Hi everyone. I found a Bonaire diving guide in my local bookshop, but it's quite old and I'm not sure if it's 100% accurate.
It says that there's loads of fire coral around in the shallows that can give you very nasty stings and cause bad skin irritation. Is the problem as bad as they're making out? Would plain sting relief cream sort you out or do you need some special stuff? I'm not into self inflicted pain so advice would be great! Thanks in advance, Nicola

Nicola, fire coral is abundant in Bonaire as on any healthy Caribbean reef, and it is indeed Nasty stuff. I speak from experience, having had a close encounter of the worst kind in Cozumel some years back. If you do a search on BonaireTalk you will find numerous treatment suggestions, but if you are concerned, prevention is the key - my suggestion is DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING and wear a full wetsuit, when diving or snorkelling. Even the mildest Bonaire shoreline surges can push you into the coral that brushes the surface. We have 2/3 mm suits which are perfect for all the Caribbean diving we have experienced. I've never worn a diveskin and I'm not sure how much protection they offer - probably adequate for most brushes but not a crash. Just my 2CW.

Having said that - don't let anything stop you from going to Bonaire! It's fantabulous.

My wife and I always wear full 3mil or 3/2mil wetsuits when diving on Bonaire. With booties and full wetsuits you should not have a problem with the fire coral. Although as was mentioned in a thread 2 or 3 years ago (can't remember exactly) you can touch fire coral with the pads of your fingers and not get stung. The pads of your fingers are too thick.

I was shown this trick by naturalist Jerry Ligon on my first trip to Bonaire 3 years ago and he suggested that if you wanted to anchor yourself while looking under a ledge in the reef or to take a picture, to use the fire coral and only touch with the pads of your finger. In our dive with the naturalist dive through Sand Dollar he had those of use were willing to try it and we found out he was right. No pain.

Aquaman

Thanks Deb and Barry for the tips and advice. We'll just have to be super careful! It's not going to put us off though. 20 days and counting!!

Hi there, Aquaman! I am so confused...Didn't you used to forgo the wetsuit and drape YOUR HAIR over your torso???

Nicola, We didn't have any close encounters with fire coral during our visit, but we were constantly looking for it. Have fun!

Hazel, Aquaman is indeed in need of a haircut again!! but if he lets it get long enough to drape over his torso.. would he be guy godiva ? and would he need to find a sea horse to ride past the web cam? too silly...

hope things in Wyoming are fine.-we have missed you. starting to get chilly here at night.. a preview of cold weather coming down the track. we get to spend 17 days on Bonaire in november.. yippie... dont care if it is cold and blizzards here while we are gone!

The easist way to avoid the fire coral is to make sure you maintain neutral bouency, and stay a bit above the reef. There's really no reason you should ever be pushed into a coral. If there's current, or surge, just stay farther off the reef. We want the reef in Bonaire to be as pristine in 20 years as it is now. LEAVE ONLY BUBBLES behind . . .

Darryl

Maybe I've been away too long .... Darryl, what are you trying to say, man?.... "bouency"?

"LEAVE ONLY BUBBLES behind".... Are we talking flatulence here?

OK Andy,
I'm not sure if you're trying to be a smarta$$ and mocking my spelling, or you just don't know. It should have said buoyancy - not bouency. So if you're not mocking me, you've obviously not a diver, so neutral buoyancy is when you're neither rising or sinking in the water.

Darryl

(Message edited by dvleemin on September 10, 2003)

Darryl, don't tempt Andy... He is just a smart a$$...

Sorry Mr. Keely... not

Andy....Andy...Andy...Hmmmmm....didn't we usta call him "Fancypants?" Yep, he is a smart a$$, but a lovable one! Oh, and he can dive circles around most people - has been all over the world diving and such. OOOPS! I almost forgot to tell y'all - "Bubbles" is the nickname of Aquaman's wife. I am sure she would love to be left behind in Bonaire, but then Barry would have to practice nuetral buoyancy all alone. Wish I could remember how to do those cute smiley things, but you'll hafta settle for this ;-)

Hazel, leave the - out of there, change the ; for a : and you've got a nice face...

....why, thank you, Martini! It's been awhile since someone said I had a nice face! Now, back to the smile guy - you mean like this?

HA! IT WORKED!!! Oh, and I looked and Andy's profile - IT IS FANCY PANTS! How have you been, Andy?

I keep on thinking about a princess...

I'm definitaly off to bed, only a few hours before work...

OH how fun, the gangs all here! Fancypants, you cracked me up...we miss your sense of humor...BT occasionally needs a good injection of it

Hmmm.... "Fancypants", "Smart a$$" the two seem to fit together nicely. Must say that I like the idea of being considered loveable too. Thanks for that Hazel, but it still doesn't get you off the hook ..... where's that profile pic of yourself that you promised us all a couple of years ago? We're still waiting in eager anticipation.

It might please some of you to hear that Dave (Voort) wrote to me yesterday for the first time in months. I'll see if I can persuade him to bless us all with a few of his demented ramblings on these pages in the near future.

In case you're wondering why I'm not attacking Martin's occasional spelling mistake Darryl... I'm impressed with just how good his written English is, bearing in mind that it's his second language. However, having dived with him I can tell you that his bouency control is appalling. I'm reminded of a pic I took of him where he appeared to be cleaning the reef cam lens (which he used as his profile pic for a year or two), in reality he wasn't cleaning the lens, but was clinging on to it for dear life, in a desperate attempt to keep himself in one place & framed in my viewfinder long enough for me to take the shot.

Good times though, eh Martin?

Great times indeed, but remember, you had your lovely wife with you to keep you off the coral and below the surface...

You know, I missed you (but just a little... )

(Message edited by martin_w on September 11, 2003)

Watch out for the cat under the bench, guys! LOL. Carole

MIAUW...

How about a nice Purrrrrr?! Carole

New balls please... (And I'm talking about a tennis expression!!!)

My ..... you've got a good memory, Carole!

Fortunate that it was the cat .... I'm sure fire coral wouldv'e been even worse.