Bonaire, salt pier and town pier question.

[DavidHickey]

WELL I promised my last question concerning my trip was the last but I have ONE MORE!! Heading to Bonaire in 12 days and starting to get excited. Maybe this post would be better on the vacation forum, but its not really about were to go as opposed to how do I plan it. From what I hear 2 of the best dives in Bonaire are the Salt Pier and Town Pier BUT you have to have permission from the Harbor Master. Hmmmm being from landlocked Old Ohio I don't even know what a harbor master is let alone how to get him to give me permission. Do ya have to grease his palm or talk real nice to him? I also hear the dive has to be in the presence of a dive master. I'm going with our LDS and there are about 20 of us and they have talked of these dives but its not something I think they are planning on scheduling as a group dive or anything I think its a everybody take care of themselves type of thing. I'm staying at the Divi Flamingo. Does their operation arrange these dives on request or do I need to try to contact a guide in Bonaire to arrange the dives. And if so do I need to do that in advance or when I arrive. Any help would be appreciated especially if you know of an outfit to contact.
Thanks
David

 

[johnny_bravo]

When I dove with Toucan Divers at the Plaza Resort Bonaire the DMs arranged everything and it cost 20 USD per person I believe.

I'm thinking you can have the same arrangement with the DMs at Divi. Salt Pier was a great night dive but I didn't get a chance to do Town Pier.

The Hilma Hooker, 1000 steps, and Alice in Wonderland were my favorite sites.

Cheers.

-J.-

 

[jbd]

I would contact the dive operation and ask them about it. They may or may not handle the arrangements but if they don't maybe they could steer you to someone who does. It never hurts to ask. I would find out as much as I could prior to the trip so you don't have to waste valuable down there hunting for the info.

Have fun down there!!

 

[downdeep]

Sand Dollar handles all the arrangements as well.
We hired a DM from Plaza to take us and he made the arrangements. He escorted three of us and we saw some amazing macro life. My favorite is the juvenille trunk fish. They look like spotted peas.
I agree, Hilma Hooker is a nice wreck. I also liked Ole Blue.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

When you arrive, talk to whatever diving op you will be diving with. Tell them you want to go to these sites ... they'll give you some paperwork you have to fill out. You will need to provide them the paperwork and your passport, and they will arrange the necessary permission. They do limit the number of divers at the Town Pier at any given time, and so will "assign" a time for your dive.

FWIW - do the Town Pier as a night dive, and the Salt Pier as a day dive ... they just work out better that way.

FWIW2 - both of these are working piers ... if there is shipping traffic in at the time, you may not get to dive them. Fortunately, they're unoccupied more often than not.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[trigfunctions]

Do not miss the Town Pier night dive. It is world famous and amazing. Your hotel / dive shop will be able to set it up for you. Be sure to request it right away so they have time to schedule it.

 

[diversteve]

Town Pier is only done at night in small groups. My buddy did it with our DM and another couple. There actually is some limitation on the number of people allowed to dive it each night.

Salt Pier is only available when the transport ships aren't loading. Since the new U.S. Port restrictions went into effect last year, both are DM-escorted only dives now.

Having done both, my buddy said Town Pier was overrated. Unless you're a big orange cup coral fan. Salt Pier in the morning when the sun streams through the pilings is epic though. See Scubadiving Oct 04' - The Great Dives photo section to see what I mean.

 

[dvrliz1]

My dear David,

You personally do not need permission, your dive shop has to request a permit to go to the town and salt piers. This is done for 2 reason. One contol of the VERY sensitive eco environment, they want to control how many people are on the piers at one time and secondly, 9-11 rules and ships being in. Ports that accept ships that will return to the US with cargo HAVE to abide by the 9-11 rules. Dive shop owners only have 24 hours to get a permit, so it is difficult to schedule these dives and you will never know more than 1 day in advance if the shop gets the permit to dive. Personally, I prefer the Salt Piers at night. EVERYONE wants to to the town pier and at times even with only 8 people (max they can take, I think), you can feel a little bunched together. Salt piers, much larger great macro and micro picture taking. Last time I was out there we counted a school of 56 barracudas sleeping under one of the piers. You also need a guide for snorkeling as well. Enjoy! Liz

 

[scubaaaronh]

Our best dive there was on the town pier. We did it with Dee Scarr and it was the best scuba expierence i have had yet. The marine life know who she is and come right up to you and her expecting handouts. it was a great photo experience also as fish wew within a few feet of you and would just seem to pose for you. It was a little pricey compared to toucan but was well worth the dive. We are starting to plan our next trip back right now and i plan on another dive with Dee. Check out her site at http://www.touchthesea.com/ and take a look at my pics (link in my sig) some are of the dive with her. I wish i was going with you.

 

[trigfunctions]

Town Pier is definitely not overrated. On our night dive we saw turtles, decorator crabs walking along the bottom, seahorses, free swimming eels, extended brittle stars and basket stars, and the usual cast of night fish. The coral colors are AMAZING - you will feel like you are flying through a Walt Disney cartoon.