Diving in Bonaire: what Lac Bay really offers, and where to shore dive

On May 23, 1980, Lac Bay was entered on the Ramsar Convention list of wetlands of international importance, under the name Lac Baai. One year earlier, in 1979, Bonaire had created its national marine park, entrusted to the STINAPA foundation.

These two dates say a lot about this lagoon in the southeast of the island. It features seagrass beds, mangroves, and windsurfing much more than scuba divers.

Our former page promoted Lac Bay as a great “double reef” diving site. We have completely revised it with texts from STINAPA, Ramsar, and NOAA.

Can you really dive at Lac Bay?

Yes, but Lac Bay remains a shallow bay made up of seagrass beds, mangroves, and beaches, bordered offshore by a fringing reef. STINAPA lists diving, snorkeling, windsurfing, and kayaking there. The most advanced scuba diving takes place on the outer reef, on the east side, which STINAPA reserves for advanced divers accompanied by an experienced guide.

The rule appears on STINAPA’s diving page (consulted on October 3, 2026). It is the windward coast, exposed to the trade winds. The word “advanced” is written in black and white, and the foundation recommends attempting these dives only with a guide who knows the coast. Our old text spoke of a “double reef.” We searched all official sources consulted for this update without finding it, so we removed it.

The current decides more than the photo.

Within the lagoon itself, the calm and shallow water is suitable for snorkeling. However, a bay does not become a diving site just because it is turquoise from the air, and no one should book a dive at Lac Bay expecting to find the drop-offs of the west coast. For real shore diving, look elsewhere on the island.

What do the Ramsar zone and STINAPA protect at Lac Bay?

The Ramsar sheet for Lac Baai describes a shallow bay with dense seagrass beds, bordered by mangroves, over 1,550 hectares. An extension in 2021 added a 500-meter buffer zone covering the fringing reefs. STINAPA presents this mangrove as the largest in the Dutch Caribbean.

The mangrove serves as a nursery for juvenile reef fish. The harvesting of queen conch, once practiced in the bay, is now prohibited according to STINAPA, which also cites green turtles, flamingos, and frigatebirds among the species on the site. The queen conch is that large Caribbean shell. Their presence does not guarantee any encounters. And the mangrove is retreating slightly: a Wageningen University report published in June 2025 estimates it at about 222 hectares in 2021-2022, compared to about 239 hectares between 1961 and 1996.

The named threats are concrete.

The Ramsar sheet identifies overgrazing by livestock as the most significant threat because it accelerates the silting of the bay and disrupts water circulation, which feeds algal blooms and the decline of mangroves. The Wageningen report adds the massive arrivals of sargassum, intermittent since 2018. In short, your kayak and fins arrive in an environment already under pressure.

What marine park rules apply to your diving?

Lac Bay is part of the Bonaire National Marine Park, managed by STINAPA. Every park user must pay the nature fee, valid from January 1 to December 31, and each diver starts with a mandatory orientation dive upon arrival. Gloves are prohibited. Contact with wildlife is also forbidden, as is any collection.

NOAA already described this framework in 2008. The park has existed since 1979, a paid badge is required from each diver, and an orientation on the rules, with a supervised check dive, precedes the first immersion. The badge then cost 25 dollars. The bonaire.com guide indicates 40 dollars per person per year (page consulted on October 3, 2026), to be verified on STINAPA’s official payment portal before your departure.

STINAPA Rule	What it means for you
Mandatory nature fee	Paid online, at a center or STINAPA office, for the calendar year
Orientation dive	Mandatory upon arrival, before your shore dives
No gloves or knee pads	Medical exemption possible through STINAPA
No contact or collection	Nothing is touched, nothing is taken, even if dead
Disposable glow sticks prohibited	Bring a real flashlight for night dives
“Reef-safe” sunscreen	Without oxybenzone or octinoxate

Two marine reserves, Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander, are closed to diving. STINAPA also temporarily closes sites affected by the hard coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD). Thus, the list of open sites may change during your stay. Ask for it at your orientation dive. For choosing sunscreen, our guide on non-toxic coral-safe sunscreen details the filters to avoid.

We find these rules reasonable, and they align with what we explain on why you should never touch marine life.

Where to shore dive in Bonaire according to your level?

On the west coast, sheltered from the trade winds, where the fringing reef starts almost at the shore. In 2008, NOAA counted more than 60 site markers and over 100 mooring buoys maintained by the rangers. The level depends on the site, the targeted depth, and the day’s conditions.

For what level? This question matters here because when shore diving you often manage your entry, navigation, and exit yourself, without a boat to pick you up if you drift. Take the wreck of the Hilma Hooker, sunk on September 12, 1984, according to the Dutch heritage database MaSS. It rests on a sandy plateau at 30 meters, its top at 18 meters. This profile requires training adapted to the depth and a precise briefing, and your center will decide on site if it suits you.

However, our former page classified sites as “for beginners” and others “for experts” without any source.

We removed this classification. No official document consulted gives the required level site by site, so it is impossible to decide from here. The orientation dive is precisely for that. Ask your questions after the dive about the exit, the day’s swell, and the return landmark. On a shallow water site, STINAPA recommends a safety sausage to be seen by boats, and our sheet on the dive safety sausage explains its use.

How to organize your day at Lac Bay without choosing the wrong activity?

Reserve Lac Bay for what it really offers: windsurfing from Sorobon, kayaking in the mangrove, and snorkeling in calm water. Save your scuba dives for the west coast, or for a guided outing on the east coast if your level and the sea conditions allow.

Regarding kayaking, STINAPA sets some simple rules. Do not feed any animals. Do not step on any living thing when getting out of the kayak, neither coral, nor sponge, nor seagrass. Residents can paddle in the blue, yellow, and green zones of the lagoon, and the official page does not detail the framework planned for visitors. Ask the operator which zone they use and if they are authorized to enter it.

But a day on the east coast must be prepared like a sea outing.

The wind that delights windsurfers also makes the windward coast rougher. If the swell closes the outer reef, your fallback plan is the sheltered sites on the west, on the other side of the island. To compare with other islands where shore diving dominates, see our dossier on diving in the Cayman Islands or on diving in the Bahamas Exumas. And if a mask is enough for you, our best snorkeling destinations set expectations at the right level.

The concrete cost of this choice comes down to half a day: booking a scuba dive at Lac Bay based on a photo means paying for an outing that will show you neither the west coast nor the outer reef. Would you book it like that?

FAQ

Is Lac Bay a good scuba diving site?

The lagoon is a shallow bay of seagrass and mangroves, better suited for snorkeling, kayaking, and windsurfing. The outer reef is on the east coast, which STINAPA reserves for advanced divers, preferably with an experienced guide.

Do you have to pay to dive or snorkel in Bonaire?

Yes. The STINAPA nature fee is mandatory for all users of the marine park, divers or not, and is valid for the calendar year. The bonaire.com guide indicated 40 dollars per person as of October 3, 2026, to be confirmed on the official portal.

Is the orientation dive mandatory?

Yes. STINAPA requires an orientation dive upon arrival. It presents the park rules and allows you to ask questions about the sites, entrances, and temporary closures.

Since when has Lac Bay been protected?

The Bonaire National Marine Park has existed since 1979, and Lac Baai has been on the Ramsar list since May 23, 1980. A 2021 extension added a 500-meter buffer zone around the fringing reefs.

Sources

• Bonaire: A Model in Reef Sustainability (NOAA Ocean Explorer, 2008)
• Lac Baai (Ramsar Convention, site sheet designated in 1980, extension 2021)

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