Northwest Dive Club

I am leaving for Bonaire for two weeks on the 13th! I am looking for a few suggestions on can't miss dives I should make sure to do while I am there.
Thanks for all your help!

I love Angel City and Windsock!

But you can't really go wrong anyplace in Bonaire.

Don't miss the Town Pier as a night dive -- macro critter heaven!

I also really enjoyed the Salt Pier. At the time we had to get permission in advance.

Otherwise, just have fun! [Insert envy here.]

Some of my favorite sites are the 7 or 8 sites North of Red Slave. There is a rocky substrate so the reef starts very shallow - 10-15 fsw in places, and there is a ton of life all the way out to where the reef starts to drop off between 30 & 40 fsw. The shallows are just magical. I try to hit them early... if the waves kick up a bit the viz in the shallows can get somewhat stirred up and drop to as low as 30 or 40'. If the viz in the shallows is less than desirable just kick on out to the reef quicker and it will open up.

If you're a photog you might want to try magic filters - http://www.magic-filters.com/

I used the auto magic on one of my cameras http://www.magic-filters.com/autoindex.html in the shallow (less than 40fsw) part of the dives and it did a wonderful job.

If you mess around with the search function you'll find a couple of pretty detailed trip reports I've done on past Bonaire trips. And in my sig line are tons of photos from there as well.

We're headed back in late May / early June. The wait has been killing me... Ideally I'd like to get there about every six months, but haven't been able to pull it off this year.

Have fun!

+1 for Red Slave and southern dive sites. I made my first trip down there last summer, and Red Slave was probably my favorite for the sheer amount of life on the reef. Also had some great dives at The Lake, Angel City, and Something Special. There's no bad diving there though, and you'll see lots of cool stuff no matter what site you dive.

You couldn't dive the Town Pier when I was there...not sure why it's closed, but in our arrival briefing, it sounded like it was along-term, if not permanent closure.

When I was there Town Pier was closed due to the cruise ships that were stopping by later in the week.

So I think its pretty much a perma-close.

Reality check...

Be sure to leave nothing in your rental car or on your porch lest it be gone when you return. This includes dopey stuff that you'd think nobody wants. Lots of sticky fingers there, even in remote areas.

With that in mind, you're going to have a great trip!

If you get a chance, head over to Klein Bonaire. Some of the most pristine sites are there. I also liked Karpata a lot. But as others have said, all the sites are good. You really can't go wrong.

Do you have the Book by Susan Porter, Bonaire Shore Diving made easy? It's an absolute must for Diving Bonaire. I wish that I had done another boat dive over to Klein. Bonaire is amazing, just wish that I could go back again soon! Have a great time!

DiverBob wrote:Do you have the Book by Susan Porter, Bonaire Shore Diving made easy? It's an absolute must for Diving Bonaire. I wish that I had done another boat dive over to Klein. Bonaire is amazing, just wish that I could go back again soon! Have a great time!

I know someone who would like to borrow that book...........

cardiver wrote:

DiverBob wrote:Do you have the Book by Susan Porter, Bonaire Shore Diving made easy? It's an absolute must for Diving Bonaire. I wish that I had done another boat dive over to Klein. Bonaire is amazing, just wish that I could go back again soon! Have a great time!

I know someone who would like to borrow that book...........

Hmmm..... Guess I will toss it in the Element with the rest of the gear!

DiverBob wrote:

cardiver wrote:

DiverBob wrote:Do you have the Book by Susan Porter, Bonaire Shore Diving made easy? It's an absolute must for Diving Bonaire. I wish that I had done another boat dive over to Klein. Bonaire is amazing, just wish that I could go back again soon! Have a great time!

I know someone who would like to borrow that book...........

Hmmm..... Guess I will toss it in the Element with the rest of the gear!

That would be great!

All night dives are incredible in Bonaire!
You don't need it, but it's fun to bring a super bright can light!
Oil slick was a fun night dive too!

One of my favourite dives is a night dive on Buddy's house reef. There are a number of large tarpon that will follow you around looking for critters in your lights. Pretty cool.

If you like wrecks, the Hilma Hooker is good to check out. One cool way to do it is to start on the reef to the south (I think it is Angel City, but can't quite remember), but you hit an outer ridge and you can see the anchor, then drift onto the wreck.

If conditions are blowing a bit making entries a bit difficult, a good fall back is Something Special as it has a nice easy beach entry. Some good macro photo opportunities there too.

Have fun!

Salt Pier at night!

Mateo1147 wrote:I am leaving for Bonaire for two weeks on the 13th! I am looking for a few suggestions on can't miss dives I should make sure to do while I am there.
Thanks for all your help!

Well I would like to just say cause if you are there NOW you missed all this fun we are having with snow, freezing rain, power outages.........

50 days and counting and I'll be there! Can't wait!

I'm going to be there for most of February. NWDC club dive in Bonaire!
I know of one other board member who'll be there as well.

diverden wrote:I'm going to be there for most of February. NWDC club dive in Bonaire!
I know of one other board member who'll be there as well.

Yup, I'll be there with 5 other NWDC members, so when we see you, it WILL count as a Club Dive!!

Six of us will be there in late May early June.

We need to coordinate some year and fill up Bonaire with NWDClubbers!