Bonaire has been a marine park reserve for more than 50 years and with a coral reef surrounding the whole island it´s considered one of the best dive sites in the whole region.

Anchoring is forbidden but on the edge of the reef are well maintained moorings for cruisers along the shoreline of Kralendijk (the capital).

Prices have skyrocketed the last years with 35Usd/day for the mooring,"divingtax" 40Usd/person,touristtax75Usd/person and 20Usd/week for using the dinghy dock.To find a free mooring used to be a problem but with the double to triple increment of the prices last years there are always moorings available. Checking in and pay all different fees is a days work. As is the normal routine we started with customs/immigration and in the meantime someone from Harbour Village Marina (the owner of moorings) went onboard Dora Mac and left a warning letter saying that if we don´t check in with them and pay the fees before closure same day (16.00) we will face a fine !

We then took the dinghy to Harbour Village Marina where they apologised for their "loveletter". Then you need to go to the tourist office to pay the touristtax (online payment didn´t work) and finally to the owners of the dinghy dock to pay their fees. Then you can take your dinghy back to the boat and look forward to what is supposed to be the best diving in the Caribbean.