Hilma Hooker
A 1984 cargo-ship wreck lying on its starboard side on a 30 m sandy plateau, its holds reachable through large openings.
- Advanced
- Wreck
- Barracuda
Experienced≤40 m
Cai
Dive site in Bonaire
East-coast reef for experienced divers with a guide, where turtles, eagle rays and moray eels thrive and large schools including tarpon roam.
- Max depth
- 20 m
- Level
- Experienced
- Best months
- Apr–Nov
- Entry
- From shore, By boat
- Current
- Strong
Photo: Paul Arps from The Netherlands, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The dive
A reef dive from the shore. Known for turtles and eagle rays.
Who it's for
Experienced≤40 mSource: duikersgids.nl
Recommended minimum: Experienced (Deep Specialty, N3).
- CurrentCurrent can be strong; you need good air management and buoyancy.
- Strong current: dive with a local guide and carry a surface marker buoy.
Conditions
- Dive type
- Reef
- Environment
- Open water
- Water
- Sea water
What you might see
- Turtles
- Eagle rays
- Moray eels
Best time to dive
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
- Best
- Good
- Possible
- Closed
- Not documented yet
Best months: Apr–Nov.
Where is Bonaire?
The point shows the Bonaire area, not the exact dive site.
More dives in Bonaire
Andrea II
Shore-dive coral garden with large shallow coral formations and Reef Renewal Foundation coral trees planted to help restore the reef.
- Open Water
- Reef
- Turtles
Buddy's Reef
Buddy Dive Resort's house reef, perfect for beginners, where black crinoids perch on coral heads and a resident tarpon greets most night divers.
- Open Water
- Reef
- Turtles
Playa Funchi
Washington Slagbaai National Park site where horse-eye jacks cruise the blue and the shallows teem with small, curious fish.
- Advanced
- Reef
- Turtles
Salt City
Part of Bonaire's southern double reef system, with a good chance of seeing turtles and eagle rays.
- Advanced
- Reef
- Turtles
Willemstoren Lighthouse
Advanced-only site at Bonaire's southern tip with lots of schooling fish, lobsters under the corals and the occasional turtle or tarpon.
- Advanced
- Reef
- Turtles
About this page
Values marked “Estimated” come from our original catalogue and are being checked against published sources one by one. Sourced values link to where they come from. Conditions change with the season, the weather and the tide: confirm with a local dive centre before you dive.
Photo credits
- Hilma Hooker dive site, Bonaire, Kris Mikael Krister, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Andrea II dive site, Bonaire, LASZLO ILYES from Cleveland, Ohio, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Buddy's Reef dive site, Bonaire, (c) Jay Brasher, some rights reserved (CC BY), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Playa Funchi dive site, Bonaire, SNORKELINGDIVES.COM, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Salt City dive site, Bonaire, LASZLO ILYES from Cleveland, Ohio, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Willemstoren Lighthouse dive site, Bonaire, García-Hernández, J.E., de Gier, W., van Moorsel, G.W.N.M. et al. The scleractinian Agaricia undata as a new host for the coral-gall crab Opecarcinus hypostegus at Bonaire, southern Caribbean. Symbiosis 81, 303–311 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13199-020-00706-8, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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