Monday, February 7, 2011

Bonaire Bits - So Many Dive Sites

[Franko's Maps - Available for purchase at The Dive Shack]

With no less than 86 official dive sites, 54 of which are shore dives, Bonaire truly is a divers' paradise!  Divers from around the world come to admire Bonaire's 55 types of coral and 370 species of fish.  Experience what they call "Diving Freedom" by driving up to a dive site marked by those yellow stones along the side of the road, park your car, put your gear on, and just walk into the water.  The most difficult part is choosing which sites to see!

Below I have highlighted just a few sites, so you can get a taste of what awaits you:

1000 Steps: (Depth 10-120ft)
Are there really 1000 Steps?  No, but after your dive, the actual 67 steps you have to climb back up may feel like 1000.  But the dive is well worth the effort.  This dive site situated in front of the Radio Netherlands towers is rated novice to intermediate for its clear waters, light currents, and depth.  The marker buoy is located in 21ft of water, right at the steep drop-off.  Schools of fish are in abundance both in the shallows and along the reef.  You will spot tangs, gray angels, many types of filefish, honeycomb cowfish, schoolmasters, male stoplight parrot fish, and even ocean surgeonfish.  Also be on the lookout for hawksbill turtles.


Oil Slick Leap: (Depth 20-80ft)
This site is located right next to STINAPA Park Headquarters and there is plenty of parking.  It got its name because this was the original proposed site for an oil storage terminal, but no actual oil slicks have ever occurred here.  Entrance into the water at this site is a 4ft jump.  Exit is by way of a ladder (courtesy of Caribbean Club Bonaire).  This site is rated novice and has only mild currents.  Since the site has no beach, visibility is always excellent.  Big gorgonian fans with flamingo tongue cowries nestled in their branches can be found in the shallows.  Turtles seem to like the hard coral here and there is generally a good population.  This is a popular site for barracudas, too.  And don't forget to search the gorgonians for seahorses!


Hilma Hooker: (Depth 20-100ft)
Some people say if you haven't dove the Hilma Hooker then you've never been on Bonaire!  A former cargo ship used to smuggle drugs, it was confiscated by police and customs and later sunk as a dive objective.  This site is rated as advanced because of light to moderate currents and depths of 60-100ft.  (For penetration, divers should be certified in wreck and deep diving.)  Lying on its side at the beginning of the double reef system, the Hilma Hooker is covered in orange coral and has become a permanent home to different species of fish, varying from tarpons to barracudas and green moray eels.  This is a popular boat dive site as well as shore dive.  To avoid the crowds, you will want to dive this site in the early morning or late afternoon.  This is also a popular night dive site.


Captain Don's Reef: (Depth 15-130ft)
Take advantage of your boat dives and head out to Klein Bonaire to visit the must-dive site of Capt. Don's Reef.  With mild currents and depths from 15-130ft, this site is rated novice but is great for all levels.  Located at the mooring bouy, check out the plaque dedicated to Bonaire's diving pioneer, Don Stewart, which thanks him for his dedication to the preservation of Bonaire's reefs.  This reef has a series of points and valleys with lots of white sand, sometimes referred to as sugar sand.  Look for peacock flounder in the sand.  Enjoy the beautiful coral formations at the drop-off as well at the tube sponges and orange elephant ears.  This reef is residence to French grunts, gray angels, bicolor damsels and marauding wrasses.  Look for comensal shrimp amongst the purple-tipped anemones and frogfish in the rope sponges.

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