Just wanted to ask what is your favorite dive site is in Bonaire and why!

Karpata, always find turtles there and like the deep canyon shutes. Go to Bonaire twice a year and have for 15 years and wouldn't think of coming home without stopping at Karpata. Tell the turtles hello for me. Oh by the way, Get your picture taken with the anchor sticking out of the reef and try to follow the old chain to the second anchor. Almost covered with coral this year. Just enter the water and take a left at about 40 feet and you will find the first one. Good luck. You ask for the favorite and thats good because you had asked for good and bad there is no bad on Bonaire. Good Luck

ah ... well, thats easy ...
my most favourite dive site is :
Ol´Blue - great scenery above and below, nice beach for apre-dive relaxation
Hilma Hooker - fine wreck, easy to reach
Margate Bay - quite off the beaten track, peaceful
Buddy Dive Reef - for the most lazy days ( just fall out of bed, into the water )

and, of course about 20 other sites ...

After nine 2-week trips to Bonaire in 3.5 years, our favorites in order (criteria: most frequently "calls" us back, most frequently 2-3 dives at same site in one day, location of most memorable videos shot):

Margate Bay
Salt Pier in morning
Hilma Hooker in the afternoon
Candyland
Buddy's/Don's (night and day and early morning) for the same reasons given by Andreas

Tdonia, welcome to Bonaire Talk! The topic has come up a lot in the past. Here are some good threads to read on the same subject. Have a great time!

Favorite Leeward Dive Site

What is your favorite dive site

Best Shore Diving Sites

Must Do Dives On Bonaire

Our favorite was Soft Coral Gardens, an unmarked site we found through Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy. We saw a 3 1/2 foot long turtle as well as a Southern stingray with about a 4 foot wingspan on that dive - as well as very nice coral and a great variety of other creatures.

Invisibles/The Rock: Sand Chutes and coral islands.

Invisibles for sure.... we dove it wrong the first time, not getting to see the other islands. Do it right and it's amazing.

Off topic: Dove invisibles twice this July, saw great stuff but the vis was poor and got to the end of one island, started swimming south and got a little spooked with nothing in sight (couldn't see the inner reef, just haze to the left and straight ahead, blue to the right. Turned around and hung on the 1st "island" for awhile then back to the inner reef. Second time, also low vis, swam from inner reef seaward, could not see the outer reef in the haze, missed it and heading into the blue. Turned around, could see nothing in any direction, and had to use the compass heading I'd taken to head back in. We hit the island on the way back, had gone thru the sand channel to the north of it.

So, what is the "right" way to dive invisibles?

We had for some reason never dived it in 11 trips to Bonaire. With, I hope, better viz, will try it again in December.

That was the only time I have ever felt disoriented on a Bonaire dive.

-David

My favorite sites: N to S

Karpata

Ol' Blue

Small Wall

Something Special (at night)

Hilma

Angel City/any double reef

Red Beryl

Vista Blue

may have reversed the order of the last two.

Spent yesterday at Dutch Springs (57 F at depth).

ANY Bonaire site is my favorite compared to that.

Hi David. Vis was 65' at best when we did it. The first time we headed straight east from our entry point. we descended to the sand and headed down the "ski slope" as we called it to the east northeast, to 126'...I have no idea how deep it gets there. The sand dropped off into darkness. We turned 180 degrees, started a slow assent back to the sand channel and headed straight south between the reef and the 1st coral island. We spent the rest of our dive working our way back up the reef toward the entry point. Nice dive, but not the correct way to do it.

To see all the islands you will have to accept the low vis and trust your compass.We found this out from an experienced Bonaire diver we met over a few beers at the beach bar. We set a heading of 240 degrees on our compasses and headed out from the entry point. With vis of 60' you need to be at a depth of around 50' to see the other islands below you, staying on a heading of 240 degrees you will see all of them. You'll know you are at the end because a huge coral basin will surround you on three sides after passing over the 3rd island.

Once you see a huge wall of coral in front of you, after passing over the 3rd island, take a reciprocal heading and swim back. You won't see anything in the distance due to the vis so trust your compass. We are by no means excellent navigators, but we hit the surface about 50 ft south of where we needed to be to exit the water.

We were a little spooked as well but with 60' vis, the islands are only JUST out of sight. Swim 20 yards and you'll see the next one. It's not as bad as you would think. If you get totally disoriented, do a safety stop and go up and have a peak.

Hope that helped!

(Message edited by dave_l on August 21, 2006)

David, we are from Chester County - noticed that you dove Dutch Springs (burr)! Looking forward to warm water diving!

tdonia,
David's profile shows him to be from Freehold, NJ but I'm from the same (very) small town in Chester County that you're from. I wonder whether you know me or Carolyn.

Ed Melo

Its such a small world isn't it?! OK, here's a question for you.... did you go to the Herring's Pig Roast this year?!

My favorites and why:

Karpata: frequent turtle sightings, different underwater terrain.

Angel City: the best of the double reef sights if you want to keep it on the shallow side; the second reef starts a lot shallower than most of the other sights.

Oil Slick Leap: fun leaping entrance, great shallows, ultra-easy exit via the ladder.

Bari Reef/Buddy's Reef/Reef Scientifico: great stuff here, lots of fish life, the "rush hour" stream of tens of thousand of creole wrasse late in the day, and the convenience and ease of entry and exit.

Rappel: only done as a boat dive, but regardless of what Murph at Buddy Dive says ("there's no fish there") there shallows are unique and I've always had plenty of luck seeing cool stuff there (including a nurse shark once).

"Anywhere on Klein" is what I always say when I decide to hop on an afternoon boat.

I don't see it listed here or in ANY of those threads above, but "Pink Beach" is one my favorites. Almost everytime we dive it, we see something "cool". It has a very different look to it than the stuff to the north, almost a perfect blend of hard and soft corals.

It does have a longer surface swim to get past the sand, but the entry is easy and well worth a dive.

I love Oil Slick: the leap, the "fish bowl" area near the entry/exit, everything.

My other favorites are Karpata, the Hilma Hooker, the Andreas, and Tori's Reef. But as someone said... there isn't a bad dive on Bonaire.

Top 5 dive sites:

1. Cai - the best for big fish - I dove there 4 times in last 2 weeks and always saw eagle rays, nurse shark, turtles and much more... adventure shore dive, especially return over the bottom of a sandy channel...

2. Angel city - schools of jack fish, margates, snappers, not speeking about beautiful corals

3. Playa Funchi - beautiful bay, no crowds but a plenty of fish

4. South Bay (Klein) - specially the shallow area

5. Karpata - one of few wall dives, a lot to see.

I would have to say "INVISIBLES", hands down. I think it's one of the most peaceful and beautiful sites.

Humpy Turtle is our favorite with Hammerhead second.