Page 29 - The Dutch Caribbean Isles

The ability to scuba dive 24 hours a day on Bonaire with unlimited
shore diving costing $175 per week; makes this magical island our
favorite place to scuba dive. Bonaire rightfully deserves the name
on its license plate “Divers Paradise”.

B onaire had a small full time population of The Eastern side of the island that touches the
approximately 3,000 people until the 1960s. water line looks like an uninhabitable mass of
Even today the island has a full time population rocks, boulders and coral. Nothing can grow in this
of only 14,000. There still is not a stop light on the desolate landscape where land meets the ocean.
island and takes us back to a time that has long It is the lack of sand that is the key to this mag-
been forgotten, except in the smallest towns in nificent underwater biosphere. The lack of sandy
modern industrialized countries. A set of circum- beaches is one of the factors that has allowed
stances and geological forces came together by the coral reefs to flourish. The topography of the
chance to create this enchanted island with its island changes as we travel from South to North.
world renowned coral reef ecosystem and amaz- The Southern half of the island is an expanse that
ing sea life. barely rises 5 feet above the waters edge. Massive
salt evaporation ponds occupy this area from
Bonaire has very few sandy beaches and a rocky which salt is harvested.
shoreline, mostly comprised of coral. Because
it is a desert island there is little or no farming and The island is home to a massive scuba diving
thus no fertilizer pollutant runoff into the ocean infrastructure and has two of the top twenty
that is a reef killer. The historical small population rated scuba diving facilities in the world, Buddy
resulted in little to no sewage being pumped into Dive and Captain Don’s Habitat that are located on
the surrounding waters and the abundant coral adjacent properties.
reef ecosystem that surrounds the entire island.