Shore diving in bonaire

[Lwang]

Hi,

travelling to bonaire soon, and even though the trip includes a couple of boat dives a day, will have truck to do shore dives. Most of the dives I did were warm water dives with guides, so most of the time, I am not paying as much attention to where I am going, but to critters I want to photograph, etc. I've done some self guided dives with my buddy, but most are in the Keys where on most of the reefs, if you get lost, you can just surface up and see where the boat is, plus some in Curacao, where the ones I did were no brainers cuz it was either a repeat dive previously done with a DM, or it is was just a sloping reef.

I am wondering how hard it would be to go unguided in bonaire? Will I miss the entry points? Is there any need to navigate with compass? I assume it is all back and forth type of dives. Do they have a long chain running down the reef to mark the entry/exit points?

[CoolTech]

...I am wondering how hard it would be to go unguided in bonaire?It is very easy to dive unguided in Bonaire. All dives are marked with at least one buoy.

A typical dive profile is like this...

Choose your depth for the dive
Find an entry point
Enter the water and determine the current (or lack of current)
Dive against any current to 1/2 fill and turn
As you make your way back to the starting point, gradually raise your depth until you are at "platform" depth (the depth of the marker buoy)
Once you reach "platform" depth look for the marker buoy and make your way back to the exit point.
It's easy, simple diving that leaves you with extra gas at the end of the dive because you changed depth on your way back to the entry/exit



Will I miss the entry points?
Not if you follow the standard profile above



Is there any need to navigate with compass?
No, all diving is north/south along the reef/wall



I assume it is all back and forth type of dives.
Correct



Do they have a long chain running down the reef to mark the entry/exit points?
Many places have a line down to approx. 45' (very noticeable at Buddy Dive)

If you make all the boat dives, do not be shy about telling the crew what you want to see (seahorses, frogfish, etc.) There are locations they know about where their dive master will take you right to those critters :)

Buy the hardest soled bootie you can find. Many locations to the south have "Iron" shore. Iron shore means very hard coral entries that can hurt your feet after a few days of walking to the entry/exit.

Walk the shore line for what appears to be the easiest entry/exit (It can save you $$$ in knee surgery)

Don't be shy about asking people at the dive sites for "tips". A great number of people on Bonaire have been there 10+ times and they are very willing to offer tips on the site you are diving.

Get some books on diving Bonaire. They are worth their used value!

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=diving+bonaire&x=0&y=0

[akirawut]

Also don't worry about overshooting or undershooting your entry point. For the most part its a short swim or walk back to where you want to be.

Note however there are some sites way up north where you really need to be in the right spot to get in or out, and some spots where it might be tricky to spot your particular truck if you aren't familiar with the area (maybe put something on the truck?). Either way there is no big concern about getting seriously lost, the reef follows the shore, worst case scenario you surface and look around -> problem solved.

[lsorenson]

Hi,

travelling to bonaire soon, and even though the trip includes a couple of boat dives a day, will have truck to do shore dives. Most of the dives I did were warm water dives with guides, so most of the time, I am not paying as much attention to where I am going, but to critters I want to photograph, etc. I've done some self guided dives with my buddy, but most are in the Keys where on most of the reefs, if you get lost, you can just surface up and see where the boat is, plus some in Curacao, where the ones I did were no brainers cuz it was either a repeat dive previously done with a DM, or it is was just a sloping reef.

I am wondering how hard it would be to go unguided in bonaire? Will I miss the entry points? Is there any need to navigate with compass? I assume it is all back and forth type of dives. Do they have a long chain running down the reef to mark the entry/exit points?

I would be more interested in how many dives you have and if you will have a dive partner to give an adequate answer to "how hard it would be to go unguided in bonaire?" Its always nice to have a someone who has been to show you the ropes so to speak...! All dive locations are marked by the road by two yellow stones (the size of a football) with the names written on them and then there are usually two more yellow stones marking the entry/exit.

Depending on where your staying and what type of package you get will determine many things... If your going with a partner, I would suggest Buddy Dive, others will suggest others but Buddy was my first introduction to Bonaire and I found it very easy to learn and go from there. These days, we just rent a house or apartment, a truck,t and get a tank package. We used WannaDive for our tanks last trip but will go back to renting from BuddyDive next trip. Buddy is probably a little more expensive than some and cheaper than others but the best thing about Buddy; its easy!!! Take the boat package if they throw it in but I would not pay for it... Only perk to the boats is it can get you to Kline rather easy instead of taking a ferry over... They have a pretty good breakfast and everything you need is easy to get to...

Introduction to diving at Bonaire is rather easy at Buddy's because getting in the water is easy with the entry/exit right at the tank rack and equipment room. You can walk down the metal stairs or walk off the end of the dock. Buddy also has a guide line out to about 30-35' deep and you can go right to an small wreck or left just because. Night dives are OK cause there are @ 5 Tarpon that tag along waiting for dinner to be illuminated...

Get your feet wet here cause its safe and easy... Then hook up with someone heading out and see if they mind if y'all tag along to get a feel for the dive sites. If your new to diving, leave the Hilma Hooker off the list until you a feel for what is going on... Its not a hard dive but take a couple of the easier dives first and then hit the Hooker!

As far as boots go, I personally go with my plain old soft sole boots but I would suggest getting something a bit more firmer but I would not go for "as hard as you can find" type boot... From dive site 14 - 50 is pretty much just broken up coral for the most part but footwork gets a bit tricky with 1' step downs and hidden holes... in town, if memory serves me, its like smooth rocks to course sand, and Bachlors Beach is sand but you have a ladder you need to climb down... Nice dive spot however and the ladder is easy... 29 is in town and we pretty much swim North to Something Special or south below the boats along the reef... These are easy dives as well...

Bottom line, if your comfortable with diving you will do fine without a guide... If your new, hire a guide for a day, get 3 dives in and see how its done... You have seen me mention BuddyDive several times but I only stayed there once and I would not necessarily stay again, not because of negatives other than price cause me and my wife can stay for two weeks (hotel, truck, tanks) for the same price 2 can stay at Buddy's... but I think Buddy is a good place to start out from if your going by yourself and a buddy and neither have been to Bonaire before.

Maybe more information that you really wanted but I hope it helps some...

lee

[drrich2]

I second the rec. that some northern sites require you to exit in a general area (e.g.: Oil Slick Leap has a ladder). The northern area is hilly, and there is sort of a 'cliff face' along shore.

The south is flat, the shore tapers pretty gradually to the water, and you can see up & down the shore a long ways. A good site to play where it's hard to get lost is Windsock (this is a different site than Windsock Resort). It's got a big wooden pier that is an obvious landmark for exiting in a fairly easy place, and that's why I like it for night dives.

My little group likes SeaSoft Sunrays, which have a medium-sole, and are vaguely 'sneaker-like.'

Richard.

[lsorenson]

SeaSoft Sunray's
My wife got a pair of these and loves them... When I see them again, I think I will try on a pair! They dry out very fast and I am looking forward to getting a pair myself...

lee

[Lwang]

me and my buddy (wife) got close to 200 dives each in Caribbean. Plus having gone to curacao a few times, we are familiar with the shore dive process there (albeit mostly guided). But since most are guided, we never worry much about where we are going. When we did go unguided in the keys, the constant thinking of direction I am heading, including the going in and out of the finger corals, always leaves me a bit puzzled where I exactly am. I almost always return to the area of the boat, but that constant thinking we might have passed the anchor was always on top of my mind. My wife barely remembers how to use the compass and she was only good for sending her up once in a while to see where the boat is.

I have slip on fins, so I guess I will bring my watershoes and switch to fins once it is deep enough.

How far out are the buoys? I remember the Superior Producer is a considered a shore dive and that is really really far away from shore.


It is very easy to dive unguided in Bonaire. All dives are marked with at least one buoy.

A typical dive profile is like this...

Choose your depth for the dive
Find an entry point
Enter the water and determine the current (or lack of current)
Dive against any current to 1/2 fill and turn
As you make your way back to the starting point, gradually raise your depth until you are at "platform" depth (the depth of the marker buoy)
Once you reach "platform" depth look for the marker buoy and make your way back to the exit point.
It's easy, simple diving that leaves you with extra gas at the end of the dive because you changed depth on your way back to the entry/exit
So should I swim out to the buoy and descent from there so I would know the platform depth? I presume I have to do that instead of just heading left or right as soon it is deep enough to be fully underwater.

I guess if I have to swim back at platform depth, I can't go shallower and shallower and basically do my safety stop toward the end of my return leg (did that in most of my dives in Curacao, but DM knew when it is roughly 3-5 min from our starting point), since I will likely miss the marker buoy, which I don't know if it anchored in 15ft of water.

[PhilC]

Very little in the way of "fingers" on Bonaire reefs to get lost amongst, in most places the reef is a nice sloping wall parrallel to the shoreline. Bouys range from 15 feet from shore at OilSlick to 200+ feet from shore at some of the sites up north in the park. Bouys are in anywhere from 15 to 60 feet of water. The Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy book gives information about the depth of each bouy at the sites that are marked with one along with good descriptions of the best\easiest places to enter and exit. It will also note the few exceptions to the parrallel to shore rule. Most of the good sites, the ones that haven't been kicked to death by hundreds of no bouancy control divers (like the Hilma Hooker which looks like it has been there less than a year not 17 years), don't necessarily have bouys or even yellow rock markers. I've never had any worries about safety stops on Bonaire, there are all sorts of things to find in the rubble and shallows that you'll end up spending plenty of time there if you actually look around rather than swimming straight out to the reef and back to shore as so many divers seem to do. Slow down and watch the scenery and you won't have to worry about it at all, take a look at each anenome and find the common types of shrimp that make their homes inside/under/on them, their are at least five common types, one of which isn't found anywhere else, all to be found on different anenomes and most in 20 feet of water or less. On the majority of the sites the rubble fields or soft coral fields gently slope from 20-30 feet up to about 10 and you can slowly take your time as you swim back to shore. Without actually even trying to navigate we found ourselves coming back to shore within 50 feet or so of our entry on almost every dive and the only dives I've ever looked at a compass on are some of the ones way up north in the park where the reef isn't parallel to shore and you need to come back up in the same small cove you went out from.

Mostly I just think you are overthinking this and making it too complicated. Throw some tanks in the truck, find a dive site without any other trucks already parked there, gear up and go diving. Do it all again 4 to 6 times a day until you have to come back. Start planning your next trip. The big appeal of Bonaire for me is that you can go at your own speed and not have to deal with other divers or any schedule if you don't want to. One of our best dives this last trip was 98 minutes with a maximum depth of 22 feet, we spent the entire time with one sailfin blenny trying to capture that one moment in time we were looking for on camera and came up with over 1700 PSI because my fingers were getting too wrinkled to work the camera controls, never even actually made it out to the reef.

[Rythmmaker]

My son and I dove Bonaire for the first time last year. We booked our trip with Harry Neumann at Tropical Divers who provided the typical package - apartment, truck with tank rack, free unlimited nitrox. They also inisted on (and included in the price) a guide for our first couple of dives.

I had been told all of the same things that were covered here, but was still a bit unsure about the process, since 1. I had never done a single shore dive, and 2. almost all the diving I had done previously included a divemaster, a pre-dive briefing, and usually a guide who did the navigating. So like you, I was a little concerned about being 100% dependent on my own abilities. I knew what I needed to do - and I knew I was capable, but I didn't have as much experience as I would have liked at the beginning. So we were happy to have the services of the guide who discussed the topography of the area and reefs, and then talked us through a typical dive plan, then actually went with us on our first two dives to make sure we understood.

It is really quite simple - all of the rental car companies will give you a map that lists the location of all the major shore dive spots; most of these can be found from the road by a bright yellow painted rock on the edge of the road. It is easy to find a spot to park close to your entry point. (Some places you can almost back right up to the edge of the shoreline.) At each of these locations a bouy marks the dive site. Once you locate the bouy at your dive site from the shore and select the best shore entry (the iron shore can be challenging and bringing hard-soled booties was some of the best advice I received before going to Bonaire). We did a surface swim out to the bouy then descended to the top of the reef, and checked the direction and speed of the current. We would then descend down the wall to our planned depth and swim along the reef wall into the current. When we reached 1/2 of our gas volume, we would turn around and start swimming back along with the current and begin very slowly ascending the wall as we swam back to our starting point. In most places on the southern end of the island, the top of the reef is about 20-25 feet, and there is just as much to see along the top of the reef as there is along the wall. When we reached the bouy line, we would turn toward shore and slowly swim through the coral rubble looking for yellow-headed jawfish and peacock founder and many other beautiful creatures that live there. On most dives we would not surface at the bouy and repeat a surface swim back to the exit, rather we would simply turn toward the shore and very slowly (usually taking another 10-15 minutes depending on gas) work our way back to the shore from the bouy line - this became our safety stop - as our starting depth at the turn was usually about 20 feet or so, and we had already been swimming for some time along the top of the wall anyway.

In a week we managed to do about 20 dives and the profiles are all very similar. Even the Hilma Hooker was similar, since she sits right at the bottom of the reef wall in about 100 FSW. Our guide suggested that we enter the water at the adjacent dive site to the south, Angel City and then turn north along the wall and work our way down to the sand as we swam north - a great idea it turned out. Coming up on her from the sand is an impressive sight! Then after working our way along the wreck to the stern (north end) we ascended to the top of the wreck then started working our way up slowly - going south along the wall - until we reached the marker bouy for Angel City at the top of the reef.

This worked out extremely well.

The diving in Bonaire is mostly relaxed, comfortable and very easy. You will love not being on anyone else's schedule, and the freedom to dive when, where and as often you like.

[Rythmmaker]

Here's a scan of the dive map we used for the week - the highlighted ones are the ones we did that week at least once...

http://www.robisonpics.com/Vacation/Bonaire-2010/Dive-Site-Map-copy/928128238_XUfPF-X3.jpg

[Lwang]

Thanks. All have been very helpful. I am probably overthinking it, given if I winged it, this would likely have been what I would have done. But there is always the anxiety of how should I find my return spot until I have done it, and that concern seem to always be on top of my head given the more complex self nav we had to do in the Keys. Even in other places like Saba & Bermuda, where following the guide was optional, if we do split from or not follow the guide, I tend to not wander as far as all the reefs described in the dive briefing, but tend to just circle in the vicinity that I have just passed earlier.

One concern I have is given the buoy is at certain depth, I have a feeling that if we don't hit that depth on our return trip early enough, we might miss the buoy. That should not be too big an issue with buoys that are 40-50 ft deep since coming returning at that depth is not that big a deal. But for buoys at 20 ft deep, we either get to 20ft too soon and do much of the return leg through coral rubbles or ascend too slowly and miss the buoy.

Anyway, the easy part is the daytime shore dives. What about the night shore dives? Much harder to navigate? How will I find the buoy? Will I have to hang my flashlght on it? I'll be going during coral spawning, so I definitely want to get as much night dives as I can.

[gbf]

"The bouy" usually is nothing more than an anchorage for dive boats. That is, it is a float on a line. The line is anchored on the bottom. Dive boats pull up, hook the bouy, and attach their line to it.

For shore diving, they are a convenient target. Stand at your entry/desired exit point. Take a compass heading to the bouy. Swim out to the bouy (surface or under, it doesn't matter). Note the depth at the bottom, where the bouy is anchored. Perform your dive. Note how long you've been "outbound". Start back, and ascend to the depth you noted before. Make sure you arrive at the target depth when you're about 1/2 way back. When you find the bouy's anchor point on your return (it will be hard to miss if you are at the correct depth), return to your exit point by following the reciprocal compass heading. Look for interesting/cool things as you swim in. It's amazing what you'll see in the sandy shallows, and you'll get a good safty stop as well.

Easy.

I use this little exercise as a navigation game for my kids. One takes us out on the compass heading, the other returns us to the exit. There's always a little competition to see who gets closest.

Sometimes, just for variety and to cross up the lovely children, I'll use some sort of prominent feature at a greater depth than the bouy as the marker, e.g., a clump of tube sponges, odd-shaped coral outcropping, etc. If you do that, be sure at look at it from all angles. A thing that looks "unusual" from one angle may not be from a different angle.



Same drill, day or night...

[boat sju]

For a good first night dive I might suggest paying to dive at Captain Don's. Actually, they didn't even bother charging us. They have a line running perpendicular down the reef so you can attach a small tank strobe at whatever depth you want for the return.

I don't know if anyone else mentioned this but I'd also suggest you get rid of the full foot fins. They'll quickly become a pain. They're too hard to hold onto and then swap out with your water shoes.

[Lwang]

Me and my wife might bring 3 fins, my full foot and 2 open heeled ones. The open heeled ones is slower than the open heeled ones, that's why I don't use it in warm water.

I guess with the night dive, do people just wander around the buoy or do they still do they still head in one direction until half a tank and head back after that? Might do a day dive at our house reef to familiarize ourselves and do a night dive on the same reef afterward.

[Mike]

Thanks. All have been very helpful. I am probably overthinking it, given if I winged it, this would likely have been what I would have done. But there is always the anxiety of how should I find my return spot until I have done it, and that concern seem to always be on top of my head given the more complex self nav we had to do in the Keys. Even in other places like Saba & Bermuda, where following the guide was optional, if we do split from or not follow the guide, I tend to not wander as far as all the reefs described in the dive briefing, but tend to just circle in the vicinity that I have just passed earlier.

One concern I have is given the buoy is at certain depth, I have a feeling that if we don't hit that depth on our return trip early enough, we might miss the buoy. That should not be too big an issue with buoys that are 40-50 ft deep since coming returning at that depth is not that big a deal. But for buoys at 20 ft deep, we either get to 20ft too soon and do much of the return leg through coral rubbles or ascend too slowly and miss the buoy.

Anyway, the easy part is the daytime shore dives. What about the night shore dives? Much harder to navigate? How will I find the buoy? Will I have to hang my flashlght on it? I'll be going during coral spawning, so I definitely want to get as much night dives as I can.


A lot of over thinking on your part, but that's natural since you haven't been their before.

Basically...

Swim against the current for lets say 45 minutes at deeper depth(obviously this time will vary but you get the idea), turn around drift and swim with the current for 30 minutes while coming closer to shore and coming up in depth gradually, you'll be doing basically a 15-30 minute safety stop on the 2nd half of your dive. Pop up and take a look where you are, make an adjustment, swim around some more or head out. It's extremely simple diving.

I don't know nothing about bouys or why you'd deal with them, if you do you do, but I certainly wouldn't get fixated on them. Just dive against the current, make your turn and head back, you'll cover more ground with the current so watch your dive computer or watch for your elapsed time. You're always basically doing a long safety stop for the 2nd part of your dive, so just pop up and peak at the shore.

For night dives.

1) Get some day dives under your belt.
2) Do a couple of night dives on your house reef.
3)Then finally venture out for a night dive elsewhere. Look at the shore lights before you go under. It's simple navigation if you keep in mind the farther from shore the deeper it gets, the closer to shore the shallower it gets. Swim against the current to start, turn and cut your time on your way back. A large part of your 2nd half of the dive will be in shallow water. Just pop up and look at the shore lights. As long as you go back into shallower water toward the end of the dive the worst thing you'll end up with is a snorkle back to your entry.

Navigate using time.

[Lwang]

All good recommendations.

If I attach a strobe to the line, will other people take it?

[DiverVince]

LWANG...YOU ARE DEFINITELY OVERTHINKING.. No one will take your strobe on a night dive. Just remember to remove it from the water at the end of your dive and don't attach it to live coral. ;)

As far as diving during the day, we swim out to the drop off area on the surface. The swim is aided by the prevailing winds from the east which helps blow you out. I take a compass reading to the exit point before descending (yea yea I'm well familiar with the group that thinks using a compass on Bonaire is not necessary). When you get to your desired depth, look at computer for elapsed time. If there's any current (generally it's negligible) swim into it. If your ET is 6 mins at desired depth, swim 15 mins against any current,(ET will then read 21) turn around and ascend a bit and take 15 mins (perhaps a bit shorter if there is a current) to return to general vicinity of where you began the dive. ET will then read 36). Obviously it helps to recognize an UW landmark but this ability will only come with experience at the site. Then TAKE YOUR TIME (we easily allow 10 mins for this) and follow the compass course in directly to shore to your exit point which should be in about 6 feet of water. Voila, you're exactly where you should be.

This is the procedure we've used for 25 years diving Bonaire's reefs. There are a great many things to see in the shallows on your trip back to shore plus great off gassing of nitrogen. Have fun and enjoy. That's what diving is really about. :D

[Lwang]

all the talk of locals clearing out your truck, who knows what they will do if they don't find anything.

[PhilC]

More overthinking. Crime happens everywhere and common sense usually prevents it from happening to you. If your truck windows are down when the potential thieves roll by they won't even slow down because they know you've got the common sense to not leave anything of value in the vehicle. It really is that simple and you shouldn't even be concerned. I'm not trying to make light of the crime that occurs on the island, I think it detracts from the enjoyment of the island a lot and wish they could do something more about it but I am more worried about my vehicle sitting at the airport in Cleveland than I am about the one I'm driving in Bonaire while I'm on the island.

[DeputyDan]

More overthinking. Crime happens everywhere and common sense usually prevents it from happening to you. If your truck windows are down when the potential thieves roll by they won't even slow down because they know you've got the common sense to not leave anything of value in the vehicle. It really is that simple and you shouldn't even be concerned. I'm not trying to make light of the crime that occurs on the island, I think it detracts from the enjoyment of the island a lot and wish they could do something more about it but I am more worried about my vehicle sitting at the airport in Cleveland than I am about the one I'm driving in Bonaire while I'm on the island.

I agree that your vehicle at the airport is more as risk.
Talk to someone from Oahu about leaving your vehicle unattended while shore diving like is done on Bonaire and they will want to know what you were thinking - when your auto is gone!

[TheWizard]

I would 2nd the recommendation of going with open-heel fins and hard-sole booties exclusively on Bonaire.
I've also dove Curacao (last March) and the swimouts on Bonaire are much shorter.
We also never do discrete Safety Stops on Bonaire. The plan is always to swim u/w all the way back to shore, as the depth gradually decreases down to waist-deep.
I would recommend doing easier dive sites for the first day or two, as you get coordinated on the concept again.

One of the trickier dive sites (up North) for exiting is either Witches Hut or the one just south of it. You can't see your truck from the water and the ironshore cliff is 6-8 feet high and rather uniform looking for 100 yards north and south of the actual entry point. So it would be good to bring some bright colored object to leave right on shore as a marker...

[Lwang]

Thanks for all the info. Since I have 11 boat dives in my package, I probably wouldn't be doing the really out of the way or hard to get to shore dives this time. Maybe we will try to request those hard to get to shore dives as a boat dive, or are there dive sites that could only be accessed by boat?

[jcroy66]

There are some dive sites only accessible by boat. All the ones on Klein Bonaire, for instance. A few on the main island too, such as Rappel (I still really want to do that one). And across from the marine park headquarters (I don't remember the dive site name, but it's south of Oil Slick and north of Andrea II). And then there are some that you *can* shore dive, but it's a lot easier to boat dive. The ones in Washington-Slagbaii and the East Coast dives come to mind (I doubt your package will do either of those, as both are "upcharge dives" and run by only 1-2 dive ops). Of course, we always shore-dive the ones in Washington-Slagbaii anyway, because it's a beautiful area to visit.

Our dive package at Plaza last year included 11 boat dives. I think we used 6 of them. Their boats usually took 18 divers. YUCK. To me, a 10-diver boat is crowded, so 18 is torture. And then half the time, other divers requested sites that are easy to shore dive, like the Hilma Hooker. What a complete waste. So any day they were doing sites that you could shore dive, we just skipped the prepaid boat dives, and went somewhere on our own.

[Diver DennisP]

Lwang- My wife and I worried about a lot of the same things on our first trip (this last march) to Bonaire. After getting into the water the first day at Buddy's Reef, all concerns went out the window. We had only had about 20 dives under our weight belts (sorry bad pun :dork2:) and doubled that total while we were there. We took a lot of tips from the board here and made the most of it.

We got to each site and did the following
Looked at the surface- try to see the direction of the current. Swim into it the first half, drift/swim with it on the way back.
Some dives we headed all the way out to the bouy on the surface, caught our breath, relaxed and decended. Others we swam through the shallows looking for garden eels, rays, seahorses, staghorn corals, etc.
It was said earlier to find a "unique" coral formation and look at it from a couple of different angles. I whole heartedly agree. take a look back at that same coral formation once you get into your dive. It looks a lot different from 75' away than it does up close.

We didn't do any boat dives, but next time we will include that into our package. It would have been nice to get to klein and a couple of the northern sites that arent really accessible. Natl. park dives, small wall, cliff, rapel.

The only time we got a little turned around is when we were on one of the double reefs, swimming from inner to outer and back and got mixed up at which direction we were faceing. Take a look at your compass when you get in and see which direction is land. No big deal really.

Have fun, leave the truck windows down, a couple of bottles of water and a wet seat is all that you should leave in it.

[Lwang]

DennisP, thanks for the reassurance. I guess it is all the reading of these things. Usually, I just make the trip and wing it. But this time, since I just came back from Saba, am still kind of active on the forum reading into Saba sites that I went to when the next trip came about, and so I kind of moved into the forum of the next place I am going, and the more I read, the more I think about it (lol, especially with the leaving the truck window open and what kind of things they will take and what they will not want).

[Diver DennisP]

We didn't have any issues with theft. We left lunch, drinks, old t-shirts, tanks, and a solar camping shower in/on/in back of the truck. Nothing of any value that would catch someones eye. I kept my sunglasses ($10 value) and sandals between the rear wheel and the truck frame. Might have been overkill, but no issues.

[awap]

The Bonaire park folks do not seem to be putting any resources into buoy maintenance so don't count on buoys at all sites. Some of the southern sites that still have buoys may require a 150 meter swim to reach them. Use your compass and consider carrying your own UW marker .

[Lwang]

What's a good marker? sausage hooked to a weight?

[DiverVince]

Lwang..There is absolutely no need to use an artificial marker on Bonaire's reefs. Leave the sausage & weights attached to it at home. You're much better off relying on your UW acumen, use your gauges, compass, watch and your eyes to discern differences in the UW topography.

[Jersey]

No markers needed, if you can't figure out where you are at the end of the dive, pop up and take a look. Most shore dives end with one long safety stop and are shallow, not a DCS type issue. Improve your natural navigation using topography. To give you an idea Invisibles has rockfall scars near the buoy (I think South, would have to check log). They start at the top of the reef and run down - 2 big, nasty gashes about 20- 25 feet apart, maybe 30 feet of water. Natural marker, they aren't moving. When you hit them, look for the rope on the buoy, back at starting point! Another southern site - Margate or Angel - my buddy found a big elkhorn at 30 feet that looked just like Bullwinkle (old cartoon character) right next to a purple sponge the shape of a cactus. On the way back we swam along at 25 feet and BANG right into the elkhorn. If you don't think you can remember, carry a slate, sketch it and write down the depth. Old tires can be markers. From there, take a heading back in. Watch your depth, sand ridges and position of sun during your dive, all these help in natural navigation. Not sure if it was said before, some sites have piles of stones divers have set up on the beach to aid in visual reference from the water. Check out shoreline indicators before dropping down. As you head in, take into account the water will be pushing or pulling you, so adjust plan accordingly. Usually not ripping currents, but if the current is pushing you, come up a bit short and let it push you as opposed to a dead on aim, overshooting, then having to fight back. Dive smarter - not harder.

[awap]

I used to depend on identifying a unique formation at the lip of the dropoff, either sponge or coral. That was not always reliable. On my last trip, another diver gave me a 15' length of 2" wide yellow plastic caution tape. Add a 5' length of cave line to one end and a float (fishing cork) to the other and you are in business. Much easier to recognize than most natural formations and no more of an environmental problem than the issued lionfish markers.

Sure you can always surface to spot your exit target. Watch out for the kite boarders!!!! I don't like to surface until the water is too shallow for such traffic.

[rye_a]

I would be more interested in how many dives you have and if you will have a dive partner to give an adequate answer to "how hard it would be to go unguided in bonaire?" Its always nice to have a someone who has been to show you the ropes so to speak...!

I have Been to Bonaire and can be available if you would like to hire me to be your guide (retainer fee includes airfare, lodging and food) :D

[DiverVince]

Well put Jersey! ;)

[Mike]

After 35 replies to such a simple issue, maybe it's time to say, if you really can't figure out how to dive Bonaire's shore dives, maybe you aren't ready to dive Bonaire. I don't mean to say that because Lwangs keeps asking these questions means he shouldn't dive Bonaire, more to say that the reality of doing it is easier then all the trepidation and if you actually do have trouble with it, then that's a pretty good indication you probably are diving beyond your abilities. Navigation for simple back and forth lateral diving the shore line shouldn't be that hard.

[Lwang]

After 35 replies to such a simple issue, maybe it's time to say, if you really can't figure out how to dive Bonaire's shore dives, maybe you aren't ready to dive Bonaire. I don't mean to say that because Lwangs keeps asking these questions means he shouldn't dive Bonaire, more to say that the reality of doing it is easier then all the trepidation and if you actually do have trouble with it, then that's a pretty good indication you probably are diving beyond your abilities. Navigation for simple back and forth lateral diving the shore line shouldn't be that hard.I only respond because I somebody comes back with a new scenario different from others. The initial suggestions was always come back to the buoy, which is simple enough, except for night dives (which strobe could easily resolve). Then the new discussion of buoy too far out to be of any use, so it comes down to remembering landmarks. It will likely be no where nearly as hard as imagined (besides the night dive), given that I did alot more complicated dives that required alot more other skillset, but almost all tested my other abilities besides navigation. Being immersed in photographing critters and going after the big pelagic ones that swims by frequently takes me way off course, but I guess Bonaire would be the hardest place to lose one's bearings in any of those situations (besides walls, but then, you can drop 50 ft going after something.)

[Mike]

I don't think you'll have any problems at all. You're more prepared then the majority of people who go there and just wing it, you've gotten 3-4 different scenarios to try out and apply on your dives. I bet you report back a great trip and some good ideas for others about the diving methodology you ended up using. It's all good, just remember the most important thing, if the water is getting deeper you're going the wrong way, if you keep that in mind you'll eventually end back up on shore. :D

[Jersey]

Lwang - I've never found the buoys 'too far' out. Southern sites they are further from shore, but nothing that should stress a relatively fit individual. Keep in mind USUALLY flat seas, little to no current. It's like diving in a bath tub! I admit my first time to Bonaire and shore diving I had all the same questions and trepidations. Lucky for me, my dive buddy had already been maybe 7-8 times and has 10 more years diving experience. Now I've adopted his mantra that 'Bonaire is the easiest diving in the world'. Even while critter chasing and taking pics you will be hard pressed to lose your bearings - you aren't diving patch coral reef surrounded by blue water. The only exceptions I can think of would be heading over the double reef at the southern end (there the second reef is deeper and you do need good nav skills), or getting turned around in the shallows while taking pics 360 degrees around a coral head or sand bottom (East Side diving excluded, I've no experience there). In the latter case, use references such as current, sand ripples or pop up to take a heading. Plus most of those sites, if you overshoot your exit you can course adjust, look for the next site or try to get out someplace other then your entry. You can get really close to shoreline without being battered by wave action or strong currents and scope out a do-able exit. Check out this you tube video Bonaire Shore Diving Getting Ready - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd6aghgBlsQ) - a decent perspective of a site south of airport, north of salt pier. Easy peasy!