I have not seen this question posted and maybe I missed it or it could be a silly question, but when snorkeling anywhere on Bonaire is it dangerous with boating traffic? We have snorkeled many islands in the caribbean and have had to be really careful when snorkeling-- and sometimes it is annoying.

Susan. The marine park has rules for operation of watercraft. They are to travel I believe no more then 5 MPH until they get to the blue water.

Personally I have never had a problem with boats while diving. Between you & me I think the kiters down south pose more of a potential dilemma to a diver.

sue, i agree with vince. most of the popular snorkel spots are not areas where you'd normally see a lot of boats (non-dive boats)...andrea I and II, 1000 steps, donkey beach, witches hut, toris reef, etc. if you are going to snorkel at yellow submarine or anywhere else off playa lechi you should be much more aware. i remember diving at something special and having a small inflatable speed by overhead. they were not in the blue water but the boat was operated by a younger person who might not have been aware of the marine park rules.

Adding to Vince's post: I believe the rules require boats moving along the shore to operate in "blue water", i.e., beyond the reef where divers or snorkellers will be near/on the surface. And require that boats move directly between shore and blue water, minimizing the time spent near any divers or snorkellers. The rules can be seen at the STINAPA web site http://www.bmp.org/ .

In the past there have been jet skis used in shallow water and they have been driven dangerously. I am not sure if any are in use these days.

And there are "kite boarders" sometimes at one or two of the southern sites; they also travel in shallow water.

Ask at a dive shop about all this – any one of them will be happy to help you be safe and at ease in the water.

After making the post above I followed my own advice and went to the STINAPA page. Boating rules are at http://www.bmp.org/activities-2.html#boating and http://www.bmp.org/activities-2.html#boating . I did not see boating mentioned under 'Regulations' from the sidebar at the S page.

Vince and I each misstated the rules, minorly: speed in shallow water is to be a 'no wake' speed, and no mention is made of 'going directly between shore and deep water'.

(Message edited by glenr on January 13, 2009)

glen, i'm guessing the thing about going directly to deep water wasn't put in due to the fact that many sailors use their tenders to go from one boat to another. if you look at the mooring sites from the harbor entrance south, you often see inflatables motoring between sailboats. 99% of the time they at at no-wake speed. but even a slow spinning propeller can cause a lot of damage to the human body so it's best to remain alert.

Pat,

I suspect you are correct about a written rule. I was thinking only about dive boats when I wrote about 'going direct'. Most of those do seem to do the 'direct' thing without a written rule – maybe just 'enlightened self interest' in minimizing time to/from dive sites. :–)

A problem can be Jet Skis which love showing off anywhere North of the North pier.

Susan.. here you go.. get one of these and snorkeling among boats will be a lot safer.. these things pack down to nearly nothing because they have two inflatable bladders.. strap on a piece of metal chain on the bottom for ballast. I now pack this everywhere we travel.
http://www.thefreedivingstore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=108