Lac Bay

Lac Bay solves windsurfing's learning curve with geography: the lagoon behind Bonaire's eastern reef runs waist-deep turquoise over seagrass for hundreds of metres, trade winds arrive steady and side-shore, and falling costs nothing but pride - the combination that made Sorobon's beach a world freestyle nursery whose local champions grew up on these same flats. The mangrove arm shelters a nursery ecosystem kayak tours thread respectfully (conch, juvenile reef fish, herons), the windward reef keeps the swell out entirely, and the beach's easy scene - rentals, shade, fresh juice - completes the formula.

History

Lac Bay became part of the Bonaire Marine Park when it was founded in 1979 and a Ramsar wetland of international importance in 1980, an area of 2,076 hectares around it was named an Important Bird Area in 2007, and in 1999 the marine park became the Bonaire National Marine Park; in 2011 it was placed on the Netherlands' tentative list for UNESCO, and in 2021 the Ramsar site was extended over the bay's fringing coral (Wikipedia, Lac Bay).

What you'll find

• The waist-deep flats - turquoise learning water at scale.
• The freestyle scene - local champions' home training flats.
• The mangrove nursery - kayak channels of the lagoon's green arm.
• Sorobon's beach - the easy-breeze base camp.

When to go

Year round; the trades blow steadiest December through August. Mornings suit lessons, afternoons the freestyle show.

Practical notes

Seagrass and conch mean reef-shoe sense and no-anchor ethics; the lagoon's far flats are turtle habitat - tours keep the distances that keep the welcome.

Nearby

The slave huts and salt pans south, Kralendijk and the donkey sanctuary.

Key facts