Snorkeling & Scuba Diving

Much of Bonaire's allure is based on its teeming offshore reefs and dive sites. Its true beauty is under the sea, where visibility is 30m (100 ft.), 365 days of the year, and the water temperatures range from 78°F to 82°F (26°C-28°C). One of the richest reef communities in the entire West Indies, Bonaire has plunging walls that descend to a sand bottom at 40m or so (130 ft.). The reefs are home to various coral formations that grow at different depths, ranging from the knobby brain coral at .9m (3 ft.) to staghorn and elkhorn up to about 3m (10 ft.) deeper, and gorgonians, giant brain, and others. Swarms of rainbow-hued tropical fish inhabit the reefs, and the deep reef slope is home to a range of basket sponges, groupers, and moray eels. Most of the diving is done on the leeward side, where the ocean is lake flat. There are more than 40 dive sites on sharply sloping reefs. Divers from around the world leave with a sense of awe about how good the diving really is.

Bonaire Marine Park was created to protect the coral-reef ecosystem off Bonaire. The park incorporates the entire coastline of Bonaire and neighboring Klein Bonaire. The park is policed, and services and facilities include a visitor information center at the Karpata Ecological Center, lectures, slide presentations, films, and permanent dive-site moorings.

Visitors are asked to respect the marine environment and to refrain from activities that may damage it, including sitting or walking on the coral. All marine life is completely protected. This means there's no fishing or collecting fish, shells, or corals -- dead or alive. Spearfishing is forbidden, as is anchoring; all craft must use permanent moorings, except for emergency stops. (Boats shorter than 4m/13 ft. may use a stone anchor.) Most recreational activity in the marine park takes place on the island's leeward side and among the reefs surrounding Klein Bonaire.

The major hotels offer personalized, close-up encounters with the island's fish and other marine life under the expertise of Bonaire's dive guides. Divi Dive Bonaire, on the beachfront of the Divi Flamingo Beach Resort & Casino, J. A. Abraham Boulevard, north of Kralendijk (tel. 599/717-8285), is among the island's most complete scuba facilities. It's open daily from 8am to 12:30pm and 1:30 to 5pm. It operates out of a well-stocked beachfront building, renting diving equipment and offering expeditions. A resort course for first-time divers costs US$80 (£42); for experienced divers, a one-tank dive goes for US$42 (£22), a two-tank dive for US$63 (£33).

Captain Don's Habitat Dive Shop, Kaya Gobernador N. Debrot 103 (tel. 599/717-8290), is a PADI five-star training facility. The open-air, full-service dive shop includes a classroom, photo/video lab, camera-rental facility, equipment repair, and compressor rooms. Habitat's slogan is "Diving Freedom": Divers can take their tanks and dive anywhere, day or night. Most head for "The Pike," .8km (1/2 mile) of protected reef right in front of the property. The highly qualified staff is here to assist and advise, but not to police or dictate dive plans. Diving packages include boat dives, unlimited offshore diving (24-hr. a day), unlimited air tanks, weights, and belts. Some dive packages also include accommodations and meals. If you're not staying at the hotel as part of a dive package, you can visit for a beach dive, costing US$26 (£14). If you want to rent snorkeling equipment, the charge is US$13 (£6.75) a day. A boat dive, with all equipment, goes for US$49 (£26).

Bonaire Dive and Adventures, adjacent to the Sand Dollar Condominium Retreat, Kaya Gobernador N. Debrot (tel. 599/717-2229), is open daily from 8:30am to 4:30pm. It offers dive packages, PADI and NAUI (National Association of Underwater Instructors) instruction, and equipment rental and repairs; boat and shore trips with an instructor are available by appointment. A beginning course, including two dives, costs US$105 (£55) per person. The photo shop offers underwater photo and video shoots, PADI specialty courses by appointment, E-6 slide processing, print developing, and equipment rental and repair.

Bonaire's coral reefs are also an underwater paradise for snorkelers. They start in just inches of water and therefore have dense coral formations in very shallow surf. Most snorkeling on the island is conducted in 5m (16 ft.) of water or less, and there's plenty to see even at this depth. As you travel around the island, particularly in the northern area, you'll see evidence of prehistoric reefs now 12 to 30m (39-98 ft.) above sea level, having lived submerged for hundreds of thousands of years and then uplifted as the island slowly rose.

Snorkeling equipment can be rented at the Carib Inn, J. A. Abraham Boulevard (tel. 599/717-8819); Bonaire Dive and Adventures, Kaya Gobernador N. Debrot (tel. 599/717-2229); and Captain Don's Habitat Dive Shop, Kaya Gobernador N. Debrot 103 (tel. 599/717-8290). A full day's rental of mask, fins, and snorkel costs US$7 (£3.65). Most snorkelers swim out to reefs from points directly offshore, but most of the dive operators will also allow snorkelers to ride out to dive sites with scuba divers for US$12 (£6.25), plus the equipment rental cost.

The Hooker

The waters off the coast of Bonaire received an additional attraction in 1984. A rust-bottomed general cargo ship, 24m (79-ft.) long, was confiscated by the police, along with its contraband cargo, about 25,000 pounds of marijuana. Known as the Hilma Hooker (familiarly dubbed "The Hooker" by everyone on the island), it sank unclaimed (obviously) and without fanfare one calm day, in 27m (89 ft.) of water. Lying just off the southern shore near the capital, its wreck is now a popular dive site.