I could be wrong, but I think you actually are supposed to take the right fork (as opposed to the left fork).
Bonaire, which dive sites have I missed??
- Thread starter DiverKKC
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reefdiva
Contributor
When you are on the shortcut road it is very clear which is for vehicles. There are some bike paths and some donkey paths but you will know where to go! If your rental truck is one with a mesh tailgate (hey, this is Bonaire ... some are mesh, some are plywood -- all depends on who you rent from!) be sure that everything is secured so nothing slides out!
OP
DiverKKC
Contributor
Yeah, I'm trying to figure that out for myself...the right or left fork once you're on the dirt road? Anyone able to clarify that? Not that it really matters, it's not like I can get woefully lost on Bonaire, taking the wrong turn might be fun 
danwig
Registered
Right fork
If you want to see a unique area and you're not averse to a dive that's just a bit more work than others, the La Dania's Leap to Karpata dive is a must-do. We parked about halfway between La Dania's Leap's trail and Karpata (although parking at Karpata means you'll have less of a walk after the dive). To begin the dive, you walk down a little trail from the road down to the edge, where you put your find on and giant stride (similar to Oil Slick Leap). The difference is that at Oil Slick, there's a ladder to let you get back on the island. At La Dania's, once you're in, you're committed.
It wasn't a bad walk, and the entry was actually rather fun (and lightly thrilling, perhaps, with the whole "point of no return" aspect). Of course, I had to make the "On second thought..." comment once we were in the water. (I think it's contractually required. :biggrin From the entry, we swam straight out and turned right (toward Karpata).
Unlike most sites in Bonaire, the first part of this dive had a high vertical wall. It was like Cliff, but Cliff is just a little wall, while at La Dania's Leap, the wall extends from perhaps 30 feet all the way to... I'd guess probably in the 130-foot range (although on 32%, we stayed well above that). I commented that it felt a lot like the wall dive on the far side of Blue Water up in Pelham.
Eventually, the wall of La Dania's transitions into the pleated bottom of Karpata. (Think about a corrugated sheet metal roof and you'll have an idea of the shape of the terrain near Karpata.) We encountered a bit of current on our dive, especially right around the first roll. It was a bit of additional effort (the current had been basically nonexistent at the entry), but we just ascended a bit onto the flat and pushed through it. Once we broke through that first part, it was back to easy diving (the current, what was there, rides the outside of the rolling hills, so you can easily stay out of it). Then it was up onto the shallows (which look like a greatly magnified smurf village, with small-car-sized mushroom-shaped mounds of coral on a sandy bottom), where lots of big, colorful fish were frolicking.
Well, anyway, at least from what I remember from last August, the La Dania's Leap to Karpata dive (an anti-drift for us, but hey) was certainly near (if not at) the top of our dive list. We didn't bring any of the less adept divers (or those in poor shape), as it was certainly more advanced (and more work) than Windsock and such, but it was a blast.
It wasn't a bad walk, and the entry was actually rather fun (and lightly thrilling, perhaps, with the whole "point of no return" aspect). Of course, I had to make the "On second thought..." comment once we were in the water. (I think it's contractually required. :biggrin
From the entry, we swam straight out and turned right (toward Karpata).Unlike most sites in Bonaire, the first part of this dive had a high vertical wall. It was like Cliff, but Cliff is just a little wall, while at La Dania's Leap, the wall extends from perhaps 30 feet all the way to... I'd guess probably in the 130-foot range (although on 32%, we stayed well above that). I commented that it felt a lot like the wall dive on the far side of Blue Water up in Pelham.
Eventually, the wall of La Dania's transitions into the pleated bottom of Karpata. (Think about a corrugated sheet metal roof and you'll have an idea of the shape of the terrain near Karpata.) We encountered a bit of current on our dive, especially right around the first roll. It was a bit of additional effort (the current had been basically nonexistent at the entry), but we just ascended a bit onto the flat and pushed through it. Once we broke through that first part, it was back to easy diving (the current, what was there, rides the outside of the rolling hills, so you can easily stay out of it). Then it was up onto the shallows (which look like a greatly magnified smurf village, with small-car-sized mushroom-shaped mounds of coral on a sandy bottom), where lots of big, colorful fish were frolicking.
Well, anyway, at least from what I remember from last August, the La Dania's Leap to Karpata dive (an anti-drift for us, but hey) was certainly near (if not at) the top of our dive list. We didn't bring any of the less adept divers (or those in poor shape), as it was certainly more advanced (and more work) than Windsock and such, but it was a blast.
I would imagine that if the current was ripping, you would have been screwed. Did you check the current at all before the jump?
Tom
Tom
No, we merely would've had a long swim (but still less than a mile) to the alternate exit point. That would've meant additional swimming and perhaps a bit of boredom along the way, but certainly not anything serious. It may have been an issue for someone who is not comfortable with long swims, however, which is why we didn't have them along.
It would actually be rather fun to make a La Dania's Leap to Ol' Blue one-way dive. If we kept it shallow and had a current behind us, we could probably get within about 1/4 mile of the exit before starting the surface swim. We've done 3/4 miles underwater in drysuits in a quarry on single tanks, so in wetsuits and warm water, it should be easy, although it'd be nice to have a ride back to the truck.
What, and ruin the surprise?
As far as I know, my profile photo doesn't have an "IDIOT" stamp on my forehead (but of course, that doesn't mean I couldn't have had a temporary card, eh?). 
Of *course* we checked the current! To not do so would be foolhardy in the extreme (even with an alternate exit), and we're *not* fools (nor do we play them on TV). As I said in the post above, "the current had been basically nonexistent at the entry", and the dive is barely over a quarter mile. Even with a slight current against us, that's no big deal, but the minuscule current at the entry was actually *toward* Karpata.
If you're not ready for surprises, *certainly* arrange for a boat if you want to do La Dania's Leap to Karpata. On the other hand, if you're capable of dealing with the little curve balls the sea can toss you, it is an *excellent* shore dive (and a great story to tell, especially to non-divers) and should not be missed.
By the way, even after having a bit of a surprise current tossed at us, we still had *plenty* of gas remaining when we finally decided to exit the Karpata shallows due to chills and start the walk back to the truck. I actually felt a little bad for making the dive time so short.
I guess my question was really HOW did you check the current before the dive...
Tom
Tom
When we got there, we parked the truck and walked a bit down the La Dania trail to get the lay of the land, and then we walked back past the truck to Karpata. At Karpata, we went down to the water to check things out there. There was negligible current there.
After gearing up and walking to the edge at La Dania's Leap, we then checked out what we could see through the water, which seemed about the same as at Karpata. Then there's the old "toss a leaf onto the water" trick that works whenever you don't have a lot of wind to deal with (a small mud ball works, too, if you happen to have mud handy, but don't go overboard).
We saw no evidence of current in the water or at the surface at La Dania's Leap or when we checked at Karpata, so we were confident that there was no ripping current, at least on the tabletop portion of the reef before the break. We did cover the alternate exit plan once more, and we planned the dive slightly shallower than a normal dive in order to extend our theoretical maximum submerged time (with the stated option of going all the way to a safety-stop or even snorkel-deep dive if necessary).
After that, it was just enter, verify the current situation, and head out (toward Karpata, unless the current was significantly different and ripping southward, in which case we wouldn't even try to fight it, as the alternate plan would be long enough already). When we got to the wall, the current was slim enough that only by holding a hover could you be sure that it *was* technically against us, so we headed toward Karpata as planned.
Only right around that first roll did we encounter a big current. I noted our very slow forward progress, signaled "current too strong, let's continue on the plateau", and we were around it in no time (although it felt like quite a while, hehe). Once we were around it, we dropped back to our previous depth. The rolling hills of Karpata also made for very nice lees in which to get some post-current relaxation. By the time we started encountering divers from a boat moored at Karpata, there was again virtually no current.
If you've got a little float (with or without an attached weight, depending on windage, etc) and a spool, you could also "go fishing" for the current at La Dania's Leap. Just toss it in (with or without a small weight) and watch the drift. You could toss your tell-tale much farther out than you can easily see, although if you happen to hit conditions like we had, lack of current at either end may not necessarily mean lack of current *everywhere* along the dive.
After gearing up and walking to the edge at La Dania's Leap, we then checked out what we could see through the water, which seemed about the same as at Karpata. Then there's the old "toss a leaf onto the water" trick that works whenever you don't have a lot of wind to deal with (a small mud ball works, too, if you happen to have mud handy, but don't go overboard).
We saw no evidence of current in the water or at the surface at La Dania's Leap or when we checked at Karpata, so we were confident that there was no ripping current, at least on the tabletop portion of the reef before the break. We did cover the alternate exit plan once more, and we planned the dive slightly shallower than a normal dive in order to extend our theoretical maximum submerged time (with the stated option of going all the way to a safety-stop or even snorkel-deep dive if necessary).
After that, it was just enter, verify the current situation, and head out (toward Karpata, unless the current was significantly different and ripping southward, in which case we wouldn't even try to fight it, as the alternate plan would be long enough already). When we got to the wall, the current was slim enough that only by holding a hover could you be sure that it *was* technically against us, so we headed toward Karpata as planned.
Only right around that first roll did we encounter a big current. I noted our very slow forward progress, signaled "current too strong, let's continue on the plateau", and we were around it in no time (although it felt like quite a while, hehe). Once we were around it, we dropped back to our previous depth. The rolling hills of Karpata also made for very nice lees in which to get some post-current relaxation. By the time we started encountering divers from a boat moored at Karpata, there was again virtually no current.
If you've got a little float (with or without an attached weight, depending on windage, etc) and a spool, you could also "go fishing" for the current at La Dania's Leap. Just toss it in (with or without a small weight) and watch the drift. You could toss your tell-tale much farther out than you can easily see, although if you happen to hit conditions like we had, lack of current at either end may not necessarily mean lack of current *everywhere* along the dive.
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I would also add a night dive at Town Pier to the list. You must do a guided trip, as the guide has to check in with the Harbor Master. Lots of garbage on the bottom, but the sponges on the columns are amazing at night. You'll see all kinds of crabs, starfish, frog fish, morays, etc. Definitely a must do.
A lot of the other sites were on other people's list. Haven't had a bad dive their, either. Watch currents on the far north, and far south ends. Just watch your tides and wind. What a cool place to dive, huh?
A lot of the other sites were on other people's list. Haven't had a bad dive their, either. Watch currents on the far north, and far south ends. Just watch your tides and wind. What a cool place to dive, huh?
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