Hi Loes,

First, let me just say that, although I've got 600 drysuit dives in
cold Atlantic water, my 2-week trip to Bonaire one year ago was only
my second warm-water experience, the other being the Florida Keys; but
I can tell you what sites I enjoyed, usually as a solo diver carrying
a camera, with an eye for healthy specimens of live subjects. During
my time there, I did 37 dives, which included 24 different shore sites
and a few on Klein Bonaire.

Generally, I preferred the sites north of Kralendijk because I saw
more turtles, healthier coral, steeper reef slopes, schools of bait
fish and squid, better vis. I also saw fewer other divers, which I
like. That's not to say I didn't enjoy meeting the divers I talked
with, I just prefer seeing the reef without lots of fins fluttering
through it.  8^)

I went as far north as the Windjammer, but for typical recreational
depths, Karpata was my favorite, with it's healthy coral and dramatic
slope with descending ridges and curved walls creating a canyon effect
in spots. I also enjoyed 1000 Steps, Old Blue, Oil Slick, Jeff Davis
Weber's Joy and Andrea II.

South of town, some of the sites showed more wear and tear from
divers, in my opinion, but others were quite interesting. I enjoyed
the Hilma Hooker, and adjacent sites, Angel City and Alice in
Wonderland and Aquarius. The sites with a second reef system at
75-120' were interesting for the added variety of life there. I liked
seeing the garden eels on the sandy strip between the reefs. It was
also quite nice to suspend myself over the nearly flat transition
between the two reefs and see the base of the first reef and the crest
of the second reef.

I went as far south as Red Slave and saw my biggest barracuda, about 5
feet long, hovering in the shallows while baitfish milled around close
by. I was expecting to see a strike at any minute, but the 'cuda just
hung out. It let me get within about 8' for pictures. The surf was
mild (1-2 footers) and the current was minimal, which was nice,
considering the reputation for that site.

The reef in front of the Plaza Bonaire, where we stayed, was also
pretty good. I saw several huge tarpon there. I assume that would be
accessible only to guests, but I'm not sure.

If you're interested in more unusual or deeper dives, I would highly
recommend a couple of wrecks, the Windjammer, just north of Karpata
(about 165' to the rail) and the "Barge", near Cliff, I believe. The
barge is at about 130' I can give you details how to do those from
shore, if you're interested.

I skipped the Town Pier to avoid the crowds, but did a night dive at
the Salt Pier and saw lots of barracuda, but otherwise it wasn't worth
the effort.

If I get back to Bonaire, someday hopefully, of the dives I know
personally, I would skip Pink Beach, Salt City, Margate Bay, La
Machaca, Andrea II, Small Wall, at least until I dove my preferred
sites once or twice. There really isn't a "bad" dive in Bonaire, in my
opinion, though- just limited time!

The northern sites would be my initial focus, then the two unofficial
wreck sites I mentioned, plus the Hilma Hooker. I would love to try
the drift by jumping in at La Dania's and exiting at Karpata. If I had
a buddy, I would have done that. A 30 cubic foot pony didn't make me
feel confident enough about doing that dive solo!

I would also repeat Red Slave in the south, maybe even brave the surf
and currents at the lighthouse.

I would also like to try a day on the east side, but that would be a
boat dive. There's  a good operator I've met, Larry Bailee (?
spelling), whose reputation is excellent for taking people to see the
bigger fish on the east side, including mantas. Here's a link to
Larry's Wildside Diving. Very interesting person.

http://www.infobonaire.com/larrys/

HTH. Enjoy the trip!

Dave C  (please note: my email address on the heading is defunct)