Red Slave is the hardest shore dive on Bonaire and the only one where the answer is more often no than yes. At the southern point the currents meet and there is surf on the coast; if the water is not flat, the dive does not go ahead. Those who catch it dive the most pristine reef on the island.
Red Slave is a shore dive for experienced divers at the southern point: a reef top at six to eight metres in exceptional condition, a slope to forty metres, strong current and surf — flat water only.
A reef top at six to eight metres with dense hard coral in exceptional condition, dropping steeply beyond forty metres. Large schools of jacks hang in the blue and tarpon and barracuda hunt there. Black coral bushes and vase sponges stand on the slope.
Only in flat sea and manageable current, and that is a handful of days a month. Judge the water on the spot, not beforehand, and accept that calling it off is the normal outcome.
Strong current that can turn during the dive. Surf at the entry and a coast that offers no easy exit. No development, no traffic, no help nearby. Do not dive here without experience of current and without a plan for the exit.
Decisions on diveability, technique and health belong with STINAPA, a dive school or a doctor. This page only describes the conditions.
The red obelisk by the entry once marked where the ship should moor for the red batch of salt. A little further on stand the salt workers' huts and the Willemstoren lighthouse, the southernmost building on the island.
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