Bonaire Snorkeling for Beginners: Everything We Wish We’d Known Before Our Trip

If you’re thinking about snorkeling in Bonaire but aren’t sure whether it’s actually beginner-friendly, I have good news: I think it is.

I’ll be honest—I’ve never been someone who absolutely loved snorkeling. I didn’t particularly enjoy snorkeling in the cenotes in Mexico, and my snorkeling experience in Belize didn’t exactly make me want to run out and do more of it either.

So I wasn’t expecting Bonaire to change my mind, but it absolutely did!

We spent 8 days in Bonaire in May with two other couples and their two toddlers, and snorkeling ended up being one of our favorite parts of the trip.

We snorkeled right from Harbour Village Beach Club, where we were staying, and also went out on a boat excursion through the resort.

What surprised me most was how easy it was to get in the water and start exploring.

The water we experienced was calm and clear, and we could see plenty of marine life without going far.

My biggest regret? I wish I’d started snorkeling on the first day of our trip instead of assuming we’d have plenty of time later.

If you’re a beginner—or you’ve tried snorkeling before and weren’t exactly impressed—I’m going to walk you through what snorkeling in Bonaire was actually like for us, where we snorkeled, whether you need a guide or a boat excursion, what marine life we saw, and the gear that made the biggest difference for me.

👉 Planning your Bonaire trip? I put together a 7-day Bonaire itinerary based on our trip, including what we did each day and how I’d structure your week.

Yes, I absolutely think Bonaire is a great option for beginner snorkelers.

One of the things I liked most about snorkeling in Bonaire was that we didn’t have to make it a major event.

We could get in the water right from our resort, snorkel for a while, get out, take a break, and go back in later if we wanted to.

That made snorkeling feel much less intimidating to me.

I didn’t have to commit to a full-day excursion or spend hours in the water. We could ease into it at our own pace.

One of the things that really drove this home for me was that even one of the toddlers in our group wanted to try snorkeling.

She gave it a shot, which says a lot about how approachable the experience felt to us!

So if you’re a beginner, you don’t necessarily need a tour or boat excursion to get started in Bonaire.

Being able to snorkel from shore can make it much easier to figure out whether you even enjoy it first.

I don’t think you need to be an advanced swimmer to enjoy snorkeling in Bonaire, but you should be comfortable being in the water.

For me, the hardest part wasn’t actually swimming. It was getting comfortable with the mask, snorkel, and the feeling of breathing through the snorkel while I was trying to relax and actually look around.

Fins can make swimming easier for some people, but I didn’t wear them for the snorkeling we did in Bonaire, so I wouldn’t consider them an automatic requirement for a beginner based on my experience.

If you’re nervous about snorkeling, I’d start somewhere where you can easily get in and out of the water and take a break whenever you need to. For us, that made the experience much more enjoyable and approachable.

We had two very different snorkeling experiences during our trip: shore snorkeling at Harbour Village Beach Club and a boat excursion through the resort.

The shore snorkeling ended up being my favorite, while the boat trip gave us a chance to get out on the water and experience snorkeling as more of an excursion.

Here’s what each experience was actually like.

Our favorite snorkeling was actually right at our resort!

We were staying at Harbour Village Beach Club, so having the water right there made it incredibly easy to fit snorkeling into our itinerary.

We could get in without planning an entire excursion, snorkel for a while, get out, and come back another time.

That was especially nice because we were traveling with a group.

Not everyone needed to be doing the same thing at the same time, so some of us could snorkel while others did something else.

The water we experienced was calm and clear, and there was plenty to see without feeling like we had to swim a long distance to find marine life.

And honestly, that convenience was one of the things I appreciated most.

We didn’t have to turn snorkeling into an entire event. It was just something we could do when we felt like it.

👉 Thinking about staying at Harbour Village? I wrote a full Harbour Village Beach Club review covering what we thought of the rooms, beach, amenities, and overall experience.

We also went on a Snorkeling with Great Adventures excursion that we booked through Harbour Village, which gave us a completely different snorkeling experience.

Instead of simply walking down to the private beach, the boat made snorkeling feel more like an activity for the day.

It was nice to get out on the water and explore somewhere beyond where we were staying.

The exact snorkeling location can vary depending on the excursion, so I wouldn’t plan around a specific reef without confirming where your particular tour is going.

If you’re visiting Bonaire and enjoy being out on the water, I’d consider doing at least one boat excursion.

But, I wouldn’t assume you need one to have a great snorkeling experience.

👉 If you’re interested in learning more about this experience, I made a video about our Snorkeling with Great Adventures excursion.

We stopped at 1000 Steps during one of our road trips, but we didn’t snorkel there.

So while I’d heard that it’s a popular snorkeling spot, I can’t personally tell you what the entry was like, what the conditions were that day, or what marine life we would have seen.

I’m including it because it’s a place we actually visited, but consider our experience there a sightseeing stop—not a snorkeling review.

Klein Bonaire was on our original list.

We’d heard great things about the snorkeling there and were hoping to make it over during our 8 days, but we simply didn’t get there.

So I’m going to be upfront about this: I can’t personally review Klein Bonaire snorkeling yet.

It’s still high on my list for a future trip, though, and if snorkeling is one of your main reasons for visiting Bonaire, it’s a place I’d research when planning your itinerary.

There are boat excursions that include snorkeling around Klein Bonaire, which could be an easy way to add it to your trip.

👉 Want to add Klein Bonaire snorkeling to your trip? I often use Viator when booking excursions, and you can check out this highly-rated Klein Bonaire Marine Park Snorkeling Excursion to see if it fits your plans.

No—you don’t necessarily need a guide to snorkel in Bonaire.

We didn’t use a guide for our Bonaire snorkeling, and I enjoyed being able to explore at our own pace.

That said, I can see why a guide would be helpful, especially if you’re a first-time snorkeler, want to learn more about the reef, or don’t feel comfortable figuring things out on your own.

When Might a Guided Snorkel Be Worth It?

These French angelfish were some of the first colorful reef fish we spotted.

At the time, I was mostly thinking about how pretty they were. Looking back at the photos now, I can recognize just how distinctive those yellow-rimmed markings are.

Once I started researching what we’d seen, I learned that French angelfish are known for forming monogamous pairs that stay together for life, which made the photos even more interesting to me.

It’s funny how differently you look at the same fish once you actually know something about it.

We also spotted plenty of blue tang swimming around the reef.

Thanks to their bright blue coloring, they’re probably one of the easiest fish for me to recognize now—and yes, I immediately thought of Dory 😂.

What I didn’t realize before our trip was how much these fish contribute to the reef by grazing on algae.

So while I was mostly admiring how pretty they were, they were busy doing their own thing and helping keep the reef in balance.

The smooth trunkfish was another fun one to identify afterward, mostly because I kept confidently telling Tim that I thought it was a pufferfish.

Clearly, I had no idea what I was talking about!

These fish have such an unusual shape that they almost look like tiny underwater boxes. Their small fins also make them extra fun to watch as they move around the reef.

Seeing a great barracuda was easily one of the most memorable moments of our snorkeling experience, and Tim had lots of fun following this little guy around too.

Going from tiny, colorful reef fish to a sleek, much larger predator changes the energy of a swim real quick.

This was one of those moments when I was especially glad to have the camera with me.

And it was a good reminder that snorkeling isn’t just about looking for the prettiest fish.

You just never really know what you’re going to see down there!

The spotted scorpionfish is exactly the kind of creature I never would have known to look for before this trip.

They’re masters of camouflage, and their ability to blend into their surroundings makes them incredibly easy to overlook.

Realizing we had caught a photo of this pair made me appreciate how many creatures we probably swam right past simply because we didn’t know what to look for.

It definitely made me want to slow down and look more carefully the next time we snorkeled.

The peacock flounder was another favorite discovery, and we were lucky enough to see several of them during our swims.

They’re not necessarily the first thing your eye picks out when you’re looking across the reef, which makes them especially fun to discover.

Once we realized what we were looking at, we followed them around for a bit, fascinated by the way they moved across the sand.

And those bright blue spots around their bodies? They were so much prettier in person than I expected.

This houndfish stood out immediately because it looked so different from the rounder, more colorful reef fish we’d been seeing.

They’re long and slender, and seeing one cruising just beneath the surface was a good reminder of just how much variety there was around us.

I definitely wouldn’t have been able to name this fish before the trip.

Now that I’ve seen one, though, I don’t think I’ll forget it.

Trumpetfish were one of the more unusual-looking fish we identified (with the help of one of my TikTok friends who lives in Bonaire!).

Their long, skinny bodies and distinctive snouts make them pretty easy to recognize once you know what you’re looking for.

One of the fun facts I learned afterward is that trumpetfish can use their unusual shape to their advantage when hunting, sometimes positioning themselves vertically near the reef and using other fish as cover.

I love learning little things like that after the fact because suddenly a weird-looking fish in one of your vacation photos has an actual story behind it.

We also spotted plenty of yellowtail snapper, which added another bright splash of color to our growing list of sightings.

They’re fast, active swimmers that frequently cruise around the upper edges of the reef.

By this point in the trip, I was starting to realize that I was having just as much fun playing detective and identifying everything afterward as I was taking the pictures in the first place.

Seeing a spotted moray eel wiggling through the reef made snorkeling feel a little bit like a treasure hunt.

You never knew what might be hiding in a crevice or tucked into the coral.

If you’ve ever wondered why moray eels constantly look like they’re opening and closing their mouths, it’s not because they’re trying to scare you. They’re moving water over their gills to help them breathe.

It definitely gives them a much more intimidating look than they probably deserve, but I still wouldn’t want to get too close to one, personally!

This was another one of those moments when I was very glad I had my camera with me.

The striated aglaja was probably the most random discovery on my camera roll because I definitely wouldn’t have known what I was looking at while we were in the water.

It turns out this isn’t a fish at all. It’s a sea slug.

That was one of my favorite learnings from the entire identification process because it reminded me that the reef holds so much more than the colorful fish I was expecting to see.

Not everything we photographed was swimming around.

We also saw plenty of long-spined urchins tucked into the rocks.

While these black pin-cushions are vital to the ecosystem because they eat the algae that would otherwise smother the reef, their long, sharp spines definitely made me pay attention to where I was putting my hands and feet while snorkeling.

In other words: admire the urchin, don’t touch the urchin.

I was honestly kind of obsessed with the coral in Bonaire.

I wasn’t just looking for fish while we were snorkeling. I kept stopping to look at the coral, sponges, and all the weird little things growing around the reef because there was just so much going on.

This elkhorn coral was one of the formations we photographed, and I remember being fascinated by how much texture and shape there was to look at.

The more I looked, the more I realized that the reef itself was almost as interesting to me as the fish swimming around it.

Last but not least, these stovepipe sponges had me completely mesmerized.

They’re long, tube-like structures that filter water as they feed, and they were exactly the kind of thing that made me want to keep looking around instead of just swimming past.

If you’re snorkeling in Bonaire and see something you don’t recognize, take a picture of it.

You don’t have to know what you’re looking at in the moment.

That’s honestly one of the things I loved most about having our underwater camera. I could enjoy snorkeling without stopping to figure everything out, then come home and investigate the pictures later.

And if you’re anything like me, you’ll probably be surprised by how much marine life you saw once you actually start looking through those photos (and videos!).

👉 If you’re interested in seeing some of these creatures in action, check out the Bonaire snorkeling video I made for TikTok and Instagram!

Before you go snorkeling in Bonaire, here are a few reef and wildlife basics worth knowing.

The easiest rule to remember is: look, but don’t touch.

Don’t stand on coral, break pieces off, chase marine life, or remove anything from the reef. Even when something looks sturdy, coral and other reef organisms can be much more fragile than they appear.

As a beginner, I found it much easier to focus on simply floating and looking around rather than trying to get close enough to touch anything.

And honestly, there was so much to look at that I never felt like I needed to.

You’ll probably see plenty of interesting creatures while snorkeling, but resist the urge to chase them for a better photo.

That became especially relevant once we started taking underwater pictures. Sometimes the best thing to do was simply stay still and let the fish continue doing whatever they were doing.

You’re a visitor in their environment.

Plus, some of my favorite photos came when I wasn’t trying to get right up on top of something.

If you’re planning to snorkel in Bonaire, you’ll want to take care of the STINAPA Nature Fee.

We purchased ours before the trip, along with Bonaire’s Visitor Entry Tax, and having the confirmations ready made the arrival process much easier.

We also needed the Nature Fee when we visited Washington Slagbaai National Park and hiked the Lagadish Trail.

👉 If you’re planning to explore the park while you’re in Bonaire, I wrote all about our experience hiking the Lagadishi Walking Trail for what to expect.

Pay Attention to Bonaire’s Sunscreen Standards

One thing that made a bigger difference for me than I expected was having my own snorkeling gear.

I’ve rented snorkeling equipment on previous trips, and after not particularly loving those experiences, I wasn’t sure how much of a difference having my own gear would make.

Turns out, for me, it made a huge difference.

I wasn’t constantly wondering whether my mask fit correctly or whether I was comfortable in the equipment. I could just get in the water and focus on what was underneath me.

Here’s what we actually used in Bonaire, plus a few things I wish we’d packed.

Tim wore a rash guard while snorkeling, while I didn’t.

So I wouldn’t say you absolutely need one based on our experience, but I can definitely see the appeal, especially if you’re spending a lot of time in the water and want additional protection from the sun.

If you tend to burn easily or prefer having more coverage, a rash guard would be a smart addition to your Bonaire snorkeling gear.

I paired the camera with a floating wrist grip, which gave me some extra peace of mind when I was carrying the camera around in the water.

If you’re bringing an underwater camera, I think a floating grip is one of those inexpensive accessories that’s worth considering.

The last thing you want is to watch your camera disappear into the Caribbean because you dropped it.

👉 This is the floating hand grip we used during our trip. I went with the yellow, so it stood out more, and it worked very well.

Okay, maybe it’s just me and the fact that I’d never owned a “big girl camera” before, but I had no idea you had to buy your own SD card before using it 😂.

Don’t make my mistake and think only about the camera itself.

If you’re planning to take a lot of underwater photos and videos, make sure you have enough storage.

I used a SANDISK 512GB Extreme microSD Card with my DJI Osmo Action 4, and having plenty of space meant I could keep taking photos instead of constantly worrying about running out of storage.

And trust me, once you start seeing interesting things underwater, you may take A LOT more photos than you expect.

If you don’t want to buy a giant pile of snorkeling equipment before your trip, I’d keep it simple.

What I actually used:

• Mask
• Snorkel
• Water shoes
• Swimsuit
• Sunglasses/sun protection
• Underwater camera
• Floating camera grip
• SD card

What Tim used:

• All of the above
• Rash guard

What I wish I’d brought:

• Anti-fog/goggle cleaner

What I didn’t use:

• Fins

You can absolutely build a much more elaborate snorkeling setup, but you don’t need to buy every piece of gear you see recommended online to enjoy snorkeling in Bonaire.

👉 Want to see what else I packed? Check out my What to Wear in Bonaire: Packing List + Outfit Ideas and Bonaire snorkeling and travel essentials list on Amazon.

I went to Bonaire expecting to do some snorkeling.

I didn’t expect to come home thinking, “why didn’t I do this more?”

I think being able to take my time, explore the reef, and actually feel comfortable in the water made all the difference.

If you’re a beginner who’s wondering whether snorkeling in Bonaire is worth trying, I’d absolutely give it a shot.

Start from shore if you can, give yourself time to get comfortable, and don’t make the mistake I did of waiting until later in the trip.

👉 Ready to plan your Bonaire trip? Check out my Bonaire Travel Guide for First-Time Visitors for where to stay, what to do, where to eat, and how to plan your trip.

Safe travels, and happy snorkeling!

XOXO Sara at Travel A-Broads