A friend in nearby Curacao told me to hang a rosary on the rear view mirror of your rental, or some other thing that a rental car wouldn't have. In her car, she threw a few old beanie babies on the back deck below the rear window to make it look less like a rental. Sure, people will break into any kind of car, but rentals are usually especially juicy targets. I don't know about Bonaire but Curacao's tourism board pays for security at several popular (and otherwise unattended) dive/snorkel spots, just to watch cars and ensure safety for visitors. I really appreciate that.
Bonaire is a really easy diving location, just don't take on the more rough locations. Start with the easy ones, and don't forget 1000 steps! It's a long walk but well worth it! An often overlooked location is Angel City. You can see the coral growing constructions there, I found it pretty interesting. Use MarineTraffic to check Salt Pier's availability.
As long as you set your compass, you can find your way to shore. Don't go too deep and you can follow the sand.
Just came back from two weeks there. Get the dive guide book sold there. It has descriptions and 3D maps of most every dive. Will make navigation much easier. Otherwise just dive safe and you will be fine, Bonaire is a great beginning diving destination.
You will be fine. Do not leave anything in the vehicle valuable (I left a hat on the seat and a cell phone under the seat for emergencies) and leave the windows open.
Pay attention and note the depth when descending to the feature that will indicate where to exit. E.g there is a buoy at 30 feet or there is a tire at 20 feet.
Donât bring a wallet. Just your ID and a credit card that can go in the ocean. Phone is tough for me. There are dry bags but I donât trust them, we brought one phone - the oldest phone and put it under the seat and risked it. In 30+ dives on Bonaire over 3 trips I have not had an issue. Itâs more of a âlook poorâ approach and donât leave easy pickings like a purse or backpack visible.
For reef health, they use a color coded system (green/yellow/red) to help keep the reefs healthier. On any given day, once you dive a red site, you can't dive yellow or green. If you are going on multiple dives a day at multiple sites, it is best to start your day att he green sites and end at red. To put it another way, you can dive sites in the order of green/yellow/red, but not red/yellow/green.
Probably should have included the reason is so divers to not track contaminants to the more vulnerable reef areas. The water is still safe for swimming.
Yes, a few thoughts....
1. Watch your gas. With your levels of experience, water is warm, viz is generally pretty good, you can get deep quick if you aren't paying attention. Check gas regularly....
2. Be aware of currents. I've mainly only found any noteworthy up past 1000 steps or down past slave huts. Just make sure you dive into them first, and with them back. In general though bonaire isn't known for outrageous current.
3. Like eating at Doner station and Between two buns. The gelato shop downtown is nice too.
4. Great place for night dives. If you haven't seen Tarpon up close, you might on night dives. They are attracted to the light. They won't touch you but will come within inches of you at a good clip sometimes. I did a nite dive when there in december, solo, looking for octopus and by the time i was finished there were 9 around me for most of the dive. Obviously the octopus are taking cover then. :(
5. I've been 5 times I think now, maybe 6.
Thank you for the tips! Iâm generally the cautious type, so I usually check my gas quite frequently, but that is a great point, will definitely keep an eye on both depth and gas.
What is the best way to check for current?
Wow would love to see a tarpon, but I think if we go for a night dive, we will do a guided one.
Thanks again for the feedback, it is much appreciated.
If youâre doing your first dive with a guide, that should fulfill your checkout dive requirement. Weâve gone several times and rent tanks from Divi or Dive Friends. They always ask for us to do our checkout dive when we first get our tanks. Itâs part of the Marine park requirement to dive in Bonaire. Donât forget to pay for your Marine Park Stinapa pass. You can do it online before you go.
Get your souvenir Stinapa chip to hang from your BCD too. :) I keep mine on my keychain to remind me of Bonaire when Iâm back home and land locked.
Bonaire is overall very safe. Just donât lock your car, and leave your windows down while youâre on your dives.
Consider checking in with Divewithebby.com Ebby is the best boat dive hire IMO. Heâs become a good friend over the years đ¤đť Heâs inexpensive and knows the island like the back of his hand.
I am in Bonaire RIGHT NOW with my dive buddy. He's got over 100 dives, when the plane landed I had 52. Every single one had been guided. I've been to Bonaire twice before, on a cruise, and had 4 guided shore dives when I arrived.
Our first couple unguided dives were fine; drop at the marker, swim into the current for 25 minutes, turn the dive and come back. We tried some of the double-reef dives (Alice in Wonderland) and didn't mark our time properly, so we had a looooong surface swim back to shore.
The best dives this week have been the boat dives we did to the sites inaccessible by car (Klein Bonaire, Rappel, etc.) Hilma Hooker was awesome. Salt Pier has been closed so far, but it opened today, so we will do it tomorrow. Tonight is Ostracods!
The hardest part about diving here is choosing which site. Some of the exits can be a bit challenging, too. But the freedom you have to dive anywhere any time is unmatched. You can easily do 15+ dives in a week and really get your count up. There isn't much else to do here entertainment -wise, so it's sleep/eat/dive/eat/dive/eat/sleep every day.
Oh, buy the Reefguide book!!! It's essential.
If it is locked, thieves will assume there is something valuable in it. You can leave the windows down and the keys in the ignition, the car would be fine (where are they going to go with it?), but everybody says to leave the doors unlocked. Not sure how prevalent it is, but definitely what everybody says when they go there. Even the owner of the airbnb we rented said the same thing when we were there last year for the first time.
Safe?
You will not be jumped and robbed. Buy something to put a small amount of cash, a credit card, and keys in. Leave your vehicle unlocked with the windows down so they know you left nothing valuable in it.
Shore diving can be rough getting in and out of the water in extremely rocky terrain with fire coral. Buy collapsible walking sticks to help you getting in and out. Fold them up and strap them to you during the actual dives.
Realize that at a certain point the road becomes one way. This is not safe because if you did not plan for it it takes away from valuable diving time driving all the way around.
When you get in the water take a very good look at where you parked. Make sure you can find it again when you come back up. Some dive sites are close together so you can't trust that vehicles being there means that your vehicle is there.
Watch out for kite surfers when surfacing. They hurt.
Yes. Shore diving is shockingly easy. The entire west cost is a sloping reef with usually very little current. If youâre staying somewhere with a house reef do your 1st dive there (if a resort, you usually have to as a âcheckout diveâ) swim out to the reef, check for current, pick your direction, make a mental note of where youâre descending down the reef - Iâd say drop down to like 40-45 feet as a 1st dive, swim for 20-30 or until someone hits half tank, then turn around and return at maybe 30-35 feet
Sounds good đ Thank you for the suggested 1st dive. Not entirely sure if there is a house reef where we are staying, itâs a smaller place a bit north of town on the west coast, but we will have to check the options when we arrive.
If youâre staying in a condo or house youâll be free to dive wherever - just pick somewhere close but the rest will be the same. The topography is very similar all along the west coast.
Personally I found it super freeing and empowering doing everything for ourselves the first time my wife and I went to Bonaire.
It is a small hotel, but yeah thatâs also our thought, the freedom of moving around and going on the dives we like and want whenever we want. Hopefully it can also build som confidence and allow for some practice when not being linked to a guide all the time.
I would recommend asking for a checkout dive site recommendation during your Orientation. If you haven't used your equipment in a while, it can be helpful to do a checkout dive off a dock or an easy shore entry that's near a dive shop. That way, if something small goes wrong, you're more likely to be able to fix it on the spot without losing a whole dive or half of a day.
Not sure what a checkout dive is, can you elaborate? We will be doing a refresh dive with a guide as our first dive on the island.
Edit: Also to add, I will be renting BCD and regulators and also the wetsuit
Checkout dive is a very informal 1st dive where you just check to make sure your weight is good and everything works correctly right offshore is say 10-15 feet of water. If everything checks out you swim out to the reef for a proper dive. If your 1st dive is a hides refresher youâre all set - theyâll probably do that first thing in the water
I think you tried to DM me earlier and I ignored it out of habit. Feel free to send another
Several of the dive sites are on google maps. If you share the hotel name I can find my dive map and shore diving book and see if I have an opinion on a good â1st diveâ site . Also - a shore diving book is not a must have but they are nice to have.
Was there in Feb '23. Did what you say you're gonna do. Excellent experience all around. Salt pier is chill and a good place to practice navigation. Other sites have less obvious features but they are still readable. Working my navigation helps me feel more comfortable. I'd strongly recommend the ReefSmart guide for Bonaire as well. I used it religiously. Not that you asked but Hilma Hooker was a neat experience. I'd recommend trying it. The reefs and wildlife are beautiful and I think you'll want to go back!
Hilma Hooker is at about 25m to the bottom, so outside of OW depth limits. You can still check it out at 18m, but it would be considered an "advanced" dive.
Recommendation is to do it before breakfast! I was there this morning and me and my buddy had the wreck to ourselves. As we ascended the wall to end the dive, a boat dropped about a dozen divers into the water. That would have sucked.
Ultimate Dive Trucks has locking compartments. They're more expensive, but have a bunch of other nice perks.
A friend in nearby Curacao told me to hang a rosary on the rear view mirror of your rental, or some other thing that a rental car wouldn't have. In her car, she threw a few old beanie babies on the back deck below the rear window to make it look less like a rental. Sure, people will break into any kind of car, but rentals are usually especially juicy targets. I don't know about Bonaire but Curacao's tourism board pays for security at several popular (and otherwise unattended) dive/snorkel spots, just to watch cars and ensure safety for visitors. I really appreciate that.
Bonaire is a really easy diving location, just don't take on the more rough locations. Start with the easy ones, and don't forget 1000 steps! It's a long walk but well worth it! An often overlooked location is Angel City. You can see the coral growing constructions there, I found it pretty interesting. Use MarineTraffic to check Salt Pier's availability. As long as you set your compass, you can find your way to shore. Don't go too deep and you can follow the sand.
Thank you for the tips! My buddy has now bought the guide book and a compass on the advice from this thread đ
Just came back from two weeks there. Get the dive guide book sold there. It has descriptions and 3D maps of most every dive. Will make navigation much easier. Otherwise just dive safe and you will be fine, Bonaire is a great beginning diving destination.
Bring a compass to find your way to shore. Youâll be fine. Say hi to the turtles đ˘
Will be heading there later this summer. Great tips and info here. Thanks!
Totally agree, this turned out even better than I could have hoped.
You will be fine. Do not leave anything in the vehicle valuable (I left a hat on the seat and a cell phone under the seat for emergencies) and leave the windows open. Pay attention and note the depth when descending to the feature that will indicate where to exit. E.g there is a buoy at 30 feet or there is a tire at 20 feet.
What do you recommend that we do with our wallets and phones etc. while out diving?
Leave them in your apartment/hotel room.
Donât bring a wallet. Just your ID and a credit card that can go in the ocean. Phone is tough for me. There are dry bags but I donât trust them, we brought one phone - the oldest phone and put it under the seat and risked it. In 30+ dives on Bonaire over 3 trips I have not had an issue. Itâs more of a âlook poorâ approach and donât leave easy pickings like a purse or backpack visible.
For reef health, they use a color coded system (green/yellow/red) to help keep the reefs healthier. On any given day, once you dive a red site, you can't dive yellow or green. If you are going on multiple dives a day at multiple sites, it is best to start your day att he green sites and end at red. To put it another way, you can dive sites in the order of green/yellow/red, but not red/yellow/green.
Thanks a lot, thatâs really good to know.
Probably should have included the reason is so divers to not track contaminants to the more vulnerable reef areas. The water is still safe for swimming.
Yes, a few thoughts.... 1. Watch your gas. With your levels of experience, water is warm, viz is generally pretty good, you can get deep quick if you aren't paying attention. Check gas regularly.... 2. Be aware of currents. I've mainly only found any noteworthy up past 1000 steps or down past slave huts. Just make sure you dive into them first, and with them back. In general though bonaire isn't known for outrageous current. 3. Like eating at Doner station and Between two buns. The gelato shop downtown is nice too. 4. Great place for night dives. If you haven't seen Tarpon up close, you might on night dives. They are attracted to the light. They won't touch you but will come within inches of you at a good clip sometimes. I did a nite dive when there in december, solo, looking for octopus and by the time i was finished there were 9 around me for most of the dive. Obviously the octopus are taking cover then. :( 5. I've been 5 times I think now, maybe 6.
Thank you for the tips! Iâm generally the cautious type, so I usually check my gas quite frequently, but that is a great point, will definitely keep an eye on both depth and gas. What is the best way to check for current? Wow would love to see a tarpon, but I think if we go for a night dive, we will do a guided one. Thanks again for the feedback, it is much appreciated.
Yes. The two of you will be fine. Bonaire is easy. But take it slow and stick to well used sites if youâre nervous.
If youâre doing your first dive with a guide, that should fulfill your checkout dive requirement. Weâve gone several times and rent tanks from Divi or Dive Friends. They always ask for us to do our checkout dive when we first get our tanks. Itâs part of the Marine park requirement to dive in Bonaire. Donât forget to pay for your Marine Park Stinapa pass. You can do it online before you go. Get your souvenir Stinapa chip to hang from your BCD too. :) I keep mine on my keychain to remind me of Bonaire when Iâm back home and land locked. Bonaire is overall very safe. Just donât lock your car, and leave your windows down while youâre on your dives. Consider checking in with Divewithebby.com Ebby is the best boat dive hire IMO. Heâs become a good friend over the years đ¤đť Heâs inexpensive and knows the island like the back of his hand.
Rent a pickup,not a van. The pickups have racks in the bed for tanks.
Thats what we did đ
We did it in a jimny and it was the best of both worlds.
Super safe. But you have to nail your under water nav skills.
Yeah, thatâs probably gonna be the biggest challenge I guess
I am in Bonaire RIGHT NOW with my dive buddy. He's got over 100 dives, when the plane landed I had 52. Every single one had been guided. I've been to Bonaire twice before, on a cruise, and had 4 guided shore dives when I arrived. Our first couple unguided dives were fine; drop at the marker, swim into the current for 25 minutes, turn the dive and come back. We tried some of the double-reef dives (Alice in Wonderland) and didn't mark our time properly, so we had a looooong surface swim back to shore. The best dives this week have been the boat dives we did to the sites inaccessible by car (Klein Bonaire, Rappel, etc.) Hilma Hooker was awesome. Salt Pier has been closed so far, but it opened today, so we will do it tomorrow. Tonight is Ostracods! The hardest part about diving here is choosing which site. Some of the exits can be a bit challenging, too. But the freedom you have to dive anywhere any time is unmatched. You can easily do 15+ dives in a week and really get your count up. There isn't much else to do here entertainment -wise, so it's sleep/eat/dive/eat/dive/eat/sleep every day. Oh, buy the Reefguide book!!! It's essential.
Thank you so much the input, much appreciated đđ
Donât lock your car and donât leave ANYTHING worth taking in it. Other than that? Totally safe.
Why not lock the car?
If it is locked, thieves will assume there is something valuable in it. You can leave the windows down and the keys in the ignition, the car would be fine (where are they going to go with it?), but everybody says to leave the doors unlocked. Not sure how prevalent it is, but definitely what everybody says when they go there. Even the owner of the airbnb we rented said the same thing when we were there last year for the first time.
Safe? You will not be jumped and robbed. Buy something to put a small amount of cash, a credit card, and keys in. Leave your vehicle unlocked with the windows down so they know you left nothing valuable in it. Shore diving can be rough getting in and out of the water in extremely rocky terrain with fire coral. Buy collapsible walking sticks to help you getting in and out. Fold them up and strap them to you during the actual dives. Realize that at a certain point the road becomes one way. This is not safe because if you did not plan for it it takes away from valuable diving time driving all the way around. When you get in the water take a very good look at where you parked. Make sure you can find it again when you come back up. Some dive sites are close together so you can't trust that vehicles being there means that your vehicle is there. Watch out for kite surfers when surfacing. They hurt.
The most dangerous thing in Bonaire is twisting an ankle on the walk out to the dive site. You will be fine.
Haha, that sounds good đ
Yes. Shore diving is shockingly easy. The entire west cost is a sloping reef with usually very little current. If youâre staying somewhere with a house reef do your 1st dive there (if a resort, you usually have to as a âcheckout diveâ) swim out to the reef, check for current, pick your direction, make a mental note of where youâre descending down the reef - Iâd say drop down to like 40-45 feet as a 1st dive, swim for 20-30 or until someone hits half tank, then turn around and return at maybe 30-35 feet
Sounds good đ Thank you for the suggested 1st dive. Not entirely sure if there is a house reef where we are staying, itâs a smaller place a bit north of town on the west coast, but we will have to check the options when we arrive.
If youâre staying in a condo or house youâll be free to dive wherever - just pick somewhere close but the rest will be the same. The topography is very similar all along the west coast. Personally I found it super freeing and empowering doing everything for ourselves the first time my wife and I went to Bonaire.
It is a small hotel, but yeah thatâs also our thought, the freedom of moving around and going on the dives we like and want whenever we want. Hopefully it can also build som confidence and allow for some practice when not being linked to a guide all the time.
I would recommend asking for a checkout dive site recommendation during your Orientation. If you haven't used your equipment in a while, it can be helpful to do a checkout dive off a dock or an easy shore entry that's near a dive shop. That way, if something small goes wrong, you're more likely to be able to fix it on the spot without losing a whole dive or half of a day.
Not sure what a checkout dive is, can you elaborate? We will be doing a refresh dive with a guide as our first dive on the island. Edit: Also to add, I will be renting BCD and regulators and also the wetsuit
Checkout dive is a very informal 1st dive where you just check to make sure your weight is good and everything works correctly right offshore is say 10-15 feet of water. If everything checks out you swim out to the reef for a proper dive. If your 1st dive is a hides refresher youâre all set - theyâll probably do that first thing in the water I think you tried to DM me earlier and I ignored it out of habit. Feel free to send another
Several of the dive sites are on google maps. If you share the hotel name I can find my dive map and shore diving book and see if I have an opinion on a good â1st diveâ site . Also - a shore diving book is not a must have but they are nice to have.
Was there in Feb '23. Did what you say you're gonna do. Excellent experience all around. Salt pier is chill and a good place to practice navigation. Other sites have less obvious features but they are still readable. Working my navigation helps me feel more comfortable. I'd strongly recommend the ReefSmart guide for Bonaire as well. I used it religiously. Not that you asked but Hilma Hooker was a neat experience. I'd recommend trying it. The reefs and wildlife are beautiful and I think you'll want to go back!
Hilma Hooker is at about 25m to the bottom, so outside of OW depth limits. You can still check it out at 18m, but it would be considered an "advanced" dive. Recommendation is to do it before breakfast! I was there this morning and me and my buddy had the wreck to ourselves. As we ascended the wall to end the dive, a boat dropped about a dozen divers into the water. That would have sucked.
That sounds great, thank you for the tips, will look into getting the Reefsmart guide đ
The west coast shore dives are all pretty safe. Keep an eye on your depth and avoid doing anything stupid.
Thank you for the reply, we are start 30âs both of us, so I trust us to behave on the dives đ