Where are all the sea horses?

[mjosephson]

Ok so going back to Bonaire at the end of the month. This will be my 5th year in a row. Each time I go I am told that sea horses truly do exist in Bonaire. But I have never see one. Anyone have advice on where is the best spot to find these "mythical sea horses" of Bonaire?

 

[lmorin]

The best thing to do is ask divers who have been on the island just prior to your arrival and at the various dive operations. All the dive masters are likely to know what, of major interest, has been spotted recently and whether they are still around. We have seen a number of seahorses on Bonaire, but never found one on our own, without knowing the general location in advance. One at Bari/Front Porch stayed in the same place for months last winter.

 

[djtimmy77]

I found one a couple years ago at Red Slave, on a piece of broken sea fan just inside of the top of the reef in the sand.

 

[KathyV]

We saw one on a dive off Klein Bonaire once. Our best spots for finding seahorses have been the Fredricksted Pier in St. Croix and diving in Dominica. (And at the Aquarium!)

 

[tkaelin]

Ditto Imorin. Ask local divers, guides and hosts. We asked the same question for our third trip and our host wrote down instructions on the back of a napkin over evening cocktails where to find a seahorse and frog fish at the same site. Went the next day somewhat skeptical but he was right on and we saw both. BTW it was at the Divi house reef. We were staying elsewhere. He also said to use his name and check in with someone at Divi to get permission to dive. Local knowledge and assistance is a wonderful thing.

 

[jimw]

Go really, really SLOW! They have sooo much more experience blending in than we have looking. Check anything they may wrap their tail around--and that is almost everything! Might even see one out and about. If you think you are going really slow--slow down some more.

 

[Doctorfish]

IMO, having the dive master point out sea horses and frog fish is a reason to take a few boat dives on Bonaire.

My wife is good at spotting sea horses and as jimw said, slows way down. They are territorial so local knowledge is very useful.

 

[darook]

I seldom see them yet and am sure I swim past at least one every dive. Probably true of the frog fish too.

 

[howswedeofme]

We saw two seahorses, a frog fish, a lettuce slug, and a couple flamingo tongue snails all on one dive off Klein Bonaire. We had a dive master that loved to go slow and find the tiny stuff. I don't think I would have noticed the sea horses if they hadn't been pointed out because they blended in so well. Even when he was pointing at it, I didn't see it right away!

 

[N2theBlue StCroix STX]

St. Croix, US Virgin Islands has the famous Frederiksted Pier -- the best place in the entire Caribbean to find seahorses. I've had tours with people counting 35 before getting bored with seahorses. Most dives are just 2-10 seahorses. Then there's all the other stuff, like Frogfish, flying gunnards, batfish, etc.

Facebook photos can give a hint how many St. Croix has at the Pier!