Bonaire, Shore diving capital of the Caribbean?

[Kharon]

Wow - just took a look at Charlie59'a profile. Interesting. Some really unusual claims.

Certification Agencies: Withheld at request of that organization
Certification History: Confined water specialty diver
Dive Classification: Instructor / Assistant Instructor / Dive Master / Dive Con
Years Certified: Six - Ten Years

Got to send ==> Ignore

 

[diversteve]

Really the ease of diving Bonaire refers to how much of it can be accomplished in a limited area not how easy the entries are. It's unique in the closeness of the dive sites - particularly south.

Climbing over ironshore in treaded boots to get out to the reef is not considered easy by most.
Plus all the lovely urchins and fire coral.

I don't believe there's anywhere else in the world like it.

And Reader'sChoice has proven somewhat useless over the decades - it's seriously influenced by what the magazine publishes the year bafore. I actually remember when they hyped Bonaire so much in the late 90's after the editor went there - it's one of the reasons my 2nd regular buddy and I went there. Prior to that they'd never mentioned it - I subscribed for a couple decades.

Plus it's a poll voted on by the readers. I also remember once a group of them promoting somewhere as the number 2 pick in a category - obviously they'd never been to nos 1-5 since all were better. And it's US readers for the most part so the really excellent diving in Asia/Pacific (better than the Caribbean) does not get a fair vote because less people go there.

 

[diversteve]

There are 86 offiical dive sites listed by the Bonaire Marine Park which IIRC covers the entire island plus Klein Bonaire.

 

[herman]

I have gone every year since 1999, some times 2 or 3 times in a year and it's still the same.Twice this year- Feb and May. Dive shops have come and gone and the UW landscape has changed a good bit due the the string of hurricanes but it's still the same. And on the up side, the reefs are starting to come back to pre hurricane condition. It's nice to see all the new coral. I will admit, the entries use to be a lot easier but it's due to me getting older, not the entries getting harder.

 

[scubadada]

There are 86 offiical dive sites listed by the Bonaire Marine Park which IIRC covers the entire island plus Klein Bonaire.

Dive guide Bonaire lists 103 sites, perhaps some not "official"

 

[diversteve]

I could be wrong about the marine park being the whole island. I'm pretty sure it is south of town.

 

[Kharon]

I could be wrong about the marine park being the whole island. I'm pretty sure it is south of town.

The entire island to a depth of 200 feet is marine park. And the 86 shore sites are only the ones that are marked. BSDME and the other book listing dive sites list numerous sites that haven't gotten their yellow rock yet, numerous sites that can't be reached from shore.

 

[gbf]

Like KathyV, our first trip was in 1995.

We went nearly every year, with our latest trip in 2016 - like drrich2 I've been doing other things.

There is little if any material difference in the entrances back then vs 2016. If anything, there are additional markers for entrances. None of the markers were numbered, not in 1995, not in 2016. There was a map available in a brochure (I still have the one from1995 I think) that was reasonably accurate, and BSDME was more than reliable enough.

My children who were 11/12 when we started had no trouble with entrances.

My wife and I, decidedly not children nor svelte, had no problems with entrances then or now.

What you report is not what we've experienced.

Edit: fix typo

 

[mbs]

I have had this site map up on the wall in my office for a number of years... I believe they still have them for free in the airport as well as the rental companies and dive shops. Perhaps the fact that the sites are numbered as well as named made the OP think that the yellow markers had numbers. We have been going every year for the past 12 or so years. There was that one hurricane like 11 or 12 years ago that did cause a lot of damage, but I do not recall any more sandy beaches. If you choose your sites carefully you can fins less challenging entries. Vista Blue has to be my favorite easy entry site, provided the waves are manageable. Definitely an odd OP.

 

[hroark2112]

Hurricane Matthew did cause the nice easy sandy beach entry at Sand Dollar to be rather difficult right after the storm. It even uncovered several buried scuba cylinders that no one knew were there. I haven’t tried the entry the last few years but I’m sure it is much easier.

If anyone says the diving on Bonaire is ‘terrible’ it is because they are expecting something different, like big animal diving. I’ve been 8 times since 2013 and each trip the diving has been fun. Sometimes the visibility varies, I don’t see frogfish every dive, but I always see something new every trip.

I wish more people hated Bonaire. More diving for me and less people.

(Just an aside....at least he’s not bitching about crime on the island!!!)