Andrea II

Both North and South diving are impressive! Look for a small entrance to the ocean (or use your GPS), and park on the road. Help your buddy into the easy channel at the left.

My first trip Bonaire. Amazing. Did shore dives at 23 different sites. This started off as a mediocre dive but things got a bit better the more north we got. Ditto to Tom's post below; I also saw a very large sleeping turtle hugging coral in the shallows (28ft). Also saw the largest barracuda of the trip and several Bermuda Chubs (which was my first sighting).

On the plus side, we ran into 2 small turtles at the very beginning of our dive. However, that was it for the highlights. This is a very sandy reef. Conditions were fair, and we did not encounter much sea life during our dive here. Still, parking was easy, and walk to the beach and into the water was flat and not too rocky. Even though this was one of our least memorable dives on the island, it still was a nice relaxing dive.

An OK dive site. Located in a subdivision. Pretty easy entry after a 50m walk from the parking area. Reef in just OK condition. Saw 2 quite large fish.

We stayed at a house on the ocean, Andrea II reef is right off the ladder in front of the house. Needless to say, we dove this site a bunch of times during our week in Bonaire. This is a less traveled site, therefore the reef is alive and beautiful. Abundance of corals, sponges, and neat fish. Saw a couple of squid, eels, tarpon, barracuda, and all the usuals. We were very fortunate to have this beautiful reef right off our ladder.

Very nice...Cowfish, shrimp, all the usual bottom and top feeders. Secluded and no one else there. Saw a diving boat there...a sign it's a great site.

This site is tricky to find, but worth the effort. The road from town turns right away from the ocean then back left parallel with the ocean. Shortly after that left turn is an entrance to a housing development with two yellow stones, one on either site of the entrance gate. These two stones mark the two Andrea sites; slow down or you will miss them. Turn in to the housing development and follow the signs (first right then first left I believe). There is a sizable parking lot within 100 yards of the entry point. Although the road continues past the parking lots, and the gate is down, there is not room to park on the beach and the drop from the end of the road to the soil would probably do damage. The entry route was marked with yellow stones and involved stepping down and around perhaps 10 feet of ledge and rocks. It was easy for us, and we got small, medium, and large cameras in and out without any problem. Divers need to don and doff fins in chest-deep water rather than on shore. The site was quite lovely, with mostly healthy coral, and lots of plant and animal life. The terrain lends itself to photography. Note that the off-the-beaten-path location of this site makes anything left in cars vulnerable; ours was rifled through and we lost a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses and two pairs of black shorts.

You enter this site through a housing development, but the beach itself is still in good condition. There are several thatched cabanas to get out of the sun. Stop at the 'gate' at the top of the hill -- there is a big drop-off at the bottom of the ramp that you might not want to drive over. The entry is pretty easy by the metal post, but you need to watch your footing on the flat rocks. The shallows are totally beat, but the old coral skeletons make for excellent snorkeling among the damselfish and parrotfish that come to graze. One afternoon we swam with two reef squid for several minutes. We also got to see a blue and a rainbow parrotfish here. The reef begins in about 20 feet then slopes off gently to about 50 feet before dropping more steeply. There are lots of coral heads with sand between them. Many whip corals have come back along the reef crest. We used this as an afternoon snorkel or second dive site.

Another relaxing, comfortable site. Park, gear up, walk to the water, dive. In addition to the usual suspects here we saw several turtles.

A short walk to the water where you have to be careful entering. Nothing too hard but a few ankle breaker spots here so go slow and look for the sandy channels between the coral rock. No real reason to dive this spot as the snorkeling is truly lovely. We spent most of our time in the shallows to the north (right) side of the entry. Tons of fish life with large parrot fish in water as shallow as 1 foot! You can't see your car from the water as with most northern sites above town. Yet another great dive in Bonaire with zero need to swim more than 50 yards away from the entry. Of course the drop off is always there if you want to go deeper.

Big Fish, turtles, barracuda, manta!

Dove the last week of March. I was with a group that included both snorkelers and divers and this site was great for both. I was surprised that this was not crowded. The coral starts very shallow so divers should take care to avoid damaging the live coral. We all had a great time, finding many Eyed Flounder among the shallow patch reef. On the reef were many Spotted Drum and Sergeant Majors showing egg guarding color and behavior. We crossed paths with a mixed school of Blue Tang, Surgeonfish with a couple of Trumpet fish hiding in the middle that was busy mobbing patches protected by damselfish. I was surprised to see my first Chain Moray peering at me from under a ledge. It was an enjoyable site for both snorkelers and divers for watching fish behavior.

Dove the last week of March. I was with a group that included both snorkelers and divers and this site was great for both. I was surprised that this was not crowded. The coral starts very shallow so divers should take care to avoid damaging the live coral. We all had a great time, finding many Eyed Flounder among the shallow patch reef. On the reef were many Spotted Drum and Sergeant Majors showing egg guarding color and behavior. We crossed paths with a mixed school of Blue Tang, Surgeonfish with a couple of Trumpet fish hiding in the middle that was busy mobbing patches protected by damselfish. I was surprised to see my first Chain Moray peering at me from under a ledge. It was an enjoyable site for both snorkelers and divers for watching fish behavior.

Current was a bit strong near the shore, but once we got to the reef it was negligible. Cool sights: 3 different groups of squid and my first Barred Hamplet.

Brand new road for fancy houses made this drive easy. Cannot drive onto beach. Easy entry, just watch for the first step - it's slippery. Lots of critters in the reef. Good photo opportunities.

We did a twilight dive entering at Andrea II, going along the reef to Andrea I, then returning at a shallower depth back to Andrea II. Most interesting part of the dive was at safety stop depth, after all the film in the camera had been shot, a 'squid squadron' came along with us for a bit. There is a locked barricade at the boat ramp walls here, but we parked by it and had just a short hike to the entry. You definitely want to pre-scout your entry point before donning your gear here.

Easy walk down the concrete ramp then across a short beach. Buoy is north of the entry point and would be a longer swim. We swam straight out to the reef. Nice site with numerous spotted drum in all growth phases. We dove this site in the early afternoon and it got quite crowded when a dive boat moored at Andrea I and we started crossing paths with the boat divers.

Did this dive solo about dusk. Felt very safe and enjoyed watching the fish get ready for night. Just before dark all activity had ended except for the soft coral waving in the surge. Surfaced to a great sunset that the wife had captured on film. One of the best areas to park on Bonaire.

Good dive--always saw a wide variety of fish. I was attacked by a couple of aggressive 3-spot damselfish while taking a picture of a spotted moray. Felt something nipping at my fingers, jerked back, and was amused to see the little damselfish defending their territory. They kept hassling me until I finished my photos and left. This is the only site where I saw Midnight Parrotfish or a West Indian sea egg.

This is really one of the best sites of Bonaire. Reef and plants are in perfect condition, a lot of fish and for the advanced divers... it's a double reef. A good advice for you ... don't start your dives on this site... keep it for later. Start your dives in the North and come to the South. South diveplaces are the most beautiful and the easiest to get in. This site is also the best for nightdives.

Very easy entry and a very nice reef to dive. A good variety of marine life. Will do it again.

Park at end of road at gate to what looks like a boat ramp. Easy access, lots of good coral and fish.

What a wonderful experience we had at Andrea II! We figured it would be a 'sleeper' site since it was out of the way and nobody really talked about it. Were we wrong! First of all, you have to travel back roads and dirt roads to get here, but any car can make it. There was a yellow marker on the side of the road (just like all the other sites on Bonaire-what a place!), so it was actually easy to find. Getting into the water was easy. There was a little current, so we swam into it first-then the fun began. Two turtles swam right by us. A large barracuda watched us from a distance (and we watched him!). A large Spotted Moray. The coral was pristine I suppose because not many divers make it here. You are only about 2km from town, so it seems pretty safe to dive here. I'd still ensure nothing of value is left in your car, so you don't tempt any passersby. Take lots of water with you, you can see from the pictures theres nothing there. I've got a new underwater camera, so I'll probably make this my first dive the next time I come back.