Wreck dive?

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jonhall, Some may know the answer, but play it safe and ask the dive op/resort where you'd be staying. Print the e mail response and take it with you. I had a problem with that in Panama years ago. I was told I could shore dive and ASSUMED solo was OK. a (THE) DM was assigned as my buddy, which was fine, but at $50US a dive. I was told of the charges AFTER my week there (and 5 boat diving days). Of course I tipped the DM, but didn't pay the op for the dives.
 
thanks for all the replies! I think we're going to do Nitrox cert before we go, I email a shop and they said the lesson takes half a day and I rather spend that on dives =]


1) New Yorker/Cavalier State (Tug) is at Front Porch Reef in ~100fsw
2) Gerrys/Willy/Bachanal is at Eden's Rubble in ~60fsw
3) Cooper Barge is at Desal Plant in ~130fsw
4) Our Confidence is at Harbour Village in ~60fsw
5) La Machaca is at Capt Don's in ~35fsw
6) The Hesper is at Capt Don's in ~130fsw
7) Hilma Hooker is at Hilma Hooker in ~90fsw
8) Windjammer is near Bopec in ~180-200fsw (guided boat dive)
9) 2 or 3 wrecks south of Boca Spelunk in ~75 to 90 fsw (boat dive)

Borrowed ^ from a thread here: Bonaire Talk: WRECKS! I want to dive wrecks on Bonaire - "Walt III" there is the former owner of RecTek so his info is probably reliable. Or Susan Taft, she's the author of Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy.

LaMachaca is only about 15' long and upside down so don't plan a dive around it. We actually dove north from Habitat to Cliff did most of the dive there, found the memorial, then drifted back past the LaMachaca. That's the only wreck on the list that I've seen.

do you think most of these are easy enough for a novice diver to do? We have about 20 dives under our belt, mostly regular day dives 100ft max and a couple of night dives.

Also night dives, I saw that some places do UV night dives, is it as amazing as it looks??
 
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I did a night dive at the town pier, pretty nice. I've heard they don't do this any more but the salt pier seems to be a good dive, though I don't think it is usually done at night.

Most of the shore dives are just an empty beach. You park, gear up and dive. There are no scuba police, but there is also nobody to help you if you get into a lot of trouble. But you shouldn't, they are mostly very nice easy dives.

I'd suggest skipping the wrecks past 100 feet, you will be probably be narced and will also probably go through your air pretty darn fast and that can result in a bad experience.
 
do you think most of these are easy enough for a novice diver to do? We have about 20 dives under our belt, mostly regular day dives 100ft max and a couple of night dives.
Again, I only have personal experience on LaMachaca which is one you can easily do.

So what follows is my impressions:

Maybe not the deeper wrecks - except the Hooker - since after it went down it was "wreck cleaned" for sport divers. Talk to your resort shop about an escorted dive on the Hooker from their boat. DM's "rent" pretty reasonably for one dive and having your own will be safer for that depth plus he/she will know the wreck well to show you the sights. Bonaire Underwater Panoramas - Peter and Hilma

There's 3 moorings there and someone told me (my shop mgr. owns a condo there) that the second reef is even better so they drop on it and swim into the wreck. Also although many people do it from shore - the entry is among the worst I've seen on Bonaire. Shore Diving Site Picture for: Hilma Hooker of Bonaire South, ABC Islands

Windjammer is out until you become technically certified for those depths. I have read that getting to the Willy can involve some high currents in one direction although obviously that helps on the return. That's really all I know of it.

I've also heard the Boca Spelunk wrecks are pretty beat up with not much left and that's an advanced dive on the "wilde side" due to currents/conditions afaik also. No idea if anyone still goes there now.

Here's a little more info: The Bonaire Shipwreck Expo Directory Capt. Dan Berg's Guide to Shipwrecks information - some of it seems a little dated - it mentions one shop I've never heard of.

Salt Pier is really a pretty good dive. http://cdn.camelsandchocolate.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Diving-Bonaire-Salt-Pier-16.jpg (no idea who these people are..lol)

If there's no ship loading you can pretty much park there and dive it. Some people suggest checking in at the Cargill office there to ensure one isn't inbound at that particular time and also because it's their property. Plus if they were working on the conveyor or something I'd be careful to stay away - it's apparent from the heavy steel junk in a few areas that they apparently just let things drop. It's this dive:
Bonaire Underwater Panoramas - Diving Salt Pier
Bonaire Underwater Panoramas - Diving Salt Pier (2)

If your interest is diving a lot of shallower wrecks plan a trip to St. Thomas - or Bermuda. Most of these sites are wrecks. Blue Island Divers Dive SItes Some of the St, Thomas/St. John dive boats also go over to the BVI's on daytrips to dive the Rhone - it's one of the better wrecks I've been on. If you remember "The Deep" - it was filmed there among other things.
 
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uv diving is very cool, take the nitro course at your local shop, and spend your vacation diving not in a class room, Bonaire is a great place to gain experience. if your a bit worried hook up with some of the other divers where you are staying and ask to tag along on some dives. OIL slick is a great dive we did it 3 times while we were there 2 during the day and a night dive.
 
I did a night dive at the town pier, pretty nice. I've heard they don't do this any more but the salt pier seems to be a good dive, though I don't think it is usually done at night.

DFB ran Saturday night trips to Salt Pier when were there couple of years ago, We missed that, Saturday was our no-dive day on that trip, but anyway when we dived there, there was shore diving group setting up for a sunset dive. Town pier was indeed closed: "too much traffic".

Go for a night dive on Bari Reef: hunting with tarpons is cool.

Most of the shore dives are just an empty beach. You park, gear up and dive. There are no scuba police, but there is also nobody to help you if you get into a lot of trouble. But you shouldn't, they are mostly very nice easy dives.

It is big boys' club and that percolates to boat dives as well. Unlike vallet diving places where they do everything for you. On the flip side you can do whatever you want.
 
1) New Yorker/Cavalier State (Tug) is at Front Porch Reef in ~100fsw
2) Gerrys/Willy/Bachanal is at Eden's Rubble in ~60fsw
3) Cooper Barge is at Desal Plant in ~130fsw
4) Our Confidence is at Harbour Village in ~60fsw
5) La Machaca is at Capt Don's in ~35fsw
6) The Hesper is at Capt Don's in ~130fsw
7) Hilma Hooker is at Hilma Hooker in ~90fsw
8) Windjammer is near Bopec in ~180-200fsw (guided boat dive)
9) 2 or 3 wrecks south of Boca Spelunk in ~75 to 90 fsw (boat dive)

Borrowed ^ from a thread here: Bonaire Talk: WRECKS! I want to dive wrecks on Bonaire - "Walt III" there is the former owner of RecTek so his info is probably reliable. Or Susan Taft, she's the author of Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy.

LaMachaca is only about 15' long and upside down so don't plan a dive around it. We actually dove north from Habitat to Cliff did most of the dive there, found the memorial, then drifted back past the LaMachaca. That's the only wreck on the list that I've seen.

Okay, okay. I have swam past the little La Machaca dozens of times and never thought of it as a "wreck dive." And anything at 130 feet is off the table for some of us. The only "wreck dive" that gets much mention among us vacation divers is Hilma Hooker. I think it's the only one mentioned (okay, besides the little boats like La Machaca) in Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy.
 

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