After looking at various naturist resorts around the Carribean, I chose Sorobon & Bonaire for it's down-to-earth atmosphere and snorkeling/scuba opportunities. I was not disappointed. One thing that most people will notice right away is the quietness. During my stay the resort was at about 50% full, but it seems less than that. Most of the guests were either out on the resort's beach or relaxing on their porches. Depending on your disposition, the quietness & solitude can be either a pro or con. But overall I was very impressed by the friendliness of my fellow guests; at the Sorobon there seems to be a camaraderie that you don't find among guests at other resorts. Not once did I encounter a rude response or sour look from any of my fellow guests. The clientèle is mostly European but there were several Americans as well.

The resort is isolated from the other major Bonaire resorts and main town. If you want to journey outside the resort you'll need a car. If you want to scuba you'll need to make your own arrangements to connect with dive operators on the other side of the island. The Lac Bay is not conducive for scuba and there are no scuba facilities on the resort or immediately nearby. However there is excellent snorkeling and windsurfing in the bay where the resort is located.

The rooms are comparable to suites with kitchen facilities. The furniture and appliances are a bit old but are clean and functional. Although you have the option of cooking yourself, the resort has an excellent restaurant with good food and reasonable prices. There is a different dinner special everyday along with a regular menu. There is also a small selection of drinks & snacks in the resort's reception area.

The only downside I have with the resort is that the room rates are rather high compared to other resorts on the island. Unfortunately naturism has its price. Although the resort's beach is private it is not completely isolated, it is directly next to the Jibe City windsurfing center. Jibe City and Sorobon are separated by a long fence but clothed windsurfers & swimmers are still visible from the resort property; for the most part they were polite and did not come venture onto the resort property or waterfront. If there were one wish I had for my stay it would be that the resort had a freshwater swimming pool. The resort is constantly changing for the better so maybe a pool will be around someday.

We spent another week in paradise. This was our forth trip to the resort and it was just as good as the first. The resort is small and the staff and quest are always wonderful. With only fifteen small houses you end up meeting most of the other quest by the end of your stay. No crowds and no clothes. Always lots of sun and R&R. A great place to take a break away from it all. I can't wait for our return.

Greg
from Georgia

We returned two weeks ago from our third trip to the Sorobon Beach resort in as many years. We stayed at the Sorobon for two weeks.

We found this place by accident when a hurricane derailed our plans to go to Jamaica for our ten year anniversary. We were told that Bonaire was out of the hurricane belt, so we actually changed our plans to Sorobon the day before we left.

It's hard to say why this little resort is so appealing, but it is. It could be the food (fabulous!), the staff (wonderful!), the other guests (oh, so interesting!), the location (quiet and beuatiful) or any combination thereof.

Sorobon is like a Gilligan's island without an exotic jungle and head hunters. Even better, it's like camp, where your only responsibility is to get up in the morning (if you want to) and to figure out how to enjoy your day. The resort is located on the less populated part of the island, but is on the Du Loc bay, so the water is right at your door.

At the current time there are 30 rooms (more like apartments), and basically it is set up in little duplex arrangement so your apartment shares a wall and a front porch with another apartment. Those who shop at IKEA will recognize many of the furnishings - everything from the silverware to the furniture seem to have come from the store. Each apartment has a living room with a kitchenette wall, and a bedroom and bathroom. Air-conditioning is only in the bedroom and is only available during the night time hours.

In addition to the cottages, there is a large common area that has a restaurant, a lounge area and an open area. Since Sorobon caters to naturists and Sorobon is the only naturist spot on the island, it appears that Sorobon management knows the importance of getting and keeping a good chef. Simon (who is new from our last visit) is their newest find. Every meal from his kitchen was tasty and imaginatively created and presented. Some days the highlight of the morning would be to see what Simon had planned for the daily special.

In addition to the daily special, there is also a regular menu to order from and meal service is available for all meals. There is also a happy hour from 5:30 to 6:30 daily, which is an opportunity to drink and get to know many of the interesting people you will learn to love here. Here is an opportunity to hang out from people from other countries - while we were at the resort last time, Americans were in the minority of the guests at the hotel. The majority of guests were Dutch (Bonaire is a Dutch colony, or whatever they want to call it). There was also a smattering of people from Italy, England and Austria. It appears that most Dutch people have an amazing command of the English language, so communicating will be no problem should you choose to do so.

The staff are helpful and fun loving. They (and Barbara and Liz especially) go out of their way to make guests feel included and comfortable. Activities at the hotel are pretty limited: kayaks and snorkeling, so they can help arrange other activities such as scuba diving, boat trips, and the like. You may find yourself slowing down though, like us, and finding that laying on the beach, going out snorkeling and just plain unwinding is plenty to do!

The resort offers rides into the town of Krajendlik 3 times a week so you can buy provisions at the Cultimara Supermarket. If you don't have a car you can use this to get any breakfast or lunch items you may want if you don't want to eat at the restaurant three times a day.

Because Sorobon is pretty isolated, you may want to get a car. Americans are the ones that feel the lack of transportation the most, but another reason would be if you want to do a lot of diving or snorkeling. While the reef-protected Loc is a great place to snorkel, it can be tiring to walk out the 150-200 yards you need to go before you can snorkel. Since we had a car, we just jumped in the car and drove to one of the over 100 dive (snorkel) sites that are located on the island (they are marked by yellow rocks with the dive site's name on them).

Oh yes, and Sorobon is a naturist resort, so there will be some naked people there. You only have to go naked at the beach, and after a while you forget that people aren't wearing their clothes. At least you don't have to worry about what to pack!

My wife and I visited Bonaire from 30 Mar until 6 April. We had a wonderful time and wanted to share our trip report with you.

Friday, 30 Mar: The trip started off as a train wreck in Washington DC with American “we don’t provide customer service" Airlines. I won’t get into the details but I also won’t fly American Airlines to Bonaire ever again. We arrived in Bonaire at 9PM, (via Miami and San Juan) on Friday and picked up our bags, then our truck at Budget (no problems). Arrived at Sorobon Beach Resort at 10PM, they had our key waiting for us at the Bar. Although it was late and the restaurant was closed, they insisted that we have something to eat and made us a nice sandwich platter and delivered it to our Chalet while we unpacked (it doesn’t take long to unpack at a Naturist Resort). The resort is a clean, friendly place with the best beach on Bonaire. Sorobon Beach Resort is like a big family reunion with friends who return year after year to enjoy Bonaire and each other’s friendship. It was our first time at the resort and we were also treated like family. We made so many good friends at Sorobon and around Bonaire that we will return as soon as possible!