Bonaire Bits - Klein Bonaire

Klein Bonaire (Dutch for "little Bonaire") is a small uninhabited island located just off the west coast of Bonaire within the rough crescent formed by the main island.  This extremely flat island encompasses roughly 1,500 acres and is approximately half a mile from from Bonaire at its closest point.  Encircled by a coral reef, Klein Bonaire is included in the protection of the Bonaire National Marine Park and is home to turtle nesting grounds and occasional flamingos.  The only structures on the island are some ruins of slave huts (small, single-room structures dating to the region's period of slavery).

When you look at flat Klein Bonaire with its white sandy beaches and low growing vegetation, it is difficult to visualize the many species of big trees, including coconut palms, that covered this island.  In the mid-1800's, the wood was used to make charcoal, burn coral stones to lime, provide dye for paint color, make pulleys for boats, and medicines.  The practice of cutting trees down in an unsustainable manner denuded the island of most of its vegetation and a hurricane in 1859 virtually wiped out the remaining trees, depleting Klein Bonaire of its large growth.

The small island was also used for keeping goats for export to Curaçao, contributing further to its deforestation.  That was the last commercial use of the island and after over a forty-year absence of goats, the natural flora of Klein Bonaire has managed to make a comeback.  So much so, that it has become home to many varieties of plants and animals, some not even present on the main island.  As Bonaire became known for its scuba diving, exploration of the smaller island's underwater world showed it too had a wider range of biodiversity and coral coverage than Bonaire itself.

Crossing the channel from Bonaire to Klein Bonaire is done frequently by private and commercials boats, and by some very hardy kayakers (the trip to Klein Bonaire is against the wind!).  The small island is a popular destination for lunch and evening picnics, while its primary attraction is the spectacular diving and snorkeling of its pristine coral reef.  There are 26 BNMP diving moorings and one beach, making the reef easily accessible.  It boasts a wide biodiversity, including parrotfish, surgeonfish and (yellowtail) snappers which patrol the many varieties of branching and boulder corals. The sponges, in colors from purple to deep red to orange to yellow, and in shapes including multiple tubes and irregular spheres, will attract your attention as well.

For our birders and other landlovers, Klein Bonaire's fauna include (inventory of fauna species as of February 1997):

• 19 birds
• 14 migratory birds
• 8 reptiles and amphibians
• 6 (land) crabs
• 5 butterflies
• 12 land snails

In addition, the bats (whose numbers have not yet been counted) spend their days hanging from the ‘ceilings’ of caves on Klein Bonaire until dusk when they fly out en masse.