Bonaire Equates To Great Diving!
(As told by divemaster Keith Glaser)
Our dive trip to the beautiful island of Bonaire (Netherland Antilles) some 50 miles off the coast of Venezuela started very early on a Saturday morning from O’Hare airport. Our early departure allowed us to dive the crystal clear blue waters of Bonaire on the Buddy Dive Reef the day we arrived. This island has been a marine park for more than 35 years and the health and diversity of the corals and fishes make that clearly evident. We were not disappointed!
Diving in Bonaire
Bonaire is a unique island setting. It is one of the few islands that provide abundant shore diving. The combination of shore and boat diving adventures makes for great fun on a Caribbean island. As always, we started our diving on Buddy Dive Reef. Steps lead down from the dock into light blue turquoise waters over a white sandy bottom. After a brief 150 ft swim, you arrive at the dark blue waters of the reef. The gently slopping wall descends to 130-150 feet below the surface. It is always awesome seeing the white sand bottom at 150 feet from the reef’s edge at 25 feet. Our dives were a mixture of boat dives from Buddy Dive with our divemasters , Danny and Mettlum. Those dives took place on Klein Bonaire (Small Bonaire). Our shore dives (52+ sites) all along the lee side of the island were fantastic! Diving sites were clearly marked by yellow rocks. Most have relatively easy access with the vehicles provided by Buddy Dive. Each dive we encountered spotted morays and the occasional green moray. We saw snake eels, spotted drum (adults and juveniles), and a few elusive reef squid as well. The seahorses and sea lettuce slugs (similar to nudibranchs) were seen on multiple dives from the North island to the South. On the southern end, the Salt Pier is a fantastic locale for tropical fish life. (It is an actual working salt pier, so when there is a ship loading, no diving). At Salt Pier you will find fantastic underwater vistas. Pier pylons with schools of fish made way for the southern stingrays and eaglerays. If you looked closely, you could find the elusive red-lipped blenny, cleaner shrimp hiding in anenomes, and reef crabs. Many of the upper reefs are gardens of sea fans. Soft corals are interspaced with patches of staghorn coral and an occasional elkhorn coral head. For the more eco-minded, you could find the coral nurseries. These are known as the Coral Restoration Project just off Buddy Dive, with coral trees made of PVC and beds of staghorn coral. These starter corals will eventually transplanted to many of the dive sites around Bonaire. We scuba dived sites like Karpata, Weber’s Joy (Witch’s Hut) and Oil Slick. There were others that were just as exciting! Barri Reef, Turtle Nesting beach , Salt City, Alice in Wonderland, and of course the Salt Pier kept us very active. The night dives were great! We saw octopus and our normal cadre of tarpin. These carp of the Caribbean can grow in lengths of 4-5 feet or more! Their bright shiny scales shimmered off our night lights as we moved along the reef.
Our Non-Diving Time on Bonaire
“Blennies”, the beach restaurant at Buddy Dive, was our regular meeting place for adult beverages and snacks. Here, wecould fill our logbooks as we relaxed. On Friday before our departure, it is the place to go for all-you-can eat BBQ. Buddy Dive throws a free Rum Punch party before dinner. It was a great way to end a week of diving on this tropical island. Many times over the week we ventured out to different seafood resturants on the island for dinner. It was one particular restaurant, “Spice”, that provided long lasting memories for our 3 ½ hr dinner experience. Since we were the first ones seated at the restaurant, it was also fitting that we were almost the last to leave. Making this event even more memorable is the fact that we had a night dive right after dinner! “Julian’s Cafe” is also, an awesome little place to have some of the best seafood on the island. On one evening, Tropical storm Bret also made our dining experience very memorable. There’s nothing like enjoying great grouper with a steady 30-40 mph wind blowing in your face! Our divers enjoyed the Washington-Slagbaai National Park on the north end of Bonaire and the scenic above water vista, Flamingo Lake on the south end. Driving past the salt flats near the Salt Pier among the pink flamingos, we watched the harvesting of sea salt. Overall, Toucan Dive’s dive trip to Bonaire was just what the doctor ordered. We came back to the states refreshed and ready to start the summer off on great footing. Check out the photos below!
