Citro Bonaire

An inspiring day at the KNRM! 🌊
While in the Netherlands for a busy week of work, our director Jeroen Loogman made sure to plan his very first visit to the KNRM. Walter Schol gave a fantastic tour, offering an exclusive look behind the scenes and sharing the incredible dedication of the organization.
We are deeply grateful to the KNRM and Walter for the warm welcome and their valuable time. This wonderful experience left us with a lot of positive energy and exciting thoughts for the future. Stay tuned, more news is on the way! 🚀👀
BehindTheScenes Inspiration ExcitingTimes StayTuned

Stronger Together for Maritime Safety on Bonaire! 🌊

Today, CITRO Bonaire attended the large-scale multidisciplinary exercise “Rescue at Sea” as an observer. It was an impressive and highly valuable day, during which all participating partners demonstrated just how essential seamless cooperation is when responding to a mass maritime incident (Mass Rescue Operation).

Our sincere thanks and appreciation go to the organizers and advisors of Cuijpers Consultancy for developing this realistic and challenging scenario, as well as to all participating agencies for their professionalism, dedication, coordination, and hospitality:

🔹 Bonaire International Airport (BIA)
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🔹 Dutch Caribbean Fire Department (BKCN)
🔹 Royal Netherlands Marechaussee (KMar)
🔹 Dutch Caribbean Customs
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🔹 Bonaire Harbour Master and the

A special word of thanks goes to for generously providing a vessel free of charge for this exercise. Support from the local business community plays a crucial role in enabling emergency services to train under realistic operational conditions.

By practicing complex scenarios together, we strengthen both maritime and aviation safety on and around our island. Maritime search and rescue is, by its very nature, a shared responsibility—one in which government agencies, community organizations, entrepreneurs, and volunteers each play a vital role and reinforce one another’s efforts.

For CITRO Bonaire, this exercise once again highlights the importance of what we are building: a professional, locally based volunteer organization that will be ready to serve as a reliable support partner to official emergency services when every second matters.

We look back on an educational and inspiring day and look forward to continuing a sustainable and constructive collaboration with all partners across the maritime safety chain.

Together, we help make Bonaire safer—on the water and beyond. 🤝🌊

Today we had a very constructive meeting with Celine, General Manager of Divi Flamingo Beach Resort & Casino.

Although the Divi Flamingo logo has long been associated with CITRO Bonaire as a partner, today we laid the foundation for a more active and intensive collaboration in the future.

As a maritime rescue organization, the support of local coastal partners is essential. We look forward to launching joint initiatives in the coming period that contribute to the safety of both tourists and locals on the water.

Thank you for the hospitality and the inspiring conversation, Celine!



DiviResorts

🚨 On June 4th, between 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM, Bonaire International Airport will conduct a Full Scale Exercise together with its emergency response partners, focused on rescue operations at sea 🛟

The exercise will involve the Coast Guard, Ambulance Service, Police, Fire Department, the Public Entity Bonaire (OLB), and other responding agencies. During this period, public may hear sirens in the area of the North Pier.

These exercises play a vital role in strengthening coordination, communication, and emergency response procedures. They ensure that all teams are fully prepared to act quickly and effectively in real-life situations, maintaining the highest standards of safety for passengers, staff, and the wider community 🤝

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⚠️ Het weekend komt eraan, en vanwege de ruwe zeecondities rond Aruba, Bonaire en Curaçao vragen wij iedereen om de komende dagen extra voorzichtig te zijn. 🌊💨

Houd rekening met de actuele weer en zeeomstandigheden en neem geen onnodige risico’s op of rond het water.

🌦️ Volg de weersupdates en officiële berichten van Meteo Curaçao, Meteo Aruba en de desbetreffende lokale instanties.

🚫 Vermijd onnodige risico’s.

🏊‍♂️ Ga niet zwemmen of varen op zee, tenzij dit noodzakelijk is.

✅ Controleer uw vaartuig.

⛵ Zorg ervoor dat uw boot in goede en veilige staat verkeert voordat u vertrekt.

🦺 Neem voldoende veiligheidsmiddelen mee.

🛟 Draag de nodige veiligheidsuitrusting en zorg dat alles aan boord aanwezig is.

✔️ Zorg dat alle benodigde en geldige documenten aan boord zijn.

📍👥 Informeer altijd iemand aan wal over uw vaarroute en verwachte terugkeertijd.

🌊💨 Houd rekening met sterke stromingen, hoge golven en harde wind.

📞🚨 Noodgeval? Bel direct 913.

🙏 Uw veiligheid en die van anderen staat altijd voorop.

Big steps for maritime safety on Bonaire! 🌊
Yesterday, CITRO Bonaire and our partner (Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution) teamed up to strengthen local Search and Rescue (SAR) and crisis response. 🤝
With Bonaire growing rapidly, a well-coordinated safety chain is more important than ever. We had excellent meetings with key island partners to align our operations:
👮‍♂️ Korps Politie Caribisch Nederland (KPCN)
⚓️ The Harbour Master of Bonaire
👩‍🚒 Brandweerkorps Caribisch Nederland (BKCN)
🏛️ The Office of the Island Governor
We are incredibly proud to have the strategic backing of the KNRM and the global maritime rescue community. A huge thank you to KNRM Managing Director & IMRF board member Jacob Tas, and KNRM Inspector Walter Schol, for being here in person to share their expertise and presenting us with the KNRM plaque! 🛡️✨
Shoutout to all our local partners for their hospitality. Also, a big thank you to Epic Tours for generously offering the KNRM delegation a beautiful boat tour around our island! 🏝️🚢
Together, we are working towards safe and welcoming waters around Bonaire! 🇧🇶💙
MaritimeSafety EmergencyResponse SafetyAtSea CaribbeanNetherlands EpicTours

Unforgettable moments from May 23 ! Great vibes, great people, and a safer island. Thank you Bonaire for coming out to support us last Saturday! 💙🇧🇶