The 'Fringing Reefs' of BONAIRE

 

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BONAIRE ! ... Just the Diving 

🤿 🐢

But, we will do an island driving tour later; for that go here.

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Readers: Blue links are clickable

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GETTING HERE

Our very accommodating neighbour, Tony (once again) drove us from our home in Wellington to the Belleville train station at around 11:00 am. We were on the VIA Rail train by 12:30 pm and in the Sheraton Gateway Hotel in Toronto by 4:00 pm; after a couple of additional shorter commuter and airport train travel segments between. We'll overnight here. This is a very relaxed way for us to travel and eliminates the hassle of winter driving on Hwy 401 into TO. We had some snow overnight so unfortunately we were not able to completely escape shovelling the driveway out before leaving. 

We departed for BONAIRE the following morning at 10:10 am. It's a 5h 30m direct flight to Flamingo International Airport, (also called Bonaire International Airport). The airport is located near Kralendijk on BONAIRE's west coast. We had an overall delay of slightly more than 1.5 hours; waiting for a replacement cabin crew member, tug truck difficulties pulling the plane out of a frozen puddle, de-icing the plane. 

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PHOTOS ONLY

If you prefer to skip over all the boring, diving-related text that I've written to accompany this post; click on any image or photo. That will launch a minimized gallery on your screen that you can just scroll (< >) through.

AND, just in case you wondered where BONAIRE is; here's a map.

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DIVI FLAMINGO Beach Resort

Stock Photo

Our accommodation for 2 weeks. 

For more on our stay and a driving tour of BONAIRE, go here.

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If  You Dive With DIVI DIVE

Check Dive
Divers are required to pay a $40USD fee for entry in the Bonaire National Marine Park, must attend an orientation briefing and complete a check dive. 

All my dives (7, 2-tank nitrox boat dives) were prepaid and registered on-line beforehand. On-line registration includes submission of any pertinent diver certification cards; in my case these were PADI Advanced Open Water and PADI Enriched Air Nitrox.

All the dive operators on BONAIRE are quite proud of their contribution to the establishment of the national marine park here. They continue to work diligently to maintain a high standard of diver awareness to ensure the critical protection of this very important and fragile ecosystem.

For more details on their operational procedures, go here, (scroll down to FAQ's). 

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Boat Diving 

Morning boat departure at 8:30 am (usually and not promptly); a breakfast (not extensive, minimal variety) is available at 6:30 am, divers at the dock beforehand (8 am +/-) and set up dive gear, pressure and nitrox testers are (usually) available, DM/Diver max ratio (actual here) was * 1:23, fruit (only oranges) & water on board (no cups 1 day), large boat deck with easy maneuvering, dockside rinse tanks for gear (including electronics), individual lockable lockers and a locker room nearby (I had 2 half tethers stolen), tipping end of day to the boat or afterwards in office at individually named cubbies.

* PADI Recommendation: ideal ratio is a 1:4 ratio, (a guide for 4 divers or less), 6 guided divers is doable, 8 guided divers is a big group. 

The last sentence (below in italics) in the PADI recommendation, describes (I believe) what are the conditions under which DIVI DIVE operates ... easy diving, shallower depths, minimal current, nearly impossible to get lost or disoriented; ideally suited to beginner divers.

More than 8, if conditions allow, the most experienced divers should dive in a buddy team independently from the guide but following the path of the guide if they wish. 

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Shore Diving 

The best way to dive BONAIR is probably by a combination of boat and shore diving. Boats provide sole access to Kleine Bonair, some of the quieter shore sites and several sites to the north. 

Shore dives can be done solo; however a diver should have the PADI Self-Reliant Diver certification. Most shore divers, dive with a buddy or use the Buddy Dive service. With as many as 60 officially listed dive sites on BONAIRE, most of them easily accessible from shore and marked, the island is known as the Shore Diving Capital of the World! 

Truck beds and crew-cab seating is large enough for dive gear for 4 divers, a few tanks, some food & drink etc. The rental agencies recommend trucks are left unlocked and nothing of value stored in them while unattended or diving. 

Stock Photo

Stock Photo

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The BONAIRE Reef Sites

There are four main reef types –  fringing reef, barrier reef, atoll, and "bank or platform reef". 

BONAIRE and Klein Bonaire are surrounded by an almost continuous fringing reef. A shallow and narrow terrace slopes down gently from the shoreline to a depth of 10 metres (30 feet) and then drops, typically at an angle of 45 degrees, to depths of 40 metres (130 feet). If you want to know more about Fringing Reefs click here.

Explanations 

(KB = dive site @ Klein Bonaire (others @ BONAIRE)/max depth/max bottom time)

First Sighting = * 

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DIVES 🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢

Marine 'spirit' animal

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SITES Small Wall (KB/69'/54 min), Windsock (59'/**28 min), Hilma Hooker Shipwreck (94'/46 min), Captain Don's Reef (64'/45 min), Kalli's Reef (55'/65 min), Bachelor's Beach (58'/49 min), Petrie's Pillar (60'/54 min ), Small Wall #2 (71'/59 min ), Mi Dushi (KB/61'/39 min), Rock Pile (KB/75'/57 min), Monte's Divi (59'/63 min), Bachelor's Beach #2 (84'/57 min), Andrea I (63'/47 min), Keepsake (KB/50'/50 min)

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STATISTICS

Boats: Pure Ocean (6 days), Golden Eye (1 day)

DM/Captains: Orlando (7) Etienne (9) Mike (1) Nolly (4) 

DM: Rotti (2) Luc (2) 

Average Maximum Depth/Bottom Time/14 Tanks = 65 feet/52 min

Number of Small 🐟: thousands 

New Diving Friends 👌

Lynn   Clifford   Chris   Dann   Don   Helen   Kim   Sandy

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WHAT I SAW

The following photos were all taken at the dive SITES listed. There has been some bleaching on the reefs here and that will show in some of the photos; the result of Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease.

I used a GoPro Hero 11 Black camera with a Telesin waterproof housing. All photography is mine or la Gran Jefa's (aka. Helen); unless noted as a stock photo. Underwater colouration correction editing has been performed using the available app from google photos or Dive+ app (if watermarked).

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LINKS

The animals captured in photos are linked to a scientific internet information archive. 

If you are interested in marine life and would like to learn more, just click on the blue caption link below the photo.

** Gear Failure: Flooded SPG/Computer Console - I alerted DM Orlando after about 15 minutes of diving Windsock, that my SPG was flooded and was indicating only 100 psi of air used (should have been several 100 psi at that dive-time duration), Orlando buddied up with me, evaluated the situation correctly and safety protocol dictated I abort the dive and return to the boat, it was determined the SPG & computer console were flooded and not functioning, the gauge console was taken to the DIVI DIVE shop for evaluation and after testing it was determined that neither the SPG or computer could be repaired ... I am currently renting a replacement set-up, on my return home new gear will be purchased.

Gilles

Tom

Stock Photo

The above photo and the next 3 are at the Hilma Hooker Shipwreck.            

FACT: " When the Hilma Hooker struggled with motor problems on the way from Panama to Venezuela in 1984, the team stopped in front of Bonaire. However, they did not want to go on land and rejected the locals offers to help. Local authorities soon became wary and examined the ship in the port of Kralendijk. The discovery? Eleven tons of marihuana! "

Blue Chromis Damselfish

Healthy Brain Coral (4 x 2.5 feet)

Barrel Sponge

Spanish Hogfish

Caribbean Trumpetfish, soft Leaf Corals

BEHAVIOUR: The trumpetfish is an ambush predator, known to hide among shoals of large herbivorous fish, shadowing the fish until it is close enough to a prey item to strike. It will also hang vertically among gorgonian fan corals or drift with current, capturing any prey that swims underneath it by sucking them it into its mouth which has elastic tissues to allow it to open as wide as the diameter of its body. The sudden opening of the mouth creates a vacuum which pulls prey into the mouth.

Purple Tube Sponge Coral

Split Pore Sea Rod Branching Coral and a Blackbar Soldierfish hiding. The giant split-pore sea rod, is a tall species of soft coral.

FACT: It is a relatively uncommon species and is found only in shallow seas in the Caribbean region.

Stoplight Parrotfish
I had a difficult time getting a side shot of these very colourful reef fish; so, here's a stock photo below.

Fan Coral

Caribbean Reef Squid

DEFENSE: They can squeeze into cracks and crevices of rock and coral where other animals cannot follow. Squid have another defense mechanism – ink sacs located inside their bodies. When they are threatened, they can squirt the dark fluid into the water. This confuses predators and allows the squid to escape.

Sea Rod Branching Coral

Sea Horse

FACT: In seahorses (and pipefish), it is the male that gets pregnant and gives birth. Seahorse fathers incubate their developing embryos in a pouch located on their tail. The pouch is the equivalent of the uterus of female mammals.

CAUTION: Taking photos can sometimes cause some (usually temporary, usually minor) harm to marine animals. It causes stress and panic, possibly resulting in a fish dying. Ethical underwater photographers should take note and be careful. Here's a link.

Stonefish

Sharptail Eel

Schoolmaster Snapper

Spotted Drum (adult)

Sand Diver

Sea Anemone

DEFENSE: A sea anemone uses its tentacles to capture prey and defend itself against predators. Every tentacle is covered with thousands of tiny stinging capsules called nematocysts. Each nematocyst contains a coiled hollow tubule. Some tubules carry a minute amount of poison capable of paralyzing or killing small animals.

French Angelfish

Spotted Moray Eel

DEFENSE: Morays secrete a protective mucus over their smooth, scale less skin, which in some species contains a toxin. They have much thicker skin and high densities of goblet cells in the epidermis that allows mucus to be produced at a higher rate than in other eel species.

Small school of French Grunts

Christmas Tree Worms
See stock photo below.

DEFENSE: At the first sign of danger the Christmas tree worm quickly retracts into its burrow and seals the entrance with their operculum. 

Small school of Atlantic Blue Tang

*Lionfish (juvenile). Look closely, near top & centre, approx. 5 cm long

INVASIVE: Lionfish have become the poster child for invasive species issues in the western north Atlantic region. Their notoriety as invaders is on par with zebra mussels, snakeheads, and even Asian carp. Their populations continue to expand, threatening the well-being of coral reefs and other marine ecosystems.

Blackbar Soldierfish

Tarpon at 75' depth and 15' distant
See stock image below.

Stoplight Parrotfish (initial phase)

*Slipper Lobster or (Shovel Nosed, Spanish, Bulldozer etc. Lobster)

They are not true lobsters, but are more closely related to spiny lobsters and furry lobsters. Slipper lobsters are instantly recognizable by their enlarged antennae, which project forward from the head as wide plates.

Sea Cucumber

DEFENSE: Sea cucumbers boast an extraordinary defense strategy. Certain species possess the unique ability to expel their internal organs when attacked. This provides the predator with something else to eat, and a few weeks later the sea cucumber has grown new intestines and respiratory organs.

On BONAIRE they refer to them as a 'Balloon Fish or Spotted Porcupine Fish'. Some, consider this a Pufferfish .

DEFENSE: Balloonfish will “puff up” as a defense mechanism if they are threatened. A shape that is more than double its original size, round and sometimes covered in spines is much more difficult to bite and isn't very appetizing to a predator. (Stock photo)

Flamingo Tongue Nudibranch 
Look closely, there are several near the centre.
See stock photo below.

Boxfish Cowfish, Sotted Trunkfish (adult)

Artificial reef

Goatfish (juvenile)

Yellow Stripe Goatfish (adult)

Divers are returning to our dive boat Golden Eye after about a 50 minute dive at the Klein Bonaire Keepsake reef site. We're coasting with the surge along a very shallow section of reef here; maybe 15-20' deep - as usual, I'm always trailing. Once we reach the boat overhead, we'll then spend 3 plus minutes doing a mandatory safety stop and then ascend in a queue. 

And, for me ... this is the final dive ... of this adventure.

🤿

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Where To Next ? ... CURACOA in March 2024.

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We're LOAFin Around 

... follow along, if you like.

  

Refer to our Trip163 gallery for all photography for this trip.

Cameras

#1 -  GoPro Hero 11 with TELESIN underwater housing

#2 -  iPhone 11

Unless noted, all content is by LOAFin Around. 

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