1st timer-dive site recos

[Lorenzoid]

Buoy? Just make a mental note of some interesting feature like a coral head or gorgonian and its depth before you turn left or right, and as you leave, look back to see how it looks from the direction you’ll be approaching it on your return. You’re a cave diver—you’re used to that. I have never overshot my exit with this simple method—which is what I thought everyone was doing. Imagine if every diver left a buoy.

 

[Soloist]

Buoy? Just make a mental note of some interesting feature like a coral head or gorgonian and its depth before you turn left or right, and as you leave, look back to see how it looks from the direction you’ll be approaching it on your return. You’re a cave diver—you’re used to that. I have never overshot my exit with this simple method—which is what I thought everyone was doing. Imagine if every diver left a buoy.

I tried bread crumbs, but the fish kept eating them! Over the course of 25 plus dives in a week the reef all looks the same to me. That’s why you constantly see rock formations and stacks of dead coral scattered all over the place from previous divers attempting to mark their exit point. We use a buoy specifically to not disturb the reef.

 

[diversteve]

At some of the south sites it's possible to park directly behind the best exit point. From the water it all pretty much looks the same.

Salt Pier is one not to miss although it's not very deep. Easy entry off the sand (beach is a stretch) but there''s ironshore in the surfline you'll mostly have to stumble over. Some sites have a shifting area of sand that leads out to deeper water so look for them. Here's an example at Vista Blue.
Since you've got the RB's - tech divers dive the Windjammer/Mari Bahn - I believe it's around 190? Whoever is doing tech at Buddy's or Habitat will know - and should probably be hired as a guide - there's even some trick to accessing the site since it's on BOPAL property.

We found that a couple minutes scouting a site usually found a good entry point. As mentioned, others use coral rubble to mark them.

Other dives we liked, Invisibles, Angel City, Vista Blue to the south. Bari Reef is the must do dive north and if you dive Cliff from Habitat's dock ($5 but they have stairs/lockers) on the RB you can probably see all of Clliff (north off the dock) the come back in over the LaMachaca wreck (not worth a special trip)

One of the best dives we did all week was Forest off Klein Bonaire (boat dive) Most shops offer alacarte pricing fi their boat isn't full. We paid $20 pp for a boat dive to Klein one afternoon - just us, another couple and the DM. Check the signup sheet when you're at the shop/resort.

Look at the entry photos here - some are a little dated - Scuba Shore Diving Region: ABC Islands

I went down at a couple of them during the week but didn't have to worry about the $10K RB gear on my back.

I personally didn't use a compass all week. As you mentioned most dives parallel the shore to the left or right. We'd start into the current if there was any and let it help on the return.

 

[diversteve]

I'm sure you've read it but I wouldn't leave any expensive RB spares in the truck and expect them to be there when you get back.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I tried bread crumbs, but the fish kept eating them! Over the course of 25 plus dives in a week the reef all looks the same to me. That’s why you constantly see rock formations and stacks of dead coral scattered all over the place from previous divers attempting to mark their exit point. We use a buoy specifically to not disturb the reef.

Though no one on ScubaBoard suggested it when I was looking into my first trip 10 years ago, and I don’t recall anyone having suggested it until this thread, the thought of using a marker did occur to me. However, there are several reasons I have never tried it. The first is what I mentioned: if everyone did that, there could be as many as half a dozen buoys all roughly in the same area, possibly leading to confusion. Another reason is that I am concerned someone might take my buoy, and I’ll waste a lot of time looking for it, and then after not finding it I’ll never be sure whether I missed it or someone took it. Also, it occurs to me that despite being pretty good at judging where my exit should be, if I somehow can’t find my buoy then I’m guilty of leaving junk on the reef. That’s the last thing the relative pristine/protected reefs of Bonaire need. And at night, others might find a flashing strobe obnoxious. You have obviously made your decision, but those are some things others might wish to consider before they decide to use a buoy.

The reef features don’t “all look the same” if you take the time to cement some reasonably distinctive feature in your mind.

 

[Soloist]

Though no one on ScubaBoard suggested it when I was looking into my first trip 10 years ago, and I don’t recall anyone having suggested it until this thread, the thought of using a marker did occur to me. However, there are several reasons I have never tried it. The first is what I mentioned: if everyone did that, there could be as many as half a dozen buoys all roughly in the same area, possibly leading to confusion. Another reason is that I am concerned someone might take my buoy, and I’ll waste a lot of time looking for it, and then after not finding it I’ll never be sure whether I missed it or someone took it. Also, it occurs to me that despite being pretty good at judging where my exit should be, if I somehow can’t find my buoy then I’m guilty of leaving junk on the reef. That’s the last thing the relative pristine/protected reefs of Bonaire need. And at night, others might find a flashing strobe obnoxious. You have obviously made your decision, but those are some things others might wish to consider before they decide to use a buoy.

The reef features don’t “all look the same” if you take the time to cement some reasonably distinctive feature in your mind.

This is one of those respectfully agree to disagree scenarios. I commend you on your recognition of underwater topography and your concerns are valid. We do the majority of our diving on the southern sites (Vista Blue, Sweet Dreams, etc.) and typically have the place to ourselves, so multiple markers is not a concern. At dusk and at night these sites are challenging. I refuse to “pop up” like a weasel to get my bearings. Moreover, it would be utterly useless at night because there are no lights, structures or landmarks on a desolate beach. The little water activated beacon is specifically designed to be worn by divers at night, so the light produced by this unit is minimal and hardly obnoxious. After hundreds and hundreds of dives we have never lost or returned to shore without our buoy, so the pristine reef is safe by us. Many Bonaire sites can be easily navigated, so we only use the buoy when necessary and I recommend others do the same. Common sense.

 

[buffdiver]

BTW, an SMB works just as well or maybe better since it’s deployed about three feet in length. I’ve never gotten lost or lost it.

 

[boat sju]

Thata very helpful
They don’t frown upon its use? I guess if its not on the reef who cares. Where you find it?

They do frown on it. I got a lecture once from the dive shop when I asked for more weight to do this up at Candyland to mark the exit chute.

 

[rddvet]

Thanks all. I appreciate the responses. Our plan is like has been described, look for features and notate depths and should be easy to find our way back. I hadn't even thought of a buoy, and I did order that one from piranha. It's hard to beat at $13. I agree with Lorenzoid that I'd prefer not to use it, and am concerned if somehow I can't find it that I've now littered. I already have a beacon, so I will bring both and if I find navigation harder than expected I will use them. Being cave divers, we're pretty good at using small features to help guide our way. At the same time we never OW dive, so our brains aren't regularly in navigation mode. To me navigation multiple jumps in a cave is easier than many reefs. The reefs we dive on the west coast of florida all start looking the same and can be easy to get confused on. I wasn't sure if it was the same in Bonaire as well.
We are diving through Buddy dive since they're the best known to have rebreather support. We didn't plan to do any boat diving, but if we see they have a boat with very few people on it, we may hop on. Being on a rebreather, it kind of sucks being limited on boat dives to a 45 minute dive. Since we're mostly planning to dive without a plan and just drive up to an interesting site, look it up in the book and dive, is there a recommendation of direction from buddy dive we should start from for the best dives. I.e. is going north a little nicer for some reason or heading south from the shop a little better for some reason? Now that we know the road is one way past 1000 steps, that helps alot.

 

[cjibber]

Since we're mostly planning to dive without a plan and just drive up to an interesting site, look it up in the book and dive, is there a recommendation of direction from buddy dive we should start from for the best dives. I.e. is going north a little nicer for some reason or heading south from the shop a little better for some reason? Now that we know the road is one way past 1000 steps, that helps alot.

Both ways from Buddy's are good. The dive sites are close together there. If you are diving for 90 minutes you will be covering more than one site. From Buddy's heading North you will easily get to The Cliff and back in that time. To the South you would be able to dive the whole of Bari Reef as well. There is a line going down the reef at Buddy's so no need for a buoy!