Our friends and family asked: Why Bonaire?

We have visited the ABC's (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao) twice in the last couple of years. The ABC's are small islands about 60 miles off the northern coast of Venezuela.  Each has a different relationship with the Netherlands but they are all considered part of the Dutch Caribbean.

Our first visit was an island hop trip. We spent a week on each island. Aruba is like visiting an American beach town. It has high-rise, mega-hotel resorts with beaches with international shopping. Curacao is the most populated island and is like visiting a big city. It has all the benefits and issues related to big population and is the business center of the ABC's.  The beaches are on one end of the island and the largest town, Willemstad, is on the other end.  Bonaire, the smallest of the ABC's, is a world class diving destination with a high standard of living.  Bonaire is like Goldilocks and the thee bears beds....it was just right for us.

Bonaire is a laid back island with a population of about 26,000. It is a thriving island with all the amenities we think we need. The island is out of the hurricane zone and maintains a pretty constant temperature in the mid-80's during the day and high 70's at night.  

They use the US dollar as currency. Bonaire has a stable government and is operated by an island authority and by the Dutch central government.  The island is considered a special municipal district of the Netherlands. Three languages are spoken on the Island: Dutch (the official language), Papiamentu (spoken by the locals), Spanish, and English. Bonaire uses desalination for fresh water supply is powered by diesel and some wind and solar.  They are currently having some issues with the supply of fuel since the crumbling of Venezuela oil industry and the US embargo. They are stable enough to deal with this issue and have good alternative trade and import options.

This all adds up to a really great place for us to live and get out of the cold in Colorado.

c