Your Guide to Diving Bonaire

Diving Bonaire Overview

Bonaire Seasonal Dive Planner

Once a lush tropical island until Europeans arrived, the desert island of Bonaire has terrain and climate something like southern Arizona. Air temperatures are in the low to mid-70s°F (21°C) at night, and the high 80s°F or low 90s°F (26-32°C) during the day. But with the trade winds and moderate humidity, it rarely feels as hot as it is.

Rainfall is usually scant, consisting of a few brief showers in the early morning, except during November and December, when occasionally it is overcast and rainy for a day or more. Total annual rainfall is about 20 inches (50cm), but every eight to ten years there's a peak year, with total rainfall of two to three times the normal amount.

Bonaire's protected western coast offers almost ideal conditions
365 days a year -- calm, warm, and clear water with gentle currents. The sky is usually dotted with puffy fair weather clouds that give a welcome respite from a tropical sun, which can get intense, especially in May, June, and September. Winds are always from the east at a brisk 15-20 mph from January through August. They slow the last four months of the year, with occasional calm days that permit diving on the island's exposed eastern coast and the rare opportunity to see the huge sponges, gorgonia, coral heads and fish of the northern and eastern coasts.

The water temperature in Bonaire ranges from 78-81°F (25-27°C). About three years out of every five, upwellings of cold, nutrient-rich water from the deep Atlantic spill into the Caribbean over the relatively shallow shelf that connects Trinidad with the Grenadines, and then it circulates westward to Bonaire. When this happens --usually during July -- water temperature can drop into the low 70s°F (22°C), and visibility everywhere can fall to 30ft (9m) or less. These conditions can last from one or two days to a week or more.

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Diving Bonaire Reader Reports and Feature Articles

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Latest Reader Reports from Bonaire from the serious divers who read Undercurrent All Reader Reports from Bonaire	All 10,000+ Reports
Bruce Bowker's Carib Inn Report in Bonaire "A great place to be if Bonaire is where you choose to go" filed Aug 17, 2024 by Andrew Bernat (Experience: 501-1000 dives, 18 reports, Contributor )
Bonaire has certainly degraded in our (many) years of diving there but it remains the easiest, most accessible diving anywhere. And the... ... Read more
Captain Don's Habitat Report in Bonaire "Not Nitrox Analyzer" filed Jan 9, 2024 by Eric Weiss (Experience: 251-500 dives, 5 reports, Reviewer )
I'm posting this because a friend came back from a week at Capt. Don's . She reported that while Capt. Don had nitrox available and div... ... Read more
Dive Friends Bonaire/Den Laman Report in Bonaire "A great visit, the corals have suffered" filed Jan 6, 2024 by Craig A Wood (Experience: Over 1000 dives, 53 reports, Top Contributor )
My wife and I recently made our tenth trip to Bonaire and, like the last six visits, stayed at Den Laman and dived with Dive Friends. ... ... Read more
Captain Don's Habitat Report in Bonaire "A disappointing return to Bonaire" filed Dec 20, 2023 by Larry S. Klumb (Experience: Over 1000 dives, 3 reports, Reviewer )
It had been a few years since we’d dived Bonaire, so a return was in to offing. Previous stays at Divi, Buddy’s and Captain Don’s were... ... Read more
Divi Flamingo Report in Bonaire "An enjoyable week of diving" filed Dec 11, 2023 by Richard Schifreen (Experience: 251-500 dives, 5 reports, Reviewer )
This was my third trip to Dive Flamingo Bonaire, and the first since Covid. I was pleased to see a divemaster who I remembered from my ... ... Read more

Complete Articles Available to Undercurrent Online Members; Some Publicly Available as Indicated

Diving Bonaire Articles - Liveaboards Available to the Public The Caribbean, Hawaii, the Galapagos, Florida, everybody sees sharks these days, 3/22 Belize, Vieques, Indonesia, Molokai, Christmas crowds, lousy food, white tips and mantas, 4/17 Sick Divers, Macho Divemasters, travels in Egypt, Fiordland, Bonaire, the Bahamas... , 11/16 Belize, Bonaire, Florida, Philippines . . ., and a Cozumel dive shop with a great refund policy, 7/15 Bonaire, Fiji, Galapagos, Roatan, great examples of customer service - - and one resort to avoid, 9/11

Diving Bonaire Articles - Land Based Bonaire's Reefs This Summer, 9/24 Oil Slick Reaches Bonaire, 3/24 Bonaire, Belize, Rangiroa, Fiji, Indonesia, dying coral, schools of sharks, super photography course, 3/24 Humpbacks Whales, Shark Rodeos, Monk Seals, Giant Octopuses, what our readers have to say, 11/23 Stony Coral Disease Closes Bonaire Dive Sites, 5/23 How Not to Lose $95 in a Bonaire Tourist Tax Scam , 2/23 Divi Flamingo Beach Hotel, Dive Bonaire, N.W.I., an all-around good spot, from fish to food, 1/23 Don't Hide Your Keys in the Bushes, 1/23 Available to the Public The Caribbean, Palau, Fiji and the Philippines, readers report and it's not always plain sailing, 10/22 Bonaire Update, 8/22 Report from Bonaire:, great diving, bad roads, more construction, 9/21 Raja Ampat, Bonaire, Maldives, Cozumel . . ., and endless trash spilling into the water, 7/19 Bonaire, Cozumel, Cuba, Fiji, Palau . . ., spear tossers, baggage restrictions and thieving crews, 9/18 Dive Friends, Courtyard Marriott, Bonaire, finally, a way to use hotel points on your overseas dive trip, 8/18 Shore Diving Is Not for Everyone, 8/18 An Interesting Way to Off-Gas in Bonaire, 8/18 St. Vincent, Maldives, Roatan, Belize, destinations for everyone, 4/18 Mozambique, Mexico, Philippines . . ., more on the Thorfinn, and another Bonaire warning, 10/15 Florida, Maui, Palau . . ., good and bad Bahamas dive shops; the best week to dive Bonaire, 10/14 Goodbye, Cap’n Don, 6/14 Key Largo, Maui, New Zealand . . ., maiden voyage kinks in Thailand, a rude photo pro in Bonaire, 5/13 Bonaire, Cozumel, St. Vincent…, legendary guide retires, dive shop disputes, and more, 1/13 An Insider’s Tips on Bonaire, 8/12 Bonaire, Maui, Phuket…, Francis Coppola’s five-star resort, a clueless Cozumel divemaster, 6/12 Bonaire, Caymans, China. . ., a dangerous Baja dive shop, and what, no octopus for your buddy?, 1/12 Saipan, Statia, Lake Malawi, Key Largo..., reports from the back of beyond from “undercover” readers, 7/10 Buddy Dive Resort, Bonaire, freedom for solo diving photographers, 5/10 Bahamas, Canada, Caymans, Indonesia, planning your next dive trip? Here are readers’ suggestions, 7/08 Bruce Bowker’s Carib Inn, Bonaire, hard to book, but heaven for hardcore divers, 10/07 Cuba, Bonaire, Belize... , and a clever thief in Curacao, 1/07 Holbox Whale Sharks, Bonaire Wild Side, destinations to keep in mind, 2/06 Thumbs Down: Plaza Resort Bonaire, 9/04 Reports From Readers: Part I, Cozumel’s adult dive operators, Bonaire bummers, 8/04 More on Theft in Bonaire, 4/04 S.E. Aruba Fly n’ Dive, the Dutch Caribbean, dive in Bonaire, sleep in Aruba, 2/04 Wild Side Diving in Bonaire, 5/03 Thumbs Down, 10/02 Missed Connections, 10/01 Klein Bonaire Rescued from Developers, 2/00 Bonaire, A Shore Diver's Mecca, the Carib Inn, deep diving, private guides, 1/00 The Trouble with Going to Bonaire and Curaçao, getting there is the hardest part, 7/99 Captain Don's Habitat, 7/94 Reports From Our Readers, Part II, Bonaire Is As Solid As Ever?, 8/88 The Nikonos Technique Seminar, Bonaire, et al., From Snapshots To Photographs, 1/88 Bonaire Beach Bungalows, 6/86 Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles,, Low Cost Living, High Quality Diving, 4/86 Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, Fairy Castles And Hobbit Hideaways, 9/81 Dive Bonaire, Bonaire, N.A., There's a new kid on the block, 5/78 Aquaventures, Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, 2/77

Editor's Book Picks for Scuba Diving Bonaire

The books below are my favorites about diving in this part of the world All books are available at a significant discount from Amazon.com; just follow the links. -- BD

Travel Edition of Reef Fish Identification: Caribbean, Bahamas, South Florida
by Paul Humann and Ned DeLoach

Today's airline weight restrictions not only limit the amount of dive gear and cameras you can pack for overseas trips, but also those valuable prized marine life identification books. And with spotty Internet access overseas, it's not like you can look a critter of or fish up easily online. For the divers who still want a book in their hands post-dive to look up the fishes they encounter, Paul Humann and Ned DeLoach are offering "Travel Edition of Reef Fish Identification: Caribbean, Bahamas, South Florida." It's lightweight enough to thrown in your carry-on but rugged enough to withstand frequent saltwater washings on board.

Click here to buy it at Amazon.

World Atlas of Coral Reefs
by Mark D. Spalding, Corinna Ravilious, Edmund P. Green, United Nations World Conservation Monitoring Center.

If there is one book that belongs in every traveling diver's library, this is it. The superb World Atlas of Coral Reefs has everything you want to know about the reefs from Costa Rica and Cuba to the Coral Sea and Cayman. The information is specific and up to date. The photos, maps and layout superb. And the price, for this 424 page, full color, hard bound volume, is a steal at $31.50

The Atlas was released in September by the United Nations World Conservation Monitoring Center to document and conserve the world's coral reefs. Clearly written with divers in mind, it's an invaluable resource for global travelers. Here's what you'll find.

• 94 maps, including global maps of biodiversity and reef stresses, regional maps showing 3-D bathymetry and high resolution maps showing reefs, mangroves, population centers, dive centers and protected areas.
• 280 color photographs, showing reefs, wildlife, people and places, Including 84 photographs taken from space by Shuttle astronauts.
• Text explaining the formation, structure and ecology of coral reefs; their various uses and abuses at the hands of humans; and the techniques used in coral reef mapping.
• Detailed texts describing the distribution and status of coral reefs in every country.
• Data tables listing information on biodiversity, human use, and protected areas. These include statistics on coral reef area, biodiversity, fish consumption, and threats.

For example, you can learn about pollution damage to the reefs at Providenciales and the lack of human impact, as well. Or, where extensive bleaching took place in Honduras 1998. You'll read that Milne Bay in Papua New Guineas has the most extensive reef system in that country and where, in Fiji, the bumphead parrotfish and tridachna clams will not be found, thanks to overfishing. Order now.

The Reef Set: Reef Fish, Reef Creature and Reef Coral (3 Volumes):
Paul Humann ID Books
by Paul Humann, Ned Deloach

The three set fish, creature and coral ID books by Paul Humann are the unparalleled sources for information on Caribbean sea life and identification. Paul and his partner Ned Deloach recently released updated and expanded editions of each, with scores of new critters, even better photos, and information unavailable anywhere else. Why, the Reef Fish Identification book, at more than 500 pages, is 20 percent larger than the previous volume, which came out in 1994. Whenever I travel to the Caribbean, I tote all three books and spend my down hours figuring out what I saw and where to look to find rare creatures. Paul's splendid Reef Creature book (420 pages), covers sponges, nudibranchs, octopus, crustaceans, Christmas tree worms and plenty more. His Reef Coral ID book (276 pages) helps you identify all the hard and soft corals, spawning, and even the growth on top of corals, as well as algae and other plant life. Beginners may want to ID only fish, but I'd recommend that all three books be part of every diver's library. And, if you have an old set, by all means replace it. You'll be delighted at the additions and improvements. Each book normally retails for $40, but are discounted when you order here. And the boxed 3-volume set is available now at a bigger discount, up to 30%. Click below to buy them at Amazon:

* Reef Fish Identification: Florida Caribbean Bahamas,
* Reef Creature Identification: Florida Caribbean Bahamas, and
* Reef Coral Identification: Florida Caribbean Bahamas
* The Boxed Set of all three (you can save up to 30%)

A Guide to the Coral Reefs of the Caribbean
by Mark Spalding

This book doubles as a guide to the natural history of the coral reefs and a diver's travel guide. In addition to providing information about some of the most popular diving and snorkeling, it also offers practical suggestions to divers who want to protect these sites. Author Mark Spalding, a coral reef scientist who has worked on coral reefs in over thirty countries, delves into the eco-problems with a focus on what each person can do to protect the reefs. The guide section covers 35 dive destinations with key information on the reefs, marine parks, remote places, and unusual species as well as excellent maps and a photographic field guide of the marine flora and fauna.
Order Now at a reduced price of only $16.47.

There's a Cockroach in My Regulator
by Undercurrent

The Best of Undercurrent: Bizarre and Brilliant True Diving Tales from Thirty Years of Undercurrent.

Shipping now is our brand new, 240-page book filled with the best of the unusual, the entertaining, and the jaw dropping stories Undercurrent has published. They’re true, often unbelievable, and always fascinating. We’re offering it to you now for the special price of just $14.95.

Click here to order.

You might find some other books of interest in our Editor's Book Picks section.