Bonaire 'must-do' dives

[Dannybot]

Headed to Bonaire in June, part of the Invasion. I was wondering from others what are considered the must do dives.

I have been there before, but only made a couple shore dives; Hilma Hooker and Plaza house reef. I usually just do the boat dives, but do want to do some shore dives.

Thanks

 

[uncfnp]

Karpata
Tolos
Margate Bay
Salt Pier
Bari (night too)
The Cliff
Invisibles
Oil Slick
1000 Steps


IMO, Hilma Hooker was a disappointment but that's just me. I did like the double reef there.


Enjoy!

 

[hroark2112]

Drive up to Nukove. The entry is interesting to say the least!

 

[drrich2]

Karpata - well known & lush reef.

Tolo - good dive, & long as you're headed to Karpata & having to take the long way back anyway, dive here first.

1,000 Steps - nice dive, plus the stair way is scenic for land shots & a novelty.

Oil Slick Leap - good site, neat giant stride entry.

Andrea I & II - good sites, fairly easy entries, maybe not must-do's, but good.

The Cliff - a shallow wall, which is unusual here.

Hilma Hooker - well, it's the big wreck dive & well-known. Swim to the far side of it for a better chance to see tarpon &/or barracuda.

Windsock - if you shore night dive. Easy entry & exit near the big pier, which makes it easy to see where to get out at night.

Sweet Dreams - nice, lush reef.

There are plenty of other good sites; I like Red Beryl, Angel City, etc... Invisibles has a nice reef, though the swim out if fairly long.

Richard.

 

[Dannybot]

Wow, that was fast! Keep them coming, and I'll share with fellow SB'er's.

 

[wwguy]

There's no shortage of previous similar threads in this forum, like this one for example:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/abc-islands/449303-best-bonaire-dive-sites.html

 

[robint]

It all depends what you are looking for....

but I say EVERYONE needs to dive:

Oil Slick Leap.... very cool giant stride off a cliff, ladder exit, nice dive

Karpata.... we did it by boat but you can shore dive it
or Rappel..... next to Karpata and excellent, can only get there by boat or drifting from another site, great "mushroom forest of coral"

House Reef from SandDollar-Buddy's-CaptDons.... really fishy and great coral

night dive at Buddy's... Charlie the Tarpon will join you and hunt by your dive light. One of my favorite night dive sites ever. He is freakin' huge and last trip he brought 2 buddies with him, so 3 tarpon circling us the whole dive. We did it twice during our trip, just love Charlie.

 

[Kharon]

I would add:

Angel City for the double reef.

Tori's Reef for the amazingly easy entry/exit, neat stuff on the swim out and tons of soft coral.

Yellow Sub for the easy entry/exit and the reef in both directions.

Saw turtles on both almost every dive there.

 

[gbf]

HH can be underwhelming if you get there later in the day. Once the hordes drop on it the tarpon leave and it becomes just a big boat. If you are going to dive it in the day, get there early. Also, I did it a couple of times a night. It's a great night dive, but keep in mind it is really dark there. There are no back porch lights or street lights, so trust your compass. Watch for urchins getting in and out - and absolutely nothing left in the truck.

 

[Headers]

Margate Bay is my absolute favorite
Petries Pillar
Karpata
Chez Hines (boat only)
Oil Slick Leap
Hidden Beach
Bachelor's Beach

No shortage of great dives on Bonaire