Bonaire "Must Do" Dives?

[guyharrisonphoto]

We are going for the first time, for a week in August. Staying at Capt Don's. We have 2 boat dives per day but will not necessarily use them all. We probably will not return for a long time because we always go different places. So, for 6 days of diving, what would be the "MUST DO" dives for:

1.. Macro stuff, especially frogfish and seahorses
2. Bigger game fish (tarpon, grouper etc)
3. Best hard corals
4. Best soft corals
5. Schooling fish (snappers, jacks etc)
6. Night dive
7. Wreck
And any other dives noted for superlatives (rays, just adventurous dives, anything else special).

We enjoy leisurely house reef dives if they are great, same with good boat dive locations. But, we are up for adventure as well, We are up for pretty much anything except deco or wreck penetration, so depth, remoteness, effort, difficulty in reaching the site, currents, etc are secondary considerations. The quality of the dive comes first.

Also, and 'on land" adventure recommendations would be welcome.

Thanks!!

 

[tursiops]

1. You'll need to ask the local guides where the frogfish and seahorses are, they move around.
2. Lots of Tarpon in the Blue/White Hole on the east side; worth a special boat trip there. A few tarpon zoom around on the "hotel row" (Sand Dollar, buddy Dive, Capt Don's) at night, only occasionally in the day. Groupers are rare....best chances might be way north, Klein, east side.
3. 2nd reef, like at Angel City, and on parts of Klein, way north beyond BOPEC, east side.
4. Down at the south tip (can be tough currents) and east side.
5. Most everywhere, but maybe especially 18 Palm, Salt Pier.
6. Salt Pier is fun. Very late or early in August (depends on the moon phase) you might be able to see Ostracods about 45m after sunset.
7. Premier wreck is the Windjammer, but it is a tech dive, with deco, preferably with trimix. Hilma Hooker is easy. Our Confidence has deteriorated to just rubble. La Machaca is a small fishing boat in front of Capt Don's, worth maybe one dive.

I'll be making my 30th trip there Aug 20 - Sep 10, at Buddy Dive. My favorite dives are Invisibles, Angel City, 18 Palm, Something Special, BD House Reef, Petries' Pillar, Country Gardens, Taylor Made, Candyland, and nearly anything on Klein. Will be getting over to the East side if possible.

Get the little book, Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy, and/or the big book, Dive Guide Bonaire; pretty much everything you need to know.

 

[Lorenzoid]

You'll see tarpon on almost every night dive. Other than tarpon, big fish are rare. Of course, make sure that while you're making your way along the reef you glance out into the blue every once in a while--ya never know.

The house reef at Captain Don's or Buddy Dive would be fine for an easy night dive, though there will usually be quite a few divers in the water. My group always takes advantage of the house reef for uncomplicated night dives wherever we stay on Bonaire (which is why we stay at places with house reefs). For a more serene night dive, venture out to a different site. Any of the many sites with an easy entry/exit make a good night dive. Everyone seems to love Salt Pier as a night dive.

 

[tkaelin]

Your question has been posed before. While everyone has a favorite or favorites, much has to do with that particular dive, weather, lighting, oceanlife encounter on that day. One of the beautiful things about diving Bonaire is almost any dive could be a "must do" dive based upon what was experienced on that dive. Almost anything and everything can be encountered on any dive site. Just depends on luck and timing. We were amazed watching eagle rays feed in the shallows at Invisibles one dive, but haven't seen them again in such numbers feeding on return dives to the same site. I dive Capt Don's house reef and buddys and cliff at least once every day of my 6 day stays (diving thru Capt Don's). One week, we had a frog fish all week on the same coral head. Some of my best encounters have been right there on the house reef. Read up, look at the posts and make your best guess and plans that suits your schedule and style. I like Capt Don PM boat dives to Klein. I like boat dives north. I like shore dives south. You will enjoy each and every dive.

I will say on our last trip (4th) we finally dove Salt Pier and was not expecting to like it all that much. We dove it late afternoon so the sun was setting behind the pier and lit up the pier giving it great lighting. In the shallows on the return turtles were feeding on the bottom in about 9' of water, completely oblivious to our presence. We also dove Windsock at sunset and the dive ended being great. Followed an octo the entire dive. Coming up with the sun setting was amazing.

So I guess what I am saying is all sites can be amazing depending upon the day, weather conditions and what you happen to encounter. Don't sweat the planning too much and make sure you enjoy and dive.

 

[diver0008]

1,000+ dives and never been to Bonaire? That's hard for me to process.

1. Not my thing
2. Cai, East Side, National Park sites
3. North above BOPEC and Karpata
4. South towards Willemstoren Lighthouse
5. Baitballs at the National Park sites sometimes, Salt Pier gets quantities
6. Cai, off the waterfront strip
7. Hilma Hooker

Not much to do on land.

Driving through the park could be considered an adventure, I suppose.

Never did any boat dives on Bonaire. You can do those anywhere. Driving around and jumping in almost anywhere seems to me to be Bonaire's appeal.

I would suggest hiring a guide if you have goals in mind. Bas Tol does guided shore dives. He's very knowledgable and quite into macro too.

 

[jimw]

Guy, Lots of good info here and on www.bonairetalk.com SB is more active right now. Expats and some locals offer good advice on BT.

 

[choiahoy]

My wife and I will be heading back to Bonaire for 18 days on Tuesday.

You've gotten a lot of great advice here already, so I'll try not to be redundant.

You can definitely have a great dive on any site, but I think the healthiest coral and most fish can be found on the unmarked sites in the far north (between Karpata and Boka Slagbaai) and far south (between Sweet Dreams and Red Slave).

Regarding night dives, we tend to stick to ones with a ladder entrance for ease, so generally, the house reef. But on this trip, I have plans to do night dives at Salt Pier and Oil Slick Leap--both of which I've heard are great night dives. Also, if you happen to be there roughly 5 days after the full moon, try an ostracod dive. There's a recent thread about it on scubaboard. We did one at the Lake two years ago and it was unforgettable. VIP and several other ops on the island offer guided ostracod dives as well.

Enjoy your trip and post a report when you get back.

 

[AdivingBel]

Nice night dive at the Cliff. Easy entrance in front of Dive Friends Hamlet. There's also an underwater cable you can use as an easily found marker from the entry/exit to the drop off. DF usually leaves their rinse tanks filled after they close. They do shut off the outdoor shower. If you get there early whlie they're still open, they might leave it on for you. Have fun.

 

[jimw]

Nice night dive at the Cliff. Easy entrance in front of Dive Friends Hamlet. There's also an underwater cable you can use as an easily found marker from the entry/exit to the drop off. DF usually leaves their rinse tanks filled after they close. They do shut off the outdoor shower. If you get there early whlie they're still open, they might leave it on for you. Have fun.

Or Captain Don's dive dock, just go right....

 

[AdivingBel]

Or Captain Don's dive dock, just go right....

True, true. Forgot he was staying at Capt. Don's. Still a nice entry/exit though.