Bonaire site recommendations for my first and last trip

[tursiops]

I am into big animal photography, such as turtles, rays, goliath groupers and sharks etc. Bonaire is not known for big animal encounters as it is more of a macro place. I will be bringing my 60 mm macro lens for it will see more use on this trip than most others.

---------- Post added October 23rd, 2014 at 07:59 PM ----------



Thanks tursiops. Big animals are major attraction for me but if there is any particular area of Bonaire that would be suited for other types of wide angle photography like reef-escapes and wrecks then I would be interested in that. I will be diving the Hilma as that is a well known wreck there.

OK, that helps. You will find LOTS of turtles, especially at the northern sites and on Klein. The Reefscapes on Klein, especially in the shallow waters, are terrific; mixtures of staghorn, blade fire coral, soft coral, and lots of small fish flitting about. Here is an example.

There are some very good wide-angle reefscapes at the northern sites, too, like Karpata and especially Rappel. Country Gardens has some huge boulders along the reef that are totally covered with coral and life; cool. Very interesting topography at Ebo's Special on Klein. The second reef in the double-reef system at Angel City has fabulous huge coral formations, makes you feel like a munchkin, but I've never figured out how to capture it in a picture!

For macro, you will be in heaven. Take a look at Anna Deloach's BlennyWatcher.org blog for a map of where all the rare blennys are. Here's a shot I took last week (just got back).

 

[drrich2]

Granted, not a lot of big stuff on Bonaire, aside from being crowded with tarpon on some night dives.

Fairly big stuff I see from time to time: Green moray, barracuda, tarpon, cubera snapper, tiger grouper, rainbow parrotfish, midnight parrotfish, eagle ray, southern stingray. All sea turtles I've seen there were green or hawksbill, most smaller than or up to the size of a garbage can lid, but have seen a big hawksbill off Bonaire.

Richard.

 

[Roatan Joe]

salt pier is pretty barren as far as I'm concerned..

Glad I'm not the only one that felt that way. I felt like I was swimming around an underwater junk yard. Lots of tarpon though...

 

[boat sju]

I think everyone should get up to Nukove at least once.

 

[SharksAreFriends]

Captain Sinbad, where are your favorite places to dive?

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Captain Sinbad, where are your favorite places to dive?

Morehead City North Carolina. The shark population is so awesome! Here are some pictures.



I did Utila this year. It was not big animal intensive site like North Carolina above but it offered wide angle opportunities in terms of terrain and sea-escapes.



Bonaire may not have walls like the one on the extreme left but I am sure some sites should still allow a lot of other wide angle opportunities.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Dear Captain S, I think once you arrive on Bonaire and dive on Bonaire it will not be your last dive trip. I could be wrong, but......I am of the opinion that you will be pleasantly surprised... also, how is Woodbridge these days, I have lived in Mount Vernon...... I hope you have a great time in May and I am glad some dive buddy finally twisted your arm to get to this fabulous dive island.

Hello DeeDee: I hope you are right about me being pleasantly surprised. I do not believe in going to the same place twice unless it is happens to be within driving distance. If I am paying for a plane ticket then I prefer to land at new place each time. Thus if I do not return back to a place, it should not be held against it. It will be mostly the fault of my own travel patterns. Woodbridge is as boring as ever diving wise. Not much here except rock quarries. Since you are not far we can do NC sometime.

 

[Hintermann]

I am booked to dive Bonaire from May 16 - May 23.

I must confess that from all the guide books, trip reports and reviews I read about different places Bonaire never really appealed to me.
CS

I am going to Bonaire for the first and last time in May 2015 too, but 19th to 26th. Like CS, somehow Bonaire never appealed to me but in my case, I know at least the reason to some extent. Being a liveaboard cruise lover, the idea of a week or more of land based diving is not top on my list and having been to a few places where there was no other option eg Cozumel, Malta & Gozo etc, I disliked the wasted time and hassle that goes with land based diving. But with Bonaire in particular, another reason is an extremely ( and I mean extremely) annoying UK based agent named Bonaire Fun Travel who badgered me so often with unsolicited e-mail with patronising lectures on why I should cancel my booked trip and go to Bonaire instead that he put me right off the destination.

I guess I'll know in May but I cannot imagine Bonaire being better than Raja Ampat that I am going next week or Bali / Wakatobi that comes after the Bonaire trip. Also, I'll be going to Bonaire immediately after a liveaboard cruise of the Socorro islands on board the Rocio del Mar and although it is totally different kind of diving, I suspect that I know memories of which part of the trip would excite me more when I return home.

 

[KeithG]

just thought i would check: you do know that fish swim around...

i refuse to play the "best site" game as i do not understand it. great yesterday may be so so today.

i have never repeated the "same dive" even though i have dove many sites at several different locations many times. in bonaire we dive the divi dock at least twice a day. never the same dive. always different. not tired of it yet. little need to hit 27 different sites. the best site is my next dive. regardless of the site.

go left, go right, stay shallow, go deep, go deeper, swim more, swim less. the are so many ways to dive the same site. and always with a different mix of creatures.

for terrain variation we do afternoon boat dives mostly on klien.

 

[deedeediver]

Hey there Captain S, if you like large animals, definetly do not miss the east coast dive! But again like Roatan Joe says, sea life moves... however, i think you would get some great pictures... just my 2 cents :