BonaireTalk Discussion Group
Snorkeling Bonaire: Waves and currents
Bonaire Talk: Snorkeling Bonaire: Archives: Archive 2001- 2007: Archives - 2006-03-01 to 2006-12-31: Waves and currents
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Vann Evans (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #1) on Tuesday, October 3, 2006 - 10:36 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hello Bonaire Talk,
I have been reading this Discussion group off and on for a long time. I certainly appreciate all of the good advice and information that is passed along. It certainly makes our trip easier and more fun.

We are returning to Bonaire in February for our second trip.We are avid snorkelers. I have 2 questions relative to snorkeling.

1 ) In several recent posts(particularly in the Dive Bonaire Section or Trip Reports) people have mentioned problems getting into or out of the water due to wave action knocking them down or hindering them . I know divers carry much more weight/gear than snorkelers. However, when we were last in bonaire, I remember very little wave action at most of the snorkel sites. we snorkeled at about 25 different sites and only remember big waves on the northeastern side(no snorkeling)and the Slagbaii park area. Has the wave action increased or am I remembering incorrectly?? Also, the most recent trip report mentioned a snorkeler getting caught in currents and ending up in a very precarious situation. As I recall, the only noticable currents were when we drift snorkeled off Klein Bonaire.
Can anyone please address this question about waves and currents???
2) the second question revolves around coral damage. I remember that the hurricane several years ago was very damaging to the shallow coral. Recently, I have also read reports about bleaching problems. Are there specific snorkelling sites that are particularly damaged(storm or bleaching) that should be avoided??We have several guides to the marine park and dive/snorkeling sites.

Thanks in advance for any information. It will only make our anticipation increase!
Vann Evans

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Brian (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1786) on Wednesday, October 4, 2006 - 3:10 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Vann

Most of the dive sites are on the leeward side of the island so they are normally protected from most waves. Sometimes larger rolling waves give some surge, some sites such as Karparta are calmer in the morning with the waves building during the day. The small paper back book "Bonaire shore diving made easy" would be useful for you as well as it describes the entry and likely conditions at each site as well saying which sites are good for snorkeling.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David Johnson (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #220) on Wednesday, October 4, 2006 - 7:43 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

I think you remember correctly but shore entry can still be a bit tricky. You are correct that it is worse with divers -- more weight, different center of gravity, etc.

That said, waves that are knee high can easily knock over a diver. And many of the sites are not super smooth entries (i.e., there are typically some step ups on the iron shore, etc.). I second the Bonaire Shore dives book.

Waves can come up on Bonaire, especially later afternoon -- although it is unlikely they will be very large (at least on most of the west coast). That said, I have had some decent sized ones south of Red Slave and at Bopec.

I have always had currents (if any) run North/South (or vice versa) except at the points. Typically they have been very minimal -- 0.5 knots being a VERY unusual current.

That said, it is hard for me to speculate what happened to someone else. I have personally met some folks who got disoriented at sunset. MY favorite was the guy who led his group in a swim WEST at Pink Beach. He thought the lingering effects of sunset w/clouds was the the "mountains of Bonaire." Fortunately, someone in their group figured it out after a short distance. That bad part was one diver was not really comfortable in the water. She sort of froze up and the rest of the group towed her back.

I cannot imagine making their mistake. I check my compass. I pay attention to the bottom profile. I pretty much always do a 360 upon surfacing.

I think snorkeling on Bonaire is very easy and all of these represent minimal hazards to those who are comfortable in the water. If you are not comfortable in the water (and that does NOT sound like you) I would suggest employing either a guide or a trusted (and skilled) friend.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Rosie (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #10) on Tuesday, October 10, 2006 - 5:54 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi, We just returned (Oct 30-7 Nov) from Bonaire for the first time. We only snorkel and we will return next year because we really liked Bonaire and because we have many more sites to explore. We had stronger waves and wind the last two days which I understand is unusual for Bonaire at this time of the year. I had read also that entry at some sites might be difficult. We are 66 and did not have any problems entering the water either because of coral or waves.

I plan to write a trip report one of these days. SRT

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bill and Donna Goodwin (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #231) on Wednesday, October 11, 2006 - 3:08 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Vann - our last trip was in April (next in 3 days!) and we've been north, south, in town and wildside - the coral bleaching that has hurt so many reefs in other parts of the caribbean has (so far) mostly spared Bonaire (Humann and Deloach refer to a bleaching event in (as I recall) 1989 - a transient effect in that case.

The most-recent storm damaged coral has recovered very well (see the staghorn at Margate, for example) but some of the northern sites heavily damaged by Lenny are still looking damaged in the elkhorn-staghorn belts.

 


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