Headed to Bonaire

[mala]

as a world diving site bonaire falls into the average bracket.

so the choice is average with a boat load of tourists
or
shore dive the remote sites with no one else around which can be real cool.

 

[herman]

again all tks for all the suggestions....question.....is it recommended/frowned upon to bring/use a diver down marker/float on a reel ?? I already know to NEVER move rocks/coral etc etc.....

Not frowned apon but not necessary either. Boats are required to stay out of the area closer than the blue water line which is at the reef drop off unless they are at idle. The only boats that come in are dive boats who are aware of divers in the area. Avoid surfacing in deeper water and you will not have an issue.

 

[wwguy]

IMO, the shore diving @ Bonaire is overrated....

<snip>

I can now say Bonaire is in my rear view mirror........

You've stated both sentiments repeatedly. Any chance you're willing to put this sub-forum in your rear view mirror too? Like others, I fail to see the value of these opinions within the context of this and some other discussions where you've offered them. We get that you don't get what we get about Bonaire, and that's fine. But why keep on about it in threads like this? For heaven's sake... the OP and his girlfriend are excited about their first Bonaire trip and are asking for advice about how to best enjoy it. Raining on the parade is uncool.

Reminds me of the Microsoft Windows technology forum trolls who answer "How do I fix this Windows problem?" with "Buy a Mac!" It's neither helpful nor interesting. Nobody besides them understands why they're lurking and posting in the Windows forums at all. Funny coincidence though... those people usually have a high forum post count too. Just because you have an opinion and a forum to share it doesn't mean you should or that it's welcome.

I'm not trying to start an argument. I'm just asking you to stop.

---------- Post added March 19th, 2014 at 01:18 PM ----------

The GF and I are headed to Bonaire on the 5th of April !! first time....I am AOW she has just completed her OW....suggestions on dive sites ?? I just got "Bonaire shore diving made easy"...any recommended " favorite" sites ????

Here's a previous thread with some great suggestions. It includes a link to another previous thread with even more great suggestions. You two will be like kids in a candy store... especially if you make it as far north as Candyland!

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/bonaire/449303-best-bonaire-dive-sites.html

Enjoy your trip!

 

[djtimmy77]

Based on two trips, my favorite sites are as follows (in no order)
Karpata
La Dania's Leap (not recommended for beginner divers)
Ol Blue (tolo)
Salt Pier
Tori's*
Margate Bay

I personally found Karpata to be fairly easy. Did this dive 2-3 times on each trip. Enter on the right side of the pier looking from shore, use the pier to brace yourself and sidestep to the end and then push off to deeper water to get your fins on. Only time it was "difficult" was when some Dutch folks saw us waiting to get in and proceeded to do their passive/aggressive thing and take about 4 times longer to get out then they really needed. That being said if it was particularly wavy I would push this dive to another day.

Tori's has a super easy entry, but the highlight there is a small fire coral stand serving as a ridiculously active cleaning station nearly straight out from the little channel about halfway to the dropoff. All sorts of little fish, cleaning shrimp, and saw spotted, purplemouth, and chain morays all together in the middle of the day. Simply amazing. On our second trip we spent the entire dive watching this stand rather than going to the dropoff.

Margate Bay is gorgeous with the soft corals.

Another recommendation based on personal preference....consider keeping most of your dives shallower than 50 ft. Much longer dives all week long! My second trip I only went deeper than this once and that was specifically to see the garden eels at Angel City.

 

[diversteve]

again all tks for all the suggestions....question.....is it recommended/frowned upon to bring/use a diver down marker/float on a reel ?? I already know to NEVER move rocks/coral etc etc.....

Makes a good jetski/windsurfer target at a couple of the southern sites...

 

[Doctorfish]

I have been to LC, CB, GC and Bon multiple times and the diving is different at each. Bon offers easy access to the dive sites, shore access, calm water, good visibility, is south of the hurricane zone and has lots of incredible macro opportunities. I have never seen a frog fish at any of the other listed sites and seahorses rarely. Bon has lot's of eels as well including chainlink and sharptail, both rare at the other places. Night diving on Bon is a breeze as well. If you are looking for big animals, not so likely. The island also has a laid back fusion culture charm.
For a pure diving trip, I marginally prefer LC, but Bonaire has never disappointed me.

If Bonaire is so lousy, diver 85, why do so many people keep returning?

 

[tursiops]

My second trip I only went deeper than this once and that was specifically to see the garden eels at Angel City.

You can see garden eels at 35 feet at Invisibles.

 

[djtimmy77]

In the same quantity? I saw smaller patches here and there shallow at other sites, but I wanted to see mass quantities.

 

[Nanodiver]

Cdnfireman- A couple of my favorite sites which haven't been mentioned- go way down south in the morning (seas tend to be more calm) to Red Beryl or Sweet Dreams, there is a soft coral jungle on the dropoff and masses of juveniles on the shallow terrace. Also big terminal phase parrotfish.

Something Special in town has a nice reef, but the action is in the boat channel which leads into the harbor- sailfin blennies, yellow-headed jawfish, mantis shrimp, lots of garden eels, schools of larger fish like horse-eyed jacks. Good dive if there isn't too much current.

I once saw a half-dozen spotted eagle rays digging in the sand at Tori's Reef. They ignored us. My friend thought she got video except she forgot to turn on the camera.

We always had a blast in Bonaire (~15 trips)- hope you do too. -Nancy

 

[boat sju]

I didn't see that anyone posted this link yet today:
Scuba Shore Diving Region: ABC Islands