seaducer
Contributor
Ok, having flown from Bonaire yesterday:depressed:, waking up to 10 inches of snow this morning:shocked2:, believe me I have spent alot of time reflecting!
I was not sure what to expect with some conflicting reports about diving conditions after Omar, and I found good and bad sites.
My first dive of the trip was on the Hilma Hooker. The old girl is the same as ever, however the reef is covered in brown algae right now. I spoke with Roeland from Wannadive and he admitted the algae, a normal bloom occurs about twice a year, is worse than normal this year. I am happy to report this was the only site where the algae really stuck out.
Other Southern sites we dove were Invisibles, Aquarius, Tori's Reef, Montana, Red Beryl, and Salt City. The farther south you go the more color, critters, and soft corals I saw. Most of the action was in the shallows this year, with dolphins at the drop off at Red Beryl, and an eagle ray in the shallows at Montana. I think of the sites I just listed I liked Tori's Reef the best, it was also the best vis of the trip.
Mid island sites were Bari Reef, Yellow Submarine, and Eden Beach. Bari and Eden were new sites for me, Yellow Submarine again did not disappoint with a decent but not great reef(compared to the rest of the island), but none-the-less an octopus at night and bonefish by day makes this a mysterious site, you never know what you are going to see there. Bari, well, I am not sure if it was affected by Omar since I never dove there before, but it seemed, well, underwhelming considering the hype. Also, I should point out that Bonaire Dive and Adventure refused to allow us to dive from their property, we went in from Sand Dollar. Never had anyone turn me away in three years.
The only northern sites I did was Andrea II and Oil Slick. Oil Slick was missing some, but not all, of the shallow coral heads. Below the dropoff the reef was the same as I remembered it, some dead or damaged coral but mostly intact. Andrea on the other hand was pure devastation. Every outcropping I remembered what I saw there last year, but now, well, it was not pretty. My buddy enjoyed the dive, but if it is one of your favorite sites, maybe you want to remember it as it was.
Eels were plentiful, I saw goldentail morays almost every 5 feet it seemed, and the usual assortment of spotteds. I saw a chain moray, some sharptail eels, and yes, even one gigantor green! For me at least I did not notice any issues regarding the eel kill, I saw them just as I always have.
It seemed also that there were plenty of peacock flounder. I have never seen so many. Also some horse eye jacks, I am not sure I ever saw them in Bonaire before, but there were several there this year.
As far as macro goes, it seems I lost my mojo, I saw very little this year. No seahorses, no frogfish, only a few sea slug and the usual shrimps. Saw a slipper lobster but no spineys. I noticed far fewer anemone this year.
The island itself is the same as ever. There are some new additions, including a very nice and surprisingly large grocery in Hato. I see new building everywhere, and unlike previous years I also see workers there. There is also some trenching going on, but this was not something that affected us. I also noticed more cruise ships in port this year than last.
So, some good, some not so good, but by and large the diving is still spectacular, and I am sure in that the reef will heal completely.
I was not sure what to expect with some conflicting reports about diving conditions after Omar, and I found good and bad sites.
My first dive of the trip was on the Hilma Hooker. The old girl is the same as ever, however the reef is covered in brown algae right now. I spoke with Roeland from Wannadive and he admitted the algae, a normal bloom occurs about twice a year, is worse than normal this year. I am happy to report this was the only site where the algae really stuck out.
Other Southern sites we dove were Invisibles, Aquarius, Tori's Reef, Montana, Red Beryl, and Salt City. The farther south you go the more color, critters, and soft corals I saw. Most of the action was in the shallows this year, with dolphins at the drop off at Red Beryl, and an eagle ray in the shallows at Montana. I think of the sites I just listed I liked Tori's Reef the best, it was also the best vis of the trip.
Mid island sites were Bari Reef, Yellow Submarine, and Eden Beach. Bari and Eden were new sites for me, Yellow Submarine again did not disappoint with a decent but not great reef(compared to the rest of the island), but none-the-less an octopus at night and bonefish by day makes this a mysterious site, you never know what you are going to see there. Bari, well, I am not sure if it was affected by Omar since I never dove there before, but it seemed, well, underwhelming considering the hype. Also, I should point out that Bonaire Dive and Adventure refused to allow us to dive from their property, we went in from Sand Dollar. Never had anyone turn me away in three years.
The only northern sites I did was Andrea II and Oil Slick. Oil Slick was missing some, but not all, of the shallow coral heads. Below the dropoff the reef was the same as I remembered it, some dead or damaged coral but mostly intact. Andrea on the other hand was pure devastation. Every outcropping I remembered what I saw there last year, but now, well, it was not pretty. My buddy enjoyed the dive, but if it is one of your favorite sites, maybe you want to remember it as it was.
Eels were plentiful, I saw goldentail morays almost every 5 feet it seemed, and the usual assortment of spotteds. I saw a chain moray, some sharptail eels, and yes, even one gigantor green! For me at least I did not notice any issues regarding the eel kill, I saw them just as I always have.
It seemed also that there were plenty of peacock flounder. I have never seen so many. Also some horse eye jacks, I am not sure I ever saw them in Bonaire before, but there were several there this year.
As far as macro goes, it seems I lost my mojo, I saw very little this year. No seahorses, no frogfish, only a few sea slug and the usual shrimps. Saw a slipper lobster but no spineys. I noticed far fewer anemone this year.
The island itself is the same as ever. There are some new additions, including a very nice and surprisingly large grocery in Hato. I see new building everywhere, and unlike previous years I also see workers there. There is also some trenching going on, but this was not something that affected us. I also noticed more cruise ships in port this year than last.
So, some good, some not so good, but by and large the diving is still spectacular, and I am sure in that the reef will heal completely.
