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One of the biggest attractions to Bonaire is its crystal clear water
and beautiful coral reefs. Coral reefs are complex associations of living animals. Stoney corals are the major reef builders, they look like brown/green colored rocks. The tiny animal, called a polyp, extracts calcium from seawater and deposits this beneath itself as a limestone
skeleton. The polyps of one coral head are all linked together into one giant colony. The limestone structures produced by stoney corals provide a home to lots of tiny bottom dwelling animals as well as the array of reef fish that swim above the reefs.
Bonaire and Klein Bonaire (the little island just off the coast) are
surrounded by one almost continuous fringing reef. A shallow and narrow terrace slopes down from the shoreline to a depth of 30 feet (10m) and then drops, typically at an angle of 45 degrees, to depths of 130 feet (40m). There are variations to this, like vertical walls and double reef formations - which are both incredible to dive on.
We have been diving A LOT since we arrived. The visibility has been anywhere from 70 feet to
over a 100 feet. We have pictures of most everything we have seen, except the spotted eagle rays. There are 96 named dive sites on Bonaire and Klein Bonaire, and we will never be able to do them all in this trip.
A lot of our friends
just got certified to Scuba Dive while here in Bonaire. The first picture is that group, on their first dive with us,
after the certification process. Ken on
Second Wind was one of those newly certified. He took a bunch of us out on his boat, to the north coast of Bonaire for a first dive, and then to Klein for the seconc dive. Here is Mike and Kim after the second dive on the steps of
Second Wind and in the water . (Photos of Ken and Mike and Kim are courtesy of
Second Wind.)
The following photos are from our dives (courtesy of Mike).
Midnight Parrotfish and Trumpet Fish
Spanish Hogfish and Blackbar Soldier Fish
Stoplight Parrotfish, Terminal
Phase and Porcupine Fish
French Angelfish and Queen Angelfish
Three spotted Damselfish from different angles. It might be hard to spot in the picture to the right, look in the center of the picture.
Barracuda - they are very territorial and curious. We have seen many here and throughout the Caribbean. They will watch you and sometimes approach you out of curiosity, but will turn away before getting too close.
Turtle - we have seen many turtles here in Bonaire. This is the only one we could photograph. This one was also unafraid, he just let us swim with him and watch him.
We have put night diving pictures in the next update. Bye for now, Mike and Kim submerged in Bonaire :))
Here are some pictures from night dives in Bonaire. This dive was the reef that lies just behind our boats on the mooring balls. 
These pictures are Trumpet fish that are trying to hide in the coral. They stay upside down and swing with the current.
Here is a picture of a squid. Kim had her light on it and it was just swimming straight into the light.
are huge fish that are very curious and will approach you at night. The one we saw at night is to the left. We also saw some in the daytime, to the right, in one spot we saw a school of about 7. They also sometimes just lay in the water motionless.
are huge fish that are very curious and will approach you at night. The one we saw at night is to the left. We also saw some in the daytime, to the right, in one spot we saw a school of about 7. They also sometimes just lay in the water motionless.
Eels just swim about at night, or stick their head out of the coral to catch their prey.
Here is a little reef crab, Mike spotted.
In this picture, look to the top - center/right and you can see two fire worms. 
