Has anyone dove Bonaire?

[aviator8]

 

[maadJurguer]

I always see Tarpon on Bari Reef in Bonaire....for some reason we've always done that dive later in the day before beer-thirty.

As for wanting to see sharks...I spent 2 weeks in Palau back in OCT and we saw multiple sharks on every dive (at least 5 per dive), and on some dives, we saw perhaps 30-50.

I've seen a small reef shark doing the first drift dive of the day with East Coast Divers on Bonaire....one. And roughly half my dives in life have been in Bonaire.

 

[Gray Diver]

Next question, to some it may sound crazy to others maybe not. Where's the best place to dive with the largest concentration of sharks. I love diving with sharks it's just a passion of mine.

As I said in #39, Lighthouse Reef in Belize, (think Blue Hole), and San Salvador, Bahamas were the 2 most shark filled dive sites I've had in the past.

cpace, I'm jealous, Socorro is on next years list of dive trips. Dove with Rio del Mar in the Baja this past summer, I know they go there. Who did you dive with?

 

[Steelyeyes]

Build it and they will come?

I think it's too small and I doubt the enthusiasm of the enforcement or the monetary support. No enforcement or consequence and a protected area is a paper tiger. Palau seems to have the right idea.

 

[cpace]

cpace, I'm jealous, Socorro is on next years list of dive trips. Dove with Rio del Mar in the Baja this past summer, I know they go there. Who did you dive with?

I dove with the sister ship, the Quino El Guardian. Check out my trip report and video (lots of sharks).

Socorro Islands Trip Report - November 25 to December 4, 2019

 

[Fat Daddy]

I dove there last year with the family. It is good solid easy diving, but no big stuff except the tarpon, which were pretty cool. I've been diving since 85 and went to Cozumel back then. We saw some huge fish all over the place and a manta ray on Palancar cruising the wall. However, it's hardly the same now in Cozumel, not nearly as much large fish. I was in Cozumel a couple of years ago and had a fantastic dive where two nurse sharks followed our group of six for 15 minutes swimming with a foot of me sometimes. Saw several turtles. But Cozumel can be difficult for beginners due to sometimes swift currents. Dive groups vary and sometimes you'll get a ****** dive master and a short tank fill. It's not fun getting back to the boat with 300 psi after a wall dive. I can't imagine having to surface there without the group.

Bonaire is much easier diving and more shallow which is partly why we picked it last year. We are booked again for this year for 16 days at Sand Dollar. Last year my 13 yr old daughter did her checkout dives in Bonaire, which I was very comfortable with. She dove with us several times and my 9 yr old daughter had a snorkeling guide. We also did an Ostracod dive which can be done when the moon sets before sunset. It was a really amazing dive, easily one of my top ten and I've done well over a 1000. We did a night dive on small wall which was amazing. My 13 yr old was with us as well and quickly figured out she could light up small fish and the following tarpon would eat them. Yeah, the locals frown on it I know. A 7 ft green moray was cruising the reef with us at the beginning for a bit. Best eel experience ever.

The island is very laid back and easy to navigate. We still didn't get to do everything we wanted to do so we're spending some more time this year and booking a fishing trip early in the trip, underwater photography course, maybe self reliant diver, 6 boat dives, a day trip to the park, caving, kayaking and of course no trip to Bonaire is complete without a trip to the donkey sanctuary.

Over all a very good destination. I can truly say we loved the place and preferred it to Cozumel by far and I've been there 8 times. People are very friendly and speak english for the most part. The food was very good but I made sure to get a condo with a kitchen this year as feeding 4 people and two picky kids gets expensive. Not sure I will go back again any time soon as we've made up our mind to retire out of the country and Bonaire would not be the place. Going to check out Grand Cayman or Belize next year.

Jason