bfisher
Contributor
Let me start by saying that this was my 7th trip to Bonaire in 4 years. I love the place for diving. It's my favorite place to dive and I do no boat dives any more.
My last time there was last September. I noticed quite a bit of damage in the shallows of most reefs, due to high wave action from Omar (Oct. 2008). Where the shallows once looked like lush gardens of Gorgonians and sponges there is little left on most places. Stag Horn coral is mostly gone. Most of the slopes are still pretty good.
The creature action is still robust with most of the action above 50'. Plenty of spotted morays, angel fish, squid, and the other creatures. Bari and Buddy Reefs were pretty intense with Spotted morays. Even did some video of two green morays in the same hole. As some know, the green ones have taken a dive in recent years. These appeared to be young ones and I hope this means some sort of comeback for them.
My dive buddies and I did 32 laid back dives over the two weeks with an average dive time of 1:20 per dive with a few approaching almost 2 hours. Other than swimming out to the reefs we found fins of not much use. Photo and video people know that fins are for maneuvering, not propulsion. The more you swim the less you see.
Something I have never seen before and did take particular notice of is the amount of monofilament fishing line and hooks and lures snagged within some reefs. It would seem that not every man, wman, and child on Bonaire shares the sameview that the marine park is just about sacred. I would hope that this potential problem gets dealt with by the local authorities. Dvrliz, are you reading this?
I'll be back in Feb. 2010. Yes, even as it is now Bonaire is still quite a nice dive destination in the Caribbean. Those who have never been there will have no comparison to the near past and will find it amazing. For repeaters like myself, it is still good. Just not as pretty as it was. And my videos can prove it.
My last time there was last September. I noticed quite a bit of damage in the shallows of most reefs, due to high wave action from Omar (Oct. 2008). Where the shallows once looked like lush gardens of Gorgonians and sponges there is little left on most places. Stag Horn coral is mostly gone. Most of the slopes are still pretty good.
The creature action is still robust with most of the action above 50'. Plenty of spotted morays, angel fish, squid, and the other creatures. Bari and Buddy Reefs were pretty intense with Spotted morays. Even did some video of two green morays in the same hole. As some know, the green ones have taken a dive in recent years. These appeared to be young ones and I hope this means some sort of comeback for them.
My dive buddies and I did 32 laid back dives over the two weeks with an average dive time of 1:20 per dive with a few approaching almost 2 hours. Other than swimming out to the reefs we found fins of not much use. Photo and video people know that fins are for maneuvering, not propulsion. The more you swim the less you see.
Something I have never seen before and did take particular notice of is the amount of monofilament fishing line and hooks and lures snagged within some reefs. It would seem that not every man, wman, and child on Bonaire shares the sameview that the marine park is just about sacred. I would hope that this potential problem gets dealt with by the local authorities. Dvrliz, are you reading this?
I'll be back in Feb. 2010. Yes, even as it is now Bonaire is still quite a nice dive destination in the Caribbean. Those who have never been there will have no comparison to the near past and will find it amazing. For repeaters like myself, it is still good. Just not as pretty as it was. And my videos can prove it.
