Got to Bonaire last Saturday and staying through next Saturday. Diving mainly southern site so far. We would like to find some seahorses and turtles before we go, can anyone recommend so sites that have a good chance of spotting these?
Where are the seahorses?
- Thread starter FIST
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Reidkon
Contributor
You will see turtles on almost any dive. One southern site that comes to mind is Salt Pier where we also saw an octopus.
We saw our one and only seahorse at Cha Cha Cha which is in front of Dive Friends -Yellow Sub. Ask inside the dive shop and they will tell you exactly where to find them.
We saw our one and only seahorse at Cha Cha Cha which is in front of Dive Friends -Yellow Sub. Ask inside the dive shop and they will tell you exactly where to find them.
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IDK how current this is but: Bonaire Dive and Adventure
It's been my impression that seahorses are found more north. Buddy's used to have a pair near the ball but that was years ago. Cliff is also a good option - I've seen 2012 video of seahorses there. We dove Jeff Davis specifically looking for them at a DM's suggestion but didn't find any.
Take a boat over to Klein and dive Jerry's Reef. After the dive save a little air and swim in towards the island. As you hit about 15-20' start looking near the base of the coral clusters - there should be turtles sleeping - at least there was at one time. It's kind of hard to spot the first one but then you notice 1/2 dozen more nearby.
STCB (Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire) lists:
It's been my impression that seahorses are found more north. Buddy's used to have a pair near the ball but that was years ago. Cliff is also a good option - I've seen 2012 video of seahorses there. We dove Jeff Davis specifically looking for them at a DM's suggestion but didn't find any.
Take a boat over to Klein and dive Jerry's Reef. After the dive save a little air and swim in towards the island. As you hit about 15-20' start looking near the base of the coral clusters - there should be turtles sleeping - at least there was at one time. It's kind of hard to spot the first one but then you notice 1/2 dozen more nearby.
STCB (Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire) lists:
Ebo's is slightly north of Jerry's both on the Bonaire facing side. In the south Turtles are often seen at Bachelor's or Windsock.
diver52
Registered
FIST,
Any of the dive sites on Bonaire will have turtles, you just have to put yourself in the right spot to have the best chance of seeing them. It took us two and a halve years before we figured this out. After seventeen years and over four hundred dives on Bonaire it is a rare dive that we don't see a turtle(s). The best place to find them is on top of the reef from were the sand ends on your swim out and the soft corals start from there to where you drop over the reef is the best place to look. You will typically be in 25 -30 feet of water. We usuall go out to the drop off - drop over the reef to around 50 feet burn around 1,000 psi then come back up and spend the rest of the dive working our way back on top of the reef in the soft corals. Good luck!
Any of the dive sites on Bonaire will have turtles, you just have to put yourself in the right spot to have the best chance of seeing them. It took us two and a halve years before we figured this out. After seventeen years and over four hundred dives on Bonaire it is a rare dive that we don't see a turtle(s). The best place to find them is on top of the reef from were the sand ends on your swim out and the soft corals start from there to where you drop over the reef is the best place to look. You will typically be in 25 -30 feet of water. We usuall go out to the drop off - drop over the reef to around 50 feet burn around 1,000 psi then come back up and spend the rest of the dive working our way back on top of the reef in the soft corals. Good luck!
diver 85
Contributor
Dove Bonaire last August & saw only 2, both up around Karpata(sp)---I think....Both were on boat dives, I do know that..
Mike
Contributor
Unless things have changed, you should find sea horses on just about any dive that has sea horse habitat. The secret is not going to a specific dive site to see them, the secret is developing the 'eyes' to see the ones that are at the dive site you are at. They love grasses, soft corals, just about anything with a gentle current and something clingy to cling to, blend into and hide out. The more of them you find on your own the easier it is to find the next one. You can easily be looking right at one and not see it. I try to slow way down and stare, moving super, super slowly, looking at every stalk and thing that looks like where a sea horse might hide out. When we were last in Bonaire we found at least a half dozen of them, I've seen them from 5 feet of water down to 80 ft.
R
redacted
Guest
That is a three rowed sea cucumber.
I was there last week and the only seahorse I found was a pipehorse at the end of our last dive at Buddy Reef. I have fount seahorses in the past just about everywhere but I believe the habitat is better at the southern reef (Margate Bay to Sweet Dreams) in the 20 to 30 foot range. We did find turtles and eagle rays up north at Tolo and Karpata.
We were disappointed not to find any frogfish. I believe they are more common in the protected waters of the center reefs and Klein. There were reported sitings at Buddy and at Something Special.
Enjoy
Found a sleeping seahorse at Cai last Friday night, I think I heard him snoring 
We looked a lot, no luck though.
We looked a lot, no luck though.
Mike
Contributor
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