How are the reefs in Bonaire?

[Kharon]

The fall and early winter of 2011 brought rainstorms almost everyday - September through early January. There were huge ponds of standing water in a number of places that I was told were normally dry. I was told there was a huge increase over normal in the mosquito population. I sprayed a set of clothes with Permethrin before I left for Bonaire and used Picaridin (which doesn't damage equipment the way Deet does) while on island. I wasn't bitten at all. Sorry for the hijack but if you are worried about dengue ...

 

[Krazyskier]

What I meant was that some people will exaggerate in order to lure unsuspecting tourists.

Not sure why'd they try to "lure" me as I was already there. Either way, as you pointed out, the diving is good, the people were nice and most of the food rocked.

 

[Sorrows]

Is there any dive spot in the world that is as good as it once was? Check out any board on here and there will be someone griping about how some remote spot in the South Pacific USED to be super-awesome, and now....well, that's the world we live in and the world that will be inherited by our children.

I'm sure if your last dive vacation was spent in Raja Ampat or someplace like that, you are going to be disappointed in Bonaire. OTOH, you're going to think, "wow, this was a whole lot easier to get to than Raja Ampat." But for the Caribbean, Bonaire diving has a lot to recommend it; easy dives, challenging dives, pretty coral dives on either the North or South ends, muck-ish dives in the middle (Something Special) and a great diversity and great number of fish species and marine life. No, it's not the place to come for the big stuff. It's the place to come to experience shore diving freedom--most divers love it, but some don't. But everybody should experience it at least once to decide for themselves. IMHO.

 

[LowVizWiz]

No, it's not the place to come for the big stuff. It's the place to come to experience shore diving freedom--most divers love it, but some don't. But everybody should experience it at least once to decide for themselves. IMHO.

I'm with Sorrows!
I was part of the 2013 SB Invasion to Bonaire this past June and the diving was great IMO, but it really depends on what you like to do while diving.

If you're looking for huge walls, intricate coral reefs or huge animals, you will think Bonaire sucks. On the other hand, if you like to scope the reef inch by inch and look at all the little critters and tons of fish that make the reef alive, are looking to shoot macro, love easy diving and all the diving you can handle in the time you are there you will enjoy Bonaire.

I spend quite a few dives on the house reef alone and every dive was better than the previous one. I did a dive on Alice in Wonderland at dusk that has to be one of my all time favorite dives. Seeing the reef explode with activity right before my eyes.

I did dives in 24 different sites both in Bonaire and Klein Bonaire and the reefs were absolutely fine. Here's a set of pictures from that trip:

Bonaire 2013 - a set on Flickr

 

[Sorrows]

LowVizWiz, after one dusk dive at Something Special, I wrote in my logbook, "why do we dive anywhere else?" There were three different types of eels living in a cement block in water that didn't even reach my knees. And an octopus on the prowl and a crab and a damsel fighting and a squadron of squid. Doing an easy night dive off Buddy's pier, we saw a mutton snapper try to eat a trumpetfish--come on, that is way cool!

We were on the Rocio del Mar in the Sea of Cortez this past September. Swimming with whale sharks for over an hour was awesome. Playing with the sea lions was an outstanding experience. But equally wonderful was watching the many male jawfish in their nuptial livery desperately attempting to attract a female AND the tiny sailfin blenny who puffed himself up and relentlessly attacked the mirror I placed in front of his burrow. You don't have to be big to put on a great show.

Also once watched the New Year's Eve fireworks from underwater in Bonaire. I don't think you could do that anywhere else.

 

[Nwcid]

The first 40 or so pics are from Bonaire last week, https://www.facebook.com/john.nokes.965/photos_all You can decide for yourself. I was very happy but my only other 2 tropical trips were to Maui and the Big Island.

 

[LowVizWiz]

I used to fish a lot and bonefish in shallow water would always elude me, during one of my dives in Bonaire I was greeted by a huge school of bonefish as I was coming back to shore in 4 feet of water. THAT was a first for me diving.

The shallow water rubble on the way to deeper part of the Salt Pier was fantastic too... With all kinds of eels, crabs, squid, nudis, snails, etc, etc...

Also, night diving with Tarpon stalking our dive lights to find pray was quite fun as well.

Also once watched the New Year's Eve fireworks from underwater in Bonaire. I don't think you could do that anywhere else.

I can do that here in South Florida, but I hear you