Taylor Made + Candy Land - Currents/Safety

[boat sju]

For me on rare days I can dive them (low wind and current), they are fantastic. I am old and entry with walking sticks is a must now.

You're a youngster. I just got my Medicare car.

 

[Lorenzoid]

How long is your trip in total? If you're doing a day with Bas Tol on the East Side, and you want to go up to do the extreme northern sites like Taylor Made and Candyland, which are all places that take a long time to get to and return from, you're eating into your days left for diving the sites that are considered more typical of Bonaire. For me, just doing a day with Bas is a bit of a sacrifice; it's very rewarding, but takes time. If you're going to be in Bonaire for two or more weeks, not just one, then that all makes perfect sense to me. Just keep in mind how much time these off-the-beaten-path dive days take out of your trip.

My experience for comparison: Monterey Bay, Catalina (Casino Point), La Jolla, PNW (Clallam/Neah Bays, Edmonds, Hoodsport) -- Basically West Coast USA, Mexico to Canada.

So it sounds like you're interested in diving sites on Bonaire that are reminiscent of the places you dive on the US west coast. The East Side dives I did with Bas truly reminded me of N. American west coast diving. Seagrass, surge, rocky, etc.

 

[arubabob1]

I am not old but a dive stick is a MUST! If you fall down in the shallows, its not good. So my dive cain helps me stay on my 2 feet.

 

[USC8791]

I am not old but a dive stick is a MUST! If you fall down in the shallows, its not good. So my dive cain helps me stay on my 2 feet.

Amen brother!

 

[shopguy]

How long is your trip in total?

About 6 weeks... because the wife wouldn't agree to 3 months

 

[Lorenzoid]

About 6 weeks... because the wife wouldn't agree to 3 months

Ah, now it really makes sense to me. With six weeks you'll be able to dive not only all the usual suspects (multiple times) but also these less-dived sites way up north, plus East Side guided dives, and who knows what else. But you knew that. Sounds like you have your ducks in a row.

 

[shopguy]

After over 20 dives on the island I can say so far nothing has been difficult and luckily nothing felt unsafe. This includes boat dives and 1 shore dive around Lac Bay area on east coast, and Tailor Made and Red Slave and many in between.

One day, at Red Slave and The Lake, we did have some noticeable current. Wish I could judge the knots, but I can’t, so can just say I could probably only swim twice the speed of the current— or that it cut my speed in half swimming against it.

At Lac Bay the current goes in different directions, including an ever present rip current. I can see how a person that forgets or didn’t get training and does the wrong thing when in these currents could easily end up in trouble.

The “waves” though, so far I wouldn’t even call them waves, nothing like California okay, there was one stormy day where they were pounding pretty hard on the east coast, but that stormy day was comparable to an average day at “the boomers” in La Jolla.

 

[arubabob1]

Well just remember, its not always like that. It can change. If you are there for 6 weeks. you are going to see more things, Bigger waves, more current, less current. Less viz and better viz. It does not always stay the same. You might want to check Red Slave out. I have seen alot of cool things there.

 

[NDL_Diver]

September an October are light winds months. That may change while you are there or not.

 

[wgw04024]

Plenty of easy dives, but sometimes there can be current. Especially if you go on the ends north or south. I ran into a situation where one of my sons was having some issues with the current, and me and my other was not. He had different fins, and in hindsight, I'm wondering if that was his problem. Have good fins with good thrust.