We've just come back from a great 10 days in Bonaire. What a fantastic place!

If you're planning a trip, start with the readily available marine park map that shows you the best places to go. The places highlighted for snorkelling basically worked for us. But here's our little extra:

. Every time you go to a site you'll see something different. Don't go there just once!
. If you want "trophies" - it's not the place. We did see some great creatures (reef squid, spotted eagle rays, barracuda), but we were much more impressed by the variety. Isn't it great just to watch them as they live their lives?
. Most places are easy to handle on Bonaire. No very heavy currents or very difficult entries. But, if you want reliably calm try Divi or the Andreas. Even the Divi (which seems to be just a holiday resort) is a rewarding snorkel. Watch the barracuda under the pier at about 5 p.m.! If you want something a bit more unpredictable, try Karpata, Ol' Blue, Oil Slick Leap. Sometimes rough, but a good variety of hard and soft corals, plenty of fish and the element of surprise.
. Our snorkels on Klein Bonaire were great. Make sure you go there and try No Name. Relatively tranquil, turtles more often than not, but beware the jellyfish in April and May.
. The Southern end of the island is well worth a visit.

We were also diving, and that was a very different story, which we will write up elsewhere.

Enjoy Bonaire!

TheSohal

Nice trip report and glad you loved Bonaire!

Larry,

Bonaire Jellies.

What a fun and interesting report. Bonaire is one of the safest seas in the Caribbean when it comes to jellies (jellyfish). Different events and cycles trigger swarming and sightings of jellies around the island. Most are harmless, periodically some toxic ones, including sea wasps show up.

If you see any jellies, please let me know. I am collecting research about them. Thanks folks and
Larry.

Bud Gillan

Bud

I made it sound like I knew some Bonaire lore re jellyfish, but it was partly second hand :-) ...

We were stung quite a few times whilst on a snorkel at No Name with the Woodwind lady. She told us that they were Paired-Bell Siphonophore (fitted in with the pictures in the Humann book!), and that jellies are a fairly regular feature in April and May.

I think the ID is reliable, and hope it helps.

Larry