Is night diving off the town pier a shore dive or a boat dive? also in general what are some good night snorkel and dive sites?

Night diving at the Town Pier can be done either
as a shore dive or from a boat. I believe the one
constant is that the 'island rules' require a
'licensed' Bonaire dive guide to be with each
group-check w/ your dive operator. The advantage
for me of a shore dive is that I can pick the time
I go and go with a small group. Some nights you
can find several dive operator boats there soon
after dark, and it is popular with shore divers.
Usually a guide can be arranged (for a
fee, obviously) from your dive operator. For
really private diving there, try before dawn. Then
you can also watch the 'changing of the guard' at
dawn light. The pier area is small enough that you
can go around it twice on one dive: once in the
dark and then once as the light changes. You can
also do this at sunset and be ahead of most of the
other divers.

Re Audrey's second question: almost anywhere. I
like the dive in front of Sand Dollar, at least
the old Sand Dollar before Lenny though I suspect
the present is as good. Be sure to save some air
to look around under the piers: animals that are
up in the rubble all day are out at night. Coral
lobster, night shrimp; one night I saw a cowrie
'walking' along up next to boulder. Out on the
sand flats you can almost always see snook and
bonefish, like tarpon they like your lights so
they can see their prey. And, of course, there is
that friendly tarpon down along the Sand
Dollar/Habitat area that likes to look over your
shoulder. If you shade your light with a hand so
you have just enough light to see the fish, he
will stay with you: shine the full beam in his
eyes and he doesn't like it anymore than you or I
do and goes off. Comes back but will stay and hunt
in your light if you don't blind him. It sounds
trite, I know, but almost anywhere is good at
night, with interesting differences. Almost
forgot. Years ago I would go out in front of Sand
Dollar Dive & Photo/Green Parrot, where the shop
and restaurant lights shone out unto the sand and
sit on the bottom and wait for the big tarpon to
come by. No light, just sit and wait, about 9:30
or later. I swear that some were bigger than any
numbers in the books, sagging belly big. Ask at a
lighted area if they see the tarpon from shore
over the sand. Usually you just see a big, soft
shadow when they come in. Again look at them with
a shaded light. It sounds trite, I know, but
anywhere is good at night with differences, all
the way up to the shore.

Went to the town pier last week. Very dissapointed. Too many people...too few fish. Had to make arrangements for a guide to get permission from the harbormaster. Can't do it there if the cruise ships are in. Lots of eels out. Place is a junkyard. The nite diving right outside Capt Don's or any place along that area was wonderful. There is a little octupus (sp?) in the cement barrel right off the steps. He came in last week.