Bonaire Town Pier?

[CUDA_Rick]

Dove the town pier two years ago. It was extremely crowded; little of any regulation of the number of divers in the water. It was worth the trip as I got my first view of a frog fish, but I would not do it again unless I could be assured that the number of divers would be limited.

Another recent complication is the arrival of all the cruise ships. Not only does this limit the number of nights per week that the pier is available for diving, the thrusters on these ships are probably destroying the sea life. I recently read a trip report that reported no frog fish sightings on a recent dive there. Has anyone been recently who can give us an update of what the pier is like now that the large cruise ships have arrived?

 

[driftwood]

When we did Town Pier, there were over fifteen divers in the water at the same time. CBI, Confusion Beyond Imagination. Way too small for that number of people. Town Pier is best done as a vertical rather than a horizontal dive due to the current and close spacing of the columns. You might try Salt Pier instead. Same terrain and critters while being more open. If it is crowded and there is a current, I would consider Town Pier an advanced night dive. Did Town Pier once, and not a chance I would go back under the same conditions.

 

[Martha]

I would definitely recommend it. My husband and I both loved it. If you do decide to dive it, let your dive shop know as soon as you arrive, because the availability may really be limited.

 

[Bosun]

Salt Pier is ok but Town Pier is much more colourful. Arrange it early with a DM as the available slots are limited.

 

[BEM]

We did the pier 3 weeks ago. Really enjoyed it. There were no other divers (except the DM and four of us), as our DM suggested that we go in after 10:00 PM - glad we did.

 

[del_mo]

They don't let you do the Town Pier dive when the tugs or cruise / container ships are docked there. But if you can do the dive NOT the first night it is open, do it. It is crowded, yep, but still unbelievably cool. The first available night seemed to be the most crowded.

 

[D_O_H]

Another vote for not missing this dive. For night diving, I liked the salt pier almost as much, if not more.

I also really enjoyed diving town pier during the day. We've gone twice with Dee Scarr and would definitely do it again. She knows exactly where every little critter in the area lives (and even has named many of them), so you're pretty much guaranteed to see and interact with all kinds of cool stuff.

 

[Damselfish]

Try to do it then you'll know. If you can't get there don't lose sleep over it either. I've done it when crowded and that's a pain, but I don't know if there's any way to predict that.

I've also done it during the day, don't know if people do that now? But it was actually kind of nice, some night type stuff was out anyway in the shadows underneath the pier.

 

[rjchandler]

Another vote for not missing this dive. For night diving, I liked the salt pier almost as much, if not more.

I also really enjoyed diving town pier during the day. We've gone twice with Dee Scarr and would definitely do it again. She knows exactly where every little critter in the area lives (and even has named many of them), so you're pretty much guaranteed to see and interact with all kinds of cool stuff.

How much touching the sea still goes on?

 

[jghflash]

Town Pier is absolutely not to be missed....at least once. I haul a camera around and I find it to be truly amazing! The amount of life you can find crammed in the relatively small area is hard to believe. I have been there 3 times and I would do it again in a heartbeat. When we were there, we went at either 8 or 9 PM and never hasd more than our group of 5 divers. It would be not so pleasant with a thundering herd, I'm sure.

Salt Pier is another fabulous dive, afternoon is best because you get some really nice light shining through the piers. I am always surprised at how much we see there. Big tarpon, eagle rays, more scorpion fish than you can imagine (we quit counting at 19 last time), frog fish, moray's, etc., etc. Can't wait to get back!