Ostracods - best place to see?

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PStrangerX

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So, I wil be in Bonaire March 17-23rd and I'm told that's during the full moon. 3 questiions:

1.Which site would be the best to go to see them?
2. About 45 mins after sundown, correct?
3. Should we dive that night or just snorkel is better?

Thanks!
 
So, I wil be in Bonaire March 17-23rd and I'm told that's during the full moon. 3 questiions:

1.Which site would be the best to go to see them?
2. About 45 mins after sundown, correct?
3. Should we dive that night or just snorkel is better?

Thanks!
Full moon is the 20th, Weds. Sunset at 1844, moonrise at 1837, so maybe, but it is not really dark that evening.. Thursday, your last diving night (I assume you are flying out Saturday), sunset at 1844 again, but moonrise is at 1936....just 7 minutes after nautical twilight ends at 1929 (that's the 45min delay after sunset...waiting for civil then nautical twilight to end). So you have a chance on Thursday night. Friday you start looking at 1929 again, but the moon doesn't rise until 2032, so you have a good viewing window. That's typical...two days after Full Moon. But, Friday you'll need to snorkel. Diving is better, if possible, but people say they've seen the display while snorkeling. I have not experienced that.

Location? No lights on the beach.....do in front of Buddy Dive and Capt Don and Sand Dollar is not so good....but it still is OK if you go to the darker areas and not right in front of the resorts. There a good reports from the Lake. Make sure the entry is easy! We did it once as a boat dive from Petries Pillar; fabulous.If you are going to snorkel, you want fairly shallow water, so you can see the gorgonians and bottom where they hang out.

NO lights! Your eyes must be dark adapted; it will take a few minutes with lights out.

Good luck!
 
Thank you! We're actually flying out Sunday, so Friday night is our last dive day. So dive in front of Buddy Dive Friday night?
 
No help with time but a long time resident and diver recommends Oil slick. No lights, easy entry and exit and you can even put a tank light on the ladder if you like.
 
Thank you! We're actually flying out Sunday, so Friday night is our last dive day. So dive in front of Buddy Dive Friday night?

Should work. Enter, go to the left past the coral trees, about where the north end of the Sand Dollar swim line is. Darkest place I've fouind along there. 25-40 feet or so. Settle down at 1929, lights out....enjoy.

No help with time but a long time resident and diver recommends Oil slick. No lights, easy entry and exit and you can even put a tank light on the ladder if you like.

Should be a good site, if you can get across the rugged moonscape in the dark.
 
I like oil slick leap, easy entry and they sparkle in the caves right under the dock. The dock is nice for shore support folks to hang out.
 
So, I wil be in Bonaire March 17-23rd and I'm told that's during the full moon. 3 questiions:

1.Which site would be the best to go to see them?
2. About 45 mins after sundown, correct?
3. Should we dive that night or just snorkel is better?

Thanks!
A DM thatI dove with in Grand Cayman last summer had just come from spending a few years as a DM in Bonaire.

He told me that, if I was there just after the full moon, to hit "Invisibles" to see the blue ostracods - he said to quickly sweep your light across the reef (with your eyes shut or shielded) and then shut it off and watch the show as what looks like glowing strings of pearls rising up.

Unfortunately we were not there anywhere near the full moon time when we were there in November !
 
It was fabulous at Witches Hut. Go out a little to where the soft corals are. No lights on at all. Diving was far better than snorkeling, as the two snorkelers were stung by jellyfish. They did say they saw the ostraciods, but being above is not the same as being surrounded by the strings of flashing blue lights everywhere you look. The show lasts around 15 minutes.
 
Was in Bonaire in April 2018 and dove Invisibles one evening to see the Ostracods. Was outstanding, particularly just east of Invisibles and closer to shore. Enjoy.
 
Another vote for Witches Hut. The show was spectacular at the end of November at 8-10m. We entered water about 15 mins after charted sunset and the show was 20-25 mins later. Be sure to turn down the backlight on you computer. I placed a tank marker on a rock stack as a “lighthouse” to get back to the beach. I believe there are some underwater navigation landmarks here but once on the surface the shoreline is very rocky, dark and has few landmarks that i would have recognized in the dark under spotlight.
 

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