Bonaire
Lost a wedding ring on Bonaire?
Snorkel sites all around Bonaire are marked by yellow roadside stones, and the name on the stone where you went in is a good first marker to give us.
A wedding band lost at a Bonaire shore site can be looked for, and so can a watch or the car keys. What decides it is where it came off, on the sand by the entry, in the shallows or out over the reef, and how closely your map pin and photos can place that spot.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewelry recovery service that works with experienced local metal detectorists to search for a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone lost on Bonaire.
Tell us what happened and where. We choose an experienced detectorist who knows the beach, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
Leeward and windward Bonaire
Kayaks for the paddle to Klein Bonaire are rented on the leeward side. From Bonaire's beaches the reefs lie just past the breakers, and yellow stones by the coast road carry the name of each snorkel site and mark the easiest place to get in. At 1000 Steps and Bachelor's Beach you walk down stairs to reach the water.
The windward side has Lac Bay, a lagoon with a barrier reef across most of its entrance and mangroves along almost every other edge. Not every beach is white sand either: Boka Kokolishi is black sand, with pulpit-like structures that give protection from the strong waves.
Where we fit in
One contact for the whole case
One person on WhatsApp answers you from the first message to the end.
Your yellow stone, their starting point
We pass on your map pin, your photos and the site name from the stone where you went in, so the detectorist begins where you began.
If it went down over the reef
If what you tell us points to the piece going down over coral, that goes in our first reply, plainly, so you can weigh it up.
Start with the site name
Then whether you were on the sand, in the shallows or finning out, and when you last saw the piece.
Cost, before a date is set
We explain the costs before any search is booked.
Shore sites, a lagoon and a small island offshore
Many of these beaches double as snorkel and dive entries, so the first thing to settle is often whether the piece went on the sand or after you were already in the water. We leave the Pekelmeer Flamingo Sanctuary on the salt pans alone.
Bonaire, site by site
Kralendijk, the boulevard and Chachacha Beach
Kralendijk is the capital and main port. Shops line Kaya Grandi, cruise ships dock at the North or South Pier, and on those days a market of island-made products sets up on the Wilhelmina square. Chachacha Beach, a short walk from the center near the southern cruise dock, is small and sandy with a wooden pier, and children often have swimming classes there. In the evening, people stroll the boulevard.
Playa Lechi and 1000 Steps
Playa Lechi, also known as Sunset Beach, is a large public beach of white sand under palm trees, beside a resort yet usually quiet, used mostly by locals and divers. Getting in means crossing a somewhat rocky area. At 1000 Steps, limestone stairs lead down to a cove of white sand and bleached chunks of coral inside limestone cliffs.
Bachelor's Beach
In the Belnem district, south of the airport, Bachelor's Beach is a very small sandy beach at the base of a cliff, with stairs down from where you park, and people come to swim, snorkel and dive. With so little sand, the stairs, the beach and the water just off it are the places to go through.
Te Amo Beach and Donkey Beach
Te Amo is a white sandy public beach near the airport, where you can watch the planes arrive. The sandy shoreline gives easy access to water full of fish and corals, and some trees give shade. Next door is Playa Palu di Mangel, which tourists often call Donkey Beach: a rocky shoreline with rubble at the entry, where local families come for a weekend barbecue.
Salt Pier, Pink Beach and Atlantis Beach
The Salt Pier is an easy entry for divers, who swim among pillars encrusted with sponges and corals under the salt terminal. At Pink Beach people snorkel and dive, and the strip of sand is relatively narrow. Atlantis Beach is home to the kite boarders, with lessons and tidal pools along its rocky shore.
Sorobon Beach and Cai on Lac Bay
Lac Bay, on the eastern side, has two peninsulas, Sorobon and Cai. At Sorobon an offshore reef keeps the shallow water calm, the entry is sandy, and the steady trade winds bring windsurfers and classes for children and adults at all levels. Fishing boats lie at the Fishermen's Pier, and lanais give shade. Cai is hidden in the eastern part of the mangroves at the end of a bumpy ride, with clear water, shallows where children play before the swimming area, and families and friends picnicking.
Klein Bonaire and No Name Beach
Klein Bonaire lies just off the coast, reached by water taxi or by kayak from the leeward side. Most water taxi passengers spend the day on No Name Beach, where waves lap gently on white sand and two shelters give shade. The site directly in front has a sandy bottom and coral rubble, with few large coral heads in the shallows.
Boka Slagbaai, Playa Funchi and Wayaká
These are in Washington Slagbaai National Park at the northern end of the island. Boka Slagbaai has coral gardens offshore and sand that is rough in parts, softer and whiter in others. Playa Funchi is a bit rocky and draws snorkelers. Wayaká I, II and III are small white sandy beaches with an easy way in.
Places we cover on Bonaire
- Kralendijk waterfront and boulevard
- Chachacha Beach, Kralendijk
- Playa Lechi (Sunset Beach)
- 1000 Steps
- Bachelor's Beach, Belnem
- Te Amo Beach
- Playa Palu di Mangel (Donkey Beach)
- Salt Pier
- Pink Beach
- Atlantis Beach, the kite beach
- Sorobon Beach
- Lac Bay
- Cai
- Klein Bonaire (No Name Beach)
- Boka Slagbaai
- Playa Funchi
- Wayaká
- Boka Kokolishi
- Seven Body Beach
The metal we can ask a detectorist to look for
Worn into the sea
- Wedding bands and engagement rings
- A smart ring such as an Oura
- Signet rings
- Pendants on a chain
- Bangles
- Stud and hoop earrings
Brought along for the day
- A diving watch
- A smartwatch
- Car keys
- A golf cart key
- Phones
- Sunglasses with metal frames
Bonaire moments
- Climbing the stairs back up at 1000 Steps
- A windsurf class at Sorobon
- Kite boarding at Atlantis Beach
- Wading out over the rubble at Donkey Beach
- A dive under the Salt Pier
- Watching the planes come in at Te Amo
- A cruise day in Kralendijk
What happens after you write
Everything below happens in the same WhatsApp chat.
Say what went missing
A message on WhatsApp naming the piece and the day is enough to begin.
Where you went in
Drop a map pin at your entry point, add the name from the yellow stone if you saw one, and send photos of the spot and of the item.
Handing it on
We find a detectorist who can get to that site and pass on your pin, photos and notes.
Your go-ahead, then the report
Once you say yes, the search goes ahead, and afterwards you get an honest report on how it went.
Questions about Bonaire
Halfway back up the stairs at 1000 Steps, I noticed my wedding band was gone.
So the search covers the limestone stairs, the cove of white sand and bleached coral, and the shallow water in front of it. Tell us whether the band was on your finger in the water, and send any photo from the cove; the limestone cliffs around it help us match your position.
The strap on my smartwatch snapped during a windsurf class at Sorobon.
Sorobon's water is shallow and kept calm by the offshore reef, and you walk in over sand. Tell us where along the beach the class set off, near the Fishermen's Pier or the lanais, and where you were when you noticed.
We had a spot by one of the shelters on No Name Beach, and now an earring is gone.
That shelter is where a detectorist would begin. No Name Beach is white sand with two shelters for shade, and in front of it the bottom is sandy with coral rubble in the shallow water. Tell us which shelter, whether you went snorkeling, and send a photo that shows it.
Te Amo or Donkey Beach? Our car keys went somewhere by the airport.
The two are next door to each other. Te Amo has a sandy shoreline with easy access to the water, while Playa Palu di Mangel, the one tourists call Donkey Beach, has a rocky shoreline and rubble at the entry. A photo of the ground where you sat will show which beach it was.
Our ship was at the South Pier in Kralendijk, and a bracelet went missing ashore.
Start with the places you actually went: the shops on Kaya Grandi, the market on the Wilhelmina square, the boulevard, or Chachacha Beach near the southern cruise dock. A bracelet dropped in the streets and one lost on a small sandy beach are very different searches, and Chachacha is the one with sand.
A ring came off at Pink Beach. How much sand is there to go through?
Less than on a wide beach, because the strip of sand at Pink Beach is relatively narrow. People snorkel and dive from there too, so tell us whether you were already in the water when you noticed.
A phone slipped out of a bag at Bachelor's Beach.
Bachelor's Beach is very small, a patch of sand below a cliff with stairs down from the parking, so there are only a few places it can be. Tell us whether the bag was on the stairs, on the sand or with you in the water.
Bonaire
Give us the name on the stone
Even from home, a Bonaire loss fits in a few lines: the site, the piece, the day. Start with a WhatsApp message and a map pin where you went into the water.