Diving Double reefs....Information Please....

[jujubeess]

Hello,
I am fairly new to diving....almost 4 years.....107 dives....mostly in Bonaire. I am from New York and did get certified in the refreshing waters up here....48 degrees with a current in May, right before my honeymoon..... This will be my 4th year in a row to dive in Bonaire. We have done both boat and shore dives.....love them. This year, I would like to try something different....the double reefs. I am a virgin to them. Can you please tell me where to go, how to dive them and how deep are they? All the pros and cons would be appreciated. Is there anything different about them? Although Bonaire is one big reef, I am always wanting to do something different. Last year I dove Vista blue(2x), and Sweet dreams(2x) in the south...not too bad. I am a petite women and had a little tough time with the changing of the currents, but plan to dive there again. I would love to dive Cai or the east coast to see some thing different and maybe bigger fish but I am far from ready for that yet. We were considering diving in the park, but we did Hiking up the largest peak last year and it took us forever to get out of the park. Is there any shortcuts...we will only be in Bonaire for 8 days, this year, so our time has to be used wisely.... Thank you all in advance for your input. Have a Joyous Holiday Season.....:blinking:

 

[tdchandl]

Surprised you missed Angle City and the few sites in that area as these are a double reef system. We've taken both approachs...
1) Swim out to second reef at a moderate depth then descend into second for sometime. Coming up over and down into the inner to watch for Garden eels and rays.
2) Down up down up down approach on the way out and in.

This area is quite fun and often very interesting including Invisibles, etc.
Mostly not exceeding 65ft.

 

[diversteve]

The Lake, Angel City, Alice in Wonderland, Aquarius, Salt City, Invisibles, all are good access to the double reef. We liked Invisibles the best. If you go south there you can see where the reef becomes one again.

Something else different on Bonaire is Cliff - about the only vertical wall there - also an easy entry. Just north of Habitat.

 

[lmorin]

I would start with Angel City and Invisibles. The second reef is close to the first on those two. Also, I recommend doing your first double reef dive on a nice sunny day with good vis. I was quite uncomfortable doing Alice in Wonderland on a day that prevented seeing the second reef until right on top of it. The second reef is all hard corals and is much darker than the first. Perhaps so on some of the others as well, but check them out. We typically drop down to the sand after the first reef and swim out to the second. (Alternatively, don't drop down, but head straight out to reef #2 and spend more time there). Then up and somewhat over, meandering around the second reef looking for big stuff off in the blue (none seen as yet). In generally, we make a meandering loop back to the between-reef sand channel, then back over to the first reef with plenty of air to spare, then gradually back to 30-35 ft at the edge of the first reef before heading toward shore. Look in and under the isolated coral heads as you head toward shore. Lots of small things hidden away.

 

[boat sju]

Isn't The Lake the site where you can see the second reef and the V where they come together? Anyway, we heard a couple of other teams talking about having issues heading for the second reef and not finding it.

Has anyone ever seen a map of the reef system?

 

[tdchandl]

the lake is where it all starts.

In general here are several good site description sites.

Bonaire Dive Guide | diving | bonaire | guide | shore | shorediving | boat | boatdiving | fishes | fish | coral

http://www.bonairediveguide.com/images/10/240.pdf

 

[darook]

All of the sites mentioned allow easy access to the second reef. They are my favorite dives as the reef are is so large it is not beat to death by divers. Also, the sand in between offers chances to see garden eels and the occasional eagle ray. Invisibles is a site I can dive repeatedly and just do a different approach each time. I will check it out next week and report back if anything has changed!