air let's go do this see some sea creatures see some coral to
get to this dive site we have to walk through all the brush with all of our gear down to the coral
i highly recommend you wear your booties down to the water or your feet are just going to get
torn up and you don't want to have bloody feet in the water because that's going to attract sharks
there's no shark i mean there's sharks there but once you enter the waters of
bonaire it's like you're going into another world because the island itself is very dry
in desert when you get underwater that's where the life is all the coral and the fish
if you are a photographer especially underwater you have to dive at salt pier it is the most
photogenic dive spot huge schools of fish like to just chill out in the shade under the pier
and they don't move like you can swim right up to these fish and they're just chilling the thing
that i love about diving is that humans have no business being underwater we need so much gear to
go down there and there's a lot of respect that comes with that bonaire was actually the first
island in all the caribbean that protected the entire island from the high water mark all the
way down to 200 feet the island is completely protected meaning you can't spearfish there
you can't take anything from the coral before you go on your dive you pay 25 nature fee
which goes to funding at the national park something that is actually very important in
the world today to preserve what is naturally there out of the corner of my eye i see this
massive green shadow slither its way through the bottom and i'm talking fast this was a green
murray eel this fish is the incarnation of what would be the devil in fish form this is such a
menacing looking animal and just the way he moved through the water going through the coral hiding
poking his little head out then he would open his mouth and show his teeth his snaggle tooth
when you are down there diving you are in their element you're on their home turf you need to
respect everything down there just an observer and really just enjoy all the beauty down there
after seeing that green murray guzzler on my dive i wanted to get out of the water
hit the beaches which brings us to our number four
no name beach not far off the coast of bonaire is one of if not the only island left in all the
caribbean that has not and cannot be developed on the island is called klein bonaire which
translates to little bonaire getting to the island is very very easy there's a water taxi
that runs a few times per day but the best way to go and to beat the crowds is to just make friends
it's a place that you actually have to see it to believe it to experience it you're more or
less stranded on your own private island for the day when you visit klein bonaire if you've ever
wondered what happens underwater when the sun goes down number five is night diving
when you're night diving the feeling of isolation is so overwhelming that you are this tiny little
human and you are in such a big unknown body of water i'd say it's the closest thing to going into
outer space i've never been to outer space i'm sure neither have you but the one thing i mean
maybe if you're chris hadfield you're watching this what's up this is a bucket list thing right
here i've been watching you've never been diving before never ever we're actually joined by a lot
of people this place is super popular just because by the pillars that's where the fish hang out
so wish me luck what do you got on a wetsuit what else show me your gear
before the night dive it is critical that you have your buddy and you gear up and do a gear check
before you go in the water you have to check everything check your air your regulator your bcd
eric and i are swimming underwater we're going about and it was just after the full moon and
there is this phenomenon called the asar khan the oscar cod is a fish that glows in the dark it is
a bioluminescent fish we turn off our lights and i look up in my whole life i have never experienced
something so cosmic truly out of this world everywhere you look there was these ostracod fish
glowing the things that come out underwater at night are out of this world these little bug-like
creatures were surrounding my flashlight almost like fireflies then out of nowhere eric points
his light into the shadows and there is a lobster probably a good five foot lobster blue and pink
and purple with these two beady eyes just going enough with the sea creatures for now the thing
that really makes bonaire stick out in my mind are the people number six on our list is the culture
of bonaire rincon in the north is the cultural epicenter of bonaire we stayed in the southern
part of the island and the best way to get to the north is to rent a motorbike my number one
travel tip is to make friends wherever you go and with that said i rented a bike and headed north
rincon is a city set back in time indigenous people have lived on the island of bonaire
for 2 900 years but the spanish added bonaire to the modern map 500 years ago and eventually
became a dutch island the official language is dutch but recognized regionally is popumento
a spanish creole language this is very important to note that most
bars only accept cash and us dollars is the currency used on the island
when you visit rincon you have to try the cactus liquor it is so sweet
i actually have a bottle that i took back to new york it's that good
spend a day in ring con make some friends and learn how to sing and dance like the locals
leaving the city of rincon just to the north is the national park number seven on the list
of the most incredible places in bonaire you have to see is national park cliff jumping
the national park takes up 60 percent of the island and is totally protected
from any development there's tons of wildlife in the national park iguana
wild donkey roaming by the sea and flamingo searching for those shrimp we talked about
it is a vast network of connecting dirt roads we didn't have a pickup truck but luckily we made
friends with some local dutch girls through the raw terrain of the national park emerges
schlagby beach it's the best spot on the whole island for cliff jumping you
walk up through the cactus forest overlooking the bright yellow huts
up a 25 foot high ancient coral and limestone rock formation
the jump is pretty high and it's actually not too deep so you have to make sure that
you go with someone who knows where the right place to jump is and then you take the plunge
my number one thing to do on the island is to make a day of it
pack a bunch of food some drinks grab friends and just have a beach day
this beach it's it's truly magical it's something else
and i want to thank you for taking the time and watching this video i can't say it enough
i highly recommend you go to bonaire if you like the video make sure to give it a thumbs
up press that subscribe button turn on post notifications so you're notified when i do
post new travel content and i will see you in the next travel series which will be from hawaii