Headed to Bonaire 11/25 - Top 5

[Ricardo V.]

From Bonaire during a night dive.

 

[diveallthetime]

It's pretty hard to rank them. Conditions vary and wildlife sightings are good anywhere you happen to be at the right time. In any case, here is list to complement what others have shared thus far.
1. Tolo.
2. Tori.
3. Alice in Wonderland but specifically it's 2nd-3rd back Reef.
4. LacCai at night (You will have to go with Bas Tol to do this one). Make sure you book ahead of time.
5. The Forest. Amazing colonies of black coral, but you'll have to go a bit deeper than what most guides tolerate... around the 100 ft range, so discuss before hand to prevent you from getting the stink eye from crew members. This last site is on Klein.

As far as food, restaurants are pretty good; however, make sure you have service expectations set to island time. Service is generally super slow at best. Not wanting to generalize, but that's what we've experienced time and time again.

I don't want to upset anyone nor get the wrath of fellow gourmet divers here, but when we go to Bonaire, we leave our gourmet expectations behind, not because there aren't any choices, yes... Bonaire has some pretty fine places to eat, but we are on a dive vacation and meals become more of a strategy of convenience rather than a foodie vacation. To each its own...

There are mom & pop pastery shops and places where you can grab and go some empanadas and things like that around town. You can also buy cold cuts and awesome selection of cheeses at local supermarkets. Van den Tweel and the Warehouse, both on caya Indistria are good choices. Van den Tweel is open from 8 to 8. They don't want folks in wet clothing grocery shopping, so plan accordingly.

One last tip, the KipTukkies food truck parks itself right at the entrance to Van den Tweel on Wednesday's, Fridays and Saturdays from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm. It's got a pretty good oak smoked chicken that is worth bringing home for diner, specially if you are wanting to free up time and go night diving. Get some freshly baked bread, an assortment of Dutch cheeses to accompany the chicken and some bebrave if choice and you and your group will have a pretty nice meal.

Enjoy your trip.

Ricardo

Ditto on KipTukkies. We usually get a couple from him. Makes good sandwich or put it in a salad. Food trucks are good as a rule We kinda have a tradition of PasaBon Pizza as well. Thanks for the post

 

[oldschoolto]

We need to make a Scuba Board weekly meet spot... I was there for 8 weeks and it would have been nice to meet up with a few of you guys and girls.. Like captain Don's bar on Friday nights...

jim...

 

[gypsyjim]

We need to make a Scuba Board weekly meet spot... I was there for 8 weeks and it would have been nice to meet up with a few of you guys and girls.. Like captain Don's bar on Friday nights...

jim...

Not a bad idea.
Fridays though, many resorts have their bbq's so you might find a conflict.

 

[howswedeofme]

We liked Salt Pier the best on our trip. I didn't like Hilma Hooker, but I am also not a big wreck fan. Part of the negative experience was that there was a boat hooked up to the buoy just off the wreck that appeared to be fishing, and there were barracuda swarming everywhere. We had a couple get a little too aggressive for my taste, so we ended the dive early. We did see a huge moray eel on that dive, though, which was pretty cool. I also really liked 1000 steps. We were able to get 78 minutes of bottom time and saw a giant parrot fish, which I haven't seen before or since. We did a dusk dive off of Buddy Dive's pier and the reef change over was great. Loads of eels out to move around and hunt. My husband hated it, but I loved it.

For food, I liked It Rains Fishes a lot of the "fancier" meals we did. We also did a few meals at the pier restaurant (Sebastians?) because it was nice to sit out and watch the sunset. We also liked dinner at Captain Don's and seeing the tarpon come in for scraps, as well as the lion fish sandwich from the Cactus Blue food truck.

 

[Snopes]

When we were there in late June of this year, we found most of the best diving to be south of Tori's reef all the way around to the lighthouse. We did the lighthouse and the entry was a bit precarious. The coral at all those dive sites was fantastic. Lots of fish, eels, and sea turtles.

We did the obligatory 1000 steps and it was ok. North of Kralendijk, our favorite spots were Oil Slick and Karpata.

The one highlight from a food standpoint was a bit pricey, but we thought it was worth it and that is the At Sea Restaurant. It is a foodie restaurant to be sure, which I definitely am not, but was a lot of fun to try. Also, this restaurant is walking distance from the Divi Flamingo where we were staying.

Also a quick shoutout to the Bonaire Blond Brewery. The food was much better than I expected and the beer was pretty good too.

Loved the freedom and am planning another trip next summer!

 

[Kharon]

Just got back and I highly recommend (in no particular order): Tori's Reef (saw black jacks, spotted Angel ray, needle fish, soft and hard coral and the usual suspects in quantity), Red Beryl (especially for the coral but also fish life), Cliff night dive (just go shallow and putt along and be amazed by the many tarpon that come within touching distance) and Tolo (loads of fish and hard coral).

Red Slave, Alice, Angel, and Invisibles were good to very good. Fuel Pier was OK but not as good as I'm used to there, though it's probably the easiest entry/exit along with Yellow Sub (I didn't get there this time).

I like the southern sites much better than the nortthern. In fact the only northern site I will dive in the future is Tolo. (1000 & Karpata might be worth it but the steps are too much for my old body).

 

[Trailboss123]

Just got back and I highly recommend (in no particular order): Tori's Reef (saw black jacks, spotted Angel ray, needle fish, soft and hard coral and the usual suspects in quantity), Red Beryl (especially for the coral but also fish life), Cliff night dive (just go shallow and putt along and be amazed by the many tarpon that come within touching distance) and Tolo (loads of fish and hard coral).

Red Slave, Alice, Angel, and Invisibles were good to very good. Fuel Pier was OK but not as good as I'm used to there, though it's probably the easiest entry/exit along with Yellow Sub (I didn't get there this time).

I like the southern sites much better than the nortthern. In fact the only northern site I will dive in the future is Tolo. (1000 & Karpata might be worth it but the steps are too much for my old body).

I concur with you on Tolo-- Truly great north dive site! I think Weber's Joy is becoming one of my favorite northern dive sites too. Very easy entry after walking down a couple of easily navigated rocky steps. Oil Slick Leap is also definitely worth it while up north. Doesn't get too much easier and it's a great dive.

 

[Ricardo V.]

Jeff Davis is an awesome site too. We’ve encountered lots of squid there just before sunset. Entry is not as easy as Weber’s Joy or perhaps not as convenient... but it’s worth giving it a try. It’s best to enter the site just past the memorial marker. We usually just have one of us carefully step from the top of the cliff using the paths that of course preceding Divers use. The top is a good 6 feet or so above the waters edge. It’s easy to then lower dive equipment, cameras and any other gear you are using. It’s not bad so long it’s tackled carefully and one at a time.

I know it’s a bit unappealing from the configuration of the road and access to the water, but if you take your time and carefully go one at a time, having the buddy go first ofcourse hands free, carrying nothing... then lowering all gear down and repeating this same manouvers on the way out, you’ll see the site does not disappoint. Once at the bottom, there is a little sandy beach and enough space to suit up and go and/or to remove gear and start handing things up.

Cheers,

Ricardo

 

[Trailboss123]

Jeff Davis is an awesome site too. We’ve encountered lots of squid there just before sunset. Entry is not as easy as Weber’s Joy or perhaps not as convenient... but it’s worth giving it a try. It’s best to enter the site just past the memorial marker. We usually just have one of us carefully step from the top of the cliff using the paths that of course preceding Divers use. The top is a good 6 feet or so above the waters edge. It’s easy to then lower dive equipment, cameras and any other gear you are using. It’s not bad so long it’s tackled carefully and one at a time.

I know it’s a bit unappealing from the configuration of the road and access to the water, but if you take your time and carefully go one at a time, having the buddy go first ofcourse hands free, carrying nothing... then lowering all gear down and repeating this same manouvers on the way out, you’ll see the site does not disappoint. Once at the bottom, there is a little sandy beach and enough space to suit up and go and/or to remove gear and start handing things up.

Cheers,

Ricardo

Thanks for sharing that @Ricardo V. - I have stopped a number of times at Jeff Davis, knowing that it had to be an awesome dive site due to my great experiences at the adjacent Weber's Joy, but couldn't quite figure out how to navigate the entry and exit. Now I know! I had relegated it to a boat dive-- No longer!