Dive Sites

Dive sites Bonaire

Divers from around the world recognize Bonaire as a true paradise, offering a wide variety of dive sites to explore. Whether you are a novice diver wanting to check out some entry level dive sites or an experienced diver wanting to explore the deeper reefs, Bonaire has it all! The island has over 60 dive sites accessible by shore with more than 57 species of soft and stony corals. On our gorgeous reefs, you will find more than 350 recorded fish species. Keep reading and find out more about some of our favorite dive sites.

Bachelor’s Beach – our house reef

Beyond the Corals is located at Bachelor’s Beach. This is a wonderful dive site for snorkeling and all diving levels. It is also a good location for night diving due to the easy entry, sloping bottom and shallow lying reef. You can enter the site by descending a staircase and a few rocks until you reach a sandy beach and can enter the water. A yellow mooring buoy, located approximately 70m from shore, marks the dive site and is tied down at a depth of 6m, where the reef begins. Once you have reached the mooring buoy you can choose to swim either north (right) or south (left). The sloping bottom boasts a wide variety of hard and soft coral. South from the mooring buoy you will find our coral nursery that sits at 5m-9m. This nursery has 5 tree-nurseries and 5 rope-nurseries with staghorn and elkhorn fragments attached to them. Exercise caution when diving around the nursery, and remember that only Reef Renewal divers with permission may handle the trees.

Salt Pier

This dive site is a top choice for divers due to its easy shore entry and accessibility. The pier’s pillars serve as the highlight of the dive site with colourful sponges and corals. The volume of fish seeking refuge in the shadows by the pier creates a breathtaking view. Don’t forget to check out the nearby reef, where you may catch a glimpse of an eel, juvenile drumfish, seahorse, or frogfish. Keep an eye out for turtles as they feed in the shallows, especially as you make your way back to shore. This diving site offers excellent conditions for both day and night dives, but remember that diving is not allowed when boats are present.

Angel City

Angel City is a wonderful dive site for divers and snorkelers alike. It is an appealing site for those that are new to diving on the island due to its shallow reef lying close to shore, and relatively easy to navigate. Once you have entered the water, the yellow mooring buoy lies directly in front of you approx. 25m from shore, you can make your way to the mooring and start your descent there. Angel City has a double reef system, the first of which lies quite close to shore, starts at 4.5m and has a gradual decline down to approx. 15m. This double reef is suitable for Open Water divers, as the second reef can be enjoyed within 18m. The sandy patch that divides the two reef systems has a few coral bridges that span the two reefs and can be great navigational references. This reef boasts a wide variety of hard and soft coral, particularly large areas of gorgonian and star corals. There is an abundance of fish here such as angels, parrots, triggers, filefish and schools of grey snappers.

Invisibles

Invisibles is a popular dive site just south of Salt Pier and is the southern-most site of the ‘doublereef’ dives. It is a wonderful site for all divers due to its easy entry, clearly marked mooring buoy and sloping reef. It is approx. 50m swim out to the mooring buoy over a large sandy area, keep an eye out here for palometas, spotted eagle rays, filefish, peacock flounders, jawfish and juvenile reef fish in the shallows. A colony of garden eels lives around the mooring at 6m, just before the first reef begins. The mooring aligns with a sand channel that leads to the second reef, serving as a helpful navigational reference. At this site, you can navigate north or south. The first reef features a solid structure that ends at 20m, while the second reef begins at 18m and tapers off after 35m, breaking into several coral islands.

La Dania’s Leap

La Dania’s Leap is a drift dive site suitable for experienced divers due to its tricky entry and exit. We highly recommend diving with a trained guide for this site. Divers enter the water at La Dania’s and, due to there being no exit at this site, drift/swim to the next dive site-Karpata, where they will make their exit. This is a popular way to explore two awe-inspiring dive sites in one dive! A pile of stacked rocks marks the pathway leading down to the water at La Dania’s Leap. This can be an easy site to miss so make sure to drive slowly and keep an eye out as the road at this point is a one-way and you will not be able to turn around. Once you have found the path you can drop off your dive gear, park your car at Karpata and walk back to La Dania’s (approx. 5 min walk).

Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland is a popular site for divers and snorkelers alike. Yellow stones mark the parking area, located just before the worn Cargill sign. Once you are in your gear, you can follow a marked path over rocks and rubble down to a small sandy beach where the entry point is. A yellow mooring buoy marks this site, positioned to the right of the entry, approximately 40m from shore. You can start your descent at the mooring, or in the sandy patch where you can inspect the coral that decorate the area. Alice in Wonderland has a double reef system, the first of which starts at 7m and has a gradual decline down to approx. 22m. The sandy patch, which sits at 24-30m and divides the two reef systems. This reef boasts a wide variety of sponges as well as hard and soft coral. There is a healthy abundance of fish here such as horse-eye jacks, triggerfish, barracuda, and the chance of spotting an eagle ray if you’re lucky! Note that the second reef is much deeper and is only accessible for Advanced open water divers.

Hilma Hooker

The Hilma Hooker, an old freighting ship with a notorious history, was intentionally sunk in September 1984. It involved not having official papers and smuggling illegal substances. The Hilma is an easy site to locate due to having 3 mooring buoys indicating her location. One is tied to the bow of the ship, one to the stern and one is shallower on the reef. She is in good condition despite her nearly 40 years beneath the surface and lies on her starboard side on a sandy channel at the bottom of the reef. This site is recommended for advanced divers as it is a deep dive that reaches 30m. A wide variety of fish inhabit this wreck and the surrounding reef, including green moray eels, numerous tarpon often seen around the wreck, and little sergeant majors diligently guarding their round blue-purple nests on the wreck itself.