For winter travel that goes beyond the usual, one idea: the week people spend learning to ski has a warm weather equivalent almost nobody knows about. Bonaire’s wind season opens in December, and the island’s learning conditions are unusual enough that a population of 25,000 has produced two freestyle windsurfing world champions and a generation of athletes who have competed at the sport’s highest level. It is better set up to teach a first-time windsurfer than almost anywhere else in the Caribbean.
The reason starts with Lac Bay. A barrier reef encloses roughly 1,730 acres of water, creating a lagoon that stays shallow for nearly half a mile and remarkably flat even when the trade winds are blowing. From December through August, winds typically run side-onshore at 15 to 25 knots, while water temperatures hover around 79 to 82°F year-round.
For a first-timer, it is an unusually forgiving setup: shallow enough to stand and reset almost anywhere, warm enough to skip the wetsuit, and with winds that push riders back toward shore rather than out to sea. Formal windsurfing lessons are available for children as young as seven, making the same learning conditions accessible to families traveling with school-age kids.
Those same conditions helped shape Bonaire’s windsurfing culture. Kiri Thode won the PWA freestyle world title in 2013, followed by Amado Vrieswijk in 2021. Brothers Tonky and Taty Frans came up alongside them and now operate their own school on Lac Bay, The Frans Paradise. The documentary Children of the Wind followed this generation from Bonairean fishing families to the international professional circuit. Today, travelers learning the sport can take lessons at the school run by the same athletes who helped put the island on the windsurfing map.
Delfins Beach Resort Bonaire, Tapestry Collection by Hilton is the easiest base for it. Lac Bay is a ten-minute drive from the resort, and the concierge team books the lessons with the Frans brothers directly. Guests can also rent a Suzuki Jimny on property to drive over and explore the island independently. The resort also offers e-foiling lessons directly from its private beach, giving guests another way to get on the water when the wind is calm. The electric hydrofoil experience is bookable through the resort app or concierge, and many first time riders are able to get up on the foil during their introductory session.
