Playa Funchi

Cool note

The dive can be done either to the left or right. Neither direction will disappoint! Sand and coral greet you at the water's edge! The protected cove always makes for an easy entry. Parking can either be up above or down at the beach level. The shade trees are to the left.

Dove here the end of Oct. 2008. There was a strong surf and a strong current. Had to work hard and I ran our of air quite quickly. The dive site is in Washington Slagbaai National Park. It is a very nice dive, but not for beginners.

Long drive to the site over rough roads and $10/person park admission fee. The road down to the entry point is also now heavily erroded. I dove this site in June 1999 and again in October 2003. The entry changed significantly in that time (hurricane Lenny?). It now has a very rough entry from beach errosion and a long swim to the reef with nothing to see except sand and dead coral debris on the way. The reef is heavily coated with silt and damaged from storms. Marine life was less abundant than almost any other site we dove on Bonaire. After you finally swim out of the cove, the current is stronger here than most other Bonaire sites. Unless you are touring the park and just want a place to get wet, I don't recommend making the trip to this site. The best things I can say is that thievery and crowds are no problem.

It is a long drive ( 2 hours ) on rough road through the park to reach this site. You need to leave out early and have a full tank of gas and lots of water to drink. There are no facilities at this site. There is a small beach with no crowds and it is sandy and flat and makes for an easy entry. The swim out is short maybe 100 yards and there is coral and small tropical fish in the shallows; this would also be a good snorkeling location. The reef is a wall that starts at maybe 40' from surface and goes down to deep blue. Lots of brain and other coral, lots of sponges including long pink tubes are all around. We saw plenty of colorful tropical fish and a couple of maybe 6 foot green morays. Also saw a big turtle and several rays. Everything looked healthy as far as coral and plants. The dive was easy with only a very slight current the day we were there. Visibility was 100' or there about. The swim out and back were easy and there was a lot of stuff to see in the shallows with brain coral, sea fans and a good variety and quantity of fish. The beach is small and in a cove so you need to watch the current and time your swim so you come back to the same spot you started from for your swim back to the beach.