|
|
The Invisibles |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Reviewer |
Site Condition |
||
| Name: | Jim O | Entry: | 
4.00
|
| Email: | Click Here | Bottom: | 
3.00
|
| City: | Grand Junction | Reef: | 
2.00
|
| State: | CO | Animal: |
3.00
|
| Country: | USA | Plant: |
3.00
|
| Diving: | 8 years | Facilities: |
3.00
|
| Dives: | 156 | Solitude: |
3.00
|
| Roads: |
3.00
|
||
|
Evaluation |
*Average: |
2.95 |
|
| I don't know what it is about this site, but I always seem to have an issue here. On my first dive here in 2012 we flat missed the outer reef due to fairly poor viz and just happening to hit an open sand spot between the inner and outer reefs. This time, I was monkeying around with my dive computer the night before and somehow unknowingly set it to default to 50% EAN after each dive! As my nitrox tank was the same concentration from the day before (32) I didn't bother re-entering that value before this dive and when I hit 58' feet my watch started beeping and flashing. So we did a relatively shallow dive. And out of all the sites we dove, I felt this part of Invisibles (inner reef above 60') was the most damaged that we saw out of 14 different sites. Lots of bleaching and mortality on the hard coral and some noticeable damage to the soft coral like black fungi looking spots and decay on the purple tube sponges and other gorgonia species. We just learned on this trip that most sunscreen products are very damaging to the reef systems. This place gets dived a lot and I'm wondering if that isn't part of the issue at many of these sites. Try to buy the non-damaging sunscreen without oxybenzone in your home country as it's expensive in Bonaire! Also noted, if you go back through the past Bonaire reviews on ShoreDiving.com you'll notice how often people mention seeing Green Moral Eels. We did not see a single one on this trip and I've noticed this more recent absence of them in other places like Cozumel, Mahajual and Grand Caymen. I hypothesized that perhaps the morays were eating the lion fish and perishing from the venom? But another diver told me that they suspect a protozoan of some sort that increased in population when...you guessed it...the ocean water temp' got warmer and then stayed warmer. So, we decided to try this site on another day. 3rd time is the charm...yeah? And 25 minutes in I apparently got a lone tentacle from most likely a sea wasp across my neck and chin. Yow! With a recent report of box jellies being seen at Buddy Dive Resort, I didn't waste much time aborting the dive and heading for shore. I reckon I've had my fill of Invisibles but many people love it. | |||
|
Enjoyment Level |
|||
| Snorkel: |
3.00
|
||
| Beginner: |
4.00
|
||
| Intermediate: |
4.00
|
||
| Advanced: |
4.00
|
||
| Night diving: |
4.00
|
||
|
Seasonal Information |
|||
| Season: | Summer | ||
| Year: | 2017 | ||
| Visibility: |
3.00 |
||
| Current: |
3.00
|
||
| Surf: |
3.00 |
||
