Favorite Bonaire Sites - heading there in a few days :D

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Alice in Wonderland is nice. It is also a double reef system. After you swim past the first reef you can drop down to the sand at about 80 feet if I recall correctly, check out the garden eels, and carry on to the second reef, swim a half a tank against the current, head back to the first reef and back to the entry point.
 
My current favorite marked sites and my reasons why are:
  • Something Special, anywhere between Yellow Sub and the mouth of the harbour, for biodiversity, frequent frogfish, octopus, turtles, and squid.
  • Bari/Buddy Reef, anywhere between the public entry next to Den Laman north to Buddy Dive, for biodiversity, frequent frogfish, seahorses, octopus, and turtles.
  • The Cliff, between the WEB buoy chain and the little La Machaca wreck, for convenience, frogfish, seahorses, and turtles. IMHO the marine life isn't quite as diverse as the nearby sites mentioned above, but it does have a bit wilder feel than the other reefs near town. A few years ago I would have ranked it higher but the coral seems to be struggling a bit harder here recently compared to the sites mentioned above.
  • Salt Pier, for easy entry, easy meandering navigation, long bottom times and lots of the more seldom-seen critters including rays, turtles, octopus, and seahorses. We've stumbled across more seahorses here than any other site on the island.
  • Tolo, entering from the far south end next to the ironshore cliff and then diving south, because of the wild feel and relatively healthy hard coral formations.
  • Angel City, across the sand channel to the second reef, then north, then back across the sand channel and over the Hilma hooker, then back south along the inner reef to the entry. If you've got good air consumption a similar reverse (counterclockwise) route can be done from The Lake, although the outer reef is a bit deeper here and the distance between entry and the Hooker is a bit farther here.
Some of my other favorite sites aren't marked and have a bit "wilder" feel to them. I think this is in part due to the fact that they don't receive the same presence and pressure from frequent divers as sites such as those named above. A few of those sites have informal names that are known by locals and Bonaire regulars, some are mentioned in Susan Porter's BSDME book, and some don't have names at all except those we've made up for our log book. A couple of examples that are already fairly well-known are The Rock and Candyland. I'm averse to sharing details of the others in internet forums like this, but I mention these sites because you might keep your eyes peeled for new unmarked places to don your gear and explore some new territory. Adventure is where you find it!
 
frequent frogfish
frequent frogfish, seahorses
frogfish, seahorses
seahorses
more seahorses


Ok ok, I get it.

No need to rub it in...

(Been emailing with Leanne. Booking BCV as soon as I can nail girls down on dates. Ahhhhhh....)
 
My husband does have a tendency for sea-sickness, so I am wondering if your wife got queasy on the swim out to Aquarius?

Wife gets sea sick really easily. The relevant issue in Bonaire is that southern shore dive sites tend to feature longer swim outs than some of the northern. Invisibles has a long swim out; for that matter, the Hilma Hooker, if you want to get close to the wreck, is a haul. Compare that to Oil Slick Leap up north! Of course, the compromise is some northern sites involve some steps (e.g.: Karpata, 1,000 Steps) to get down to the shore you'll enter from. But if you've got a sea sick person, something to think about.

My wife benefits from getting under & swimming as soon as possible, rather than back swimming out up top to save air.

Richard.
 
Keep in mind that it is not only the site, but the time of day. Try Windsock at sunset or Salt Pier about an 1 hour before. Try your favorite house reef as a "nite" sunrise dive. Salt Pier looks different with the sun at a long angle behind the structures as opposed to overhead during the day. A morning nite dive going in at dark and having light gradually appear is a different experience. Happy Diving.
 
If you tend to get seasick I believe it's Windsock that can really smell of jet fuel. I

It's worth diving Nukove for the adventure of driving up there. You get a feel for the park without the time expenditure. You don't need 4 wheel drive, just take it easy. Do take a tire inflater with you though.

To me 1000 Steps is just another nice dive but not really worth the effort.
 
Wife gets sea sick really easily. The relevant issue in Bonaire is that southern shore dive sites tend to feature longer swim outs than some of the northern. Invisibles has a long swim out; for that matter, the Hilma Hooker, if you want to get close to the wreck, is a haul. Compare that to Oil Slick Leap up north! Of course, the compromise is some northern sites involve some steps (e.g.: Karpata, 1,000 Steps) to get down to the shore you'll enter from. But if you've got a sea sick person, something to think about.

My wife benefits from getting under & swimming as soon as possible, rather than back swimming out up top to save air.

Richard.

Why not enjoy the dive underwater on the way from shore to the drop-off and back? There are plenty of interesting things to see, and diving with scuba gear is generally more efficient and consumes less energy than swimming on the surface with it. If you dive at a relaxed pace the amount of air consumed in the shallow water is negligible, even on some of Bonaire's fairly long swims. If you like to use a mooring buoy or some other feature at the drop-off as a reference for returning to shore, then a compass and basic OW navigation skills come in handy too.
 
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I've noticed a couple of big southern stingrays in about 15 feet of water over sandy bottoms, so you may be onto something at that! I'm a partially reformed air hog, so most any gimmick to save gas for the 'real' dive gets my attention.

Richard.
 
My bride is also subject to mal de mer.

We go out and back on the bottom if it is roll-y.

In fact one of the 2 seahorses I've ever found unaided was in the sand on the way out.
 
My wife & I rarely surface swim in Bonaire. We've found a lot going on on the southern site's sandy swimouts. Neither of us have dramatic air consumption issues, but I do a bit better than she does so we regularly share air on our dives to "balance out" our tanks. We hold hands while we do it so it's a "together" thing. We leave plenty in each tank so we can react individually if necessary. Many times it can have a dramatic effect even if air usage isn't that disparate because it can just "take the edge off" from worrying about it which can decrease consumption. I only bring it up because for us it seems to have the greatest effect on dives with long, "surgey" swims. Also in Bonaire there is nobody to warn or explain what we're doing. We sometimes get a little push back from DMs even after we warn them prior to splashing at other locales. Did I mention we love Bonaire...:).

Oh favorite sites...we like night diving at Cliff. Easy (enough) entry/exit, easy navigation (the cable), and if you tell DF that you're planning a night dive, they'll refresh the rinse tanks before they leave for the day (our experience, maybe they do it anyway... YMMV). Really like Angel city even if it periodically beats the c**p out of us and I second Windsock as a late afternoon (or early morning dive) for the rays. Tolo for the view (one of our fav's...might just be us...lol). Have fun...
 
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