Angel City

Max depth 64. Dive time 58 minutes. Inner reef churned up from recent storms. Outer reef great viz. Coral is very healthy. Lots of Chromis and large yellow snapper.

Looking North, the entrance is well marked. The reef shelf is just meters from the entry. Swim beyond the edge, over the sandy channel, and enjoy the wonder of the second reef as it drops off into the abyss! You will seldom find more than a car or two parked here. An on-looker wonders why she didn't get scuba certified when she had the chance!

This was our 'did this last but should have done it first' dive site. We were a little intimidated by the reports of difficult entry; but, it really wasn't too bad. The bottom is only 60'. The kick out is relatively short for the double reef dives. The reefs are close and there are some easily recognizable landmarks. In fact, the whole site is like a playground. You don't need to cover much north-south distance. Instead you can just swim around in figure eights just checking things out. The rare fish sightings were low; but, the fantastic reef formations more than made up for this.

My first trip Bonaire. Amazing. Did shore dives at 23 different sites. This was absolutely beautiful and definitely my favorite of the 'double reef' dives. The two reefs do intersect (unlike the Lake) so it can be a bit disorienting. Just make sure to surface before return to align yourself. The shallows at the outer reef are only 30-40ft deep and breathtaking, so I spent much of the dive there.

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Slightly tricky entry and exit. Take it slow and avoid the urchins and loose coral. Really beautiful coral formations on the double reef system. Sharptail eel, very large queen angelfish stonefish were some highlights. The spot was extremely popular the day I visited with 13 divers entering as I was exiting.

A beautiful example of the double reef system. Just beyond the inner reef, a road-wide sand chute separates the outer reef. This site is loaded with interesting coral humps and a variety of sea life. We saw black durgons as well as our first turtle. Entry and exit were deceptively more difficult than expected. It doesn't look like it should be too challenging, but the coral rubble and mild-looking surf is trickier than it might appear. We got a little bruised and battered exiting this site, plus it's difficult to gauge a precise exit point (we ended up exiting closer to the Hilma Hooker than where we put in). All in all, a beautiful dive, just be prepared for a trickier than expected entry and exit.

A bit of a challenging entry due to rocky formations creating holes at entry along with surf. Mooring at 15ft and drop-off about 20. Lots of sea fans and sponges. Double reef @ 60 ft. Not very secluded because it is right next to Hilma Hooker.

We returned to one of our favorite sites for a two-dive morning. This entry is always interesting, since you have to cross a series of flat rocks full of holes. The surf was up a bit this year, and my wife slipped in knee-high surf and took us both down. The swim out to the drop-off is not terribly long. We headed straight out to the outer reef on our first dive. It is covered with large brain and star corals and tube sponges, with many large fish. You can then cross back over to the inner reef on the return. We like this site since the two reefs are close together and there is a large coral pillar by the mooring that is easy to recognize for your return. Just use your compass to return to the exit point. We swam north on the inner reef during our second dive until we could see the outline of the Hilma Hooker. The inner reef has good corals and lots of fish also. We probably saw our largest queen angelfish here.

Easy dive, but long swim out to the drop-off. Swim over to the other part of the double reef and see some massive coral formations. A large school of black durgons swam near us on our dive. A compass would be useful to find your way back to your exit point. Swimming the wrong way could mean a longer swim or a long walk back to your car.

This is one of our most favorite sites in Bonaire. Easy access and a scenic, winding network of sand channels. We usually do it in the afternoon as a two-tank dive. During the surface interval we drive to the bay for a quick refreshment at Jib city, then back for the second dive. A compass may be handy here because it's easy to lose track of which way the shore is!

This was probably our favorite dive. This is on the double-reef system, and shows the best parts of the southern reefs. Parking is easy; the entry is a little challenging on slippery, flat rock in the surf. The swim over the sand is uninteresting due to the hurricane, but it is worth it once on the inner reef at about 25 feet. This reef has good coral growth and many soft corals, with the usual abundant fish. The short swim over to the outer reef was easy, since we could see the two while over the sand. Outer reef has very healthy and large coral and slopes off on the seaward side. Many fish are present here. Return is easy when you find the mooring buoy.

As other have said, this is a great location with an easy entry but as always, watch out for those small rocks when entering as they are very easy to slip and trip on. You can clearly see the double reef system separated by a small sand channel. Very nice choice for a long, shallow dive or especially for snorkelers and the reef is very healthy, as well as packed with life. Watch for the lettuce leaf sea slugs in the sand channel before the drop off. We counted more than 20 in one small area! Spotted Drum City could be another name for this site! Park next to the water's edge and in ya go! Couldn't be easier to enter unless the beach was covered in sand instead of small coral rubble and smooth rocks but you will find a sandy bottom about 25 yards from your car if you park close enough to the water. Pretty typical entry along this stretch of southern Bonaire. We accidentally left our keys and dry box in the rental truck on this dive. Oopsie! No problems, though.

This was my favorite dive of the trip. The inner and outer reefs are separated by only 10 to 20 feet of sand. Some cool sights: Juvenile Spotted Drum, two of the biggest French Angelfish I've ever seen, and Banded Coral Shrimp. There are lots of smooth stones in the shallows - watch where you're stepping in!

I used independent doubles to do a dive combining Angel City and the Hilma Hooker in one dive (my petite wife managed this on a single tank). This was a suggestion from Bas at Photo Tours, and it was a great idea. Swam out to the further reef of the Angel City site, then criss-crossed along it until a large chain appeared diagonally across the reef. Swam toward shore following where the chain pointed until the Hilma Hooker appeared out of the depths - awesome! The fish life & reef health of the outer reef at Angel City was very impressive.

This was probably our very favorite dive. Always saw lots of fish: tarpon, jolt head porgy, eels, queen and French angels, rock beauties, blue tangs, bar jack, French grunts and blue stripe grunts, black margate, schoolmaster, yellowtail snapper, damselfish, sergeant majors, trumpet fish, wrasse, Spanish hogfish, blue head, blackbird soldier fish, sand divers, goatfish, porcupine fish, cowfish, trunkfish, spotted drum, black durgeon, filefish, etc., etc. We especially like the outer reef. Very pretty corals, lots of fish of all varieties, and it's shallow enough that you can do a long dive.

Enjoyable double reef, with a lot of brain coral formations, in the 10 meters of sand between reefs, lots of fish. Good dive for beginners or intermediate.

Nice dive. Saw a turtle and lots of fish.

This was a fantastic early morning dive. The bottom just at the entry had a few more holes than I remember. Lots of fish life and coral is healthy.

One of my favorites. Dove it twice on this trip. Double reef system with large hard coral formations. Lots of tropicals in and around hard coral formations. Saw several large Angel fish enroute to exit first dive. Bottom between the 2 reefs is sand about 80 to 90 ft deep; makes this dive a good dive when in the mood for easy, relaxing dive. Outstanding dive for beginners and intermediates. Entry and exit was easy. Short swim to drop off from entry point. Easy to find. Parking area close to entry point. Good visibility on both dives.

Pre-Lenny. In my log book I have this listed as the best dive I had done to date. Fabulous double reef system lots of fish and coral was healthy. Nobody at the site! I hear that Lenny didn't do much damage here; fingers crossed that's true for my return in 2002.

Great Dive