Heading back to Bonaire in April 2015, Whats your fav dive site?

[ibmerlin]

My wife and I are heading back to Bonaire in April. We were there once before a few years ago and loved it. I know how dive sites can change and really value the views of other divers. So, any suggestions? What's your favorite (must do) dive sites in Bonaire? ( or any other helpful suggestions on must see - do) My wife is a newer diver so nothing to difficult.

Thank you in advance!
Merlin

 

[salth2owannabe]

A recent thread which may be helpful.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/bonaire/494352-bonaire-site-recommendations-my-first-last-trip.html
It lists a number of favorite dive sites with some personal descriptions.

 

[ibmerlin]

Checked it out, Thanks

 

[drrich2]

Where did you stay last time and where will you stay this time?

Be mindful that 'favorite' is a matter of the standard you judge against. If it's lush corals, I'd say Karpata to the north or Sweet Dreams to the south. If it's distinctive sites, I'd say 1,000 Steps (topside stairs; nice photo op.), Oil Slick Leap (for the jump in; minor conversation piece), The Cliff (and Small Wall by boat) (for vertical wall), Bari Reef (because it's known for measured high species diversity and is popular/well-known), Hilma Hooker (the wreck) and Salt Pier (the pier pilings). Maybe hire Bal Tol with BasDiving.com to do a guided shore dive at Cai, so you can say you've tried the east side (plus it really is nice). Some southern sites offer you the double-reef; Angel City is good for that.

Richard.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

We were on Bonaire in October. Our favorite site was the salt pier. Excellent corals, easy in and out, an octopus out for the day and willing to play with us, and 5-6 turtles (Kim has a real obsession with turtles...).

Karpata was a close second.

 

[ibmerlin]

Where did you stay last time and where will you stay this time?

Be mindful that 'favorite' is a matter of the standard you judge against. If it's lush corals, I'd say Karpata to the north or Sweet Dreams to the south. If it's distinctive sites, I'd say 1,000 Steps (topside stairs; nice photo op.), Oil Slick Leap (for the jump in; minor conversation piece), The Cliff (and Small Wall by boat) (for vertical wall), Bari Reef (because it's known for measured high species diversity and is popular/well-known), Hilma Hooker (the wreck) and Salt Pier (the pier pilings). Maybe hire Bal Tol with BasDiving.com to do a guided shore dive at Cai, so you can say you've tried the east side (plus it really is nice). Some southern sites offer you the double-reef; Angel City is good for that.

Richard.

We are staying at divi Flamingo again. We didn't dive with them we dove with dive freinds and will most likely do so again.

---------- Post added January 1st, 2015 at 03:05 PM ----------

We were on Bonaire in October. Our favorite site was the salt pier. Excellent corals, easy in and out, an octopus out for the day and willing to play with us, and 5-6 turtles (Kim has a real obsession with turtles...).

Karpata was a close second.

The wife loves turtles. We will have to hit that one.

 

[oldschoolto]

ALL WOMEN LOVE TURTLES.....

Jim...

 

[LowVizWiz]

I would say any dive can be phenomenal, IF you're there at the right time!
I had a wonderful time in all the dives I did in Bonaire, however all my favorite dives were right at the beginning of evening Golden Hour. Not just because I was taking pictures, but because the reef would really come to life.
One of the really neat things about shore diving Bonaire is the fact that you can do the same dive at different times.
With that said, Alice in Wonderland and the Salt Pier were my favorite dives overall.

Good luck!

 

[hroark2112]

Last trip I had an average dive at Red Slave, and 2 days later I had a phenomenal 2 1/2 hour dive at Red Slave.

I've never had a bad dive on Bonaire.