What is the best place to enter to do a shore dive at this site? I have seen video of people entering at the conch shells on the East side of the bay...is that ok to do or do you have to know the people in that hut? I dont want to be rude.

Also, when driving into Jibe City I see the yellow rock for the Blue Hole...is that another entry option?

Thanks,

J

Jay:

My best advice is to go with a guide (or someone else familiar with the drill) on your first trip. Navigation is important and that part of the island is less forgiving of mistakes.

Jay,

You definitely want to have a guide or go with Larrys Wildside operation. The Blue Hole is accessable from either Cai or Jibe city area but only if you know the exact location and even then if the surge is normal for that area you will use a lot of air just getting there and not have much left for a dive. It is not a dive to do without a guide that knows exactly where they are going.

We dont need no stinkin guide, we just need to know where to enter at. I dont want to pay $80.00 for someone to tell us where to get in at.

Diving with Larry is not an option anymore.

Well there are more guides (like Bas), but if you want to know where to get in and you think you dan't need a guide, I would say buy the book "Shore diving made easy" (costs: $ 10,- last time I looked), and find the site.

I am sure you can find the entrance and the exit but unless you know where you are going and what you are looking for exactly and you do not have a problem with time then dont take a guide. If you want to be sure you get to where you want to go....it is worth 30 or 50 dollars for a 100 min. dive.

Jay,

Your best entrance is near the stone that is by Jibe City. You will need to walk across the bay(about10 minutes with gear) to get to the actual ocean shore line. Providing the surge is not too much you can enter at that point. It is about a 30 minute snorkel(toward Jibe City) with full dive gear from that point to the Blue Hole. The Blue Hole is not close to any shore entrance. It is in about of 12 to 14 feet of water depending where the tide is when you do your dive. This is why everyone is highly recommending a guide. It is not accessible across the bay in front of Jibe City because of the shallow shore line, coral and waves. If you are determined to do this dive on your own my last recommendation would be to do it as a snorkel first without dive gear. Be absolutely sure you can find it because the waves take a real toll on the body during the long snorkel with full gear.
You should see lots of turtles on the snorkel. I understand your position on not needing a guide but I would still highly recommend asking Bas to do the dive with you. I have never done a dive with him that was not worth every dollar paid.

I'm curious: why is diving with Larry not an option anymore?

Thanks for that more detailed description of how to get to the site Michael. That is exactly what I was looking for.

Susan, personal preferences...and that is all I am saying.

Jay,

you could talk to Menno (Deep Blue View). He goes out there with his RIB. I personally find the Blue Hole overrated. There are more interesting places to dive on the East Side. Altough a night dive at the Blue Hole. That would be interesting. (-: But not from shore and with very calm weather.

Peter, where else is there to dive on the East side besides the only two places Larry goes with his boat?

@Jay

On the East Coast we did the following dives:

From shore:
* Blue Hole (difficult to find)
* Willems tower (watch the holes in the bottom)
* Lac Cai (watch the current)
* crossing from Lac Cai to the shrimp farm (long +150 minutes, turtles, rays and even a Tiger shark )
* baby beach (nice)
* shrimp farm to baby beach (turtles & sharks)

From Menno's boat:
* Blue Hole (much easier)
* between Baby Beach and the Willemstower (nice)
* several dives on the Lac Cai reef
* Spelonk (interesting, 4 wrecks but watch the current and the waves)

HTH,

Peter

Jay,

for the Lac Cai dives you need a guide the first time. Without a guide you WILL get lost and miss the good stuff. The entry at Cai is via the channel left of the fishing boats. This is the easiest entry by far in Bonaire. It is nice sandy patch.
The channel is murky until you get to the reef. The channel is interesting because there is a dip with a resident school of Tarpons (50+).

Returning to shore is not straightforward. You need to manage your gas carefully. The current will be against you and you need enough air to fight that current. The last thing you want is having to surface OOA and being pushed away from shore. A typical Cai dive for us is around 90 minutes. Don't forget to look up in the channel and on the reef. Eagle rays frequently cross above you. We even saw a huge Manta at Cai.
Once you reach the reef you go to the right.

Guides I can recommend are Menno and Esther from Deep Blue View. (-: Ask for Esther, she is the pretty one. And then you have Bas. Nice guy. I've only dove a tiny bit of all the dive sites on the "wild side". Bas has done all of them.

Thank you Peter for all the information. I may give Bas a hollar. He has been mentioned on this site numerous times before.

Yo, Macho Jay....

There is a reason everyone is telling you to go with a guide. Even the local residents who shore dive the East side can end up in the chamber. You might want to make your reservations now. You have no clue how many people disappear because of diving stupidity. This isn't the US. Save your ego for some place else.

Yo, Confused Nadine....

This isn't Scubaboard.

Jay,
Give Bas a hollar... He's also great for Washekemba and Spelunk....they are a little further North of Cai....wild adventure shore entries and exits.

When we are on the island we wait until about 8am every morning to hear from Bas. He'll give us a call to say if it's a yay or nay day for the East side. He is the best bet for East side diving and is just plain FUN to hang with.

I hope you have a great time diving the East side!!

Thank you Yana. I'm gonna reach out to Bas.

Jay,
Email for Bas
loonybin@bonairelive.com