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Almost
every vehicle licence plate on the Caribbean island of Bonaire
bears the legend "Bonaire - Divers Paradise", but
can this vain boast be true? Ever since I first began diving
in the mid 1970's I had read of or been told by travelling
divers that this island offered the best diving in the Caribbean,
but it has taken me nearly 22 years of diving to arrange a
trip here. I had already dived in the Caribbean in Cuba, the
Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos islands, all of which have
some superb reefs, so I was fascinated to know what was going
to make Bonaire so different.
Bonaire
is one of the three islands that make up the Dutch Leeward
group of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, often called the ABC
islands. They lie right at the southern end of the Caribbean
sea between 5070 miles from the coast of Venezuela which places
them outside the seasonal hurricane belt which can plague
the islands further north. Bonaire itself is a boomerang shaped
island lying roughly north to south and only 24 miles long
and 5 miles across at its widest point. This orientation puts
the island directly across the path of the trade winds from
the east and so provides a year round lee shore on the western
side. Mid way down the island nestled only a mile or so from
this lee shore is the tiny uninhabited island of Klien Bonaire.
The coral reefs on the western edge are never more than 15-30m
from the shore and Klien Bonaire is only ten minutes away
by boat. So now imagine that the entire coast and neighbouring
island are a protected marine park and that you can choose
to dive easily from the beach or from a variety of purpose
designed fast and comfortable boats and you begin to realise
why Bonaire has built it's reputation.
The diving industry in Bonaire was really sparked by the arrival
of Captain Don Stewart whilst cruising his yacht from Miami
in the late 1960's. He established the very first diving centre
on the island and was instrumental in the establishment of
the marine park and fixed mooring system, which has protected
the reefs since 1979, when the World
Wildlife Fund sponsored the inauguration of the Bonaire Marine
Park. Captain Don's Habitat is not the largest centre on the
island now, but has the reputation for being one of the best
organised whilst retaining a relaxed informality which is
what spurred us to book our stay here.
Arrival
at any of the diving centres on Bonaire, is followed by an
obligatory marine park briefing for all divers. During this
the basic rules of the park are explained which are broadly
as follows:
o
No anchoring is permitted. There are a total of 86 named
dives sites to choose from and all have a permanent mooring
in place.
o
Exercise good buoyancy control and do not touch the reefs
or collect living or dead corals or shells (free buoyancy
clinics are on offer if you think your skills are rusty).
o
Spear fishing is banned and gloves are forbidden on all
dives with the one exception of the only major wreck dive
here, the "Hilma Hooker".
o
Do not touch corals or marine life with camera prods or
framers.
o
Do not feed the fish (however, you can do this with a "qualified"
dive guide).
A
$10 annual membership fee is collected from all divers which
goes towards the pork's administration costs and funds the
rangers who monitor diving within the park confines - this
is not high profile, in fact we only saw one ranger vehicle
during our one week stay. Some centres follow this with a
check out dive with an instructor, but at Captain Don's we
were merely asked to make our first dive from the centre's
jetty to trim our buoyancy prior to joining a boat or trying
the beach diving by ourselves.
Habitat
offered up to five boots with three departure times a day
(08:30, 11:30 and 13:30) and absolutely unlimited beach diving.
The boat destinations were displayed each (afternoon, so it
was just a matter of identifying your preferred site, chalking
up your name and then turning up 10 minutes before departure
time. Boats carry a maximum of 12 divers whilst in fact there
is room for more, so crowding is not a problem on the boot
or at the selected dive site, as no more than one boot (from
any centre) moors at any one dive site. Following an on site
briefing from the dive master you were free to do your own
thing or follow the guide if preferred - no limits on bottom
times and advised maximum depth of 40m. A breath of fresh
air compared to some Caribbean dive centres!
Between,
or instead of the boat dives you can collect up to three bottles
each at any time to dive on the reef in front of the centre,
or to load up your hire car and explore the mostly deserted
beach sites. Most of the hire companies offer divers Suzuki
micro buses which will carry four divers with bottles and
kit easily and are an ideal vehicle for exploring the winding
coastal lanes - you can also book your car at the hotel, so
don't forget to pack your driving licence. The marine park
provides a leaflet with all the diving sites marked and this
is repeated by yellow painted roadside markers, so finding
your intended location is simplicity itself. These identified
sites provide some parking and pathways to the beach, but
of course you con choose to be even more adventurous and stop
anywhere along the road and sample the reef. Although crime
is very low on the island, petty pilfering from cars whilst
the owners are diving is a hazard so it is best to leave nothing
of value and leave your vehicle unlocked.
The
centre provides excellent facilities for storage of wet kit
(large lockers in two spacious rooms opening directly onto
the quay) which can be washed off as soon as you return from
a dive in several dip tanks, which are emptied and refilled
during the day. There even separate rinse tanks for cameras
- they take their photographers very seriously here. The photo
shop on site con provide tuition if you need it, hire of Nikonos
and video equipment and daily E6/C41 processing. There is
also a separate dedicated photographer's boat run by the resident
photo-pro, Jerry Schnabel.
The
reef directly in front of the centre is surprisingly good,
although the shallows directly in front of the jetty show
obvious signs of heavy trainee traffic. However, swimming
50 metres or so north brings a dramatic improvement with the
reef starting in 8-10 metres then dropping shear in a mini-wall
to 20 metres or so. In fact here was the only location I was
able to find and photograph the elusive seahorse, both a brown
and an orange one, and it is an ideal location for night dives.
But of course you would not spend your whole stay here, so
how did the other sites measure up the proud boosts of the
diving centres?
In
short they were excellent and exceeded my expectations. The
marine park was established before the huge expansion of diver
traffic and therefore has managed to preserve the reefs from
some of the damaging practices, which have plagued other parts
of the Caribbean. The hard and soft corals are lush and healthy
and fish life profuse. No spear fishing means that most fish
are inquisitive rather than wary which is very encouraging
if you are a photographer. Beach diving is particularly attractive
to photographers as you con often have the site to yourself
and also have the freedom to dive a site repetitively to pursue
a particular subject. Whilst my favourite sites were probably
found on Klien Sonaire, the sites on the main island were
equally good and offered more in the way of variation in topography.
So here is a brief summary of my top five sites:
o
Munk's Haven (Klein Bonaire): An impressive and undercut
wall here is memorable for the variety and size of the colourful
sponge population. There are some massive orange elephant
ear sponges and many species of tube sponge, most of which
appear to be home to either a small hawk fish or pistol
shrimp. In the shallows at the top of the wall are forge
areas of stag horn patrolled by some very large trunk fish
and dozens of large anemones each home to both harlequin
and ghost shrimps. You really need to carry two camera systems
on a dive like this to cover all the wide.angle and macro
possibilities.
o
South West Corner (Klein Bonaire): This is the most
exposed corner of the island of Klien Bonaire and as such
con be a little rough when the trade wind is blowing hard
and also has the strongest currents of any of the sites.
However, do not confuse the local reference to current with
what you might experience in the local reference to current
with what you might experience in the UK, water movement
is very torne here by comparison. The wall here drops away
very quickly and is dominated by huge gorgonians and plate
corals. Being (in exposed point it also attracts larger
shoals of predatory fish such cis horse eyed jacks and some
impressive barracuda. I am also assured that both manta
and the occasional whole shark have been seen here, but
I had to content myself with several turtles instead.
o
Salt Pier: Salt production is one of the major industries
on Bonaire and most of the activity is situated a few miles
south of Kralendijk. Here there is a substantial salt loading
pier for the incoming cargo ships, which makes Q fascinating
dive. Under the pier provides shelter for a number of different
fish species, including a very large lone barracuda, and
the legs and piles are festooned with every variety of sponge
and gorgonian from the reefs. The shapes and angles of the
pier structure provide a striking and graphic backdrop for
wide-angle photography. On your swim out and back along
the pier watch out for dive bombing pelicans which sit on
the pier top spying out their lunch.
o
Ol' Blue: This is one of the more popular beach sites
in the national park, but even so it is possible to not
see another diver throughout your dive. The entry is easy
and a short swim leads you to the garden of gorgonians at
the top of the reef. The wall drops away quickly and is
covered by large sponges and whip corals amongst the impressive
stands of brain coral. A good site for large groupers, shoals
of jacks and the occasional free swimming giant green moray
eel!
o
Cliff: This site is just 100m or so north of the dive
centre at Captain Don's, accessed by a short walk along
the paved sea front path to a small sandy beach. Here a
cut in the reef leads you to the top of the mini wall in
8-10m depth dropping to 20m or so. Good hard and soft corals,
plenty of small fish life and abundant gorgonions and sponges.
Most memorable for me for the presence of two co-operative
seahorses, dozens of tiny secretary blennies, nudibranches
and some splendid peacock flounders.
The
accommodation range at Habitat offers a choice of cottages
tucked away in the tropical gardens, poolside and beach-front
apartments or the luxury of a villa complex. All provide space
for at least four people and self-catering facilities. Eating
out here can be a little expensive compared to the UK, so
if you are on a tight budget either plan to use the well stocked
supermarket in town or pre-book a meal package with Habitat
which is very reasonable.
Although
the majority of the island's tourist industry is dedicated
to the visiting diver, there are other attractions by day
and night if the diving becomes too much for you. However,
don't expect a cosmopolitan nightlife here, although there
is a night club and casino in the capital entertainment is
largely relaxed and low key. There is a huge variety of restaurants
to choose from fast food to sect food - but some are expensive
and you can all too easily run up a nasty shock on your credit
card bill! The capital of Kralendijk is the size of a small
seaside town in the UK, but definitely has the imprint of
Dutch colonialism on it particularly in its brightly coloured
(architecture. rhere is everything from supermarkets to high
chic boutiques here but most of the shops are geared to the
tourist souvenir market aimed towards American tastes.
If
the pace of the diving becomes wearing or you are staying
for two weeks then take the opportunity to investigate a little
of Bonaire's other attractions. There are two other nature
sanctuaries to explore on Bonaire, the Washington-Sictgbaai
National Park at the northern end and the flamingo reserve
at the southern end. In fact the bird population is very varied
and prodigious and, surprisingly to divers, some tourists
visit only with bird watching in mind! The northern end of
the island is surprisingly rugged and hilly with lush vegetation
and hides a number of secluded beaches and coves ideal for
a lazy picnic watching the island's flamingos and crash diving
pelicans grabbing their lunch. At the southern end of the
island you will find the salt pans, which is what attracts
the flamingos to the breeding sanctuary, and evidence of the
history of the island's use of slave labour to harvest the
salt. Tiny slave worker's huts which dot the coastline are
a harsh reminder of the common use of slaves throughout the
Caribbean.
There are a variety of ways to travel to Bonaire, all of which
require at least one change of aircraft en-route. KLM fly
direct from Amsterdam or you can fly with a number of carriers
through Miami and onward with the local ALM airline (our choice)
or there are alternative routes via Lisbon in Portugal, Caracas
in Venezuela or several other "gateway" cities in
the USA. The good news is that most transatlantic flights
offer greater baggage allowances than far-east bound flights,
a boon for divers particularly photographers.
Each
diver's personal vision of paradise is bound to be different,
but the ease and quality of the diving in Bonaire go a long
way to meeting their claim. If you want diving freedom in
a relaxed and informal location without the glitzy attributes
of some other Caribbean destinations then Bonaire should move
to the top of your list.
Information:
Currency:
Local currency is the NAF Netherlands Antilles Guilder - but
US dollars are accepted everywhere as are all major credit
cards.
Language:
The official language is Dutch but most locals speak Papiamento,
a mixture of several colonial languages. Most locals also
speak English well.
Voltage:
110v is standard, but can surge. Bring a transformer to boost
and smooth the current to 240v or charge batteries at the
dive centre.
Water:
All the tap water on the island is produced by a desalination
plant just north of Kralendijk. The quality is excellent and
can be drunk from the top without a worry.
Medical:
The main well equipped hospital is St. Francis Hospital. There
are also local doctors and medical centres.
Recompression:
A recompression chamber is situated at St. Francis Hospital.
Climate:
Truly tropical. Temperature a Steady 80-85° with a constant
trade wind from the east which get somewhat stronger during
July and August. Rainfall is 10-15" per year in short
showers generally in the winter months. Water Temperature:
Between 78-84°, warm enough for a shorty or dive skin
if you swim about during your dives. For photographers I recommend
a 3-5mm wet suit. Visibility is normally around 30m.
Bonaire
Tourist Office:
Interreps BV
Visserringlaan 24,
2288ER Rijswijk
Netherlands.
Tel. 003170 3905
Fax. 003170 3368333
Captain
Don's Habitat
PO
Box 88
Kralendijk
Bonaire
Netherlands Antilles
Tel. 00 599 7 8290
Fax. 00 599 7 8240
Reproduced
from in focus 67 (February
2000)
with kind permission of Mark Webster (http://www.photec.co.uk/)
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