Salt Pier Bonaire Snorkeling Guide [Rated + Reviewed] 

After snorkeling many sites around the world, I decided to create a rating system to help differentiate them. All of the snorkel sites I review will have a snorkel rating, including Salt Pier.

Please see the rating key below.

OVERALL SNORKEL RATING KEY

🤿 🤿 🤿 🤿 🤿   =   World-class snorkeling and worth traveling just for the snorkeling alone!

🤿 🤿 🤿 🤿   =   Incredible snorkeling and should be on your list of top things to do!

🤿 🤿 🤿   =   Decent snorkeling and worth the effort!

🤿 🤿   =   Worth consideration if you are running out of things to do!

🤿   =   Not worth it!

Snorkeling is our favorite thing to do in Bonaire, and we’ve explored it all!

Here’s a curated list of our top 14 must-see snorkeling spots.

Salt Pier is down on the southern end of the island, about a 15-minute drive from central Kralendijk.

There’s a big sandy area just off the road where you can park before you reach the actual pier. Super easy access. We’ve snorkeled here multiple times at different hours and never had trouble finding a spot.

One important thing: if there’s a ship docked at the pier, don’t snorkel.

It’s not allowed (and not safe).

That said, we’ve never actually seen a ship there during any of our visits, so no idea how often it happens. Just something to keep in mind.

Why the name Salt Pier? It’s located across from Bonaire’s famous salt pyramids.

Bonaire salt is kind of a thing!

There are two main spots to snorkel at Salt Pier, and they’re both awesome in their own way.

First up: the shallow area near the entry point.

It’s mostly sandy with patches of seagrass, and it’s a total turtle hangout. We’ve seen turtles every time here, just casually munching on what I can only assume is top-tier, gourmet seagrass.

Spotted trunkfish also love this area. Since it’s shallow, the visibility is great and everything feels super close.

Then there’s the deeper section.

Once you’ve had your turtle time, head over toward the pier itself and snorkel around the giant pillars.

This is more of an open water feel, and honestly, pier snorkeling can feel a bit spooky at first. Shadows, depth, all that. But it’s also stunning.

Salt Pier was actually our second pier snorkel (first was Frederiksted Pier in St. Croix, which was unreal). The structure adds this eerie, mysterious vibe, but you get used to it quickly.

I kept thinking some massive shark would come cruising out of the blue, but honestly, shark sightings are super rare around Bonaire. I still wear my snorkel vest when it’s deeper, just for peace of mind.

Make sure to check out all parts of the pier … the center, left, and right arms. Toward the ends of the platforms, we usually see huge schools of French grunts and sergeant majors chilling around the pillar clusters.

For whatever reason, we’ve always seen more fish on the left side than the right.

What makes Salt Pier so special is the combo of big and small. You might spot a barracuda or a tarpon gliding by, but if you look closer at the coral-encrusted pylons, there’s a ton of macro life too.

And yes, you might get lucky and spot an octopus here (like we did, more on this later!) though they tend to hang out pretty deep.

Moments like that make me wish I were scuba certified.

Salt Pier Beach is one of my top Bonaire beaches for snorkeling!

Entry is easy. Nothing technical. The bottom is a mix of sand and coral rubble, so it’s always a good idea to throw those dive booties on.

It is always a little challenging timing your body with the wave action as you put your favorite snorkel mask and fins on.

Okay, I don’t want to jinx it, but we always see turtles in that sandy seagrass area right after entering the water.

Every. Single. Time.

It’s their little buffet zone.

Last time, we also saw a couple of adorable spotted trunkfish trailing behind a turtle, hoping to snag some scraps. They’ve got those little pursed lips.

We don’t see them every visit, but we’ve spotted some massive tarpons hanging out under the central platform. Their faces are intense, so I usually admire from a safe distance. We’ve also seen them when snorkeling at Bari Reef.

Other fish we’ve run into at Salt Pier include big schools of French grunts, a barracuda, tons of blue tang, palometas, parrotfish, bar jacks, and the usual sergeant majors.

And on our last trip, my husband spotted an octopus.

Well… technically a diver found it way down on the reef and signaled his buddies, and we just happened to be in the right place at the right time to catch the show.

The octopus started moving through the coral, changing colors as it went. It was deep, but my husband dove down and managed to grab a couple quick pics. Super cool moment.

That was actually my second ever octopus sighting. My first was in the Maldives at Le Meridien, where we saw MULTIPLE octopuses in shallow water. Unreal.

I still have a short clip from that trip in my “Best Snorkeling Resorts in the Maldives” post (Le Meridien is #2 on the list, in case you’re curious).

Alright, now for the fun part. Here’s the sea life we’ve seen at Salt Pier captured with my favorite underwater camera:

Snorkeling is easily one of my favorite activities in Bonaire, and it’s a definite must if you’re visiting. The island is packed with incredible spots like Klein Bonaire, 1000 Steps (lots of turtles here too!), Karpata, and Lac Bay, all offering their own kind of wow factor.

But Salt Pier really stands out. What makes it special is how easy it is to access and how amazing the underwater scenery is right off the shore. Definitely don’t miss it.

REACH OUT, FOLLOW, OR SHARE THIS POST WITH A FRIEND!

Questions about our Salt Pier snorkeling experience?

Let me know in the comments below!