Greetings-

I am getting married in Bonaire in July. We will be bringing about 30 people with us. We picked Bonaire because my future wife and I love the diving and snorkeling in Bonaire. However, we haven't been there for a couple of years and have recently heard there was some storm damage. Could someone please let me know how the reefs faired close to shore (for the snorkelers among us).

Thanks, PJ

PJ,

There was a wave surge which hit parts of the island in November, 1999 - quite some time ago, although discussion of such things does seem go continue on for a long time. Twasn't a storm though - the day was sunny and nice - just big, unusual waves.

Nothing more recent than that. Take a look at recent trip reports here on BonaireTalk to get a first hand account on how diving on Bonaire is at present (since I'm somewhat biased by the fact that I love Bonaire, and love diving Bonaire, and therefore might not be the most objective person to comment on the current state of Bonaire's marine ecology :-) ).

Jake

Unfortunately, Pink Beach is pretty much gone - it's mostly coral rubble with only small patches of the pink sand here and there. We also found that the shallow reefs were pretty torn up. We rented a house on Small Wall where we had stayed before and the shallow reef was destroyed and the gorgonians and soft corals which had been at the top of the wall before were gone. The wall itself was still nice. When we were there before this was a great place for an early morning snorkle and now it's not. Since we really don't snorkle much I don't know if there are other places which may have fared better. The diving was still great but there were definitely a lot of changes.

i have to agree...i did not see bonaire prior to lenny so i am not aware of that difference but i've seen the sites were they drop off snorklers and they don't look that good to me...lots of fish, just not much in the way of coral...actually, the snorkeling conditions were the reason i became scuba certified...i love bonaire but you really need to be a diver to experience the reefs...note that the locals can still probably come up with the best of what is available for snorkeling - be sure to ask lots of questions...

Even though there's not the coral there was in the shallows before Lenny, there's a lot of great snorkeling because the fish are still there in abundance. We enjoyed Windsock and the 19 Palms at the Plaza as well as Andrea I and I, and Klein Bonaire in February. LOTS of fun things to see still!