Sep. 22, 2004 - Sep. 30, 2004 Trip
Before deciding on Bonaire I spent many, many hours perusing the trip reports making many notes to ensure a successful snorkel trip.
Have snorkeled California, Hawaii, Florida, Mexico, Caribbean, Polynesia, Micronesia, Australia. Some spots briefly, some spots more - and now Bonaire. (Andrea I, 1000 steps, Sorobon, Belnem, Tori’s reef, Wayaka II, Bachelor, Winsock, Bari’s reef) The trip reports are awash with how great the diving is on Bonaire. I don't scuba, I only snorkel. So this trip report covers Bonaire snorkeling only. Visibility, no matter where we went, was about 15', with 20' a stretch. Coral on the 100' to 200' wide bench or shelf to a depth of abt 10 or so feet, (leeward side of island) is mostly dead or rubble. Fishes at many sites also disappointing. There were some schools of Tang and many Parrot fishes, but a lot of marine life is absent that we have seen at other locations. Example: Sharks, colorful tube worms, variety & beds of healthy elkhorn/ staghorn, many fishes, large sea cucumbers, large beds of magnificent urchins, moray eels, many types of sea shells, schools of rays etc, etc. Bonaire does not have a circling fringing reef, except for a reef about a mile long at Lac Bay /Sorobon . 15' snorkel visibility at a world class dive site – that’s pretty bad. I was looking for a modest 50'. I remember Micronesia where visibility in one location was zero w/ lots of jelly fish and at another location an eye popping, jaw dropping 300' - and I was only snorkeling! Coral and fishes were equally stunning in Micronesia. Here is one for Bonaire. Shore access is mostly excellent, Micronesia, there really isn’t any and it is a long, long way to go – like 2 ˝ days of traveling. Sorry Bonaire, notwithstanding the near 100% enthusiastic trip reports from divers, we will not return. Bonaire snorkeling disappointed - BADLY. We don't think the 15' visibility was an accident or due to Ivan.
However, Bonaire topside wasn’t quite as bleak or stark as we had feared. Lots of lizards, iguanas, beautiful flamingoes, lots of donkeys, goats, friendly natives, no car break-ins, and Arizona or Baja at Washington Slagbaai National Park w/ some impressive cacti. Bugs suits a must at Slagbaai because of some very pesky insects trying to get into your eyes, ears, nose. Happy Holiday Homes – nice, Budget Rent a Car – no problem, Andy of Bonairepros – recommended, Cultimara supermarket – a few things they have only sometimes e.g. lettuce, tomatoes, bananas. Gas $3.64 per gallon. Lisa gas – pay cash or pay a hefty credit/ debit card fee. Divers to Bonaire take lots and lots of pictures. Guess what, when you leave Bonaire, Flamingo airport security makes you put your cameras and YES your film through their scanning equipment. They refuse to hand check your film or camera. They claim it doesn’t hurt your film. I have pictures that say otherwise.

Richard

Richard, I am so sorry you won't be making a return trip to Bonaire. I am astounded that you weren't pleased with the abundant marine life and amazing coral. I know that Oil Slick Leap (just to name one) is teeming with elkhorn and staghorn coral, maybe you missed this site? I have found Bonaire to be the best diving anywhere, and that reason, as well as the wonderful Bonairean people, will keep me returning again and again.

If you do have any pictures, can you post them? I know I speak for all of us when I say we never get sick of the pictures....

Best of luck on your next trip!

Richard,

So Sorry you had a bad time on Bonaire. I do not agree with your report, but you have the right to freedom of speech.

I am a diver/snorkeler and I was just down at end of August to the beginning of September of this year. I did not dive on this trip, I had my daughter and a friend with me, one who did not dive, so we stuck with snorkeling. Now, I went to Windsock in the latter part of the afternoon one day to have a snorkel with the girls, I saw a wahoo come out of the reef drop off, up close and personal mind you, he did a couple of flips and let out these awesome air bubbles, checked me out and he followed me for quite a while. He was huge and this was while snorkeling. I also saw sea turtles, eels, blue-spotted cornetfish, angelfish, etc all snorkeling.
I have had no problem with airport security with film and cameras. They always have been great with me. I always make sure I have some 800's in my bag of film, does the trick for me.
Last February, at 1000 steps I also was snorkeling and saw my first mantra ray glide right by me, scared me to death, it was so huge, but it was a great snorkel for me. So, maybe you just need to give Bonaire another try, there are wonderful things to see under the water, I just love Bonaire. It is different every time you go.

From my reading, Micronesia may well top Bonaire as a scuba/snorkel location. However, for people living in North America or Western Europe, Bonaire offers outstanding value for travel time, effort, and money. We did find that it was often necessary to float quietly in one spot for a while before the fish came out.

Richard, is there any place in the Caribbean that feel is significantly better than Bonaire?

Hi Richard...I'm sorry about your trip to Bonaire, I´have been in Hawaii,Australia,Roatan,Margarita, Bali, Florida and I found Bonaire !at least!....for me is one of the best Snorkel destination in the caribbean,

15 or 20 feet of visibility seems a little odd to me... anyone else ever encounter this?

Kelly, Nope...I've always experienced good visibility as a snorkeler. I've even snorkeled the Hilma Hooker a few times before heading inland to play in the shallows. I can definitely see clearly the divers and ship. Last trip visibility was down to about 75 - 80 ft., a disappointment but still wonderful.

Richard, Sorry your experiences weren't the best. I have not been to the South Pacific, but Bonaire is my favorite snorkel, by far, compared to anything I've experienced in the Pacific Ocean. It HAD to be Ivan or some other explanation because that low of visibility is not the norm.

I am sorry to hear that you were not happy with the snorkeling. I also loves Bonaire's snorkeling better than anywhere else I have been and find many different species of fish and in abundance on almost every snorkel! Perhaps you should have considered a guided snorkel with Renee who could show your the more pristine areas for corals gorgonians and fans as I have experienced.I also find the visibility to be much greater that what you experienced. I have snorkeled at the end of the salt pier and could plainly see the bottom at 100 feet! I free dive done for pictures to about 15 feet in crystal clear water and my husband goes even further. I spend a lot of time in the shallows and it is usually clear vis, but occasionally I will encounter low vis when the sand gets churned up. Bonaire has never been known for the huge critters but they are around sometimes. I have seen many turtles, three eagle rays,tarpons, octopus, eels, spotted drums, highhats, frog fishes, a seahorse, huge rainbow parrots, midnight blues,scrawled filefish,coronet fish, queen angels and much much more while snorkeling.

Richard I am sorry that you were not happy with the snorkeling in Bonaire. My first trip to Bonaire last year - all I did was snorkel and was astounded at the many variety of fish and coral that I was able to see.

As far as visibility - if you had weather like what was going on in October when I last visited the island -I can see where the visibility would have been affected. The shallows were very silty and sandy due to the the wind reversals that were going on - maybe that was happening when you were there. I can attest that is not the norm.

We were on Bonaire in October. The viz was way better than 15' especially out on the dropoff; also, I commented to my wife a couple of times during the trip at how amazed I was by the number of fish on the reef. I've dove Cozumel and the Caymans - both are great but if given a choice I'd choose Bonaire every time. I dig the freedom. Oh well, to each their own.

Also, some of those spots have the sandy swim out to the drop off, and sometimes there isn't much to see on the way out, just sand and some coral here and there... maybe that had something to do with it. I don't know, just making excuses! LOL

I just don't know that I've ever heard tell of anyone not liking the diving/snorkeling conditions. There have been complaints about other things, but the wonderful diving seems to be a universal affirmative nod.

Hi, Richard, sorry to hear about your disappointment with Bonaire snorkeling.

Hadn't Ivan just hit Bonaire right before your trip? If so, I'm certain the visibility would have been affected by the churned up sea and tides. There was a lot of water activity with Ivan...damage along the coastline in places, too.

We love snorkeling in Bonaire and return at least once per year from New JErsey to enjoy the fish and the waters. We have never experienced the lack of visibility you did. So sorry you did not experience what most of us have on our trips to Bonaire.

I am glad to see you enjoyed her "land" wonders somewhat, however. Ayo. Carole

I took the liberty of posting a picture my wife took while snorkeling 1000 steps;



I think we can say that visibility clearly exceeds what is mentioned. Then again, we must remember that all of us have different experiences. Richard may have hit the water after a major storm and have visibility messed up for him. He also brought up the positives. I hope he reconsiders and gives Bonaire another shot, and not give up based only on one experience. Nevertheless, when vacation time is scarce and one must choose a spot... well, past experiences do count! Best of luck to you Richard! Happy and safe traveling. Coach Izzy

I checked the hurricane site and Ivan (category 4 at his most powerful stage)did travel all through the Caribbean areas (and then some and back again in the US twice!) not long before Richard's trip occurred on Bonaire. I have a feeling Ivan did churn up the waters and lower the visibility, etc.

I do recall others' trip reports during and after Ivan mentioning the poor visibility and silt on top of some of the corals, rocks and plant life as well as some coral damage, etc. Carole

I was on Bonaire from Sept.24 - Oct 2, and can say that the vis in close to shore was definitely affected by the passing of Ivan. Also, the marine life in the shallows was not as prominent as it has been in the past. Sites north of town were in better shape than south, and at Kline, the vis was very good. Red Slave had considerable damage down to about 40'. All of the soft coral and sea fans were up-rooted. Margate Bay was in good shape except for the staghorn coral in the shallows. All of the sponges and coral had a light coating of sand on them.

I could also tell by the amount of particulates that appeared in my pictures as compared to past trips that there was more matter still floating in the water. It would probably take several more weeks for all of the fine stuff to start to settle out.

Diving was still very good, but I can understand how a first time snorkeler would be disappointed with the lower visibility when everyone always raves about the great visibility.

Some first timers in our group were also a bit disappointed, and I had to remind them that a major storm had just past within 60 miles of the island only 2 weeks prior. Because there was so little damage to the island above the water line, it was sometimes easy to forget.

I did mostly diving this last trip (late Sepet/Early Oct) but with two days of snorkel.

A few comments:
a) My trip partially overlapped his and Viz was down. It was still great for diving but less than what I typically see at that time of year (I would say 60-70 is more what I see -- and this time it was 15-60 depending on the day and the site).
b) One snorkel (Oct 7th?) off the Carib Inn w/a reversal the viz was awful (I am guessing 20ft). A few day earlier at Karpata, the viz was more like 50ft.
c) While there is still staghorn/elkhorn to be found, it is nothing like pre-Lenny. It seemed at some sites (i.e., Pink Beach) you swam forever over giant fields of the stuff.
d) Conditions seemed strange on my last trip. One day, there would be a hard temp inversion (8 degree drop) at 90 feet. The next day nothing. Currents seemed to be stronger than normal and much more organic material in the water (part of this from the spawn?). Or perhaps it is still sand rearranging itself after Ivan. One day the viz would be decent (45) and that night more like 15. Also, the water was very warm compared to other trips.

Not that any of this was bad, but it was different. I could have also just been there during a time of transitioning temps and currents.

A few other thoughts: fringing reefs are much more a Pacific (versus Atlantic) thing. I can only thing of a few true round fringing reefs (Belize) in the Carib. I have no doubt that Micronesian diving blows away Bonaire -- but at a pretty steep penalty (no real shore diving, long boat rides at least on Palau, long travel times, very expensive -- especially diving and airfare).

I did mostly diving this last trip (late Sepet/Early Oct) but with two days of snorkel.

A few comments:
a) My trip partially overlapped his and Viz was down. It was still great for diving but less than what I typically see at that time of year (I would say 60-70 is more what I see -- and this time it was 15-60 depending on the day and the site).
b) One snorkel (Oct 7th?) off the Carib Inn w/a reversal the viz was awful (I am guessing 20ft). A few day earlier at Karpata, the viz was more like 50ft.
c) While there is still staghorn/elkhorn to be found, it is nothing like pre-Lenny. It seemed at some sites (i.e., Pink Beach) you swam forever over giant fields of the stuff.
d) Conditions seemed strange on my last trip. One day, there would be a hard temp inversion (8 degree drop) at 90 feet. The next day nothing. Currents seemed to be stronger than normal and much more organic material in the water (part of this from the spawn?). Or perhaps it is still sand rearranging itself after Ivan. One day the viz would be decent (45) and that night more like 15. Also, the water was very warm compared to other trips.

Not that any of this was bad, but it was different. I could have also just been there during a time of transitioning temps and currents.

A few other thoughts: fringing reefs are much more a Pacific (versus Atlantic) thing. I can only think of a few true round fringing reefs (Belize) in the Carib. I have no doubt that Micronesian diving blows away Bonaire -- but at a pretty steep penalty (no real shore diving, long boat rides at least on Palau, long travel times, very expensive -- especially diving and airfare).

Oops. Sorry about the double post -- my connection hiccuped.

Well we were there the week before Richard and the vis was recovering after Ivan but nowhere did we encounter anything less than 40-50 feet except at sites like Red Slave where the entry was so churned up we passed on it. All other sites North of it were just fine. Just refer to my trip report (First timers....) for photos. Sorry Richard, I don't know what you did to PO the vis gods.