I will be making my second trip to Bonaire next week and am wondering if the dive sites in Washington/Slagbaii Park are worth the time and effort. I had planned to dive at least one site in the Park during my first visit in 2005 but was sick with a cold and lost a few days of diving so I chose to dive the closer sites to get as much diving in as possible.

Hi Tracy, I've been to the park for diving on my both trips to Bonaire. Diving there is somehow different from other side, since in the shallow water you can still see how coral are recovering from the damage the hurricane has done some years ago. Be careful at Boca Bartol surf and currents can be challenging. Boca Slagbaai is really nice. Holger

Hi Tracy, welcome to BT
Playa Bengi is a nice site, A bit of a swim to the wall[vertical with a labyrinth of corals], watch the current, but a beautiful beach.
great place for a picnic. Tom

Welcome to BT, Tracy. My advice is see the park but do not dive there, snorkel maybe. The problem is how far you are from help, literally hours. They may be nice sites but there are many many nice sites on Bonaire that are much easier to get to and much safer.

If you want more challenging sites, dive the east side with Larry or from shore with a guide.

Thanks! We went to the park on our last trip just to visit the park and I remember how long it took to drive on those roads. I hadn't really thought about what that long drive means in an emergency situation. We'll keep that in mind and see how the week goes.

One of my favorite northern dives is Nukove. It's kinda like Karpata x 2. Not only do you get to dive a huge wall with tons of fish but you might also see some wildlife on the way there. Last time I went there I saw flamingoes, wild boar, donkeys (of course), and deer.

Right, Nukove is great and it's also nice to follow the road to it's end at the boarder to Washington/Slagbaii Park. There are few old fisherman houses and old salt pans. To get to Nukove you don't need to enter the park and drive all the long way. Holger

Brent
In over 25 years of trips to Bonaire I have never seen nor heard of deer. I have occasionally seen pigs, possibly feral, not wild boar. Maybe someone else can come up with something on this.
Mick