Bonaire sites question

[jepuskar]

I have over 100 dives in Bonaire and experienced current on just a few....one was at Margarat Bay like Herman mentioned, but I just let it take me as most of the entire South part of the island is easy to get in/out of. Sandy and I do most of our dives on the south side this way...current or no current.

Even with current its not too bad. We did a dive at Red Slave which is right at a point you would think there would be current, but none! Current is really not an issue in Bonaire, but like others have said...read your OW book on this topic just in case...nothing is really predictable with the ocean except its gonna be wet.

 

[mjh]

We dove the south a lot and as mentioned the closer you get to the Lighthouse the more current you meet. 95% of all sites we found it not to be a issue. Here is a trip report, enjoy your trip...

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=97803&highlight=Bonaire+A+la+carte

 

[rabbithill]

Thanks to everyone for the info. I am lazy, so don't want to fight strong currents. My usual dive spots are Point Lobos or the Breakwater in the Monterey/Carmel area and I have been to the Channel Islands once (gorgeous!) so I have nothing to compare to when people talk about currents, easy/difficult shore entries, etc. I know people say that if you get certified in NoCal with our current, surge, cold water, kelp and poor vis, that diving most anywhere else is a piece of cake. But I want a bit more feedback before plunking down several thousand dollars for my sister and I to go someplace else.

I actually ruled out Coz because my sister and I aren't sure we want to do drift diving (and there is only one reef for shore diving). The concept is great, but we would want to have a super operator that we trusted implicitly because we are not the adventurous types. Very much a recreational thing and not an "extreme" sport. A bit like a Sunday picnic in the park only underwater.

-Cynthia

I've also only been once, but on the jillion or so dives we did while there, there was never more than a slight current.

RoatanMan summarized the drill accurately above: head straight out to your intended max depth, turn whichever direction the current (if any) is running turn around at an appropriate PSI until you get back to where you started. Extremely easy shore diving (easier than NorCal shore diving by a long shot, in my opinion).

I highly recommend Bonaire, by the way. I liked it better than anywhere else I've been diving so far (Belize, Coz, NorCal, SoCal, Baja and Hawaii).

Edit: I just re-read your question and noticed that you may be looking for a strong current and drift diving, in which case, I recommend Cozumel. No need to kick at all, really, just drop down, float along, and meet the boat wherever you decide to surface. That said, Bonaire doesn't need to be terribly strenuous, either. There is more than enough stuff to see on a tank's worth of air in a very small amount of space. I saw some of the coolest stuff of our entire trip while bumming around in the shallows on extended safety stops.

 

[D_O_H]

Thanks to everyone for the info. I am lazy, so don't want to fight strong currents. My usual dive spots are Point Lobos or the Breakwater in the Monterey/Carmel area and I have been to the Channel Islands once (gorgeous!) so I have nothing to compare to when people talk about currents, easy/difficult shore entries, etc. I know people say that if you get certified in NoCal with our current, surge, cold water, kelp and poor vis, that diving most anywhere else is a piece of cake. But I want a bit more feedback before plunking down several thousand dollars for my sister and I to go someplace else.

I actually ruled out Coz because my sister and I aren't sure we want to do drift diving (and there is only one reef for shore diving). The concept is great, but we would want to have a super operator that we trusted implicitly because we are not the adventurous types. Very much a recreational thing and not an "extreme" sport. A bit like a Sunday picnic in the park only underwater.

-Cynthia

Sounds like you'd be happy with either one. Bonaire is great because you do everything at your own pace. Spend 90 minutes at 25 feet and not really go anywhere. Wake up whenever you wake up, have a leisurely breakfast, tour the island a bit and then do a dive at an inviting looking beach. Whatever you want is what you do. This is what Bonaire is all about, in my opinion. Of course, my ideal pace is more like eat, dive, dive, eat, dive, dive, dive, eat, dive (or cocktails), sleep and repeat.

I still think Coz might be best for you guys. There's nothing particularly scary about drift diving in Coz. You just hang out with the divemaster as you limp along in the current and then ascend with him/her when the dive is over. The boat follows your bubbles while you're below and should be right there waiting for you when you surface. Christi with Blue XT~Sea runs a great operation. Her DMs are outstanding and I'm sure you guys would feel comfortable with them.

Either way, you can't really lose. And you're right - diving in the Carribean is going to be significantly easier than what you're used to up here.

 

[ECPaul]

Thanks to everyone for the info. I am lazy, so don't want to fight strong currents. My usual dive spots are Point Lobos or the Breakwater in the Monterey/Carmel area and I have been to the Channel Islands once (gorgeous!) so I have nothing to compare to when people talk about currents, easy/difficult shore entries, etc. I know people say that if you get certified in NoCal with our current, surge, cold water, kelp and poor vis, that diving most anywhere else is a piece of cake. But I want a bit more feedback before plunking down several thousand dollars for my sister and I to go someplace else.

I actually ruled out Coz because my sister and I aren't sure we want to do drift diving (and there is only one reef for shore diving). The concept is great, but we would want to have a super operator that we trusted implicitly because we are not the adventurous types. Very much a recreational thing and not an "extreme" sport. A bit like a Sunday picnic in the park only underwater.

-Cynthia

Yeah - I have to echo what D_O_H said about Coz and the currents. Please understand that drift diving is not an extreme sport by any stretch of the imagination!!!

We are relatively new divers and went there back in March and we all had a fantastic time with the currents and drift diving. Even my 12 and 15 year old did great - you just drop down to the reef and enjoy the ride. The only kicking you do is to re-orient yourself or to get out of the current and into an underwater "eddy" - often a great place to check out what is living under some ledge. Don't let the idea of drift diving intimidate you - we actually found it easier than diving in the Florida Keys in quite shallow water where we had to deal with a small amount of current and some surge in "non-drift" dive conditions. We plan to go back to Coz many more times (fantastic viz, great dive ops, and inexpensive), but first we plan to explore some other options like Cayman or Bonaire. Planning a year-end trip as we speak.

 

[ECPaul]

Yeah - I have to echo what D_O_H said about Coz and the currents. Please understand that drift diving is not an extreme sport by any stretch of the imagination!!!

We are relatively new divers and went there back in March and we all had a fantastic time with the currents and drift diving. Even my 12 and 15 year old did great - you just drop down to the reef and enjoy the ride. The only kicking you do is to re-orient yourself or to get out of the current and into an underwater "eddy" - often a great place to check out what is living under some ledge. Don't let the idea of drift diving intimidate you - we actually found it easier than diving in the Florida Keys in quite shallow water where we had to deal with a small amount of current and some surge in "non-drift" dive conditions. We plan to go back to Coz many more times (fantastic viz, great dive ops, and inexpensive), but first we plan to explore some other options like Cayman or Bonaire. Planning a year-end trip as we speak.

Cynthia - almost forgot to mention that there is more than one place to go shore diving at Coz. We went right off of the beach at our hotel (El Presidente - you do not have to stay at that expensive hotel - just rent tanks and weights from Scuba Du - the resident dive op). During a couple of shore dives there in 20 feet of water we saw lots of morays, stingrays, flamingo tongues, giant parrotfish, angels, you name it. And although we did not try it, I hear that there is pretty decent shore diving just off of the Caribe Blu hotel as well. Certainly nothing like what Bonaire has to offer with respect to shore diving, but still a couple of places to do a checkout dive when you first get there.

 

[diversteve]

For effortless diving, I'd go to Bonaire. For one thing it's much less crowded than Coz. Also the shorediving opportunities from any resort on Bonaire are excellent. I think you'll find that all of the drift diving in Coz is from a boat.

We stay at Belmar condos to the south of town, it's 50' to the dive pier from the first floor condos, tanks are available there 24/7 so you just gear up and walk down 6 steps into the water. The water in June was flat calm the week we were there.

We did a similar thing at Capt' Dons and Bonaire Dive/Adventure to the north. Cliff at Capt' Dons is one of the only mini-walls on the island and Bari Reef at BD&A is the most prolific reef in the Caribbean for fish species. The hardest part was the walk from the parking lot to the dock. It seems like every resort has a dive dock with broad steps leading into the water. Most have showers/rinse tanks and some sort of lockers right on their dock also, or nearby. It really is effortless diving.

If you want to try drift diving while there, get on a boat out to Klein Bonaire and dive Hands Off. It's a moderately fast drift around a point, I was even able to film during the dive. We did several boat dives with Toucan Divers, they're located at the Plaza Resort. There are several good dives at Klein or off Bonaire that are better done by boat so you might want to consider a combination of both boat and shorediving.

For shore diving Bonaire can't be beat, there's more divesites than you can dive - I think it's like 60+. The only tricky part about some(most) of them is that there's coral rubble offshore that you have to walk over, so bring good treaded boots. And if you don't like the looks of one, in some areas to the south, the next one is 100 yds. away. Because of how flat it is, you can actually see about 1/2 dozen dive sites from the road in certain areas. Usually anywhere you see a truck parked near the beach there's divers in the water. The north is a little more rocky but all the sites are well marked, just look for the yellow rocks as you're driving along.

Some of the best dive sites have sandy beach areas that make entry a breeze. One of the best dives there, Salt Pier, is also one of the easiest entries. And Town Pier, the famous night dive has steps leading into the water. Both are now DM escorted dives due to the Port regulation changes this year.

We dove multiple sites in the south and the only current we experienced was one afternoon at Vista Blue, it was ripping, bending the live corals over 90'. But we just swam against it and let it drift us back to our starting point. I've been in far worse rips off San Diego.

Steve