Hello All
I will be visiting your island soon with a group of 30+ from scubaboard.com , We will doing lots of shore diving to be sure but I was wanting your input on which sites to dive on Klein Bonaire.
We will be doing at least 6 boat dives and would like to hit the best sites first. I tried to search BT but didn't see any threads.

Thank You for your input.

I believe that any of the following are the most appropriate answers to this question:

--The best dive site on Klein Bonaire is the one that you are diving at any given moment.
--The best site is the one that the divemaster for your dive has recently spotted your favorite critter, ie. frogfish or seahorse. There's a decent chance he'll find it again and point it out to you.
--The best site is the one that just happens to have a cool critter like a big sea turtle swimming by when you are there.
--On the other hand of the size spectrum, the best site is the one at which YOU find your first juvenile smooth trunkfish.

I don't mean to be contrary, but other than Carl's Hill which has a (very) mini wall, the sites are all very similar in terms of terrain underwater.

Just my two cents.

I have to agree with Scott except to add that the same applies to Bon in general for me...

I understand each dive is a totaly different experience and you may or may not see certain creatures.
I guess maybe the question should be, if you only had 6 boat dives which sites would you choose and why ?
It is a easy choice if you live there and will get to them all eventualy. I guess it is kind of like calling the salt or town pier just another shore dive. Im looking for a GOT TO dive site on Klein.

Dennis, I've been to Bonaire 8 times, have done scores of dives on Klein Bonaire, and quite honestly I can't come up with anything resembling a list of Must Do dive sites. They are SO similiar -- gentle drop off, lots of varied coral, tons of of fish life, but it's not like, say, the Caymans where each dive site has distinct differences in terms of underwater terrain. My previous comments were actually meant seriously; if, for example, the divemaster knows where some frogfish or seahorses are, or that the vis is better on this side of the other, or that turtles have been consistently spotted near a particular site this week, then go with his/her suggestions. Your analogy to salt pier and town pier simply don't apply to Klein; in those two cases there are very distinctly different things to see, namely the piers! Sorry, but I'm honestly being as helpful as I can!

Here's another thought: there are sites than can only be reached by boat besides those on Klein, and Rappel comes to mind as a favorite that I always request since it is quite unique underwater. Small Wall and Something Special cannot really be dived from shore either, and both are kinda unique also. Hopefully this helps.

we dove something special from shore last winter. we parked at the abandoned houses, geared up, and walked to the beach. i've also heard of people walking down the dock and climbing down onto the beach. do you think it's possible to still do that or have they restricted access by the houses?

When I was on island a few weeks ago, I was told something to the effect that the houses had been bought and access to Something Special from shore had been restricted. Perhaps someone who lives on island can confirm/deny this.

Carls Hill is a very good wall dive. Hands off and Capn Dons are great reef dives. Nearest Point for Turtles and No Name Beach for Close ups of smooth Trunkfish (the snorkelers feed them).

My vote goes for Rappel! Especially on the return back to the mooring.

My vote is a drift dive from Carl's Hill to Jerry's Jam. You can cover a lot of reef with little effort. This was done several years ago with a small group using Photo Tours and Bas was the DiveMaster/Capitan that day. First real drift dive for me and oh so easy!

My vote is for Nearest Point. We did this as our first dive a few years ago, and in ONE dive, saw a hawksbill, a frogfish, a seahorse, and a huge puffer fish. As we got back on the boat, we both said, "okay we can go home now." lol!!

I agree with the other comments however if I had to pick two they would be Knife and South Bay

I like the following:

Forest - black coral, little steeper hill with coral heads

Johanna Suchi or Kiss - popular site, nice scenery

Bonaventura - pile of staghorn coral, orange sponges with black chronoids

Sampler - nice
little bit of everything

Mi Dushi - nice coral

Hands off - nice dense reef
pair of french angles under the boat

Rock Pile - dense reef