anyone ever do Lighthouse

[reefseal]

Lighthouse is southernmost dive on island and supposed to be an awesome dive when it's calm. Definitively advanced dive due to currents. You mis-calculate, you're off to to Grenada. This will be 4th trip (June 1st - 8th) and have always wanted to try out but didn't have Cojones to do it. The attraction to it is the larger pelagics
It's got to be dead calm. No waves period. Figure out direction of current and swim in direction of current. Challenge is knowing where the entry point is.

 

[drrich2]

I have done it once. I actually had a better experience and a very lush reef at an unmarked area, a bit west of Lighthouse but also on the southern tip of the island.

But a few caveats.

1.) I believe it was an October, with unusually rainy weather, traveling with a group trip and one of my instructors who'd been to Bonaire many times and personally affirmed that the conditions were good, and we dove it as a group. The sea was calm with minimal current as I recall. Compare that to the normal situation, with big waves hammering the shoreline.

2.) The unmarked site was so good we dove it a couple of more times, but only the first was a great dive, as conditions deteriorated. On one dive, the current changed directions so we swam into it both going & coming back!

3.) On one of the dives, a swarm of tiny biting gnats came after us & chased us way out over the water as we walked in backwards splashing water at them.

In a nutshell, it's good diving on those occasions when conditions are right.

I've had 7 1-week trips to Bonaire. One trip, conditions were right, when the weather was atypical.

Richard.

 

[djtimmy77]

We looked at it in April, on a day when the wind was light and the waves were smaller than usual. It appeared that the entry was over medium sized rocks similar to what covers the shoreline there for a hundred yards or so, which would make it difficult even in calm conditions. Can anyone confirm this? We opted not to do it and went for Red Slave instead.

 

[reefseal]

Thanks. This helps. Yes, the rocks can be treacherous getting in if don't have decent booties. I can see the gnats coming at you as a lot of "stuff" washes up on shore that I guess they gravitate to. For sure have to monitor currents as you point out can change. Can't tell what conditions are early June so one way to find out is take the drive down and check out one day.
Will post what I find out

 

[diver 85]

Lighthouse is southernmost dive on island and supposed to be an awesome dive when it's calm. Definitively advanced dive due to currents. You mis-calculate, you're off to to Grenada. This will be 4th trip (June 1st - 8th) and have always wanted to try out but didn't have Cojones to do it. The attraction to it is the larger pelagics
It's got to be dead calm. No waves period. Figure out direction of current and swim in direction of current. Challenge is knowing where the entry point is.

Well hell, didn't Columbus take a bigger chance???....& look what it got him, half the world................

 

[reefseal]

I can imagine.. Get caught up seeing huge whale shark.. Current pulling you away further from shore. Time to end dive. Surface. Oh Shi.. How far did we drift.. Swimming against current, going farther and farther.. Living the movie Open Water.. No boats.. Make sure have signaling device for sure!

 

[tracydr]

We've looked at it both times we went to Bonaire but conditions never allowed us to do it. Red Slave is one of our favorites, though, and well worth the trouble of fighting some surf. We've dived Red Slave a bunch of times. You do need to watch current there, though as it can pull you out to sea as well.

 

[drrich2]

Sweet Dreams is a nice, lush southern site I highly recommend. Also recall Red Beryl being a good one, if memory serves.

Richard.

 

[djtimmy77]

Sweet Dreams is a nice, lush southern site I highly recommend. Also recall Red Beryl being a good one, if memory serves.

Richard.

Red Beryl/Margate Bay are lush and gorgeous

 

[Gdog]

Wow, we turned left on entry at Red Slave,and all we saw was where the coral had been wiped out...looked like someone bulldozed it. Only thing we liked about it was the garden eels