When I see pictures of Bonaire its all rock along shore. Is this where you snorkle to see alot of fish or is it under the docks or do you swim out aways to snorkle. Or maybe its alittle of all 3. Thanks 3 weeks and counting!!!Kent

I dive but I would say all 3. I know of places that you can see tons of fish 5 ft from shore and other places you need to snorkel out 50-100 ft before you start to see much more than sand. In general, the northern sites tend to be closer in to shore and the southern sites tend to have a longer sand flat before the reef starts. There are almost always fish hanging around a dock and it's not uncommon to see fish in a few inches of water. I have seen parrotfish swimming with their back out of the water because they were in water too shallow to keep them completely covered.

I prefer to snorkel in water 10 feet or less. Deeper than that, you don't see things as clearly. You have to surface dive and then your time's limited.

After diving during the day, I'll spend the late afternoon snorkeling (in the shallowest water I can manage!) between Plaza and Carib Inn. I am always amazed at the critters you can find in 2 or 3 feet of water. Just need to compensate for the surge and go slow.

Underneath the docks you'll often find interesting fish - soapfish, squid, lots of juveniles, blennies on the pilings.

During our final dive last August on Buddy Reef we decided to keep our depth under 25 feet -- while we were diving, snorkelers would have seen all the same stuff. We of course saw schools of fish under the docks, scores of species of typical reef fish, a crab shedding his shell in about 10 feet of water, a 4 foot tarpon on the way out, tons of moray eels, a school of squid in about 15 feet of water, a turtle, an eagle ray, and the tarpon swam with us on the way back in. Granted, this was a special dive, and you may not see all of these critters on one dive/snorkel, but it IS an indication of the types of things you'll see snorkeling near the shore. This dive was a particularly special one for us, and was a great way to say "so long, see ya soon" to the fish life on our favorite island.

All three. I usually go against current in the deep admiring the beautiful corals and fish life and then come back in the shallows. I also love the really shallows almost on shore and under the piers. It is amazing what you see there. I can only free dive 10 or 15 feet and I like to take pictures so that is the depth that I prefer. My husband can go down to about 30 feet so I let him get the pictures in deeper water and I just enjoy!

Scott, when I read this all I could think of is 'how hard it must have been to say "so long, see ya soon" .. I remember that feeling very well.