Your Bonaire Picks

[spectrum]

I'm searching archives but some fresh data is always good since some sites come and go and nothing stays the same.

We'll be in Bonaire in less than 3 weeks and don't want to miss the best of the best. So the question to your Bonaire veterans is what were your favorites. Dives that logistically work well as pairs are nice to know about as well. We'll be diving out of Buddy Dive.

Thanks,
Pete

 

[txdano]

Down South some of our faves are The Invisibles, Margate Bay, Red Slave, and The Lake. Going up North we like Oil Slick, Witches Hut, Ol' Blue, and Karpata. We really enjoyed Salt Pier during the day and Town Pier at night. Of course the Hilma Hooker is a don't miss site as well if you like shipwrecks and don't mind a deeper profile. I have dove with Buddy Dive several times and they have done a pretty good job during orientation describing various sites and how the topography differs, as well as what they have recently seen.

 

[herman]

North: Oil Slick, 1000 Steps, Old Blue, Oil Slick (I like Oil Slick )

South: Alice In Wonderland,Hilma Hooker and Windsock, mainly due to the easy entry and shade.

Here is a tip for you, the road just past Karpata is ONE WAY and is a pretty long ride back to Buddy though Rincon. There is a shortcut. Just after Karpta the road turns right and a short distance after that is a small DIRT road on the right. If you take this road it crosses the high spot of the island behind Radio Netherlands, past the microwave towers and back to the main road just south of Oil Slick. It's a great shortcut and a pretty nice scenic drive. It is around 5-7 miles long. I take it often both as a short cut and a nice dive.

 

[txdano]

Herman is right, Oil Slick is a great dive and the short cut is very helpful, but actually the one way starts right after 1000 Steps, if you go to any dive sites past that (Ol' Blue, Karpata etc.) you will have to go all the way around or take the shortcut. Aquarius is another site down South with a very nice sandy entry.

 

[jghflash]

Up north, 1000 Steps, Oil Slick and Karpata are my favorites and Angel City on the south end.

 

[AXL72]

I thought alice in wonderland was the most beautiful. Hopefully I was not narked.

Hilma Hooker is fun. Make sure you do alice in wonderland with plenty of no-deco-limit time left, so that only your air is the limiting factor.

enjoyed Oil Slick, too.

 

[skynscuba]

Angel City is a great double-reef dive, and the only one I did twice, except at the house reef where I was staying.

Karpata is good, and a bit different from the others.

Front porch was surprisingly good. We weren't expecting much, but were pleased at the variety. It has patches of sand and coral, even deep, saw a lot of animal variety there, and the small wreck.

All the dives were just great!

 

[herman]

And where ever you dive, don't overlook the shallow water. I have seen lots of stuff in 15ft or less. The coral rubble holds a lot of small and often missed critters for those who slow down and take the time to look, besides there is still air on the tank......mine rarely comes out with less than 300 on Boniare.

 

[leousb]

Got home from Bonaire on Sunday!

My favorites: Oil Slick (take the leap is fun, my personal favourite :yl2jump: ) amazing vis, Andrea II is a must (wife´s favourite :cheering not a deep dive and lots of life :goldfish: to see (If you´re easy on the breathing could make a really long dive, Wife and I did 55 min dive and still had 1200 psi, had to surface cause other dive buddy had 700psi only :az: ), Hilma Hooker a must too . . . Did some snorkeling in 1000 steps, and it was awesome, deeper should be nice as well . . .

Check out my trip report in this forum coming soon! (perhaps today . . .)


Hope it helps . . . (I´m messing around with the smilies . . .)

 

[mjh]

You will have a great time there are trip reports, slide shows and gallery from our trip at my website. The fact is the farther north or south you go, typically, the better the diving. Also a trip out with Larry's Wild Side is fun.