Fort Oranje, Kralendijk

The fort at Kralendijk is a five-pointed star fort begun by the Dutch West India Company in the 17th century, one of the earliest European fortifications in the ABC islands of the Dutch Caribbean. Its five bastions, low walls and deep moat were designed to resist naval assault, though the fort never actually saw combat. Today it is Bonaire's most photographed landmark, its pale yellow-washed walls and old cannon emplacements sitting directly beside the water's edge in the centre of the capital. The fort was built to protect the island's salt industry and the valuable natural harbour that made Bonaire a useful waypoint on the route between Europe and the Spanish Main. The moat that once separated the fort from the mainland is now dry, and the parade ground inside the star is a wide open space used for community events and local festivals.

The harbour at Kralendijk is remarkably calm and sheltered, protected by a fossil coral reef that forms the bay's natural breakwater. Snorkellers can enter directly from the shore and swim among brain corals, sea fans, spotted eagle rays and green sea turtles in crystal-clear water just a few metres from the fort's walls. The visibility regularly exceeds twenty metres, and the combination of historic fort and accessible marine life within sight of it is unusual in the Caribbean. Local dive shops run boat dives to the more remote reef sites around the island, but the harbour wall dive is free, always accessible and consistently rewarding. Schools of small reef fish cluster around the cannon debris while larger tarpon patrol the surface near the fort's northern bastion.

Kralendijk itself has evolved far beyond its colonial origins. The town is Bonaire's social and cultural hub, with the island's best restaurants, cafes and boutiques lining the waterfront boulevard. The weekly harbour market on Saturday mornings, the Kunuku Farmer's Market and several small museums give the town a vibrancy that balances its military heritage. The Bonaire Museum of Art and History is housed in a restored mansion near the waterfront, and the salt plantation museum at the southern end of town explains the island's salt trade history from the 16th century to the present. Local guides can be hired at the waterfront for kayak and snorkel tours of the bay, and the town's network of small streets rewards exploration on foot or by hire scooter.

What makes Kralendijk work as a visitor destination is the unhurried pace and genuine friendliness of its residents. The town is compact enough to walk in an afternoon, yet it contains a national park headquarters, a restored salt plantation museum, a centuries-old lighthouse at the northern tip of the harbour and a row of colourful waterfront bars where the sunset ritual is taken very seriously indeed. The lighthouse — known as the Willemstoren — was built in 1875 and still guides ships into the harbour. The waterfront boulevard is popular with cyclists and joggers in the early morning and fills with locals and visitors in the early evening as the heat of the day moderates and the sky turns shades of amber and pink over the Caribbean.

The only Dutch star fort in the ABC islands still standing in its original form.

Snorkelling directly from shore in the protected harbour with coral and marine life within metres of the fort.

The compact waterfront town combines colonial heritage with genuine living Caribbean culture.