Shore diving White(Blue) Hole

[caileon]

I dove White(Blue) Hole in Bonaire by boat two times. It is listed as a shore dive. I was wondering if anyone here has ever shore dived it? Where did you enter?, and how long did it take to swim/walk out to the hole?
I know it is easier to just pay a dive boat to take you out to it, but I wanted to try something different and shore dive it. Any information you can give me on shore diving this would be great. Going back again in Sept.

Thanks
Eric

 

[Bas Noij]

Hi Eric,

It is possible as a shore dive but you should definitely do it with a guide the first couple of times. Not a dive for the faint of heart.

 

[DeputyDan]

I dove White(Blue) Hole in Bonaire by boat two times. It is listed as a shore dive. I was wondering if anyone here has ever shore dived it? Where did you enter?, and how long did it take to swim/walk out to the hole?
I know it is easier to just pay a dive boat to take you out to it, but I wanted to try something different and shore dive it. Any information you can give me on shore diving this would be great. Going back again in Sept.

Thanks
Eric

Its quite a swim out and you could have stiff current. Just luck of the draw.

 

[tracydr]

Will boats go there and wild side dives at the end of July or is it too windy?

 

[KY_BOB]

Will boats go there and wild side dives at the end of July or is it too windy?

Yes, I was there last July. ROUGH water but a great dive.

 

[gert7to3]

If you look at google earth you can see the blue/white hole. There is a passable road to Lac just south of Sorobon. The bay bottom here is very shallow, but irregular with a thin layer of sand covering a broken coral substrate. The blue/white hole is just opposite where the sand gives way to rock. Can't tell what the water depth is there. You'd have to cross the reef which might be rough. When I dove the blue/white hole from a boat, we entered the south end of it and exited over the northeast side. The bottom surrounding the south aspect was sea fans interspersed with fire coral, with significant surge. Most of the east side shoreline from the lighthouse on around seems to be made up of bigger coral chunks and lots of fire coral.

There is a real risk here, that while conditions might permit you to start a shore dive, they may change for the worse, making a safe return difficult.

 

[Bas Noij]

I repeat my previous comment...do not do this dive without a guide. I am working for a business that offers guided dives to many places including the White Hole so my opinion may seem biased but really...this is a dive that might turn your vacation into a nightmare if it is not done properly and under the correct conditions. We have had to turn around and abort the dive in many cases even with proper preparation and wind/wave checks.

The easiest and safest way to see the white hole is by boat (www dot bonaireeastcoastdiving dot com ... since I have had to reset my password my post count was also reset to zero so i can't post URLs) . I am NOT in any way involved in that business so that info is 100% unbiased. For the thrill seekers among you it is a VERY cool dive from shore if you have the right person with you to guide you.

 

[KY_BOB]

Here's the link: Diving Bonaire on the wildside, Dive bonaire eastcoast and see the big 5.

That's who I did it with last year. They run a nice operation and have good guides. I highly recommend them.

I can't imagine trying to shore dive it.