Bonaire!

[Cali_Alli]

Hello everyone!
T-minus 3 weeks until a long awaited Bonaire vacation for me and my husband....Going to be there a week (shore diving) and it's been a while since we moved from Hawaii to a landlocked state and no diving since
Trying to plan based on the info I've found online, I've eliminated most of the dive sites that are described as more advanced and I'm still left with more sites than we can fit into a modest week's diving! (what a terrible problem)
Anyway, my questions are:
What would be a go to easy dive site for getting the feet wet again?
What are your top 5 truly must see sites!? I'll take a tally...
I'll also take restaurant recommendations

Allison

 

[herman]

The first site you will do is the house reef of whatever dive op you are using. You have to do a marine park orientation then a "checkout" dive at the dive ops house reef, this is required for your park tag/permit. This is nothing more than a dive where you make sure your gear is OK, no one will go with you. After that I like to take new Bonaire divers to a site called Windsock. It's the easiest dive on the island and perfect to do as your first entry. Often times on Bonaire you have to enter and exit throught a small and at times difficult to see channel, otherwise you are crawling over rocks and coral, Windsock has multiple wide sand channels to enter and exit from.

My top don't miss sights in no order would be : Hilma Hooker, Oil Slick, Alice in Wonderland, Margate Bay and of course, 1000 Steps. The sites far south don't get much discussion but I like them. The swim out is often times longer but there is more soft coral than the northern sites, esp in the last few years since a couple of hurricance have done a lot of coral damage.

There are lots of good places to eat- Casa Blanca, Cactus Blue, City Cafe, Sunset Grill, Bobbie Jans and Rum Runners are always on my list.

 

[Mud&Rox]

just as herman said but I would include TOLO as a top site of mine.......ah.... I can taste the Rum Runners pizza now.....:eat:and Cactus blue is some more good eats

 

[gbf]

We always head north to Witch's Hut (aka Weber's Joy) as our first dive after the checkout. Before the hurricanes, lots of soft corals, many turtles. Now, less soft stuff but we still like it. Then back to Oil Slick. My kids love WH (and it is really easy), then they get to jump repeatedly after we dive oil slick.

Top eating places for us:

Wils
At Sea
Bistro de Paris
La Guernica (tapas)

 

[diversteve]

My top 5(6)

Bari Reef
Cliff
Alice in Wonderland
Invisibles
Salt Pier

Rappel - boat dive.

Bari is off Bonaire Dive/Adventure's dock and Cliff can be done by swimming north from Habitat - you'll know you're there when it gets vertical (as vertical as Bonaire gets...)

 

[DeputyDan]

I also like Vista Blue way down south...

 

[sinistar]

A great first dive is Oil Slick Leap. You don't have to walk in, just gear up and jump in or climb down a very nice ladder. To exit just come back up the ladder. Since there are two of you, one can help hold cameras, gear etc. The "leap" will probably seem higher than it is. To see someone doing a entry - I've include a link at the bottom with times for various scenes.

As already mentioned, the old Witches Hut (now Weber's Joy) is a great dive and quite easy entry. I had done this on a previous trip and enjoyed it as much the second time around.

If you can, do Invisibles and make it out to the second reef. There are so many interesting things on that dive. You will see garden eels on the way out. A good chance of seeing eagle rays on the way out. There always seems to be a mini-bait ball with bigger fish always around. We found a frog fish on that dive. I could literally do that dive every day and be happy. Shore entry is pretty decent and you can park very, very close.

If you are comfortable with a bit bumpy (but very quick) ride, drive over to the wildside for a few dives. In just one dive, I stopped counting turtles after 15! Two divers saw dolphins, yeah pretty awesome.


Our trip video from February 2011 (Should Be IPad / iOS friendly)
http://www.amazonbeach.com/films/samples/Bonaire2011_001_H264_1024x576_2997fps_4Mbps.mp4

Time 11:00 - Oil slick leap scene starts at time 11:00 with jump in about 30 seconds later. You will see the ladder, someone exiting and some entering.

Time 12:50 - A Frog Fish extending its lure! This was actually at Invisibles but I cut it this way to be different.

Time 19:00 - The ever present mini-bait ball and bigger critters at Invisibles.

Time 20:10 - See what its like to ride out and dive the Wildside!

 

[redacted]

In a normal week of Bonaire diving, we usually plan to do 2 mornings (4 tanks) at Karpata Karpata is so good that we rarely hit 1000 Steps or Ol Blue any more. It came through the storms pretty much unscathed below 20 to 25 feet and has the best hard corral formations and variation in topography. We have run into Black Tips and Mantas there up shallow (20 ft). Entry & exit is along the north side of the cement slab. If waves are breaking over the slab, go elsewhere (or be tough). We plan on 3 days at the sites between Margate Bay and Red Slave. Best soft corrals and sponges. Entries and exits not too bad unless seas are a bit rough. If seas don't cooperate, we focus on the more close in sites. In the afternoons we usually stay closer in. Windsock is always good with easy entry/exit. We stay a Buddy dive so their reef as well as Bari to the south and Scientifico to the north are directly accessible. Eden Beach is another good close in dive. Oil Slick and Something Special took a beating in the storms but are still good if you want something different for afternoon quickies that are pretty easy.

We always do one (a bit expensive) diner at Capricio's. Best Italian food I have ever had (and I'm originally from NJ). The taramisu is unbelievable.

 

[Cali_Alli]

Thanks for all of the replies! It looks like I was on the right track...We are staying on the other side of the street across from the Sand Dollar, so I feel like we are in a pretty good location to go wherever we want...

...Often times on Bonaire you have to enter and exit throught a small and at times difficult to see channel, otherwise you are crawling over rocks and coral, Windsock has multiple wide sand channels to enter and exit from.

Looks like we'll be honing our navigation skills... Windsock sounds nice for easing into things

My list is building! Oil Slick and Witch's Hut seem like consistent favorites.... I'm really excited about Frogfish! I've only seen a couple in Maui so far. Pretty stoked about all the "just hop in" sites too.

And food! Glad to know there are so many good places to eat!

 

[uncfnp]

Lots of good advice but I have to give my 2 cents as well. Loved Bonaire. First trip this past October and another trip planned for March. Karpata was one of my favorites as well as Oilslick and 1000 Steps. All on the North side. We actually stayed on the South end but found ourself traveling north for most of our dives. I also loved Bise Morto (Dead Deer)- we saw an eagle ray there but it is deep into the National Park and has a sharpr ledge to get gear down and a bit of a rough entry. If you do any of the dives in the park, plan on spending the day - the road is one way and very rough (even for Bonaire standards!). It takes a long time to drive a short way. The best thing about the shore dives is that it is good for all comfort levels. You can stay higher on the reef at most locations 20 to 40 feet and still see a lot, or go a little deeper. If you are diving near the Belmar units, look for a mannequin just past the edge of the reef at bout 110 feet (placed there by Buddy Dive I believe). Did not know about the Wild Side dives that trip until too late to plan. We have reservations with East Coast Diving this trip. We ate in mostly that trip but did splurge on one night out at Capricio's. Bon Bini!