Bonaire has long been environmentally conscious. Environmental protection was embodied in the establishment over 20 years ago of Bonaire's National Marine Park which extends around the whole of the island. The Sea Turtle Club Bonaire is active in protecting turtles and their habitats in and outside the Marine Park. The laws governing the Park are enforced; even those who consider themselves aware may find they have broken the rules detailed below at one time or another - ignorance is not an excuse in Bonaire, so please read them.The rules and codes of conduct of the Park cover three broad areas: diving & snorkelling, boat activity restrictions and fishing restrictions. The basic regulations are outlined below:
Diving & Snorkelling Regulations
- Admission Ticket: You must get an admission ticket to dive in the Park. Dive operators issue these.
- It is forbidden to remove anything, living or dead, from the Park (with the exception of garbage).
- Please do not touch the reefs or coral formations. Exercise good buoyancy control in order not to cause accidental accidental damage with arms, flippers or gear. Do not disturb the sand on the bottom as silting up the reefs can choke and kill them or destroy the delicate habitats of sand dwellers.
- Feed the fish and handle marine life only under expert guidance - feeding them the wrong food can be harmful and can upset the reef ecosystem balance. Handling the wrong creature can be potentially harmful to you or the creature you handle.
Boating Regulations
- Anchoring: Basically, you can't, regardless of whether the bottom is sandy or not. The only exception to this is between the Customs Pier and the marina in Playa and Boats of 12 ft (4m) or less may use a stone anchor - only then with the express permission of the Harbour Master.
- Rules of the road: There is a speed limit of 5 knots when travelling within 230ft (75m) of the shore. Stay in the Blue Water beyond mooring buoys. Stay at least 150 ft (50m) from any moored boats. Watch out for divers & snorkellers and stay well away from any surface disturbance or bubbles.
- Use of Public Moorings: They are marked yellow (white spars are not moorings) and they're free. Use them at "off-peak" times - before 9am, from noon till 2pm and after 4pm. Your boat must be less than 38ft (11.6m) to use the public moorings. One boat or three inflatables (inflatables no more than 12ft or 3.6m in length) to a mooring. You must use a scope line as long as your vessel when using these moorings. 2 hours on the mooring only. Overnight use of moorings is prohibited.
- Garbage: Keep your refuse with you. Do not throw it overboard.
Fishing Regulations
- Turtles: are completely protected as are their eggs and nests. The Sea Turtle Club Bonaire actively protects both the turtles and their habitats. You cannot catch or kill turtles or offer for sale, buy, trade or give a gift of turtle meat or any other part of a turtle. It is prohibited to take turtle eggs or disturb turtle nests.
- Conch: To take conch you must have a permit from the Bonaire Government.
- Line fishing (Linja/Hengels): is permitted, though you may not fish from dive moorings or in front of dive operations.
- Throwing nets (Trai): are permitted though you must be careful not to damage any corals when using these. If your net gets tangled you must remove it completely without damaging any corals.
- Net fishing (Redas): is permitted but the mesh size may not be smaller than 3 cm for the top 2/5ths of the net or 2 cm for the lower 3/5ths of the net. Nets must be checked by the Marine Park before you lay them out. You may not fish with nets within 65 ft (20m) of the piers in Kralendijk.
- Spearfishing: A very unpopular device indeed on and around Bonaire. You may not spearfish under any circumstances whatsoever. You may not transport spearguns over land or water in Bonaire. You must check the speargun into the Customs Office on your arrival and it will be returned on your departure. Failure to do this may result in the Park Rangers confiscating your speargun. Permanently.
- Handspearing: is prohibited.
