Everyone who dives on Bonaire pays the nature fee. $40 for the year, valid from January 1 to December 31. You buy it online before you arrive. You get a tag for your tank, and that tag gives you access to every dive site in the Bonaire National Marine Park.
Most divers pay it and forget about it. I want to tell you where it goes.
STINAPA's budget
STINAPA is the foundation that manages both the marine park and Washington Slagbaai National Park on land. The nature fee is their primary income. A significant part of the budget now goes to coral disease monitoring, which increased after Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease was confirmed on Bonaire's reefs in March 2023.
The rest funds ranger patrols, mooring maintenance (the permanent moorings that keep boats off the reef), education programs for local schools, and infrastructure like the yellow painted stones that mark every dive site entry.
What SCTLD means for the fee
SCTLD is the most serious threat to Caribbean coral reefs in decades. It kills coral tissue fast, it spreads between species, and there is no proven cure. On Bonaire, 10 species of reef-building coral have been affected since 2023.
STINAPA monitors with quarterly surveys. They treat individual colonies with antibiotic paste when possible. They coordinate with Reef Renewal Bonaire on restoration. All of this costs money.
The $40 fee is not a tourist tax. It is the operational budget of the organization that keeps the reef diveable.
What divers can do
Three things, all free.
One: rinse your gear at the end of the dive day. Every dive shop on the island has rinse tanks.
Two: report sick coral. If you see white patches spreading across a colony, note the site and the depth. Tell us or tell STINAPA directly. Early detection matters.
Three: do not touch the reef. This has been the rule since 1979. Still worth saying.
More detail on fees, what they cover, and how to buy your tag on our marine park fees page. For what lives on the reef and why it matters, see marine life.