Aruba's Oranjestad serves as a major Caribbean
gateway for many international airlines serving the US, Holland and parts of the Caribbean and South America. Regularly scheduled
non-stop flights depart from Miami, New York, Boston, Houston, Atlanta, Amsterdam, Bogotá, Caracas, San Juan and Curaçao. KLM is the only European airline flying directly to Aruba, while most of the major American airline companies operate from the US. Several
charter flights depart from Canada and numerous US cities between December and April.
A few airlines provide relatively easy access to Bonaire from Europe, North America and the Caribbean: KLM flies direct from Amsterdam; American Eagle from San Juan. Air Jamaica has a flight from Miami with a brief stopover in Montego Bay. It's also possible to fly from other American gateways to Curaçao or Aruba and then hop on the short flight with Dutch Caribbean Express (formerly ALM) or Avia Air to Bonaire.
Travelling to Curaçao is relatively straightforward. Several international and regional airlines fly direct to Curaçao from the US, Holland and the Caribbean. KLM has daily direct flights from Amsterdam while American Airlines departs daily from Miami. It's also possible to fly direct from Aruba, Bonaire, St Martin, San Juan, Bogotá and Caracas with some of the regional airlines .
If you're travelling from Australia or New Zealand it's best to fly to Amsterdam or Miami and then make the necessary connections to Aruba or Curaçao, and from there to Bonaire.
A ferry service operated by Flamingo Fast Ferries shuttles passengers twice daily to and from Bonaire. The journey on the modern catamaran takes an hour and a half, and the crossing can be rough. Presently there is no ferry service between Aruba and Curaçao.
Many cruise ships dock in the capital cities for the day.
