Bonaire Diving Suggestions?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Messages
1
Reaction score
1
Location
94132
# of dives
50 - 99
Hi Fellow Divers,

I am in San Francisco and I looking forward to diving in Bonaire this fall. Anything I must see while I am there?

Thank you and kind regards,
D
 
Nope, nothing to see. Ha ha. Do you mean topside? Or what dive sites people like? Check out the Bonaire forum for threads discussing both of these popular questions. And welcome to ScubaBoard!
 
Dive from a boat on the sites you can’t access from shore.

Some of my favs
Andrea 2
Something Special
Small Wall
Salt Pier (at night)
Tolo
Rapell
 
My Research Notes for Bonaire - My Research Note For Bonaire

In terms of shore dive sites, here's a list of good mainstream west coast sites (roughly north to south, omitting house reefs of dive op.s since I don't know where you're staying):

1.) Karpata - to the far north. A generally good site; to get here, you must commit to a one-way road, followed by a long, 'scenic' route home. So pair with another site, like...

2.) Tolo - just a nice site. Pretty easy entry. Good to pair with Karpata.

3.) 1,000 Steps - more for the huge stone stairwell than the site, though it can be good. It's the farthest north you can dive without committing to a one-way road.

4.) Oil Slick Leap - iconic giant stride in, reef is good and close to where you splash.

5.) The Cliff - a small vertical wall.

6.) Bari Reef - renowned as a nice reef that had impressive diversity in some study long ago, IIRC. You can get to it via a round-about, or as the house reef for Den Lamen and Sand Dollar Condo.s.

7.) Windsock - pretty easy entry, by a big pier that's a handy reference for entry & exit on night dives.

8.) Hilma Hooker - the big wreck.

9.) Angel City - like Hilma Hooker without the wreck; this far south, there's a double reef system, so swim out past the reef, over the sandy canyon, to the 2nd reef, and dive it.

10.) Salt Pier - only when no ship is in. You head out and dive around the pilings.

11.) Sweet Dreams - some of the far southern sites are ready lush, particularly in the shallows with gorgonians.

Those aren't the only good sites, but they're well-known (except Sweet Dreams; hardly anyone but me mentions it) and some are a bit distinctive for one reason or another.

If you want to try east coast 'wild side' diving, you could try Cai with BasDiving.com.

Topside in Kralendijk, get some gelato at Gio's.

Sometime in the week, take the receipt you hopefully kept from buying your $45 marine park tag with you (to save the entry fee), and do a scenic drive through at Washington Slagbaai Park. I assume the whale skeleton is still at the visitor center by the entrance.

Some people like to visit the Donkey Sanctuary.

On the west coast, drive by the Atlantis site and watch the kite boarders.

On the east coast, drive by Jibe City and watch the wind surfers.

Assuming you're staying the typical week long visit, that's a start.
 
Hi Fellow Divers,

I am in San Francisco and I looking forward to diving in Bonaire this fall. Anything I must see while I am there?

Thank you and kind regards,
D
Hi Deanna,

We live on Bonaire.

Yes. Go dive LaDana's reef, the Hilma Hooker wreck, the Rappel dive site, Tolo to Bloodlet within 40 feet, Margate Bay (swim north from the mooring), Forest dive site on Klein. These are just a few. I would book a trip on the east side with East Coast Divers as our east coast is amazing but if you would like to dive it from shore contact Bas Tol at Bas Tol diving. He is the best east coast diving dive guide on the island hands down. Great dives there. I would recommend some other places but I don't know your experience level. Get with the Mangrove center to see the mangroves and their upside down jellyfish. This is just some starters. If you would like to learn more and see more, including get a reef Id refresher, please come see our YouTube channel. We just put one out on the Hilma Hooker wreck where you can learn about its history and see it at night as well as get a dive briefing and if you want to be notified when we release new content please give us a subscrbe:

https://www.youtube.com/c/ADiversLife
 
Welcome to ScubaBoard and Howdy! from Texas! Let us know all about your scuba adventures in Bonaire!
 
Hi Fellow Divers,

I am in San Francisco and I looking forward to diving in Bonaire this fall. Anything I must see while I am there?

Thank you and kind regards,
D

I've been in '10, '12, '14, and '19 but I'm no expert. I'm kind of a "wow" person so if something doesn't really stand out, "wow", I don't remember it. The Hilma Hooker is worth the effort. For fun, find the actual name of the ship on it, near the stern. If you dive past the actual ship, across the sandy bottom the direction the aerial or mast points, more towards the bow in direction from the mast, you can find a memorial on the bottom to someone special to the area, I forget the name. I believe it was "Small Wall" which isn't that small, which is a vertical dive, more or less, and was special to see. Over the years the reef seems to have degraded and the clarity of the water has varied towards "not as clear", but, being used to Lake Travis near Austin, it's amazing diving there. One of the best parts of Bonaire ("Boh-nair" as they pronounce it, to my ear) is the local people. I've driven all over the place and visited a number of dive sites by driving a vehicle (of course) in a foreign (to us) country and had zero problems with anyone there. It's for sure not Mexico.

There's an Italian restaurant there, I forget the name, which is next door to some dive shop, which has been there for many years and was worth going to.

The last day you're there it's advisable not to dive (because you'll be flying within 24 hours, give or take), so in '19 we decided to drive the Washington whatever park at the north end. This is personal preference, but I'd skip that.

The salt-production area towards the southern end of the island is a neat thing to see. Over the 4 trips there was a lot of conflicting information regarding diving the "Salt Pier" where they actually load the cargo ships with the salt produced there. Some of the comms indicated that you couldn't dive there unless you had a guide and sounded ominous. We dived that on each trip, without a guide, with no problem, but we knew not to go there when there was a ship docked at the pier. One time, after having read some dire-sounding "you must have a guide" stuff there, we asked the workers who were present if we could dive there and they gave us their approval. Whether it was their place to give it or not, we felt safe doing so and did.

The local language is Papiamento. While most everyone speaks English, it's a nice thing, I think, to show some respect and at least make some connection with the locals by saying what little I know of it: Good day, "bon dia", good afternoon, "bon tarde", good evening, "bon noche", where "bon" is pronounced like "bone" and the "e" (tarde and noche) have a long A sound, if I recall correctly. I got serious props when I told a local who owns a shop not too far from the police station, "pasa un dooche (sp?) dia" where "dooche" is pronounced like the feminine-care stuff but with a long E sound which (dooshee), there, means something akin to "sweet"; "have a sweet/nice/pleasant day".

It's a neat country.

--HC
 
I've been in '10, '12, '14, and '19 but I'm no expert. I'm kind of a "wow" person so if something doesn't really stand out, "wow", I don't remember it. The Hilma Hooker is worth the effort. For fun, find the actual name of the ship on it, near the stern. If you dive past the actual ship, across the sandy bottom the direction the aerial or mast points, more towards the bow in direction from the mast, you can find a memorial on the bottom to someone special to the area, I forget the name. I believe it was "Small Wall" which isn't that small, which is a vertical dive, more or less, and was special to see. Over the years the reef seems to have degraded and the clarity of the water has varied towards "not as clear", but, being used to Lake Travis near Austin, it's amazing diving there. One of the best parts of Bonaire ("Boh-nair" as they pronounce it, to my ear) is the local people. I've driven all over the place and visited a number of dive sites by driving a vehicle (of course) in a foreign (to us) country and had zero problems with anyone there. It's for sure not Mexico.

There's an Italian restaurant there, I forget the name, which is next door to some dive shop, which has been there for many years and was worth going to.

The last day you're there it's advisable not to dive (because you'll be flying within 24 hours, give or take), so in '19 we decided to drive the Washington whatever park at the north end. This is personal preference, but I'd skip that.

The salt-production area towards the southern end of the island is a neat thing to see. Over the 4 trips there was a lot of conflicting information regarding diving the "Salt Pier" where they actually load the cargo ships with the salt produced there. Some of the comms indicated that you couldn't dive there unless you had a guide and sounded ominous. We dived that on each trip, without a guide, with no problem, but we knew not to go there when there was a ship docked at the pier. One time, after having read some dire-sounding "you must have a guide" stuff there, we asked the workers who were present if we could dive there and they gave us their approval. Whether it was their place to give it or not, we felt safe doing so and did.

The local language is Papiamento. While most everyone speaks English, it's a nice thing, I think, to show some respect and at least make some connection with the locals by saying what little I know of it: Good day, "bon dia", good afternoon, "bon tarde", good evening, "bon noche", where "bon" is pronounced like "bone" and the "e" (tarde and noche) have a long A sound, if I recall correctly. I got serious props when I told a local who owns a shop not too far from the police station, "pasa un dooche (sp?) dia" where "dooche" is pronounced like the feminine-care stuff but with a long E sound which (dooshee), there, means something akin to "sweet"; "have a sweet/nice/pleasant day".

It's a neat country.

--HC
122 Papiamento Phrases: How to Speak Papiamento (Word List and Resources)
 
From my very limited handful of trips, "It's all good" is a very accurate statement.

If you asked me about my worst dive in Bonaire, I would reply, "It was awesome!"
 
Get a lion fish sandwich at the food truck out by windsock if she is still there, and they haven't been hunted to extinction since 2016, quite possible since they are delicious.

Definitely do a couple boat dives off of Klein, and the north end up off the park.

Even if you are staying in an all inclusive take a stroll thru the Van Den Tweel find some new to you dutch delight.

Check out the micro brewery in town, and the distillery up in Rincon.

Drive over and check out the windward side, wear actual shoes.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

Back
Top Bottom