Bon Dia Bonaire
Diving Bonaire. Disneyland for Divers.
Instead of endless lines for amusement rides, you find yourself surrounded by endless dive sites and perfectly blue water. That’s right no such thing as bad viz!
Bonaire, St Eustatius, and Saba make up the Dutch Caribbean which lies just above South America. Famous among the world for its native population of flamingos and extensive exports of salt Bonaire is a desert island surrounded by the beautiful blue of the Caribbean Sea. Its topography is hilly with the highest point being only 241 meters (791 ft) and makes for some stunning views if you’re willing to hike through the forests of cactus and Yankee trees which, is worth the effort if you’re looking for something to do on your dry day.
Now if the first line of this blog didn’t sell you on Bonaire lets dive in and take a look at what is below the surface.
We arrived in the afternoon on December 31st and promptly checked in at the Den Laman which is partnered with Dive Friends. This means we have a private dock, a house reef, unlimited Nitrox tanks, and access to various Dive Friends locations around Bonaire so we are never far away from a fresh fill. We decided to bring in the new year the only way we knew how. Diving.
Struggling to stay awake after a long day of travel we waited until 11 pm where we donned our gear and headed out for a night dive. Stepping off the dock the edge of the reef sat only 100ft away. As we approached the edge of the reef we came across an Octopus hunting in the shallows in search of a late-night snack. Basket Sea Stars were spread wide open looking for any passing morsel of food they could cling onto, Soapfish and Sharp Nose Eels searched the reef for dinner as well. As Midnight approached we found our way back to the shallows where we turned out our torches, completed a safety stop, and waited for the show to start. We could see sparkles of bioluminescence ignite off of each kick cycle but that's, not the show we were waiting for. We made our way towards the dock and found a nice sandy area where we could look up through the water column. Midnight struck and to our astonishment, we could see explosions of color from fireworks the Dutch sure know how to celebrate. We surfaced near a group of swimmers who were skinny dipping and thought we were Tarpons giving them quite the surprise. The entire coastline of Bonaire was a light in colorful explosions. An incredible way to kick off the new year and a week of incredible diving.
If you’ve been to Bonaire you know the Tarpons come out to play at night.
Over the next seven days, we explored several dive sites around the west coast of Bonaire and even got a chance to explore the east coast with East Coast Diving Bonaire. The West coast of Bonaire offers an astounding 63 different dive sites almost all of which are accessible from the shore.
More than enough to keep you busy.
Dive Sites We visited
Salt Pier
Bari
Cliff
Pink Beach
Hilma Hooker
Angel City
Karpata
Something Special
1000 Steps
East Coast
Funchis Reef
White Hole/Turtle City
Salt Pier
Be aware you must check the boat schedule to make sure there is not a Salt ship coming to the pier. There is a lot of room for creativity with sunballs under the Pier. Somewhere I’d love to go back and photograph more of it. (that won’t be the last time I say that)
Sponges, Sponges everywhere!
Bari Reef
I spy a Scorpionfish
Kicking around the reefs you feel small among the massive Coral heads and gigantic towering Sponges. I had never seen sponges so large although not the most interesting of marine life I couldn’t help but photograph them and search their crevices for the elusive Frogfish. Beautiful blue water surrounds you and everywhere you look you’re able to find a healthy coral that beckons you closer to see what else may be calling it home or hiding beneath it.
Dancing in the swell and current between corals you’ll even find Great Anemones with the occasional Anemone Shrimp hanging out with in it. They can be rather photogenic.
East Coast
The East Coast of Bonaire isn’t dived very often as the sea state is the opposite of the west coast. Never flat always rough and windy but if you’re willing to work a little bit harder and get on a small RIB it is worth it. The coral life is incredible and oh my, SO many Green Sea Turtles. We didn’t even bother counting them.
White Hole & Turtle City
Don’t forget about the Small stuff.
If you know me you know I love small critters, Blennies, Nudis, you name it I wanna see it.
Of course, we cannot forget about the cute Red Lipped Blenny. These small fish proved to be more challenging to photograph than I anticipated and I didn’t get an image I was completely sold on. This fish was much more shy than I thought it was. Being used to the Seaweed Blennies here in Florida I hoped for them to be similar and approachable but they darted from coral to coral hiding from me. Maybe I just need to work on my patience.
Overall you cannot go wrong diving Bonaire. The critters, the dive sites, and the island are a divers paradise. The fact that nothing is restricting you from grabbing a tank and jumping in had to be my favorite part. Oh yeah, there is also a wreck called the Hilma Hooker, if you’re into that sort of thing. We found the coral and fish life to be far more interesting than the wreck but that didn’t stop us from checking it out.
Looking out from the main cargo hold.
