Bonaire, Caribbean
This was our third time visiting sunny Bonaire, and it never disappoints! Bonaire is well-known in the diving world for its numerous shore diving opportunities. We first visited back in August of 2023, followed by a second trip a year later in August of 2024 (where we got engaged!). This trip in April of 2026 was thus our third trip to the island and our first time visiting in the spring instead of the summer. The weather was definitely a lot more comfortable in April compared to August. In August Eric would be sweating bullets after donning his wetsuit, and he would hurry to the water and dunk himself face first to cool down before we began the dive. This time, we could gear up without sweating, which was a nice touch. In fact, we would actually start to get a little cold by the end of our dives!
Like the previous visits, we chose to stay at Tropical Divers Resort. It is a cozy and quiet family-owned resort with both apartment and hotel-style accommodations located just south of downtown Kralendijk and only 5 minutes from the airport. We stayed in one of their apartments with a view of the garden and pool. The only downside is that it was quite buggy in the mornings so we opted to enjoy breakfast inside versus sitting out on the porch. The resort has an attached dive center with rinse tanks and gear storage in the back along with unlimited tanks and free Nitrox.
Our routine was to wake up in the morning and enjoy a light breakfast and coffee in our little apartment, followed by packing up our pick-up truck with our dive gear and six tanks (three for each of us). We found that three dives a day was a good amount; one day we did four dives and we found ourselves to be too exhausted to truly enjoy the last dive. At least, that was true for me! Shore diving definitely involves more work than diving from a boat, although we appreciate the greater flexibility it offers. We can choose to dive on our own schedule which is really nice.
Our routine was the following: arrive at our dive site, gear up and complete our first dive, eat a snack at the truck, head to our next dive site, complete our second dive, eat lunch at the truck, head to our final dive site, complete our third dive, head back to the resort, rinse our gear, shower, and head into town for dinner. We picked up groceries for the week's breakfasts and lunches but realized after our first trip here that we preferred going out to dinner instead of making it ourselves. After a full day of diving, we wanted to treat ourselves - after all, we were on vacation!
We dove entirely on the west coast, as is typical for Bonaire. The east coast is at the full mercy of the trade winds most of the year which means the waves and surf are rough and make shore diving difficult. The west coast is protected by the island and has much calmer seas, making shore diving entries much easier. Our favorite dive site is Red Slave, which is the second southernmost site. Here a sting ray swam right beneath us as we descended! Eric also spotted an eagle ray cruising by in the blue; we hardly ever see eagle rays, so that was pretty darn cool.
We saw more spotted drums on this trip than ever before, which is one of our favorite fishes to see. You really have to look for them hiding under rocks since they are nocturnal. We also saw at least seven green moray eels, most of them free-swimming, and lots of sea turtles! I also spotted flounder on three different occasions. These fish are so unique and fun to see. A highlight for me was the octopus we saw on our last day diving at Bari's Reef. As we were completing our safety spot, I noticed something moving around in the sand. As I got closer, I realized it was a decent-sized octopus with several large fish hovering nearby and appearing to "shadow feed" as the octopus stirred things up from the sand. I never get tired of watching octopuses. They are such fascinating creatures, and we don't often see them out and about in daylight like this.
Bonaire is still our favorite place to dive in the Caribbean, and I am sure we will be back one day for another visit. We just can't seem to stay away! 😊
Site Overview
Location: Bonaire, Netherland Antilles, CaribbeanFish Observed: Wrasse, Parrotfish, Damselfish, Barracuda, Triggerfish, Trumpetfish, Spotted Drums, Scorpionfish, Trunkfish, Balloonfish, Filefish, Hamlets, Soapfish, Flounder, Butterflyfish, Tarpon, Angelfish (French and Queen)Other Aquatic Life Observed: Octopus, Eels, Turtles, Sting Ray, Arrow Crab, Eagle Ray
Dive Log