Excited! First dive in Bonaire tomorrow!

[Shakin_bakin]

I'm pretty excited tomorrow is my first dive outside of my open water certifications in a rock quarry and it's in Bonaire!
My fiancé has been diving for about 13 years and for our honeymoon she wanted to go back to Bonaire. So I got certified in July, and we got married last Saturday and we just got here tonight!
I hear there are a lot of killer dive sites I'm really hoping to get 3-5 dives a day. If there was a top ten list of must do dives what would you say they are? Helma Hooker, 1,000 steps, ?

 

[diver0008]

Very good resource describing Bonaire's sites:

Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: Bonaire North, ABC Islands
Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: Bonaire South, ABC Islands

Read through, go with what sounds good to you, and venture out.

Let us know what your favorites were when you get back.

 

[Shakin_bakin]

Thanks!

 

[king_of_battle]

There is also a great book called "Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy" by Susan Porter. I'm pretty sure its sold at a couple places on the island like Buddy Dive. I highly recommend flipping through the pages to get an idea of what you can see at the different sites - that way you'll be able to see the things you want to see and maximize your enjoyment. Have fun!

 

[npole]

It is your first salt water dive? You will perceive it differently until you get used to...

 

[Saniflush]

Congrats and have fun.

 

[drrich2]

If you want a range of sites distinctive in some way, 1000 Steps for the topside (take pics) which is scenic with the staircase (plus it's a nice dive site), the Cliff (small vertical wall; nearby Small Wall is similar but a boat dive), Salt Pier (diving around big pilings; can only dive when a ship's not in), Hilma Hooker (wreck), at least one southern site with a nice double reef (Angel City is nice). Bari Reef is sort of famous due to some species diversity report years ago, IIRC, and it is a nice reef.

Karpata has had a rep. for lush growth; haven't been in a few years myself. I loved Sweet Dreams down south.

Richard.

 

[Lorenzoid]

My fiancé has been diving for about 13 years and for our honeymoon she wanted to go back to Bonaire. So I got certified in July, and we got married last Saturday and we just got here tonight!

And you're spending your time posting on the Internet? ;-)

Enjoy the trip, and don't stress about dive sites. Buy BSDME or the newer Dive Guide Bonaire (Dive Friends Bonaire sells it), pick a site, and go. There need not be any strategy to picking sites--they're ALL pretty good. You could throw a dart at the map to pick sites and still have a great time.

 

[CatsEye]

Congrats and have fun. You're going to be spoiled after this. I can't remember a site there I didn't like. The salt pier is one of my favorites.

 

[Shakin_bakin]

Well it was a great first salt dive! We started at "The Cliff" which was a great beginner dive. I also thought it was amazing. Then we went to Andrea 1, and it was a decent dive. Not my favorite so far. Then we dove Alice in Wonderland and wow was I amazed!
I've previously only been diving in rock quarries and not enjoying the 5-10 feet of visibility. This has me really spoiled, but at least I'm enjoying this. The rock quarries were no fun. But that's my personal preference.

Thanks for the help and suggestions I think we will try a couple out tomorrow! (And try and snag those books!