Shore Diving Cai in Bonaire August 2012

[drrich2]

Hi:

Recently got back from a week in Bonaire, 4-20-13 to 4-27-13. So let me emphasize this dive took place on a trip in late August 2012, and was not from the most recent trip. Cai is an east coast shore dive, and as such can be 'challenging' - even downright dangerous. Normally someone suggested shore diving the east coast of Bonaire I'd look at them like they were crazy.

But I've got a good dive buddy, with very similar experience and certifications to my own (up through PADI Rescue, and we dive Nitrox EAN 32 there), and he's very athletic, small and lean, has great air consumption, can cut through current like a fish and has good situational awareness and is a much better navigator than me. (If you're curious, yeah, this is the buddy I made the ill-fated attempt at Playa Chikitu April 2013, described in a different thread).

It's generally recommended to most divers to avoid shore diving the east coast, at least without a guide, from what I understand. But 2 sites that do show up on the maps are Cai and White Hole. And he wanted to try it. So...

Disclaimer: I ran these pics through Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 for Mac, & used 'Autolevels' on all.

My aerial shot (from plane window departing) of the Lac Bay area. There's a dirt road cutting across the island, running alongside the green vegetated area. You head to the coast & take a left.

You come to what looks like a line of buildings ('shacks' comes to mind) on your right, and some big piles of conch shells along the coast.

We didn't have a guide, so we entered near where the shell piles start, if memory serves just north of there.

Pretty, huh?

Doesn't look bad going in, and the big waves that pound the east coast so hard don't seem to slam the shore here. Of course, then we got in the water, and that was a different story altogether.

First off, pretty early on as we swam out straight away (roughly, I think) from shore, a side-current sent us to our left (roughly northward), vigorously - kinda like riding an airport's moving sidewalk side-ways. We had to swim out over a fairly long sandy swim out. We saw a tarpon pretty quickly:

In fact, the sandy area has more larger fish than we're used to seeing on the west coast. Like these jacks.

And plenty of anemones:

And the first star fish we ever found (Really big, too. Maybe a 8 to 10 inch arm span, at a rough guess?):

We crossed 2 stretches of sea grass; one looked like it'd been cut with a lawn mower, and the other didn't. No idea why the difference.

Big conch.

And the east coast has far & away more sea weed in places than I've seen anywhere on the west coast.

Anyway, after a vigorous swim across the sandy bottom, wondering whether the side-current has swept us up the coast & I'll be smashed into rocks by large waves getting out, we reach the drop-off - a vertical rock wall. We saw a distant sea turtle but I have no good pic of it.

There was some reef.

Bermuda Chubs.

At the bottom of the rock wall, in the crevices, my buddy found a lionfish, a good-sized grouper and a big green moray eel.

We saw our only Queen Triggerfish to date on this dive.

Can somebody tell me what the white thing is?

Somehow my buddy navigated us back to a decent exit point. Some basic info. on me & my dive, in case anybody plans to live dangerously and try what we did (which I don't recommend; this was a rather fast-paced, stressful dive, and I came out lower on air than is good; you can burn through gas fast on the swim back):

6'1", early-mid. 40's, out-of-shape & nearly 275 lbs., usual SAC around 0.65 - 0.7 cfm, EAN 32 80 cf aluminum tank, Sherwood Avid jacket-style BCD with 17 lbs lead weight, TUSA split fins, no wet suit.

57 Minute Dive (yet it was rather hurried), max. depth 58.3 feet, average depth 22.34 feet, SAC 0.80 cfm (high for me), starting pressure 3,051 cf, ending pressure 187 cf.

I later spoke with another dive who gave a glowing report of a boat dive at Cai. I suspect it's often better done by boat (& less stressful).

Summary: Swim-out & back are in-current and challenging, current can shift you side-ways making it hard to guesstimate how far you're being sent off-course, keeping your bearings can thus be difficult, gas consumption is higher than usual and given the need to 'haul it' staying with your buddy can be tough (especially if he swims a lot faster than you). Head back while you've still got plenty of gas. Pack an SMB & make sure someone on land knows what you're doing if you try this dive (which I'm not recommending).

For another take on Cai, check out this thread where forum member MoreCowBells posted (amongst other things):

We did a dive with on the East side with Bas. First dive was at Cai. At first the surge was strong and the visibility less than optimal. We arrived to a sandy patch were were were surrounded by at least a hundred tarpon. It was so cool to kneel on the sand and watch them effortlessly drift by. Once we approached the reef wall, visibility vastly improved. The coral and marine life were wonderful. We saw a nurse shark, huge green moray, turtle and much more. Returning to shore yielded more surge, but it was manageable. As we were leaving, we saw other divers arrive to the area. While Cai is a milder dive on the East side, I still cannot imagine doing this without a guide.

Further Resource: ShoreDiving.com's page on Cai.

Richard.

 

[morecowbells]

This Jan was my first time visiting Bonaire. While researching the dive sites(both shore and by boat), I read about diving the East side. I thought it was worth a shot since it seems the odds of finding larger critters would be more prevalent on the 'wild side'. Bas was quick to respond to my e mails. We met at the Yellow Submarine Dive Friends Bonaire, the three of us hopped into our truck and drove out to Cai. While both my husband and I are experienced divers, I wanted to do a milder site on the east end since this was a new experience for us. Bas suggested Cai as an ideal place to start. While the drive itself is not terribly long, if it were just my husband and I, we would have had a road map/navigating melt down hissy fit. Endless turns on unmarked dirt roads. Just as photographed in previous post, there is a pile of conch shells, an occasional picnic tale and a few fisherman shacks.

Weather was rough and there were a couple of white caps in the bay, but not too intimidating. With a stick and some dirt, Bas wrote out a very detailed dive plan. The strategy was to descend to about 40 feet, swim around some coral heads and make our way to the mouth of the bay where the breakers were. If you overshoot the wall, you risk being swept out to sea. Undershoot it, you feel like you are in a spin cycle. One at the wall it would be a relaxed dive with improved conditions. We were warned about the ass kicking surge on the swim back to shore.

Entrance was amazingly easy with no issues until we neared the breakers. Forget about taking any pictures etc. Surge was incredibly powerful , pulling you in all different directions and clashing into each other. I just wanted to avoid getting separated form Bas and my husband. Things started to mellow out when we came to a sandy bottom with hundreds of tarpon. I got a few pics, but due to the rough water, visibility was not optimal. From there we arrived to the wall. Absolutely no current or surge. I agree with Drrich2 that the marine life was larger although we never spotted any pelegics. At one point on the wall, Bas speared a lionfish, stabbed it in the head(at least it makes for a quick death) and dropped it. Within seconds both an eel and lobster were noshing on the carcass. We also saw a huge green moray, chain moray, nurse shark, turtle and tarpon galore.




Once we swam back to shore we were dealing with strong surge again. Thousands of sea fans waving around(although it was not so random or violent as the start of the dive). Per Bas' instructions, "kick like the devil when the surge moves you forward and rest when it pulls you back." At times it felt for every foot forward was 3 feet back. Although tired out, we eventually made it back to shore without any event. It is a dive I would definitely do again, but never without a guide. I will admit that I need to improve on my compass skills. My husband is far more competent with compass interpretation than I am. Even so, this can be an especially unforgiving dive if not completely aware of the surge, currents and nuances.

After diving Cai, we headed north while staying on the east side. I cannot remember the name of this site, but it was as remote as being on the moon. This was a dive which one repels in and out of the ocean. Unfortunately the winds became even stronger and the sea rougher which made the entrance too dicey to dive. We ended up snacking on some Mentos and granola bars in a nearby cave instead

 

[drrich2]

Very nice. I'm jealous for 3 reasons:

1.) You met Bas. I haven't, but I keep hearing good things about him whenever his name comes up.

2.) You got a better big green moray shot than we did.

3.) You saw a shark! I have yet to see a shark in the wild diving.

It was interesting how minimal current was once we got to the wall. Perhaps more so because 2 dives in Cozumel taught me that current can definitely sweep over a reef.

Richard.

 

[handben]

Hi Richard, Thanks for this very informative post. I may try this dive on my next trip down if the conditions are not too difficult. I was able to dive the Lighthouse last time I was down with my family. We had a short window of minimal wind and jumped on the opportunity to dive that site. Unfortunately while we were down the winds picked back up and made the exit challenging. I rushed back to the truck as I saw 2 men looking around it when I popped up at the surface. I was happy to see they were from Stinapa when I got close. They said that they were waiting to make sure we got out ok as this site is not normally dive-able. This brought a little smile to my lips but got my better half even angrier. I don't think I'll be able to get my wife to dive Lac even on a good day after the lighthouse experience. My son and perhaps daughter on the other hand would be up for a challenge.

I think the white thing is some type of pelagic tunicate.

 

[T.C.]

"Can somebody tell me what the white thing is?"

A ctenophore of some sort. I wish I had my fish ID books with me. Post it in the "name that critter" forum.
Ctenophora - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Awesome pictures, to both posters. Maybe I'll try that dive in September!

 

[Jersey]

DrRich - Great pics and story, thanks for the info. A stressful dive can dramatically increase air consumption, but can you elaborate on your air situation? Air at turn, contributing factors to low surface gas - SAC rate/distance/surge or something else? Did you surface at start point or were you off, surfaced due to lack of air and swam back in? How was your buddy's air starting and ending?

Morecowbells - one needs a really good sense of humor on some of the 'roads' (and I use that word loosely) of Bonaire. The road out to Cai is certainly one where good tires, plenty of water, sunscreen, long sleeve shirt and towels help, but the view once there is worth the trip. When you say overshoot the wall, can you explan more? I'm guessing you pass through/over a gap or wall, then turn left or right and down wall to get out of the surge? My buddy is always looking for more East side diving and this looks do-able, with planning and/or a guide.

 

[morecowbells]

Morecowbells - one needs a really good sense of humor on some of the 'roads' (and I use that word loosely) of Bonaire. The road out to Cai is certainly one where good tires, plenty of water, sunscreen, long sleeve shirt and towels help, but the view once there is worth the trip. When you say overshoot the wall, can you explan more? I'm guessing you pass through/over a gap or wall, then turn left or right and down wall to get out of the surge? My buddy is always looking for more East side diving and this looks do-able, with planning and/or a guide.

Good questions Jersey, if my memory serves me correctly, we headed south east until we came across the sandy bottom with the tarpon. From there it was a sharp right(south) to the wall. I do not remember any actual gap or chute. We swam both ways along the wall at slightly different depths each way. I think the route back was closer to shore where the outgoing surge was strong. My embarrassing disclaimer is my anemic navigation skills.

I did see a dive op in a Zodiac near the same site. Granted, the boat dive would allow you to avoid the surge and at times strenuous swim, but it also looked rough. I don't think my mal de mer would make me a compatible match. Plus, I found it to be more peaceful with just Bas, my husband and myself Whether this dive is done from shore or from a boat, I would only consider doing it with a guide.

 

[drrich2]

...but can you elaborate on your air situation? Air at turn, contributing factors to low surface gas - SAC rate/distance/surge or something else? Did you surface at start point or were you off, surfaced due to lack of air and swam back in? How was your buddy's air starting and ending?

I don't recall air pressure at turn; since we didn't know the full details of what we were getting into, and what it'd take to get out there, much less back, we had to sort of 'play it by ear.' I don't recall what we turned at, but I think I made the call. I believe we came out fairly near where we went in; it was the same sort of shore line. And as I recall, I made it to shore; I didn't have to surface way out & surface swim back.

My buddy is a few inches shorter, much leaner & more more fit & athletic than I am, and he typically had a few hundred more PSI in his tank at the end of a dive, so I'm the 'rate limiting diver' and he would've had a better air (nitrox) reservoir. He dives with an Oceanic Geo 2.0, which isn't air-integrated, and doesn't usually log start & finish pressures. I've been diving a Cobalt, with an Oceanic VT3 wrist unit as a backup (and to act as a wrist depth gauge), so the Cobalt logs my pressures for me.

I believe that once out over that vertical wall we worked our way back south before the swim back, which would've compensated for being swept north by current.

Our dive was August 2012, so I'm fuzzy on the particulars. I still have trouble believing the Cobalt timed it as a 57 minute dive, since it seemed hectic at the time (probably because I was worried about needing plenty of gas for the swim back, and where we'd come out). In hindsight it's an adventurous memory & a story to tell, but at the time, I was worried I'd applied for a Darwin award.

Richard.

 

[drrich2]

May 2014 Update: This old trip report from 2012 chronicled our independent Cai shore dive. In May of 2014, on a solo diving trip, I met up with Bas Tol of BasDiving.com to try a guided Cai dive, and had a much more thorough, less stressful experience, and I'd like to take my regular dive buddy back to dive with Bas one of these days. The dive report from that trip can be seen here. Very worthwhile, and Cai offers a lot.

Richard.