By John Spencer (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #10) on Saturday, October 23, 2004 - 3:30 pm: |
We have been to Bonaire several times and love the snorkeling but wonder if someone can shed some light on this question. Is there any place (besides the reef at Sorobon which we have done many times and greatly enjoy) where snorkeling is excellent in 5 - 10' depth? We have done the drift dive at Klein several times and it is beautiful but always looking down 20 - 30'. We have gone to some of the sites along the road up at the oil refinery but again ....deep. Last year we went through the Marine Park and didn't see much of anything although we spent a full day trying. Any ideas appreciated.
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By Martin de Weger (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3659) on Saturday, October 23, 2004 - 3:34 pm: |
Divi's tree at Klein is great, excellent soft corrals there.
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By John Spencer (BonaireTalker - Post #11) on Saturday, October 23, 2004 - 4:33 pm: |
Thanks Martin; That's not an area we would be seeing on the drift from where the water taxi lets you off to NoName beach?
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By Martin de Weger (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3661) on Saturday, October 23, 2004 - 4:36 pm: |
NP John, it's on the west side of Klein, I think you have seen the east side of Klein.
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By Marabeth Owens (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #289) on Saturday, October 23, 2004 - 5:58 pm: |
I would think that Karpata would be GREAT snorkelling.
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By Linda Stoltzfus (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #361) on Saturday, October 23, 2004 - 6:55 pm: |
I snorkel ALL the sites while my husband dives...even the Hooker. I find that the northern sites....Karpata, Ol Blue, the Andreas, etc. are all great in the shallows. I saw my first seahorse at Oil Slick.
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By Cecil Berry (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3823) on Saturday, October 23, 2004 - 7:07 pm: |
Another surprising good snorkeling spot is just to the right of the Tipsy Seagull at the Plaza resort. It's a rather large section less than 6' deep with lots of coral heads to swim around and through.
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By Debbie Babcock (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #187) on Saturday, October 23, 2004 - 10:30 pm: |
Hi John,
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By John Spencer (BonaireTalker - Post #12) on Sunday, October 24, 2004 - 12:36 am: |
Many thanks to everyone ... I'm taking notes for our trip next month and will check these out. If anyone has a suggestion of a good way to get to that site on Klein referred to by Martin above, I'd be glad for the tip.
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By Martin de Weger (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3662) on Sunday, October 24, 2004 - 3:15 am: |
John, It might be possible to join the dive boat, just for snorkeling, you'll have to ask at the hotel you're staying.
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By The Ginocchio's @ Golden Reef Inn (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #370) on Sunday, October 24, 2004 - 6:04 am: |
Definitely, Tori's Reef, on the main road in town across from "Yellow Submarine". I also definitely suggest contacting Renee Snorkle Trips. She is EXCELLENT. She is very inexpensive, knows all the great places and has an extremely keen eye! I passed up 3 out of 5 octopus on one trip, but she caught them all!
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By George Blanchard (BonaireTalker - Post #15) on Sunday, October 24, 2004 - 7:57 pm: |
I agree about Rene', she is very good. Also, Dee from the Woodwind took us on a night snorkel last January and it was fantastic. We started at town pier and ended at the Divi dive pier. We have seen many fish off the sun pier at Divi and then south toward the dive II pier and off Richard's Restaurant.
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By Joe Pacific (BonaireTalker - Post #95) on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 4:43 am: |
Hidden Beach is excellent. You will need to search these pages for directions as it is not marked. We found it no problem. Also, behind the little yellow hut just north of Windsock and the steel jet fuel pier, on the south side of the peninsula where you can park your car (behind the hut.) Shhhh. Don't tell anyone, but the elkhorn coral here is in really good shape in 3'-10' of water. You can see Windsock from here, but frankly, Windsock sucks by comparison. Also Wayaka II in the park has cool ravine-like valleys of coral as well as a couple of French Angels that think your fingers are hot-dogs. By the way everyone, will somebody move the Windsock marker back to Windsock? It was sitting in front of the Windsock Apartments in Sept/Oct this year. Don't count on the markers being where they belong. Navigate by the maps. Budget car rental has the best free map. Also, if you snorkel at night, you WILL encounter tarpon. We night snorkeled at Windsock (scary, won't do that again) and several times at the Divi restaurant rock pier. All times we saw HUGE tarpon. Dee told us the name of the one at Divi but we forgot it. There is a slightly larger one that we ran into at Windsock (6').
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By Carole Baker (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #4267) on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 6:58 pm: |
Hi, Joe! We know the tarpon to which you refer!! LOL. He scared the beans out of us on our first-ever night snorkel (at the Divi)....had no idea what "it" was but we knew for certain it was going to come get us and eat us for dinner! LOL. We, too, beat feet out of the water...only to be told later on that it was the "house tarpon" who follows the flashlight beams of night snorkelers seeking chow! I can't even imagine running into one BIGGER at night at windsock! LOL. Now, that is way too "open" and scary for me....I'll stick to the Divi where I "know" the layout of the rocks and the beach, etc. It is exciting, tho. Carole
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By Sue Steiner (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #1) on Sunday, November 28, 2004 - 10:41 pm: |
Are jellyfish a problem anywhere in Bonaire" I plan to snorkel and dive when I visit Bonaire in a few weeks? thanks sue
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By DARLENE ELLIS (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1272) on Monday, November 29, 2004 - 11:42 am: |
Jellyfish are not usually a problem when snorkeling in Bonaire. There was one time over at Kline during the month of March that I experienced a bunch of little stinging ones that just annoyed you and weren't dangerous. I have heard at certain times of year there can be man-o wars in the water at night time but I have never experienced it in 9 trips.
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By Joe Pacific (BonaireTalker - Post #97) on Monday, November 29, 2004 - 11:59 am: |
We saw tons of clear jellys about the size of walnuts with red streaks with little 2-inch tentacles floating in the waters around Alice in Wonderland. They didn't sting us though. My wife got stung twice on our drift at Klein and again at the restaurant pier at the Divi. Both times we were not wearing our lycra suits. At the Divi at night, I experienced some kind of multiple stinging sensation on my hands while wearing a skin. It felt like a mild alternating current shock. It did not let up either. We didn't care though as we were too busy keeping a lookout for the huge tarpon which was circling us like Jaws. We highly recommend wearing lycra skins if for no other reason than to protect against sunburn and maybe prevent scrapes from a rough entry/exit or two on the Karpata side.
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By Mare (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #429) on Monday, November 29, 2004 - 12:40 pm: |
Good heavens Joe!
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By EDNA HERRMANN (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #3) on Tuesday, November 30, 2004 - 1:50 am: |
WE ARE LEAVING FOR BONAIRE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 4 DAYS.
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By Freddie Hughes (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5328) on Tuesday, November 30, 2004 - 8:24 am: |
Hi Edna and John,
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By DARLENE ELLIS (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1276) on Tuesday, November 30, 2004 - 11:34 am: |
You might want to try a guided snorkel with Renee or a sail and snorkel on the Woodwind.The Woodwind sails out of the Divi Flamingo resort and Renee can be reached at www.Reneesnorkletrips.com . I think the Woodwind is www.woodwindbonaire.com. You will love the ease of snorkeling in Bonaire.
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By EDNA HERRMANN (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #4) on Tuesday, November 30, 2004 - 1:21 pm: |
Thank you for your quick responses. If i have good information when i come back, i'll post it.
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By Joe Pacific (BonaireTalker - Post #98) on Tuesday, November 30, 2004 - 1:57 pm: |
A couple of pieces of advice from a former first-timer:
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By Larry Gross (BonaireTalker - Post #25) on Tuesday, November 30, 2004 - 6:09 pm: |
In the park, Boca Cocolishi can be fun, like swimming in champagne, mostly baby fish, but impressively near frightening seas. Bartol, out maybe 100 yards, has 30' deep channels but shallow coral and fish, esp. durgeons. Benje has several very pretty fingers. Down south, the drift from Margate Bay north is similar to Hidden Beach but can be of any length, with a walk back, lots of soft coral, not deep.
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By EDNA HERRMANN (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #7) on Friday, December 3, 2004 - 2:06 am: |
Because of the mosquitoes and sand flies do you wear shorts or pants during the day?
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By Ron LaCourse (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #9) on Friday, December 3, 2004 - 3:09 am: |
Shorts and bathing suits are the plan of the day.
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By Brian (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #741) on Friday, December 3, 2004 - 3:15 am: |
I always wear shorts during the day and spray a little bit first thing if it has rained overnight. We have never had a problem with flies on Bonaire.
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By Sue Steiner (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #2) on Friday, December 3, 2004 - 6:19 pm: |
Thanks for the information re:jelly fish. This is such an interesting site - I feel I've learned far more about Bonaire from this site than I'd receive from a guide book. Are their any hams on the island? My boyfriend plans to bring his ham radio stuff to Bonaire when we go to there in a couple of weeks. We're renting a house on the ocean. I'd appreciate any info. It would be cool if he could hookup with a ham before we arrive. Thanks! Sue
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By Linnea Wijkhof-Wimberly (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #803) on Saturday, December 4, 2004 - 12:10 pm: |
John you missed the shallows on the Klein drift dive, I took this in about three feet of water about a third of the way back from the drop off spot.
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By EDNA HERRMANN (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #9) on Thursday, December 23, 2004 - 7:08 pm: |
Hi guys,
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By Freddie Hughes (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5439) on Thursday, December 23, 2004 - 7:56 pm: |
Hi Edna, where is your Trip report???? we need one you know...
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By Carole Baker (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #4479) on Friday, December 24, 2004 - 3:23 am: |
Hi, Edna and JOhn...I, too, have my prescription lenses inside my mask and boy, oh, boy...what a difference it makes under water now! I never knew what I was missing all those years until I had my first experience with the Rx lenses installed. Go for it!
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