BONAIRE - DREAM TICKET
BONAIRE – DREAM TICKET
As I enter the baggage area at Flamingo Airport of Bonaire, the first thing that strikes me is the influence of windsurfing on this unspoiled Dutch Caribbean Island. Lofted in the roof of arrivals are a bunch of rigged sails, while over on the wall, bang in front of every single tourist arriving on the island, is a massive poster of their World Champion Kiri Thode, flying through a shaka over the azure waters of Lac Bay.
Windsurfing here in Bonaire is like skiing to the Alps or surfing to Hawaii and the likes of Kiri Thode, Tonky and Taty Frans are the island’s ambassadors who’ve helped put this island on the worldwide map of windsurfing. I’m here for four days to explore this Caribbean windsurfing paradise, one of the spiritual homes of freestyle windsurfing. With Kiri and Taty my guides for the duration, I’m pretty sure there’ll never be a dull moment!
Words & Photos JOHN CARTER
(This feature originally appeared in the August 2014 issue of Windsurf Magazine. To read more features like this first, Print and Digital subscriptions are available. Prices include delivery globally for 10 x issues a year!)
BON VOYAGE!
KLM are the main carriers to Bonaire with flights in February, via Amsterdam, clocking in at around £700 return from London. Passengers are allowed a 23-kilo bag, plus the normal hand baggage allowance. After that an extra bag is £66 pounds if you prepay and £80 at check in. With two bags of camera equipment, I thought I might be able to wing it at the desk, but the policy was very strict in either direction, so the extra fee was a nasty sting in the tail. Aside from their extortionate baggage policy, the journey with KLM was relatively simple, with the short hop over to Amsterdam followed by an eight-hour flight, with a quick touchdown in Aruba before the final destination.
Finally I arrive in Bonaire and immediately find myself automatically slowing down to the islands relaxed pace the moment I step off the plane and am hit by the warm, balmy breeze. Bonaire is one of what are known as the ‘ABC Islands’, (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao) and is located a mere 50 miles off the coast of Venezuela. The island is around 24 miles in length and varies between three and seven miles in width, with most of the landscape flat and the highest peak just 240 metres above sea level.
Kiri and Taty are outside to greet me, both fired up because the forecast looks awesome for the duration of my stay. In fact the wind has been blowing here every day for the past two months – but that’s nothing new in the windswept Caribbean, where the trades reliably blow throughout the European Winter. After a 10-minute drive from the airport, we arrive at the Sorobon Bay Resort, the only hotel situated directly on the shores of the lagoon.
Sorobon Beach Resort is based next to the Jibe City windsurf station and, according to its literature, sits on one of the most beautiful stretches of sand in the Caribbean. The resort boasts its own private beach, with shaded cabannas and lounge chairs and has 30 comfortable cottages that sleep between two and six people. It’s dark outside, so I’ll have to wait until the morning before I can properly check out my surroundings, but the accommodation is awesome and I can hear the water lapping on the beach outside. I’m pretty certain I’m going to be pleasantly surprised come sunrise.
“IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A FAST-PACED PARTY DESTINATION WITH WILD BARS, HIGH RISES AND CHEESY TOURIST ATTRACTIONS, THEN BONAIRE IS NOT THE PLACE FOR YOU”
READY TO ROCK
I wake up early, just in time to stumble 50 bleary-eyed metres to the water’s edge and watch in awe as the sun climbs up above the horizon through a bank of puffy, pink Caribbean clouds. I’m certainly not disappointed by my surroundings, with the resort bang on the water, right in front of the main sailing area. The wind’s already rustling the palm trees, white capping the water and there are a few early birds already heading out for a pre breakfast session. It looks like it’s shaping up to be another perfect windsurfing day here in this flat-water paradise. As the sun climbs higher in the sky, the colours of the water just turn brighter and brighter, from azure blue to almost transparent turquoise. The lagoon is like a huge swimming pool, waist deep for over a kilometre offshore and, if you ever want to teach your wife or kids windsurfing, this has to be the perfect destination. You have to experience this place first person to really appreciate the amazing colours and I’m already excited at the prospect of shooting two of the world’s best freestylers in this astonishing oasis of transparent water. Kiri and Taty roll up casually around 9.30 a.m., Caribbean style, both tapping away on their phones as they weigh up the conditions. “Yeah man” shouts Kiri, “Full power today!”
ACTION!
Within half an hour we’re out on the water with Kiri and Taty throwing down tricks in the 15-20-knot trades. It almost seems effortless for Kiri to spiral through his array of tricks and, even through the lulls, he’s able to pump onto the plane and nail amazing, contorted manoeuvres right in front of my camera. Taty is known more for his aggressive, power style and hurtles through his moves with clinical precision. The skill and complexity of what these guys can do in flat water is simply mind blowing. It’s hardly surprising that these guys have become so talented with this incredible location as their home backyard, but it‘s also taken endless hours on the water, effort and dedication to turn all that practise into perfection.
LAC BAY
This stunning bay nestled on the tiny Caribbean Island has been their playground ever since they were kids. They know every inch of the water like the back of their hands and it’s been the platform that’s provided the conditions that’ve enabled them to train day in, day out and become the best in the world. Without windsurfing here, who knows what would have become of Kiri and Taty? Most likely they would have still made a living from the ocean, but as fishermen rather than professional athletes. Back in 2002, Bonaire hosted its first PWA freestyle World Cup and Lac Bay was suddenly on the map as one of the best freestyle locations on the planet. The efforts of Elvis Martinez, from the Bonaire windsurf place, help secure two more PWA World Cups, which has paid off in terms of increased tourism and the islands recognition of windsurfing. The success of Kiri and the Frans brothers has inspired hundreds of other kids to follow in their footsteps and take up windsurfing on Bonaire. When Kiri won the World Title back in October in Sylt, half of the island were on hand at the airport to greet him when he arrived back in Bonaire. A huge street party ensued, where the people celebrated their champion into the night with Kiri even carried around on a makeshift throne by his friends and compatriots. Like I mentioned at the beginning, windsurfing is kind of big in Bonaire!
Nowadays the Island has an established clientele of windsurfers from all over Europe and the US, who come here for its incredible conditions. This year’s PWA event in June further endorsed this islands commitment to promoting their premiere asset. Bonaire is one of those places people fall in love with and end up coming back year after year, many for months rather than weeks! If you’re happy blasting around in a flat water paradise, or a young gun freestyler who wants to improve through time on the water, alongside quality accomplices, then it’s a pretty laidback place to hang out and enjoy the conditions.
Out in front of the Sorobon Resort, the wind is predominantly onshore, but the beauty of this arena is that you can simply head off and explore any given spot in this huge windsurfing playground. To the left of the Sorobon Resort and two windsurf centres, the headland juts out and then wraps around in a semicircle, where the wind blows almost dead offshore and is mirror flat. This is one of the favourite spots for the freestylers evening session, plus the crowds can also watch the action as the sailors slip and slide in this freestyle heaven.
JIBE CITY AND BONAIRE WINDSURF PLACE
In front of the main sailing arena next to the Sorobon Resort are Bonaire’s two windsurf centres, Jibe City and Bonaire Windsurf Place. These well-equipped centres will cater for all your needs, in terms of equipment rental, lessons and a cool place to hang out and watch the action. Jibe City offer the latest selection of boards from JPAustralia, Fanatic and Exocet, with fully rigged sails from Severne, NeilPryde and MauiSails. They also have the ‘Hang-Out Bar’ with plenty of tables, sofas and sun loungers where you can chill, dine, drink and watch the action. The Bonaire Windsurf Place next door, which is run by Elvis Martinez, boasts an awesome range of rental equipment from Starboard, RRD and Hot Sails Maui. Both centres charge around $350 per week for a full package, which also includes snorkel rental and use of kayaks.
BOAT TRIP
Come our third day in Bonaire, Taty has a surprise up his sleeve and has organised a boat trip over to Klein Bonaire, a tiny uninhabited island right opposite the capital city of Kralendijk. At first I was sceptical about leaving one of the most amazing freestyle locations on the planet for a trip into the unknown, but I could tell by the way Taty was pleading that we might be onto something special. Once at the harbour in town, all of my worries were cast aside when Taty pointed out the boat we would be cruising in for the day, aptly named ‘Meal Ticket’. Although, once I laid eyes on this beauty, to me this ride was going to be more like a ‘Dream Ticket’. Prior to our outing, I’d been expecting us all in some tiny rowing boat with a clapped-out engine, but instead we were going in a pimp, three-story motor cruiser, with two huge outboards and room galore on board. In a word ‘luxury’, so, without any more questions, we loaded up the boat with all the gear and even threw in a cooler full of ice-cold beers for the return journey. All of a sudden this trip was coming together very nicely indeed!
Once outside the harbour, skipper Greg put the throttle down, the boat reared up on its hull and we were blasting towards Klein Bonaire in proper style. Five minutes later, after a short channel crossing, we were tying up to a mooring literally five metres from the shore of the island, in beautiful azure water with shoals of fish clearly visible mooching around below the surface. The island is pretty much pristine – with no inhabitants – and with its totally flat landscape, the wind has no obstacles and is free to blow right to the shoreline. Both Taty and Kiri were pumped up for a high-wind session and rigged on the front of the boat while I climbed up to the top platform to check out the view. Half an hour later, both sailors were yelling and shrieking as they exchanged manoeuvres all around the boat. With the water turning from deep blue into turquoise right off the mooring, there were plenty of cool opportunities to score some interesting images. Kiri was in his element, effortlessly throwing down every trick in his armoury, while Taty was focussed on the power-contorted moves. Midway through the afternoon, a speedboat cruised past laden with tourists and Taty took full advantage and busted a back loop off the wake. With the passengers on board all cheering for more, both Taty and Kiri took turns for a few runs each, nailing Konos and loops on our newly-found ramps. By the end of the afternoon, both Taty and Kiri were literally burned out of energy after both sailing full power for well over four hours and we headed back in the evening light all smiling after a wicked adventure to Klein and its marine environment. A few icy-cold Polar lagers never go astray in a situation like this and what better way to watch the sun go down than sipping a cold brew on a pimp boat out in the Caribbean?
FREESTYLE TRICKERY
My final day was windy first thing in the morning, before a lull around midday. Taking a quick stroll past Jibe City, I was lucky enough to catch local light wind guru Caesar Finies in action. Now this guy is a pure magician at light-wind freestyle and to see him spinning and throwing his sail around is pretty mind blowing to say the least. The question is often asked how to get more people into windsurfing and I can think of a lot worse ideas than to simply to stick this guy on a world tour to busy beaches to put on shows of what he can do in light winds. Caesar is a crowd puller, an entertainer, spectacular to watch and he only needs a few knots of wind. What he does looks fun, a challenge – and it’s all done on beginner kit. What more can you ask for?
AROUND BONAIRE
On my last afternoon, Kiri and Taty gave me a guided tour of the island’s coast road from Lac Bay round to the airport. Off the side of the road we were lucky enough to spot a few of thttp://www.windsurf.co.uk/wp-admin/post-new.php?post_type=featured#he island’s famous pink flamingos wading around in the salt flats. It may look like a flamingo has a knee that bends backwards, but what you are actually seeing is the bird’s ankle. More than 10,000 birds call the island home, many taking residence in an 135-acre sanctuary created by Cargill, the owners of the salt mines further round the track. Back in the 1600s, when the Dutch took possession of Bonaire, much of the island was a planation owned by the Dutch West Indies Company. It was during those years that African slaves were forced to work and grim reminders of these days still exist in this part of Bonaire in the form of slave huts, which were laboriously constructed by hand. Right at the southern tip of the island we drive towards huge, cone-shaped mountains the colour of snow – salt! Owned by the huge Cargill Corporation, salt is produced in Bonaire in the beds of Pekelemeer, where it’s exported by sea and used mostly for industrial purposes. The pyramids of salt are pretty spectacular to witness and I was hoping maybe we could snag a few sailing shots in the surrounding salt beds, but with warnings of possible arrest, we decided that perhaps it wasn’t such a great idea.
SUMMARY
If you’re looking for a fast-paced party destination with wild bars, high rises and cheesy tourist attractions, then Bonaire is not the place for you. This island is more your laid back Caribbean, with a tiny population of 12,500, a chilled vibe and unspoiled beaches. Lac Bay is a protected reserve and is without doubt one of the most beautiful stretches of water in the Caribbean. With knee to waist high crystalline water and balmy trade winds, it simply has to be one of the best places in the world to learn how to windsurf! It really is perfect for kids and, even if they don’t fancy windsurfing, the water’s shallow enough to wade out and explore. If you’re into skiing then imagine a wide, intermediate, safe and shallow slope, that’s pretty much what you get in Bonaire across the whole bay where the water is clear. If freestyle is your thing, then Bonaire will definitely not disappoint. Where else do you get to sail with the World Champion and some of the best freestyle, Bonaire is without doubt a place you could lose yourself for a few months, improve your sailing and escape the hustle and bustle of life in the fast lane. JC
The post BONAIRE – DREAM TICKET appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.