Caribbean Netherlands

Three Islands, Two Seas Apart

Since 2010 the three islands have been part of the Netherlands itself, as special municipalities that use the US dollar. Bonaire lies off the coast of Venezuela, close to Curaçao, while Saba and Sint Eustatius are volcanic islands about 800 kilometres to the northeast, among the Leeward Islands.

Bonaire Above and Below the Water

Bonaire's reefs have been protected as a marine park since 1979, and divers can walk into the water from the shore at dozens of marked sites. Flamingos feed in the salt pans of the south, among the island's white salt pyramids.

Sorobon and Lac Bay

The camera is at Sorobon Beach, on Lac Bay, a shallow lagoon on the east coast sheltered by a reef and fringed with mangroves. The steady trade wind and waist-deep water make it one of the best-known windsurfing spots in the world, and the view shows sails crossing the turquoise lagoon from morning to evening, under a sky that rarely brings rain.