Can someone please give exact directions for snorkeling the Sorobon reef? Last time I was on Bonaire I walked through the shallows where the windsurfers are to the floating swimmers' platform and then snorkeled off to the left. It was very shallow and just patches of reef here and there. I somehow felt I was missing the main reef. Should I have walked past the platform further before beginning to snorkel? A long time ago I snorkeled the reef with several other people and they knew how to get to the main reef but I have forgotten. Help!

I am glad you asked this and hope you get a good reply. This will be my ninth year in Bonaire, snorkeling, and I haven't found the spot at Sorobon that gets rave reviews either! I will keep an eye out for an answer to this as I come down Sept. 29th for two weeks.

OK...this is my FAVORITE snorkeling site. To see all there is:

walk/snorkel past the raft (platform) towards the breakers. (It helps to first look out towards the sea where the waves break on the reef - this will give you an image of what line you are snorkeling.) You will start to see juvenile fish and more and more coral. You'll know you're at the reef when you see relatively flat but compact thriving corals and juvenile fish. Then head south (facing breakers go left). Snorkel along following the reef. Eventually it will get thicker and larger. At one point, you'll notice a current coming in from the breakers..this is actually a break in the reef and the big seas come into the bay (Lac Bay) at this spot. During low wind days (September is excellent for this) you can snorkel into the opening but be careful...this can be tricky. Just past this point, you'll see the large corals which come in from the reef - they make a sort of wall. You can either snorkel above (if the water is high enough) or around this sort of coral wall. If you're an experienced snorkeler, be sure to check out the inner spots here...lots of large coral heads, schools of fish, excellent snorkeling. OK...just remember...head to the reef past the raft as far as you can go (by foot without crushing coral....then you know you're there- although we usually snorkel to here even before the raft, as soon as we can - saves the feet :-), go left, and keep going..it's a bit of a distance but not bad - and the further left you go the larger the coral and fish.

Reading this back it seems rambling. Please don't hesitate to ask if you don't understand my directions :-)

Good Luck !
Annette

Turning left seems to be north...to go south I'd swim to the right of the raft....I guess I'm mixed up.

Annette, About how far past the swimming platform do I walk or snorkel before turning left? And do I head directly left or left and towards the breakers? It is a bit difficult to pick my way through all those really shallow coral heads to find the wall that you are speaking of.

p.s. do you also know anything about snorkeling Blue Hole? has anyone else snorkeled Blue Hole?

Pauline,

What we did when we were there was walk past the last platform until we reached the wall of coral that almost reaches the top of the water then turned left. What we found was the whole area to the left had nice big patches of coral both close to the breakers and back away from the breakers. Found that the patches of coral was spread out over a large area and could snorkel for a few hours trying to cover most of it.

Hi Pauline.

That's right... walk (snorkel) past the last raft and you'll see that the small coral heads become more dense. On a calm day with high tide you can snorkel above these dense coral heads, otherwise you have to skirt the side of them. This is the patch of coral inside the bay of the breakers. At that point, enjoy the area as you head to the left. You can either head directly left or in and out towards the breakers (if conditions allow), but left anyway :-)

Remember to stand every once in a while and get your bearings....this will keep you on the right track.

Do try it....it is Soooooo worth it !! I'm here in Miami now and am missing my lovely Bonaire waters so enjoy for me till I get back !!!

Good luck,
annette

Pauline -

We freedove the Blue Hole with Dominique Sérafini of Big Blue Freedive (http://www.infobonaire.com/freedive/) last year.

It was a little deep for me to really enjoy it, but Marvin loved it. The bottom of the Blue Hole is probably 50-60' deep (Marvin's guess). It is best to try when the 'other side' is calmer than usual.

Dominique took us out in his zodiac. It was somewhere beyond the reef at the edge of Lac. Not far, but it would be quite a swim.

HTH - Bea

I love this message board. We carried our trusty printout of tidbits from this board on our most recent trip last month. Even then though, we had a heck of a time finding that platform from Jibe City (even with binoculars), so we tried this.....When you turn onto the Sorobon/Jibe City road off the main drag, look to your right. There is a fence that goes from the road out to the beach. There is a sand road that follows the fence. Take that road and park your vehicle. In the distance you can see Cai, on the other side of Lac Bay, where all the conch shells are piled up. Start walking in that direction and a little toward the breakers. I would say that in about 10 minutes we were flat on our stomachs viewing an underwater wonderland. The nice thing about this entry point is that you don't have to keep your eyes open for wind surfers and it appears to be a much shorter walk than from Jibe City. We were out for a couple of hours. I could have stayed longer, but I haven't learned how to change film while snorkeling. BTW, if you are interested in another spot which also has abundant sea life, try BOPEC.