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Bonaire Diving Scuba Vacation

Water temperature, 80 degrees, blue-glass water, miles of protected marine life and underwater formations, good food, friendly people--that's Bonaire diving. Scuba vacation planners will tell you it's no dream. In fact, Bonaire is where the dreams are written: Scuba Diving Magazine's 2005 Readers’ Choice Awards named Bonaire the Top Caribbean Dive Destination for the third year in a row. Great Adventures at Harbour Village Beach Club can help make the dream come true. The Club offers diving packages, personalized service and instruction for beginners to advanced divers, a snorkeling program including SASY (Supplied Air Snorkeling for Youth) for children ages 5 and up, kayaking & sailing, as well as equipment rental for scuba diving and snorkeling.

With an annual average temperature of 80 degrees, only 22 inches of rain a year, a safe distance from the hurricane belt, and a languorous simplicity to the land, Bonaire easily falls into the category of paradise. But the people are what set Bonaire apart, and not simply because they are a friendly people with a cosmopolitan legacy, but because they realized how important their place of dreams really was and did something about it. In the 1970's they created the Bonaire National Marine Park protecting their coastline from the high-water mark to the 200 foot depth contour. And just to top it off, they set aside nearly 25% of their land, as well, mostly in the Washington Slagbaai National Park which includes the northern coastline.

Well over 80 top diving and snorkeling sites are found off the coastline of Bonaire, mostly off the southwest coast, and around Klein Bonaire, the small island tucked in southwest of Bonaire's crescent-shaped shoreline. Over 355 species of fish have been counted by researchers in the waters around Bonaire. At three meters, Black Durgeon, Blue Tang, Longjaw Squirrelfish, Princess Parrotfish, and Seargent Major fish are common. At ten meters, Peppermint Goby, Tiger Grouper, and Yellowtail Snapper fish add to the list, among many others. And groves of stoney corals protect the island and are protected in return. Fire, Elkhorn, Massive Starlet, and Boulder Brain corals are common. Though Bonaire diving scuba vacations are not usually about wreck diving, a number of smaller wrecks are found around the island including the Hilma Hooker, a drug-runner's vessel that met its fate at the hands of local authorities. It's little wonder that the readers of Scuba Diving Magazine also named Bonaire tops in Marine Life, Shore Diving, Snorkeling, Underwater Photography and Beginner Diving.

Viewing Bonaire's wildlife is a naturalist's dream whether in the sea or on land. Hawksbill turtles, stingrays, peacock flounders, seahorses, angelfish slalom, and groves of elkhorn and staghorn coral are favorites of divers and snorkelers, but Bonaire is known for its birdlife, as well, particularly flamingoes which number in the tens of thousands and can be viewed at Lake Goto Meer in Washington Slagbaai National Park in the north and Pekelmeer Sanctuary in the south, preferably at sunset. Depending on season and migratory patterns during your Bonaire scuba diving vacation, over 170 species of birds including heron, osprey, frigate birds, cormorants, and other marine birds can be seen on Bonaire. And because the island is fairly flat--the highest point, Brandaris Hill, is only 240 meters in elevation--cycling is an excellent way to enjoy the peace and quiet while viewing wildlife and touring the island. Bicycles can be rented locally as can motorbikes.

But don't wake up yet; the dream goes on when the flippers come off. Unlike its sister islands, Aruba and Curacao (all together the three are known as the 'ABC' islands), Bonaire has avoided development pressures and a more hurried lifestyle. With a total population of only 13,000, only two population centers, Kralendijk (pronounced 'Crawl-en-dike' but locally called "Playa", meaning "beach")--and Rincon, plus five small villages, only about 5% of Bonaire's land area is developed. Bonaire is part of the Netherlands Antilles and is located just north of Venezuela. First populated by the Caiquetios Indians, members of the Arawak group that came from Venezuela, the island owes its cosmopolitan heritage, observed in its cuisine and family-devoted life, to the later conquests of the Spanish and Dutch and largely to the infusion of slaves from West Africa. Most people of Bonaire easily switch from Papiamento, the local language thought to be related to the Portuguese Creole spoken in West Africa, to Castilian, Spanish, Dutch, and English.

Starting your Bonaire diving scuba vacation means getting there, and access is fairly easy. Flights from New York, Newark, Atlanta, and Miami to Aruba connect by Air Aruba to Bonaire's Flamingo Airport, minutes from the Harbour Village Club, and from Europe, ALM and KLM both fly from Amsterdam several times a week. Airlines serve Bonaire out of Caracas, Curaçao, Aruba, Jamaica and St Maarten, as well.

A scuba diving vacation in Bonaire is truly a dream, but it's no fantasy, and the staff at Harbour Village Beach Club Bonaire can help make your dream come true.

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