1000 Steps
There are sixty-seven steps, not a thousand; the name is what divers say on the way up with a tank. The stairs lead to a sheltered bay with a broad shallow reef top and a drop-off around ten metres. It is the friendliest of the northern shore dives, and the busiest.
1000 Steps is a beginner shore dive on the north-west coast: sixty-seven steps down to a sheltered bay, a broad reef top at three to six metres and a slope to thirty.
What you see
A wide reef top at three to six metres with finger coral, sea fans and plenty of juvenile fish, easy to snorkel. Past the edge the slope runs to thirty metres with sponges and gorgonians. Turtles graze on the top and tarpon hang along the rim.
When to go
Early in the morning, before the dive schools arrive and while the light still falls at an angle on the shallow reef. Usable all year in easterly wind.
Sixty-seven steps back up with full gear, and that is the whole reputation of this site. The parking strip above the stairs fills quickly. No shade to speak of, no water, no toilet. On busy mornings three groups share the same reef top.
Rules on site
Decisions on diveability, technique and health belong with STINAPA, a dive school or a doctor. This page only describes the conditions.
Context
The steps were cut into the limestone terrace to reach a landing point at the foot of the cliff. The bay is one of the few places on the north coast where the shallow reef is broad enough to snorkel comfortably.
Questions about this site
Nearby
- STINAPA, rules of the Bonaire National Marine Park
- Bonaire.com, dossier 1000 Steps
- Own field observation
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