Bonaire shore diving tips from people who live here
Bonaire is one of the few places in the world where you can grab a tank, drive along the coast and walk into the sea wherever a yellow stone marks a dive…
Bonaire is one of the few places in the world where you can grab a tank, drive along the coast and walk into the sea wherever a yellow stone marks a dive site. We live and dive here ourselves, so in this article we share our Bonaire shore diving tips for guests who stay in a holiday home and want to dive on their own schedule. No boat timetables and no crowded decks.
We cover what to arrange before your first dive, how to organise transport and tanks, how to handle entries over coral rubble, how to find dive sites along the coast road and how to keep your car safe. We end with why your choice of house matters more than most divers expect.
Before your first dive: nature fee and orientation dive
Every diver in the Bonaire National Marine Park pays a mandatory nature fee. The money goes to STINAPA, the foundation that manages Bonaire’s national parks, and it funds rangers, mooring buoys and research. You can pay the fee online before you travel. The amount changes from time to time, so check the current rate on the official website rather than relying on old forum posts.
Dive schools also ask you to complete an orientation dive before they hand out tanks for independent diving. During this dive, staff explain the marine park rules, check your weighting and show how the local entries work. We see it as a free crash course in local knowledge. Even divers with hundreds of logged dives pick up something useful.
Bring the following to the dive shop on day one:
- Your certification card (physical or digital)
- Your logbook or proof of recent dives
- Proof that you paid the nature fee
- Your dive insurance details
Transport and tanks: how to shore dive in Bonaire on your own
A pick-up truck is the classic choice for diving Bonaire on your own. You toss wet gear in the open bed, the tanks stay out of the cabin and sand never ends up on the seats. A regular car or small SUV works fine too. In that case, use a sturdy crate and a few old towels so the tanks cannot roll around during the drive.
Most dive schools on the island offer tank packages for several days. Many also have a drive-through tank station: you pull up, load full tanks, drop off the empties and drive on. You rarely lose more than ten minutes in the morning. Ask your dive school about opening hours, because some close earlier on Sundays.
A typical dive day for our guests looks like this:
- Pick up tanks early, before the heat builds.
- Do your first dive at a site close to home.
- Take your surface interval in the shade, with snacks and plenty of water.
- Drive north or south for a second dive.
- Return the empties and rinse your gear back at the house.
Plan your days by area. North of Kralendijk you find sites such as Karpata, 1000 Steps and Oil Slick Leap. Around town, Bachelor’s Beach and Something Special are easy to reach. Further south, past the airport, are Salt Pier and Red Slave. Grouping sites this way saves fuel and leaves more time underwater.
Bonaire shore diving tips for safe entries and spotting dive sites
Almost all shore diving happens on the west coast. This is the leeward side, sheltered from the trade winds that blow from the east, so the water is usually calm and you rarely deal with breaking surf. The east coast is rough. Worth a visit, but not for independent shore dives.
The entries are where newcomers struggle most. Instead of sandy beaches, you often walk over coral rubble, loose rocks or sharp limestone. That is why one of our most important Bonaire shore diving tips is simple: wear sturdy booties with a hard sole. Thin neoprene socks and open-heel fins will not protect your feet here.
- Look at the entry and exit before you gear up.
- Walk in slowly and shuffle your feet instead of taking big steps.
- Keep your mask on and regulator within reach in case you stumble.
- Put your fins on once you reach waist-deep water.
- Skip the dive if you see swell rolling in; on rare days the wind turns and the west coast gets waves.
Finding dive sites is easy once you know what to look for. Along the coast road, STINAPA marks the sites with yellow painted stones that carry the site name. A mooring buoy usually floats just off the shore at the edge of the reef. A few sites have their own features: at 1000 Steps you climb down a limestone staircase (despite the name, you will count closer to seventy steps), while Oil Slick Leap has a ladder into deep water.
Underwater, the layout is usually the same. You swim out over a shallow sandy plateau, then reach the drop-off where the reef slopes down. Turn around on a sensible amount of air and finish your dive in the shallows. Remember a landmark at your exit point so you surface in the right spot.
Keep your car safe at the dive site
Bonaire is generally safe, but cars parked at quiet dive sites are an easy target for opportunistic theft. Many local divers follow one rule: leave nothing valuable in the car. Some even leave the windows down and doors unlocked, so nobody has a reason to break a window.
- Leave phones, wallets and passports at the house.
- Take the car key with you in a zipped BCD pocket or waterproof pouch.
- Bring a cheap towel and a bottle of water; nothing more.
- Check with your rental company how they prefer you to handle the key.
Why your house matters for diving Bonaire on your own
After a day with two or three shore dives, you come home with salty gear, damp wetsuits and sandy booties. In a hotel room that gets messy. A holiday home with an outdoor rinse spot, a shaded place to hang wetsuits and room to store your equipment solves it. Good drying space is one of the most underrated Bonaire shore diving tips we can give.
Look for a house with parking right next to the door, so loading tanks takes seconds. A private pool lets you practise buoyancy or cool off between dives. For an example, see our villa with space to rinse and dry your dive gear.
These Bonaire shore diving tips come down to preparation: pay the nature fee, complete your orientation dive, wear proper booties, read the yellow stones and keep your car empty. Questions about planning your dive holiday? Email our team on the island through the website.