Reefwander
Close-up of a snail with a cream shell patterned in orange-ringed spots climbing a brown soft coral — Bachelor’s Beach, Bonaire.

Bonaire · Caribbean Netherlands · Reef · Night

Bachelor’s Beach

Easy shore entry onto a sloping reef often dived at night

Photo: laszlo-photo · CC BY 2.0

Bachelor’s Beach is a shore dive on a sloping reef suited to snorkelling and to divers of every level. Its easy entry, sloping bottom and shallow reef make it ideal for night dives, with moray eels, groupers and tarpon among the regular sightings.

Also known as Bachelor Beach.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Bachelor’s Beach: typical dive 6–27 m (20–90 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit6 m27 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

12.1256° N, 68.2881° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.

The dive

A staircase and some rocks lead down to a sandy beach, and the swim out crosses about 70 m to the yellow mooring buoy, anchored at 6 m where the reef begins. From the mooring the reef slopes away, reaching a maximum of 27 m (88 ft).

Along the reef divers meet moray eels, scorpionfish, boxfish, pufferfish, angelfish, trumpetfish, parrotfish, snapper, grouper and lionfish, with tarpon also among the common sightings. The easy entry and shallow reef make it ideal for night diving.

Marine life and season

  • Groupers
Month-by-month season rating for Bachelor’s Beach
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
GoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGood

Season follows Bonaire: The sea stays diveable all year; the water is at its coolest in late December and January.

Dive videos

Diving Bachelor’s Beach Bonaire | The Shore Dive Collection | TropicLens - 4K · TropicLens on YouTube

Questions divers ask

Is Bachelor’s Beach a good night dive?+

Yes. The easy shore entry, the sloping bottom and the shallow reef, which begins at 6 m by the mooring, make it ideal for night diving.

Sources

  1. Bachelor’s Beach (Beyond The Corals House Reef) dive site — PADI
  2. Bachelor Beach (38) — ScubaGo

Photo credits

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