Princess excursions to Klein Bonair & water taxis

[Rudy888]

The Crown has excursions to Klein Bonair, do they tie up the water taxi's if we want to go on our own? What about the $10.00 marine tag for snorkling? Does the cruise ship include that in their price?

 

February 3rd cruise on the Crown.

 

 

Mike

[LA_FadeAway]

I'd love to hear the answers to your questions too. Anyone???

[jimw]

I have read that the park fee is waived for cruisers.

[Rudy888]

My wife spoke with Princess and she was told that if you take the ships excursion to Klien Bonaire you must purchase a marine tag. They do not furnish as a part of the excursion.

 

Mike

[LA_FadeAway]

Can you take your own water taxi there and back or are they all reserved for cruise passangers? We need to be back for a private snorkel tour by 2:30, so the ship tours don't really work for us.

[Lily14]

We did the Water Taxi to Klein Bonaire as a Princess excursion last November. We did not have to pay any marine park fees. They may have been included in the excursion. Don't really know and never heard anything about them. (We just snorkeled, so I don't know if the marine park fees come into play if you are scuba diving?)

 

Anyway, the water taxi drops you off and tells you to meet them back at the dock in 2 hours. They give you a ticket so they know what group you are with. They do go back and forth, but it was my understanding that we had to go back in 2 hours with our group.

 

True, there are no facilities of any kind, but you are only there for 2 hours. This is the most amazing snorkeling site we've been to, and the beach is pristine. I would do this again in a heartbeat!

[LA_FadeAway]

Lily14, thanks for the information. The first Princess trip to Klein Bonaire says it's from 11:30 - 2:30. Do you remember if you got back right at the "ending" time, such as 2:30? We've got a private shore snorkel tour booked and she is picking us up at the boat at 2:30. I'd hate to be late getting back. That's why I'm wondering if there is a way to do this on our own.

[Rudy888]

Just got back from our cruise. The Princess Klein Bonair did tie up the water taxi for the entire day. Should have booked the Princess tour. Ended up at Bongo Beach which is by the Eden Rock. Not bad. No cost except for Taxi ride. Saw some fish snorkling.

 

I asked New Waves on the ship and they didn't feel a marine tag was not necessary unless you used scuba equipment.

 

Mike;)

[LA_FadeAway]

Hmm, anyone know if these water taxis are running right on schedule or not?

[Packman1000]

Does anyone know if snorkel equipment is available for rent on Klein Beach? We are planning to take the Princess excursion water taxi, but I don't think equipment is included.

[Stevesan]

Just got back from our cruise. The Princess Klein Bonair did tie up the water taxi for the entire day. Should have booked the Princess tour. Ended up at Bongo Beach which is by the Eden Rock. Not bad. No cost except for Taxi ride. Saw some fish snorkling.

 

I asked New Waves on the ship and they didn't feel a marine tag was not necessary unless you used scuba equipment.

 

Mike;)

 

The Marine Pass is required for snorkeling. If you go with a tour "group", the organizer has purchased a group pass which covers group members.

[Bassethound]

No equipment is avaialble at Klein. But, with your excursion, the New Waves on the Princess ships (don't know the names on others) will set you up with equipment for the snorkel.

[mompus]

Just wanted to let passengers on Princess know that if they are planning to make a reservation or take the water taxi to Klein Bonaire, they will have to book through the ship! Unless there is more than one water taxi service!?!?

 

This is the email I received from BonaireNauticoMarina:

 

We only take bookings through the cruiseship that is passing by our little island.

So when you are on that ship you can book the trip there, otherwise the next day our schedule is normal again.

 

Hope you enjoy Bonaire,

Kind regards,

Bob Ram

BonaireNauticoMarina

[Buckeye Geo]

I think the Cruise Ships have bought up all the private tours. I received the same typeof reply for Bonaire Tours for my Dec cruise on Celebrity.

[Stevesan]

I think the Cruise Ships have bought up all the private tours. I received the same typeof reply for Bonaire Tours for my Dec cruise on Celebrity.

 

Try either DiveInn Bonaire or Sea & Discover. The latter's web site doesn't mention it, but they have a snorkel trip for cruise ship visitors. They pick up and return to the ship. It's a two site trip from 1:30 - 5:00 for $42. There's a maximum of six people. Send an e-mail.

 

 

DiveInn's shop is across the street from the cruise dock. They go out to Klein. It's one stop trip, but the stop is extended. They take both scuba and snorkelers, but it's never crowded. The boat's too small for that to happen.:)

 

http://www.diveinnbonaire.com/index.htm

 

http://www.bonairenature.com/seandiscover/#Bonaire%20Marine%20Education%20Center

[loveJake]

Does anyone know if you book this with Princess, the 10:30 tour, do you have to go back to the ship like some excursions, or go right to the pier where you board the boat. My thinking was that our ship docks at 7 am, wanted to walk around and then go from there. Also what time do the shops open? Anything close to the ship? Our other option was to take the 7:30 boat and shop upon return, but then would be all sandy and wet and since we leave at 2 there is not much time to go back and change. Hope this is not too confusing. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

[Mary Ellen1]

loveJake,

 

We took this tour with Princess last week, aboard the Emerald. We booked the first departure time slot (8:30 am -- it was all that was available), and thought that worked out well. The tour is a total of 3 hours, with 2 hours spent on the beach. 8:30 departure, 9:00-11:00 on the beach, then back to the ship by 11:30. Because it's a water taxi, it literally picks up & drops off right at the pier where the ship docks. There's an open-air market about a 2-minute walk from there, and more shops further up the street.

 

When we got back to the ship at 11:30, we dashed in for a quick change of clothes, then spent about an hour shopping, and were back on board by 1pm or so, ready for a shower and lunch.

 

The snorkeling at Klein Bonaire was fantastic. It actually got a little bit worse as the morning wore on, and additional tour groups arrived, crowding the beach and the water a little more. So that's another benefit for the early tour. Plus, if you get there first, you get your pick of good spots on the beach -- shade, sun, etc. My husband picked a shady spot, and I headed up the beach to snorkel. Walk to the left-hand side of the beach (as you're facing the beach) until the beach narrows to almost nothing, and enter the water there. The current will slowly drift you back to the main part of the beach. I made that loop about 3 times and it was fantastic. I even saw a turtle!

 

Have fun in Bonaire!

Mary Ellen

[loveJake]

Thank you very much Mary Ellen1 that was exactly the information I needed. We also have the 8:30 time, went back and fort between times, but finally decided on the early one. We will be then in exactly one week, can't wait.

[jayarr]

We had booked a snorkel tour through Woodwind, but when we arrived, they wanted to delay our departure by almost two hours. They claimed the cruise ship passengers were habitually late. After debating for about

fifteen minutes, the six of us changed plans and took the water taxi to Klein Bonaire. They have agents as you disembark right at the pier. Cost was Twenty dollars round trip. We not only saved a lot of cash that day,

but never did see the Woodwind catamaran out on the water that day.

We were aboard the Crown Princess which arrived Bonaire 12/12.

The snorkeling is not to be missed.

[berryberry]

For anyone who has taken the Water Taxi booked thru Princess - do you know if they only stop at the beach at Klein Bonaire - or do they also stop there and then take people who want to drift snorkle out to deeper waters where you can drift back to the beach over 40 minutes or so (like they do on their regualr water taxi runs)

[walla2crash]

We just returned from Bonaire on the Dec 8 Crown Princess and did Klein via the ship tour water taxi. The taxi only dropped off and picked up all day. I didn't see any evidence they were shuttling snorkelers out to deeper water.

I scheduled through Princess because of the info that the taxis sell out. However, another couple we met purchased a taxi ride that morning. I guess it's a roll of the dice if you don't pre-schdule with the ship.

Another tidbit, I negotiated a later return with the taxi operator. they checked for space and instead of the two hour stay, we returned five hours later.