As we have mentioned, diving is big in Bonaire. Super-big. As in that is pretty much what everybody comes here for, both as a tourist and as an immigrant. So we figured we might as well check out the Bonaire diving scene. And (spoiler alert) it was pretty amazing!
One of us certified as an open water diver just about thirty years ago, courtesy of the family of a boyfriend. But then – being a graduate student – was not able to afford this spendy habit. Friends, much has changed since then! It’s still spendy, but all of the complicated math you once did with dive tables has been outsourced to a computer you wear on your wrist. Which makes the whole business of not having your lungs explode much more likely.
So Laurel recertified as soon as we settled in, at the amazing VIP diving shop. (John, in case you’re wondering, was too busy gazing out over the back balcony.) The process was significantly less stressful than learning to sail, possibly because it was her second time around. The physical injury quotient was also lower: a few scrapes here and there, a little sunburn.
Let’s start from the beginning: diving involves breathing through a tank strapped to your back, very far underwater. Far enough, usually, that it’s not safe to pop right back up. For some – like one of the people in Laurel’s dive class – the whole thing ends up feeling unnatural and/or terrifying.
But the two Dutch kids and Laurel were mostly just bowled over by the cool fish. At least, Laurel was. The Dutch kids were perfectly capable of speaking English but – being 12 and 13 – they preferred not to communicate with anyone, ever. Which made buddy checks (where you make sure your dive partner is safe) less fun than you might think.
A great thing about learning to dive in Bonaire is that after your first couple of hours in a pool, you get to go to the reefs even for your contained dives. And there are no boats involved (see below). But you’re just barely under the surface. Where you will already run into tons of beautiful fish, as you are putting on your fins and wondering if you’re going to freak out like that lady did.
But everything went smoothly, for all three days, and Laurel logged her four training dives. Then our friends came. They are avid divers, certified to do things we can’t even comprehend, and they’ve been wanting to come here forever. So the three of us went diving together (John was still occupied on the balcony). We did seven dives together and they did another six on their own, including a wreck dive and a night dive.
Bonaire is world-famous for its reefs, not least because they are thirty metres from shore, i.e. a very short swim. No boat required. And the reef is around the whole island. There are 63 marked dive sites, which span the entire leeward side of the island. They’re often no more than a five minute drive from one another, so you can do four or even five dives a day if you plan it out right.
Most of the Caribbean reef fish are here, in multitudes. But wait, there’s more! We also saw turtles, spotted eagle rays, an octopus, lionfish, sea snakes, and a spotted moray eel. Laurel even spotted one of those spotteds, which made her feel like a real diver, even though she’s still kind of a spaz underwater.
Speaking of being a spaz, diving might be the sport for you if you can swim but don’t otherwise consider yourself super-athletic. And if you can afford it. In sum, Bonaire diving is absolutely fantastic. We not only see why people come here from all over the world to dive, we feel like we might do some more diving ourselves. (John will be busy with the balcony elsewhere too, so count him out).
To make sure you don’t miss a single moment of meandering, minimalist, magic, sign up for our fortnightly newsletter!
