Just got back from a great week in Bonaire. I was very concerned about the conditions after Omar did his dance on the island. The good news is things are just fine. Yes, there is some sanding, but for the most part the corals have cleaned themselves and the sponges are generally clean except for crevices. The patches of staghorn seemed to have been destroyed on the sites I dove (Margate Bay) where they had been plentiful.
Marine life seemed nearly as abundant as before. While I heard of people finding frogfish, the various dive shops all agreed that their "pet" frogfish are gone, thinking they went deep. Did see 3 seahorses. They hung around.
Viz was cloudy on some sites (Oil Slick, for example) and perfect just a few sites away (1,000 Steps).
While I haven't dove Bonaire in November before, I did run into a couple of dives with strong currents for the first time. Alice in Wonderland was nasty, and then Eden Beach had a current kick up out of the blue so strong none of the divers were able to make ANY headway into the current. We had to exit at Harbour Village and walk around to get the truck.
There were fewer Eagle Rays on the calm side, but that could just be bad luck. But plenty of turtles. The wild side was unbelievable. 21 Rays on one dive. 10 in one group, 8 in another, and 3 in the final group. Bunch of turtles and the only green moray I saw. Thanks Bart from Wannadive.
I had read reports of eels dying. Saw three sharp tails had been someones lunch. Otherwise plenty of sharp tails and gold spotted. Didn't see any green morays on the calm side. Several spotted (not as many as in past visits), a couple of goldentail and purple mouth morays and a chain moray.
No dives under Town Pier (reports of falling concrete, plus the cup corals were stripped away), and the KFC is gone. Sand fleas were horrible and all the locals agreed they have never been so bad. So bring DEET, or wear long pants and socks. Women in particular seem to be their favorite flavor.
Marine life seemed nearly as abundant as before. While I heard of people finding frogfish, the various dive shops all agreed that their "pet" frogfish are gone, thinking they went deep. Did see 3 seahorses. They hung around.
Viz was cloudy on some sites (Oil Slick, for example) and perfect just a few sites away (1,000 Steps).
While I haven't dove Bonaire in November before, I did run into a couple of dives with strong currents for the first time. Alice in Wonderland was nasty, and then Eden Beach had a current kick up out of the blue so strong none of the divers were able to make ANY headway into the current. We had to exit at Harbour Village and walk around to get the truck.
There were fewer Eagle Rays on the calm side, but that could just be bad luck. But plenty of turtles. The wild side was unbelievable. 21 Rays on one dive. 10 in one group, 8 in another, and 3 in the final group. Bunch of turtles and the only green moray I saw. Thanks Bart from Wannadive.
I had read reports of eels dying. Saw three sharp tails had been someones lunch. Otherwise plenty of sharp tails and gold spotted. Didn't see any green morays on the calm side. Several spotted (not as many as in past visits), a couple of goldentail and purple mouth morays and a chain moray.
No dives under Town Pier (reports of falling concrete, plus the cup corals were stripped away), and the KFC is gone. Sand fleas were horrible and all the locals agreed they have never been so bad. So bring DEET, or wear long pants and socks. Women in particular seem to be their favorite flavor.
