Turtle City on Bonaire "scary east coast" :)

[Scottsfire]

Was curious if anyone has dove Turtle City on their own? Where did you find out about conditions? How do you get there? The "good, bad and the ugly" of this site? I'm getting mixed messages about the site. Some say ONLY go with a dive shop and other have said "Naw, walk on it and just make not of the current". So which is it. My daughter and I have logged over 50 dives. She is advanced open water and I a rescue diver.....with that said, is this site easy to navigate the currents. Talk to me!
Thanks,

 

[fmerkel]

I've dove the east side out of the Cai channel with no guide a number of times. It's a challenge, and I'm a Pacific NW current diver. Over a 1000 dives before even trying it. You REALLY need to be VERY comfortable with long swims, current, navigation, and waves. Very good air consumption or a large tank are more of a requirement than a bonus. Do it alone and there is no rescue.

Turtle City is also known as Blue Hole/White Hole? Haven't done it. Requires a......long......walk across shallow Cai Bay, crossing the reef, and then dealing with current and waves on the other side. You need to have some experience in judging if conditions on the east side are even dive-able. IMO, sounds like you don't have the experience for it.

Maybe try some Red Slave diving and test your legs in some current and waves. If the waves calm down try the Lighthouse on the tip. If the east side goes flat (rare but it does happen), then the few places you can get in the water OK can be approached with caution. I'd suggest snorkeling it first to see how things look so you don't have to deal with the weight.

 

[Scottsfire]

I've dove the east side out of the Cai channel with no guide a number of times. It's a challenge, and I'm a Pacific NW current diver. Over a 1000 dives before even trying it. You REALLY need to be VERY comfortable with long swims, current, navigation, and waves. Very good air consumption or a large tank are more of a requirement than a bonus. Do it alone and there is no rescue.

Turtle City is also known as Blue Hole/White Hole? Haven't done it. Requires a......long......walk across shallow Cai Bay, crossing the reef, and then dealing with current and waves on the other side. You need to have some experience in judging if conditions on the east side are even dive-able. IMO, sounds like you don't have the experience for it.

Maybe try some Red Slave diving and test your legs in some current and waves. If the waves calm down try the Lighthouse on the tip. If the east side goes flat (rare but it does happen), then the few places you can get in the water OK can be approached with caution. I'd suggest snorkeling it first to see how things look so you don't have to deal with the weight.

Hmmmm...considering your experience with this place and your skill set....which I definitely dont have! I think I'm gonna pass and maybe go with dive boat operator or guide.

 

[tursiops]

No, Turtle City is not the same as White/Blue Hole. It is a great dive, but I would absolutely NOT want to do it on my own as a shore dive. It is south of the entrance to Lac Cai with a northward running current. You need to swim to the south enx of the site and drift-dive north.

 

[DeputyDan]

I would use an operator on the east side, regardless of the sites chosen.

 

[Trailboss123]

You have 2 excellent options for diving any sites on the East side.
You can hire Bas Tol as a guide for shore diving: BAS Diving - About Bas
Or East Coast Diving for boat diving: Bonaire East Coast Diving - Unforgettable Scuba Dive Vacation Adventure

 

[maadJurguer]

^^^what he, and others, said....it's a bit out there and you'll want a lift.

 

[GrafCanuck]

+1 BAS Diving

 

[tursiops]

Does anyone know if Bas actually does Turtle City? Or is that boat-only?

 

[LimitedSlip7]

Dove it with East Coast last time I was there and both dives were great! Current didn't seem to be particularly strong but I didn't try to swim against it much... Next time I'm definitely going to give Bas a try to get some more dives in on the East coast.