With several thousands of combined dives, few spend more time on the reefs of Bonaire than our crew. We’ve compiled a list of some of our staff’s best dive sites on Bonaire. Sign up for a two tank boat dive or a guided shore dive and join us for a tour of our favorite dive sites.
Angel City – Shaun
Part of the iconic double reef system in the south, Angel City gets its name from the Queen and French Angelfish that are always found here. The sand channel between the double reefs is narrower here than the other southern sites and in several places coral bridges connect the two reefs. Keep an eye out for Porcupine fish and Spotted Eagle Rays.
Bonaventure – Lars
Located on the southern side of Klein Bonaire, this dive site is only accessible by boat. The top reef in the shallows is full of beautiful coral and sponges. The white sandy bottom reflects the light creating amazing colors and great visibility. You will see something beautiful every time.
Carl’s Hill – Amy
Named after the famous underwater photographer Carl Roessler, Carl’s Hill is located on the northern corner of Klein Bonaire and only accessible by boat. This dive site is one of the few places on Bonaire you can find a vertical wall. If you look hard enough you can often find baby Trumpetfish and Slender Filefish hiding in the soft corals.
Cliff – Asko
Right in front of our Hamlet Oasis dive shop, Cliff is one of our house reefs open to all divers and snorkelers. Like Carl’s Hill, Cliff is also a wall dive hence the name. Cliff is also one of the easiest sites to navigate on Bonaire with a large pipe starting from the entry point and going all the way down the reef. This dive site is a great place for seahorses (as of writing there are 4 that we know of) and often frogfish. In the shallows above the wall is a memorial from Captain Don to all “divers who have gone before us.”
Country Garden – Devin
This northern dive site sits along a high limestone cliff and is only accessible by boat. Just to the northwest of the mooring are several large boulders that have fallen from the cliff. These large mounds are overgrown with coral and sponges and home to schools of grunts and goatfish making the dive site look like a landscaped garden. Often squid can be seen in the shallowest parts of the bank.
Hilma Hooker – Melissa
Originally named the Midsland and launched in 1951, the Hilma Hooker is a 235 foot / 72 meter long cargo ship that was sunk off the southern coast of Bonaire in 1984. It now lies on its starboard side at a depth of 100 feet / 30 meters in the sand channel between the double reefs. The wreck is covered in algae and sponges with feeding wrasses and brooding Sargent Majors. Tarpon can usually be seen hanging out in the cargo holds. Brown Garden Eels and Sand Tilefish can be often seen in the sand.
Invisibiles – Pepijn
The southernmost dive site on the double reef system, Invisibles is a dive you can do over and over plotting a different course each time. This dive site is unique because of the large coral islands and sand channels instead of the normal gradually descending continuous reef. Over these coral outcrops you can often find schools of boga and scad being pursued by jacks, and snappers.
Rappel – Kevin
Named because divers used to rappel down the limestone cliff with ropes, it is a much easier boat dive. The vertical cliff wall extends down into the water onto a shallow bank and a sharply descending reef. Along the base of the cliff wall are overhangs and small cutouts. The amazing coral formations along the shallow bank with waves crashing against the cliff wall overhead makes for a very memorable and unique dive.
Red Slave – Jeffrey
Like its counterpart White Slave, Red Slave is named after the slave huts that can be found on shore which each housed up to 6 slaves working in the salt pans. Because of its location near the southern tip of Bonaire, this dive site is recommended for experienced divers as there is often strong surf and currents can suddenly change and wash out into the open ocean. Colliding currents bring a lot of food here and you can see everything; Green Morays, Spotted Eagle Rays, big schools of Scad, Barracuda, Grouper, and many other large fish.
Vista Blue – Ingrid
Just south of Kite beach and Fish Hut, Vista Blue is a easy entry dive with a small sandy beach. Though not as dense with fish as some other sites, you will be distracted by the amazing landscape of soft corals and sponges along the top reef with schools of Yellow Goatfish, cleaner wrasses, and Blue Chromis. Keep an eye out for rays swimming along the reef or resting in sand patches.
For more dive sites take a look at the Bonaire Dive Site Map.