Trip Report Bonaire March 2024–Dead reefs

[Catito]

Is the stony coral disease still active there? In my experience at other islands, it hits fast and hard wiping out those corals in months. We were there last May and ~ half the sites were already orange or yellow and had prevalent disease. I am returning in May this year and will be shocked they if still running colors and this same disease is running rampant at those same sites. I expect all those corals are gone. Remember only a small subset of corals are actually impact by the disease.

Have any sites gone from Orange back to Green or is this a one way process?

All red or orange but for two at the far southern end…lighthouse and white hole.

 

[scubadada]

All red or orange but for two at the far southern end…lighthouse and white hole.

No, Vista Blue, Sweet Dreams. and Willemstoren Lighthouse are green at the south end. White Hole is now orange in the east.

 

[rmorgan]

White Hole is now orange.

I saw that--it really stinks, although at least there's not much hard coral there anyway

 

[mattfish]

If you want to know where the reefs are headed in the Caribbean, just look at the Florida keys.

I’d guess that we’ve got about 10 years before the region looks like that unless things change drastically very soon.

 

[staggsSevin]

If you want to know where the reefs are headed in the Caribbean, just look at the Florida keys.

Sadly.....Bingo

 

[Patrick Star]

Also, it will still look wonderful to new divers.

Reading all of this has been disconcerting, especially since in another thread, I solicited advice for where to go for a November trip fairly close to New England. The result was me just booking with Buddy Dive.

After getting into this thread, I had a moment of buyers remorse and considered cancelling. Then I read on and thought, "And go where?" Bonaire sounds like it is no worse (and quite possibly better) than most or all other Caribbean dive locations right now.

I suspect I am like many of us in the US that cannot swing only diving in pristine locations around various South Pacific islands and the Philippines. The Caribbean is our backyard, and yes, it is degrading along with the rest of our oceans and our planet in general.

Compared to my regular weekly shore dives off the rugged and comparatively lifeless coast of Maine during the summer, Bonaire, regardless of its reef degradation, will be a treat. And worth the trip. Yes, I am that new.

When I started diving in earnest a few years ago, I paid lip service to the thought that this activity is time-limited by what is happening to our reefs. Now it is really hitting home hard.

 

[Centrals]

@Patrick Star
Treat it as a holiday with a bit of diving ie, lower the expectation.
I went to Koh Chang in Thailand recently and the diving was disappointing. But the trip was fine as a whole.

 

[Catito]

If you want to know where the reefs are headed in the Caribbean, just look at the Florida keys.

I’d guess that we’ve got about 10 years before the region looks like that unless things change drastically very soon.

Yup. I see it weekly

 

[Catito]

@Patrick Star
Treat it as a holiday with a bit of diving ie, lower the expectation.
I went to Koh Chang in Thailand recently and the diving was disappointing. But the trip was fine as a whole.

Yes. Thanks. Enjoyed our time (100 ft viz) once we got over the shock. Our standards dropped dramatically.

 

[mattfish]

Diving around the Caribbean is still worth it. And I do think Bonaire has been one of the nicest places I’ve dived in the Caribbean.

Just…enjoy it while it’s around.

It’s important for all of us to keep in mind that the reefs in the Caribbean have been in decline since the 80s when all the stag horn and elk horn corals died off. Then the urchin die off. Then the lion fish invasion. Then bleaching due to increasing sea temps. And SCTLD to top it all off. If we can’t find ways to help the reefs recover, they will be gone.