[trip style = sun + beach + active & adventure]
{Editor's Note: In observance of the Canadian national holiday (Remembrance Day) on Friday, we will be publishing Roam+Board today, and taking tomorrow off. See you Monday.}
What Thirty clay-roofed and whitewashed oceanfront chalets {aka chalet-looking duplexes} are clustered around a white sand beach overlooking a knee- to waist-deep sandy bay that goes for three kilometers in each direction. The beach bar of your dreams serves as the central hub of activity, complete with bar stools, wooden banquettes with multi-coloured throw pillows and white triangular sails to shade from the sun. The basic rooms have everything you need for the tropics: a hammock, air conditioning, big fan, door and window screens, and to top it off, an outdoor shower that spouts water out of a conch shell. Life is good at the Sorobon Beach Resort, and having just stayed there, it is Trip Styler approved!
Where Bonaire. Sorobon is only 10 minutes from the Island's main airport, Flamingo International. The resort will pick you up if pre-advised of your arrival time, or you can take a taxi which costs $20. Getting into Kralendijk, the country's capital city, takes 13 minutes by car. Only European carriers have direct flights into Bonaire, so to get there from North America you must transfer through Aruba or Curacao, then take Insel Air or DAE {the two largest carriers bookable online} into Bonaire.
When The weather in Bonaire is inviting all year, but when you go will depend on why you're going! Bonaire is typically known for diving, which can be done anytime of year. Windsurfers love the island in June and July when the wind is strongest. The rainy season is in November, and this also happens to be when the mosquitoes are worst. You don't notice them in the day, but unless there's a big wind at night, dining al fresco can result in polka dot effect. Mosquitos are the least present January to March.
Who/Why Your idea of the perfect getaway is bringing more bathing suits than clothes, walking 10 steps from your cabin to the ocean and sitting at a beach bar with a bottle of Bright {The ABC Islands' local beer} watching the sun go down.
Cost Beach chalets start at $120/night on Kayak.com. Includes free wifi in the open-air lobby area as well as free parking. Note, the rooms have fully equipped kitchens and bathrooms, but you must bring your own soap!
{Trip Styler Tip :: Most people rent cars in Bonaire in order to drive to dive sites (with more than 87 official sites scattered throughout the island), go to restaurants and get groceries.}
More Roam+Board Kura Hulanda – Curacao Hotel Kakslauttanen – Finland The Met – Vancouver Custom Hotel – LAX Bitter End Yacht Club – BVI Sleep On The Water – London A Woodsy Hideaway – Big Sur, CA
[photos by @tripstyler]