Best dive sites Bonaire

[lowlysubaruguy]

we have finally had enough covid fun and games and are heading to Bonaire it seems to be the go to for us and traveling there is more obtainable right now than something far far away I think anyway i think this might be the sixth trip. You’d think someone on his sixth trip to Bonaire would not need to ask for the best sites to hit but theres to many and I never kept a log.


I’m sure the biggest known we have done but maybe not. My boys are usually up for a night dive with the tarpon which has always been right off buddy dives docks maybe some of you have a better idea for a night dive.

 

[Ian Popple]

Front Porch and The Cliff can also make for decent night dives, and have relatively simple access.

 

[Lorenzoid]

You’d think someone on his sixth trip to Bonaire would not need to ask for the best sites to hit but theres to many and I never kept a log.

No, that seems like good timing to me. First-time Bonaire visitors can sometimes get so caught up in making sure they hit the "right" sites. All of the sites are good for one reason or another. They all have their various pros and cons--mostly pros and few cons! I say to the first-timers: hit as many as you can, in as many different places up and down the coast as possible.

As for you, what factors are pros and cons for you in a dive site? Ease of entry/exit? Variety in underwater topography? Particular kinds of marine life?

Next week is my eighth trip, so I'm not far ahead of you. Personally, my wife and I think Salt Pier may be our favorite site. The pilings and rubble are home to a crazy variety of marine life, navigating from piling to piling adds another (fun) challenge, and depending on the time of day and amount of sunlight, the way the light plays through the pilings can be kind of cool. Also, an easy enough entry/exit.

 

[Glenn Charles]

So many good dives here. We are just finishing up ten days of diving. Tolo and Karpata were spectacular today. Andreas 1 was great this trip as well. The Lake is a very interesting dive. So many good spots, you cant go wrong. Bachelors beach is a great checkout dive and the Burger Food truck located there has some of the best burgers and fries on the island.

 

[Couv]

Watch these videos to help you decide.

https://www.youtube.com/c/ADiversLife/videos

BTW @adiverslife is a member of SB.

 

[TheRealScubaSteve]

Hilma Hooker is the only one that stands out as particularly memorable for my 1 trip to Bonaire. Did a night dive as well. There were several other nice ones, but I just can't remember.

Salt Pier is supposed to be good, but it was closed when I was there.

 

[tursiops]

My favorite sites are Bruce's Rappel, Something Special, and Ebo's Special although I've not had a single dive out of 900 dives in Bonaire over 22 years that I disliked.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

Wife and I have been to Bonaire 12 times over the past 20 years......and without a doubt the best diving is on the East side. Back in the day we always dove with Larry.....of Larry's Wild Side Diving. Then Eastcoast Divers took over the operation......but I think Larry may now be back. Bigger life, better structure and guaranteed more turtles and tarpon than you can count...

The East side is definitely not for everyone as the conditions can be tough.....but it's worth it. See the massive school of tarpon at about 11.30 into my May 2013 trip video with just the wife and myself..

One of our other favorite sites is Vista Blue as we've had good luck seeing Eagle Rays there... We love that spot so much that we named our boat after it.

Our other favorite is right off the Buddy Dive house reef and doing it right at dusk and headed north.... Basically just enter the water right before sunset.....head on down to 60 - 80 feet..... hang a left.... and wait for it to get dark.. THAT"S when all the critters are on the move looking for their spots to hang for the night.

 

[jmcgilroy]

Hilma Hooker, Karpata and Salt pier have my votes. Carl's Hill on Klein for a decent little wall dive.

 

[drrich2]

I like the lush shallow and mid-depth gorgonian reef of the far southern sites, Margate Bay, Red Beryl (IIRC; it's been years, and recently I went down there but passed once I saw the kite boarders), Vista Blue and Sweet Dreams. On a recent Red Slave dive, it, too, was lush, but the vis. was worse (maybe that was a one-off; I don't know. I get nervous that close to the tip of the island, but didn't run into current issues).

While the kite boarders base out of the Atlantis site, they range a bit. I recall at least one at Margate Bay and Vista Blue. At the latter, I didn't back fin all the way out to the drop off, but rather went down during the swim out before I got near the kite boarder.

On the food truck issue, King Kong Food Truck at Bachelors Beach has fries, Cactus Blue Food Truck and Kite City Food Truck do chips, and Stokes Food Truck has potato wedges. I liked my burger at all.