01-03-2020
Fantastic private sailing experience with SoloBon Sailing..
My wife and I did a private 6-hour sailing day with SoloBon Sailing on February 14th 2020 and could not have enjoyed it more. It was Valentine's Day and the last full day of our first time 7 night stay in Bonaire so we were looking for an exclusive private day on the water sailing old school in the beautiful tropical waters of Bonaire and to experience a bit of luxury on an upscale sail boat. We found it all with SoloBon. We originally discovered SoloBon here on TripAdvisor.
Locating SoloBon was not difficult and is right across the street from the airport though the road in to their dock is an inconspicuous dirt road. Parking was free at their dock. The seem to offer some roundtrip transportation if you are staying close by their dock including cruise ship day visitors but I think further out you must get yourself to their location by the airport. There are no other facilities at the dock so do what you need to before heading over. The Phonenix itself was a most excecllent sail boat. She was clean neat in excellent condition and at 45 feet was quite spacious and comfortable. The size of the cockpit was also quite spacious and cozy though granted there were just two of us plus the Capt and mate. Below deck was a full marine head/bathroom and cabin area in the event you run into rain. They had a Bluetooth speaker onboard so we were able to connect and enjoy our own favorite Island Music playlists on our iPhones throughout the day.
Captain and owner of the vessel Norman and his first mate (name escapes me) were such fantastic hosts. Are you passionate about the idea of spending half a day or longer sailing in the blue waters and sunny skies of Bonaire but a little apprehensive about several hours trapped on the small confines of a slow-moving sailboat with strangers? No problem Capt. Norman and his then first mate a young and pretty lady from the Netherlands living in Bonaire now could not have been kinder more friendly fun individuals to spend time with and we not only enjoyed the sailing experience but sincerely enjoyed their company as well as Norm regaled us with some anecdotes of his sailing adventures around the Caribbean.
Prior to leaving dock Norman asks if you have any specific requests or wishes where you might like to go or what activities you are interested in doing and he seems willing to fulfil whatever your reasonable desires may be which include sailing in any direction north south or west and depending on the length of your excursion can be several locations throughout your day.
While you can choose the length of your sailing excursion for private outings we opted for a 6-hour tour from 9AM till 3PM. Norman even offers scuba diving option and will accompany you diving if requested. We booked online directly via the SoloBon web site via Credit Card with no issues. All inquiries and prearrival correspondences with SoloBon via email were promptly replied to and super cordial.
Upon motoring out of the protection of the little harbour where SoloBon is docked Norman killed the intrusive noise of the motor and hoisted the sails which quickly caught the swift wind and we began the days adventure as we sliced through the deep blue water and headed straight for a mooring off the southern side of Little Klein Bonaire. While my better half soaked up some rays topside on the deck of the Phoenix sipping her chilled Cava sparkling wine served by the very attentive first mate Norman accompanied me on a great 54 minute bottom time single tank morning dive on a great site. You must provide your own dive gear.
Post dive for a couple of the early morning hours the wind had really kicked up and Capt. Norman even mentioned he was reading some of the highest gusts of wind (36 knots) he's ever been out on an excursion during with guests in Bonaire yet the Phoenix sailed straight and true with minimal discomfort cutting through the very choppy seas at this point as Norman sailed us towards Bonaire main island once again and around some dark looking weather out in the distance to the north as well as the south. Although my wife and I both took Dramamine I was impressed how smooth the vessel handled the very choppy seas and did not even feel it was all that bad despite Norman mentioning how high the winds actually were. Felt like perfect sailing weather to me.
Quick early dive behind us we were offered a variety of cold thirst quenching libations to sip on and enjoy including beer wine (regular and sparkling) and even delicious Gin and Tonics throughout the day. We opted for paying the slight upcharge per person for the 'Extra & more luxury bites' option to upgrade the food items from what they normally serve during excursions. We were served I think 6 or so small bite courses and enjoyed the food offerings very much which were served approximately every hour or so though the first mate was attentive in checking with us if we were ready for another course before bringing us any food. I forget exactly the food items we were served but I recall a soft tortilla wrap cheese sandwich type item a Salmon appetizer a sliced crusty bread course (with olive oil olive tapenade and curry chicken salad) a small quiche square some warm soup some fresh cantaloupe and I think a dessert type item that slips my mind what it was.
After departing Little Kline and after a short time sailing back towards Bonaire main island and tacking our way around distant bad weather the wind died down to normal levels the sun was bright and high in the sky and the weather was near perfect for the remainder of the day where we managed to squeeze in two separate 30 minute snorkeling stops before eventually making our return trip to land by 3PM. While we had our own dive/snorkle gear Norman appears to have a supply of snorkle gear on board.
All in all we found the private excursion well worth the hefty price if you can afford it it was a nice indulgence and the memory of a lifetime we'll carry with us forever. Not sure what was customery but while we did not tip the owner since that is not common in the US to tip the owner of the business we did tip the first mate a well deserved generious tip. We would most definitely use SoloBon again and recommend to others.
