Bonaire (5) – Land Sailing

We are sailing on land!

Driving across the island and going to the east side of Bonaire, there is a land sailing place near the ocean. It does not feel terribly windy when you stand there but with the sail, you can ride a go-cart just relying on winds. It’s amazing how you can control the wind and feel the speed changes 😀 Maybe that’s one of the reasonings people love to sail in the ocean as well?!

The land sailing is about 1 hour and costs $60 a person if you ride single. If you have a kid, you can also order a double cart with additional $10. They use a bus to pick up people from the cruise terminals. We met many people here off cruises, from all over the worlds, but most US :). I was talking to a retired lady from Boston, and she was from Taiwan and now had two sons in US. She is traveling with her big family, including her son’s in-laws from China :). We talked most of the time while waiting, and she was telling me all kinds of interesting things like traveling to antarctic.

The sailing typically goes with 15-20 people in a group, and yet the race track is not busy. We have plenty of space to pass around. The sail is chosen by the staff depending on your weight. The cart is controlled by ropes in your hands, you can go super fast or very slow. My 8 years-old did it all by himself, so it is not difficult. However, after sometime, your hands start to get tired :). The fun part is that the wind changes. Sometimes, it is super windy, so at a certain turn, if you don’t control the speed enough, the cart will flip over. In the safety training at the beginning, the staff teaches you how to handle the situation, and it’s never panic as it sounds like 🙂 Sometimes, the wind is slower, or at certain corners in the track, the wind is not in favor. Then your cart stalls and sometimes the whole race tracks stall. The staffs then will come over to push you to get restarted. Fortunately, this never happens to our carts.

My favorite surprise? at the end, they give you a new water bottle for free with iced water in it. Everyone can choose their colors. I have been looking for an easy-to-travel-with water bottle for years. Finally, I met this one. It is silicon, it is small size, it is leak-proof and it is foldable!!! Love the feeling of “it is you I have been looking for years”!!