Bonaire - security?

[diversteve]

Whats a troll? Do you like the diving on Bonaire? Are the good shore dives easy to locate? Is there a map for the dives?

A troll is when you post for the purpose of inciting others to post defending their position when you know you're just doing it for that reason. Example: post asking why DIR divers think their method is better if you want to incite a riot on this board....

Diving on Bonaire for me was different than I expected. For the last few years all I've read was about how great it is there and I have to say it was pretty spectacular, especially the live coral growth and variety, however the fish life was disappointing. There are no big pelagics except for a few tarpon and the occasional shark, we saw some, but not a lot of turtles, and there were a lot of what I'd call average reef fish, like bass and different sorts of average/ugly fish. We did see some triggers, parrotfish on every dive, usually puffers and on one dive we saw a family of squid. I guess with the buildup Bonaire gets I expected more. Note that it's the #1 destination in Scubadiving's top 100 this month, so a lot of people must like it. Personally I saw more interesting things in Cayman than in Bonaire.

You couldn't ask for a nicer, more friendly place than Bonaire though. Everybody visits with everybody else, local or foreigner. Don't expect to get through the line at the food store or anywhere else without a little chat. Even at the restaurants, you quickly learn that you have to make a "check" sign to get your bill, the servers don't care if you stay all night. You go on "island time" about the 2nd day you're there and then it's all good.

Shore dive sites on Bonaire are simple to locate. There's only one main road that runs North/South along the west side of the island, in most places 100 yds. or so from the ocean. Each of the 50 or so divesites is marked on the road by a bright yellow painted rock with the name of the site on it. You just pull off the road, park, gear up and dive the site. At most places we were the only ones there.

There are a couple of maps online, one's at infobonaire.com. The best one I've come across is from the old Skindiver magazine site at: http://www.skin-diver.com/bonaire/main.html. Surprisingly it still works even though the magazine was bought out by Rodale's a couple years ago. There's also a couple of books about Bonaire on Amazon that have divemaps/descriptions, however the best one with descriptions only - no pictures - is published on Bonaire by J. Armacost who's a naturalist that lives there. You can get it at most diveshops for $10, it's the one with the bright yellow cover.

 

[diversteve]

I am so tired of hearing about Bonaire and theft. A lot of people make it sound like you can't walk down the street or park your vehicle anywhere without something being stolen or defaced all the time. NOT SO! We have been going to Bonaire for over 20 years have been fortunate to only have 1 minor problem - a cooler taken from the back of a pick up. Please!!!!!!! Where else are you unrestricted as far as your ability to dive? Is there any other island in the caribbean that you can truly dive from ANYWHERE, ANYTIME you want. Most islands you don't and shouldn't leave the resorts. That's why you don't hear about "crime" on other islands. Resorts are created on other islands so you don't have to leave... What fun is that? I personally love exploring the island and have found that I can walk ANYWHERE ANYTIME DAY OR NIGHT on Bonaire and not be bothered. I'll take Bonaire anytime....as long as you use common sense you will be just fine.

Do I ever agree with you Liz. It's getting so tiring having people restart this thread about the "crime" problem on Bonaire. We read the warnings last year before our trip and by the 2nd or 3rd day went back to leaving our divebags/sunglasses etc. in the truck with the windows down. We never even saw anyone who looked like they might be interested in our stuff, and at most dive sites we were the only ones there, with just an occasional car going by on the road. I honestly felt safer in Bonaire at night than I did during our layover in downtown San Juan during the day. Most of the people in our condo complex (including us) left the doors open during the day. Where else can you do that these days?

I was warned a couple years ago by the car rental agent on Maui to not leave anything in the car at certain public beaches where there were hundreds of people around. So maybe I should start a thread about how unsafe Hawaii is.

I read somewhere recently that they caught the three teen-agers thought responsible for a lot of the theft - their relatives turned them in.

 

[herman]

Whats a troll? Do you like the diving on Bonaire? Are the good shore dives easy to locate? Is there a map for the dives?

The dives are very easy to locate, just look for a rock about the size of a basketball painted bright yellow beside the road. Here is a link to best map I know of on line.
http://www.skyviews.com/bonaire/map.html

 

[SubMariner]

Whats a troll? Do you like the diving on Bonaire? Are the good shore dives easy to locate? Is there a map for the dives?

The "troll" thing has already been explained, so I'll not dredge that up again.

Diving on Bonaire is easy: drive around the Island until you spot a yellow rock. Find a place to park, gear up, & get in the water. While it's true that some entries can be a little more challenging than others (e.g. Oil Slip Leap) on the whole, the diving is fairly relaxed.

What do you see? The variety of fish & health of the reefs is excellent, something you can't really say about all diving destinations in The Caribbean. Our walls are lined with umpteen u/w 8"x10" photos from around the world, and Bonaire is a prominent part of the display.

Will you find whale sharks or other large pelagics? No. But you WILL find turtles, reef sharks, mantas, 6' morays, very large mutton snappers, snooks, tarpon, and countless other species. Or, at the right time of the year, shallows full of mating squid all flashing neon communications at each other in colours you can't even name.

Frankly, I get more than a little miffed at "dive snobs" who think that if it isn't big, it isn't worth looking at. They usually are the ones who try to set the swim record for most "ground" covered while submerged. And then they wonder why they get left out of the conversation when people start talking about the amazing seahorses, frog fish, octopi etc. they saw during their dive. Duuuuhhhh!!!! :dunce:

So is it worth going to Bonaire? Yes!!!

We'll be back there in February.

 

[herman]

Here is an example of a dive site on Bonaire, the photos were take this Dec. The first 3 are photos of a site called Witches Hut and is one of the very easy entry and exit sites but well worth diving. The last is called 1000 Steps (67 actually) but you can get some idea of what the shore looks like.

SM, when are you there in Feb? I am thinking of going somewhere around the last of Feb or first of March and Bonaire is def on the short list.

 

[ed3362]

It sounds like a divers dream island.
Thanks for all your information.

 

[SubMariner]

SM, when are you there in Feb? I am thinking of going somewhere around the last of Feb or first of March and Bonaire is def on the short list.

We're already booked @ Buddys for the 1st week of Feb (starting Feb 2). It will be great seeing Cornina & the dive gang again!

 

[diversteve]

Will you find whale sharks or other large pelagics? No. But you WILL find turtles, reef sharks, mantas, 6' morays, very large mutton snappers, snooks, tarpon, and countless other species. Or, at the right time of the year, shallows full of mating squid all flashing neon communications at each other in colours you can't even name.

Frankly, I get more than a little miffed at "dive snobs" who think that if it isn't big, it isn't worth looking at. They usually are the ones who try to set the swim record for most "ground" covered while submerged. And then they wonder why they get left out of the conversation when people start talking about the amazing seahorses, frog fish, octopi etc. they saw during their dive. Duuuuhhhh!!!! :dunce:

SM,

I didn't mean for my post to come off that way. I shoot video so I'm very much attuned to the reef creatures on Bonaire. I've spent whole dives within 100' of my starting point. In fact some of our best video was shot at Cliff last year, it was of 2 feather dusters opening and closing in the current. I was just trying to point out that the life on bonaire is more macro-focused in my previous posting and not the big animal encounters you see at other locales. Although we were at Bari one day and a BD&A boat came back from Klein, the group had been snorkeling with Dolphins for over an hour.

I'd go back in a heartbeat (well if it wasn't for the 26 hours it takes us to get there)

 

[dvrliz1]

The next time you go to Bonaire, for video taping try 2 places. Sorobon (snorkle) as it is not that deep. It's amazing to see this large beautiful bluish eye in the coral, get a close up and find out it is a HUGE puffer, also the green turtle missing a leg (fin). I've seen him there a few times. My favorite place is Tori's Reef. You go out the inlet take a left. There are large pieces of coral with incredible juvenile marine life. Let' see I saw 5 different juvy eels (gold spotted, moray, chain link), juvy barracuda, various stages of french angels, thumbnail size queen angel....great soft corals attached to hard corals... You don't want to miss it, so much more. Enjoy

 

[pilot fish]

In order to continue its important work and institute new programs that will preserve Bonaire's environment above and below the water, STINAPA Bonaire, the non-governmental, not-for-profit organization that oversees the Bonaire National Marine Park (BNMP) and Washington-Slagbaai National Park has proposed a restructuring of the BNMP Fee, collected annually from divers.

Beginning April 1, 2005 a new Nature Fee will be introduced giving people year-long access to both National Parks. As of this day all scuba divers entering the BNMP will pay a fee of $25.00 per year. Divers will continue to receive the coveted BNMP Tag. All others who use the waters of the BNMP including snorkelers, windsurfers, kayakers, sport fishermen, kite boarders, etc., will be charged a Nature Fee of $10.00 per year and will also receive a specially designed tag similar to the current BNMP Tag.

With the new Nature Fee, in addition to being allowed to enjoy the Marine Park for a period of one year, all persons who pay the Fee (both divers and other users) and show their tag along with their printed receipt will receive complimentary admission to Washington-Slagbaai National Park throughout the year their tag is valid.

Funds collected from the Nature Fee will continue to be for research, monitoring, education, law enforcement, information distribution and maintenance of the areas STINAPA Bonaire oversees.

For more information visit http://www.stinapa.org.

What law enforcement?