bonaire full moon new moon???

[chauncy19]

I am on Bonaire now thinking about another trip next year. there has been some surge happening right now. i am being told its because of the new moon. if its true would like to avoid it next year. any thoughts about moon cycle influencing tides here? or is just luck of the draw? some sights have been better than others or less effected.
am fluid about when I come back next year.
thanks for your thoughts

 

[jimw]

I've made around 15 Bonaire trips and have not noticed much of a tidal change at any time. There is a weather pattern over the Atlantic that is causing unusually large waves in SE Florida for the past several days----or maybe it was Chavez' death in Venezuela!! (;>)

 

[herman]

I am with jim, it's just a bad weather pattern or Chavez's ghost. Other than maybe a slightly higher tide and or currents the only other effect of the full moon is on the coral spawn and that is in Sept.
Keep an eye out on the surface close to shore, there has been a large manta cruising the area for weeks. We saw it at the Hooker 3 weeks ago, it was maybe 15 feet off shore at the time.

 

[Oldbear]

Here is a tidal chart ...

Tide Times and Tide Chart for Kralendijk, Bonaire

---------- Post added March 14th, 2013 at 10:58 AM ----------

FYI...

High Tides & Moon Phases | eHow.com

 

[chauncy19]

thanks for input. surge has been going on for a couple of days now so its not new moon related. maybe a storm further north but no way to know and avoid that in my future. thanks herman the manta is still around unaffected by any surge real or imagined
diving has been great surge or no surge

 

[Oldbear]

...diving has been great surge or no surge

Most people have to pay lots of money for the a ride like a surge can provide

 

[chauncy19]

did my last dive this morning and had an encounter with the manta. who cares about the surge!
but really could do with out it :-(
oh well later

 

[jimw]

Where has the Manta been sighted in recent days? I really hope it sticks around for a few more weeks as we will be there!!! I recall being sloshed around on the steps at Habitat a few years ago--slightly annoying but not huge. It just wasn't clear around the dive dock and I couldn't shoot pics of stuff growing on the pilings.

 

[chauncy19]

its been sighted along the north shore. i swam with it yesterday at the black durgon inn.
a bunch of people i know see it at andrea doing their morning walk. should be around on your visit!!

 

[gert7to3]

The nice thing about Bonaire is that if there is surge in one location, going towards the opposite end of the Island may ameliorate it. Another alternative is taking a boat out to Klein. The dive ops will simply go in on the lee side of the island. Klein also acts a s shield for some of the middle dive sites such as from Cliff down to Something Special. Finally, even minor changes in the orientation of the dive sites to the wave train can make big differences. On the southern sites watch the waves as you drive.