Best Bonaire Dive Sites?

[CT Sean]

A couple other favorite dive locations of mine, not yet mentioned are The Lake and Pink Beach (southern sites) and Weber's Joy, Oil Slick Leap and 1,000 Steps (northern sites).

Came here to mention The Lake - a couple selling shave ice at the cruise ship market told us about it - really nice site and the 2nd reef is quite close compared to some of the more southern sites.

Karpata was fantastic and I really need to go back to dive it in the afternoon

 

[superheavydeathmetal]

Rappel! You must do Rappel!

 

[Doctorfish]

Darook is right. Just get in, keep diving and go slow. You can see anything anywhere.

 

[Diver-6873]

Headed to Bonaire soon and was wondering about dives sites around the island. Either must dive wreak or deep dives? And definitely the drive own truck shore dives around the island...any other info,, places to eat,, what else to do would greatly be appreciated. Thanks

Tana ..Feel free to ping me offline. My wife and I have lived on the island for a year now and will certainly share our thoughts.

No bad sites, which sites are best for you and your partner(s) depending on skill and interest. The best wreck is the Hilma Hooker, a basic rocky shore entry, short(er) swim and max depth of only about 100’. There are a couple others for tech/deco divers in the 150+ range. Of the other south sites, we love Salt City, Tori’s, Jeanie’s Glory, Pink Beach, Margate Bay, and many others. In the central area, we enjoy Something Special, Bari’s, and The Cliff. To the North, Witches Hut and definitely Tolo.

Our regular spots for dinner include The Beach (@ Windsock), The Brewery, and Divers Diner. For a little more special evening, At Sea, Ingredients (try the Alfredo Truffle Pasta made tabelside inside a wheel of parmasian), and Patagonia are very nice. Of course don’t miss Gio’s for the best gelato in the Caribbean.

Have a great trip . . . And ask away with any questions.

 

[Tana]

@Tana

Where are you staying? As @Kharon said, a good house reef is really great. We used to stay at Sand Dollar, now stay next door at Den Laman. We also cook most of our own meals. Bari Reef is a fantastic house dive, Dive Friends has a location there and their boats leave from the pier if you are so inclined. We really like some of the sites off Klein Bonaire and some of the northern sites not reachable from shore

Staying at buddy's dive center

 

[doctormike]

Headed to Bonaire soon and was wondering about dives sites around the island. Either must dive wreak or deep dives? And definitely the drive own truck shore dives around the island...any other info,, places to eat,, what else to do would greatly be appreciated. Thanks

Hilma Hooker is my favorite site by far, and I also like the salt pier. Both easy to do with a truck from the shore. No need for a boat as far as I can tell. All the other ones seem pretty much the same to me, reefs with small fish. I suppose any place can have pelagics if you look out into the blue, but I have been there a number of times and never saw anything bigger than the Tarpon that hang around at night. Very easy diving, though!

Not sure what you mean by "deep", but another fun wreck dive that I did (right off the Buddy Dive dock) is the Hesper, it's at around 150 feet, and deco along the wall is much better than just hanging on an ascent line. There are a couple of other deeper wrecks that I haven't done, but Mr. G at Buddy Dive can set those up for you if that's what you mean. Here's my video of the Hesper.

[vimeo]

 

[CT Sean]

missed the "food" request in the op. this is a good thread that's pretty recent with a lot of restaurant discussion Short notice... going tomorrow...Any list of restaurants for Bonaire?

 

[DeputyDan]

My favorite site is Vista Blue which is south of the kite surfer guys.

your info indicates 200+ dives so you should be fine to venture out to the double reef system that is at many of the southern sites. I personally would not recommend to a new diver.

Since its your first trip - I suggest that you not dive close to the ends of the island due to unexpected current that can push you out to sea.

 

[Ray and Pam]

Staying at buddy's dive center

Oh hell you nailed it! You're staying at two of the best shore dives on Bonaire. Either jump off the pier and go right or jump off the pier and go left.

 

[choiahoy]

Salt Pier and Something Special have always delivered for me. Candyland too, but that getting there is a bit more complicated.