ReefSeason BETAPrologue
Hilma Hooker
A dive briefing · Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands

Hilma Hooker

Dive site in the Bonaire National Marine Park, which covers all waters around Bonaire and Klein Bonaire from the high-tide mark to 60 m depth. Here's what has been recorded at this site month by month, how the region’s reefs have weathered ocean heat, and how to prepare.

Bonairewreck
At this site Hilma Hooker · Agavette · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Hilma Hooker Keith and Rudder
Chapter I · Arrival

Hilma Hooker: dive site in the Bonaire National Marine Park, which covers all waters around Bonaire and Klein Bonaire from the high-tide mark to 60 m depth.

12.104° N68.290° W · OpenStreetMap · node/635881808
2,471open records · GBIF
216+species recorded
At this site Hilma Hooker Keith and Rudder · amanderson2 · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
II

Entry

Hilma Hooker Keith and Rudder

Shore and boat entries vary by site. We list only rules we can cite from official sources; entry points, depths and currents will be added once we can verify them.

To verifyDepth range, entry points and current notes. We publish them only with a citation. The coordinates mark the site in general, not a mooring or entry point.
Local rules (cited)
  • The Bonaire National Marine Park covers all waters around Bonaire and Klein Bonaire from the high-tide mark to 60 m (200 ft) depth. STINAPA Bonaire
  • Strict no-anchoring policy inside the marine park. Shore sites are marked with yellow stones and boat moorings are yellow buoys. STINAPA Bonaire
  • The STINAPA nature fee is mandatory for all users of the marine park and is valid per calendar year (Jan–Dec). STINAPA nature fee
  • Stony coral tissue loss disease has been detected on Bonaire. STINAPA asks everyone to disinfect gear before the first and after the last dive of a trip, and to avoid touching, gloves and pointer sticks. STINAPA Bonaire
  • STINAPA says Washington Slagbaai Park remains closed for diving. None of our Bonaire sites are inside that park. STINAPA Bonaire

At this site Hilma Hooker Keith and Rudder · amanderson2 · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

▶
Captain's footage: Hilma Hooker
[video slot · coming soon]

The surface noise falls away.

Reds go first. The world turns blue-green.

Then Hilma Hooker rises to meet you.

Hilma Hooker
IV

What lives here, by month

Pick a month. These are the species most often recorded within about a kilometre in that month, from open survey records.

Oct
October · 75 qualifying records
Life calendar · records per month for this site's most-recorded species (blank means not in that month's top list)
SpeciesJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Schoolmaster Snapper
Stoplight Parrotfish
Trumpetfish
Decorated Splitfin Goby
Threadnose bass
Bluehead Wrasse
Foureye butterflyfish
Blue Tang
Smooth trunkfish
Threespot Damselfish
Yellowhead Wrasse
Ember Goby

Most-recorded species, all months

  1. Schoolmaster Snapper (23)
  2. Stoplight Parrotfish (23)
  3. Trumpetfish (22)
  4. Decorated Splitfin Goby (20)
  5. Bluehead Wrasse (17)
  6. Threadnose bass (17)
  7. Foureye butterflyfish (16)
  8. Smooth trunkfish (15)
  9. Blue Tang (15)
  10. Threespot Damselfish (14)
  11. Yellowhead Wrasse (13)
  12. Brown Chromis (13)
  13. Great Star Coral (12)
  14. Lettuce Coral (12)
  15. Mustard Hill Coral (12)
  16. Ember Goby (12)
  17. Giant Caribbean anenone (11)
  18. Royal Gramma (11)
  19. Longtail Bass (11)
  20. Queen Parrotfish (11)

GBIF.org (2026-10-14), occurrence records within ~1 km, licensed CC0 or CC BY 4.0 only. Birds and land animals are excluded. Counts reflect survey effort, not abundance. 2,471 qualifying records. See them on GBIF. Common names: Wikidata (CC0) / GBIF. Species photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited with each species.

V

Forty-one summers of heat

Each stripe is one year since 1985, colored by its peak heat stress across NOAA's “Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire” region. These are NOAA Coral Reef Watch satellite figures for the whole region, not for this one site.

19852026
Reef health report · Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire

Heat stress, measured from orbit.

Degree Heating Weeks · 2026-10-131.3°C-weeks · NOAA status: Bleaching Warning

NOAA CRW virtual station “Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire”. NOAA's alert thresholds are 4 °C-weeks (Alert Level 1) and 8 °C-weeks (Alert Level 2). Station page · Method. Credit: NOAA Coral Reef Watch.

Peak per year · dashed lines at 4, 8 and 16 °C-weeks
The past twelve months
VI

Conditions

Average sea temperature through the year. Check the live readings before you go.

Average sea surface temperature by month: NOAA CRW “Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire” station climatology (monthly means).

Meteorological Department Curaçao · marine forecast →

Buoy readings are measurements; forecasts are models. Use them for planning only, and assess conditions on site. Depth and visibility data aren't listed until we can cite a source.

VII

Plan & prepare

  1. Read the official marine forecast the night before.Offshore, wind and sea state decide the day.
  2. Check the cited local rules above and pay any park fee before you dive.[Placeholder: verified operator list to come]
  3. Study this month's species above.You'll recognise more when you know the names.
  4. Hands off, fins up, buoyancy dialled. Log what you see.Your sightings can become tomorrow's open data.

Credits

Coordinates
OpenStreetMap node/635881808 · source · ODbL. OpenStreetMap (ODbL) dive-site nodes, cross-checked by name against the STINAPA Bonaire National Marine Park dive-site list.
Species records
GBIF.org, CC0 & CC BY 4.0 records. By license: CC_BY_4_0: 1,899, CC0_1_0: 572
Dataset
EOD – eBird Observation Dataset · doi:10.15468/aomfnb (1,258 records) · GBIF
Dataset
iNaturalist Research-grade Observations · doi:10.15468/ab3s5x (641 records) · GBIF
Dataset
NMNH Extant Specimen Records (USNM, US) · doi:10.15468/hnhrg3 (273 records) · GBIF
Dataset
NMNH Material Samples (USNM) · doi:10.15468/jb9tdf (213 records) · GBIF
Dataset
Programme CROMIS: carnet de plongée en ligne de la FFESSM-Observations d'espèces subaquatiques collectées par les utilisateurs de CROMIS · doi:10.15468/63ju7z (32 records) · GBIF
Dataset
Birda - Global Observation Dataset · doi:10.15468/6kud7x (18 records) · GBIF
Dataset
INSDC Sequences · doi:10.15468/sbmztx (15 records) · GBIF
Dataset
Collection of symbiotic copepods associated with Caribbean invertebrates · doi:10.15468/7seoi4 (5 records) · GBIF
Query
https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/search?decimalLatitude=12.09375,12.11375&decimalLongitude=-68.30012,-68.28012&license=CC0_1_0&license=CC_BY_4_0&taxonKey=44&taxonKey=206&taxonKey=229&taxonKey=136&taxonKey=225&occurrenceStatus=PRESENT&limit=0
Heat stress & SST
NOAA Coral Reef Watch, 5 km Regional Virtual Station “Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire”
Hero photo
At this site Hilma Hooker · Agavette · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Arrival photo
At this site Hilma Hooker Keith and Rudder · amanderson2 · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Gallery
5 photos, credited under each image
Species photos
Wikimedia Commons, credited with each species. Full list: Data & sources