When is the best time to dive Bonaire?

Conditions barely change across the year at Bonaire, so any month works — pick on wildlife or price.

When is the diving season in Bonaire?

There is no real season in Bonaire: conditions barely change, so you can dive any month.

Is the diving in Bonaire good for beginners?

Yes. It suits Open Water divers, so it works for a first trip after certification.

How warm is the water in Bonaire?

Between 27 and 29 °C at the surface across the year, coldest in February and warmest in October. It runs cooler below the thermocline.

What wetsuit do I need in Bonaire?

A 3 mm full suit covers the coldest water of the year. In the warmest months a skin or 3 mm shorty is enough.

What is the visibility like in Bonaire?

Roughly 15 to 30 m depending on the month. That is estimated from satellite chlorophyll-a rather than measured in the water.

What will I see diving Bonaire?

The most consistently recorded species are Green turtle (near-guaranteed), Spotted eagle ray (near-guaranteed) and Hawksbill turtle (near-guaranteed), from 1,352 records within 60 km.

Does Bonaire get tropical storms?

Yes. Over 30 years of records a storm passed within 250 km in Jun–Nov, most often in September at 4 of 30 years.

Is there current in Bonaire?

The tide rises and falls 0.4 m around the full and new moon, against 0.2 m in between. How much of that becomes current depends on the shape of the channel.

How do you dive Bonaire?

Mostly from the shore. Trips run through the season, Dec–Apr.

Caribbean

Best Time to Dive in Bonaire

12.12°N 68.30°W

What draws people is Bonaire's shore-diving fringing reef. It is there all year, and the conditions barely move either, so any month works.

Best time: Any month
Water: 27–29 °C
Visibility: 15–30 m
Dived from: shore diving
Tidal range: 0.2–0.4 m
Species logged: 7

Worth knowing: 63% of days see seas over 1 m.

Where it is

Caribbean

111 km across · coastline from Natural Earth 10m

Diving in Bonaire — monthly breakdown

Conditions do not vary here

Conditions barely change across the year, so no month beats another — pick on wildlife or price.

A year of scuba diving conditions at a glance. Hover a month to isolate it.

Month by month conditions, water temperature, visibility and marine life
	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
Conditions	Even	Even	Even	Even	Even	Even	Even	Even	Even	Even	Even	Even
Water temp (°C)	27	27	27	27	27	28	28	29	29	29	29	28
Visibility (m)	20–30	20–30	20–30	20–30	20–30	20–30	20–30	15–25	20–30	20–30	20–30	20–30
Marine life	Steady	Steady	Steady	Steady	Steady	Steady	Busy	Busy	Steady	Busy	Steady	Steady

Excellent Good Moderate PoorSame all year

Long-term averages, 2016–2025. Visibility is estimated from satellite chlorophyll-a. Water temperature is the surface mean; it is cooler at depth.

The Bonaire diving season

1 seasons

Good all year

12 months

JFMAMJJASOND

Water temperature: 27–29 °C
Visibility: 20–30 m
Rain: 13 days a month

Diving conditionsExpect some swell. Rain is frequent topside.

Water temperature is satellite sea-surface temperature, so expect it cooler below the thermocline.
Visibility is estimated from satellite chlorophyll-a.

Bonaire water temperature and weather

1,352 underwater observation records · 28 surveyed years of ocean data · 10 years of sea temperature

Water & weather

Bonaire water temperature by month

The dashed line is the monthly average. Eight days in ten fall inside the band.

10th to 90th percentile rangemonthly mean

rough days a month

Seas top 1.0 m on 65% of days. Enough to cancel a shore entry

blowy days a month

Gusts over 40 km/h, about where a day boat stays in port

wet days a month

1 of them bring heavy rain

Monthly sea state, wind, rain, air temperature and daylight
Month	Swell	Gusts over 40 km/h	Wet days	Heavy rain	Air	Daylight
January	1.5 m	6%	14	0	28 °C	11.4 h
February	1.6 m	10%	13	0	28 °C	11.6 h
March	1.6 m	10%	11	0	29 °C	11.9 h
April	1.5 m	4%	9	0	29 °C	12.3 h
May	1.6 m	14%	8	0	30 °C	12.6 h
June	1.6 m	8%	13	0	30 °C	12.7 h
July	1.4 m	2%	14	0	30 °C	12.6 h
August	1.2 m	2%	13	1	30 °C	12.4 h
September	1.2 m	0%	9	1	31 °C	12.1 h
October	1.3 m	2%	16	2	30 °C	11.7 h
November	1.5 m	0%	21	3	29 °C	11.4 h
December	1.4 m	1%	18	1	29 °C	11.3 h

Swell is the rough end of the month: nine days in ten come in under it. Sea temperature covers 10 years, waves 4.

Pick your week

48 weeks from the daily record. Darker is better, against this site's own year. Pick a month for the detail.

Conditions by week, four weeks per month

Week 1	January week 1: Moderate	February week 1: Moderate	March week 1: Moderate	April week 1: Moderate	May week 1: Moderate	June week 1: Moderate	July week 1: Moderate	August week 1: Moderate	September week 1: Moderate	October week 1: Moderate	November week 1: Moderate	December week 1: Moderate
Week 2	January week 2: Moderate	February week 2: Moderate	March week 2: Moderate	April week 2: Moderate	May week 2: Moderate	June week 2: Moderate	July week 2: Moderate	August week 2: Moderate	September week 2: Moderate	October week 2: Moderate	November week 2: Moderate	December week 2: Moderate
Week 3	January week 3: Moderate	February week 3: Moderate	March week 3: Moderate	April week 3: Moderate	May week 3: Moderate	June week 3: Moderate	July week 3: Moderate	August week 3: Moderate	September week 3: Moderate	October week 3: Moderate	November week 3: Moderate	December week 3: Moderate
Week 4	January week 4: Moderate	February week 4: Moderate	March week 4: Moderate	April week 4: Moderate	May week 4: Moderate	June week 4: Moderate	July week 4: Moderate	August week 4: Moderate	September week 4: Moderate	October week 4: Moderate	November week 4: Moderate	December week 4: Moderate

Excellent Good Moderate PoorBest week to go: fourth of February

January, week by week

Week	Conditions	Water	Swell	Wind	Rain chance
Week 1	Moderate	27 °C	1.3 m	31 km/h	56%
Week 2	Moderate	27 °C	1.4 m	31 km/h	50%
Week 3	Moderate	27 °C	1.6 m	32 km/h	47%
Week 4	Moderate	27 °C	1.5 m	32 km/h	38%

February, week by week

Week	Conditions	Water	Swell	Wind	Rain chance
Week 1	Moderate	27 °C	1.5 m	33 km/h	40%
Week 2	Moderate	27 °C	1.7 m	36 km/h	49%
Week 3	Moderate	27 °C	1.7 m	34 km/h	48%
Week 4	Moderate	27 °C	1.4 m	31 km/h	39%

Week	Conditions	Water	Swell	Wind	Rain chance
Week 1	Moderate	27 °C	1.4 m	31 km/h	34%
Week 2	Moderate	27 °C	1.5 m	32 km/h	34%
Week 3	Moderate	27 °C	1.6 m	33 km/h	38%
Week 4	Moderate	27 °C	1.6 m	33 km/h	38%

Week	Conditions	Water	Swell	Wind	Rain chance
Week 1	Moderate	27 °C	1.5 m	33 km/h	31%
Week 2	Moderate	27 °C	1.5 m	33 km/h	24%
Week 3	Moderate	27 °C	1.4 m	32 km/h	28%
Week 4	Moderate	27 °C	1.4 m	32 km/h	31%

Week	Conditions	Water	Swell	Wind	Rain chance
Week 1	Moderate	27 °C	1.7 m	34 km/h	29%
Week 2	Moderate	27 °C	1.7 m	35 km/h	26%
Week 3	Moderate	27 °C	1.6 m	36 km/h	21%
Week 4	Moderate	28 °C	1.5 m	34 km/h	23%

Week	Conditions	Water	Swell	Wind	Rain chance
Week 1	Moderate	28 °C	1.6 m	34 km/h	29%
Week 2	Moderate	28 °C	1.6 m	35 km/h	41%
Week 3	Moderate	28 °C	1.7 m	35 km/h	49%
Week 4	Moderate	28 °C	1.6 m	34 km/h	49%

Week	Conditions	Water	Swell	Wind	Rain chance
Week 1	Moderate	28 °C	1.5 m	34 km/h	48%
Week 2	Moderate	28 °C	1.5 m	33 km/h	48%
Week 3	Moderate	28 °C	1.4 m	33 km/h	47%
Week 4	Moderate	28 °C	1.4 m	32 km/h	40%

Week	Conditions	Water	Swell	Wind	Rain chance
Week 1	Moderate	28 °C	1.3 m	32 km/h	40%
Week 2	Moderate	29 °C	1.2 m	32 km/h	45%
Week 3	Moderate	29 °C	1.2 m	31 km/h	41%
Week 4	Moderate	29 °C	1.3 m	30 km/h	35%

September, week by week

Week	Conditions	Water	Swell	Wind	Rain chance
Week 1	Moderate	29 °C	1.3 m	30 km/h	32%
Week 2	Moderate	29 °C	1.3 m	29 km/h	26%
Week 3	Moderate	29 °C	1.1 m	28 km/h	25%
Week 4	Moderate	29 °C	1.1 m	28 km/h	36%

October, week by week

Week	Conditions	Water	Swell	Wind	Rain chance
Week 1	Moderate	29 °C	1.2 m	28 km/h	47%
Week 2	Moderate	29 °C	1.3 m	29 km/h	47%
Week 3	Moderate	29 °C	1.3 m	28 km/h	52%
Week 4	Moderate	29 °C	1.4 m	27 km/h	61%

November, week by week

Week	Conditions	Water	Swell	Wind	Rain chance
Week 1	Moderate	29 °C	1.4 m	26 km/h	64%
Week 2	Moderate	29 °C	1.6 m	27 km/h	72%
Week 3	Moderate	29 °C	1.5 m	28 km/h	75%
Week 4	Moderate	29 °C	1.4 m	29 km/h	66%

December, week by week

Week	Conditions	Water	Swell	Wind	Rain chance
Week 1	Moderate	28 °C	1.4 m	30 km/h	58%
Week 2	Moderate	28 °C	1.3 m	30 km/h	55%
Week 3	Moderate	28 °C	1.3 m	31 km/h	56%
Week 4	Moderate	28 °C	1.3 m	31 km/h	62%

10 years of daily records, averaged into weeks.

Gear & storms

What to wear

Off the coldest water of each month, not the average — that is what the suit has to cope with.

Wetsuit thickness by month
	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
Suit	January: 3 mm	February: 3 mm	March: 3 mm	April: 3 mm	May: 3 mm	June: skin	July: skin	August: skin	September: skin	October: skin	November: skin	December: skin

Jan–May3 mm full suit
Jun–Decskin or 3 mm shorty

Swell through the year

The rough end of each month — nine days in ten come in under it.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Amber is over 1.0 m.

Tides

Daily tidal range across one lunar month.

Tropical storms

4 of the last 30 Septembers saw a tropical storm pass within 250 km. Anything has been recorded Jun–Nov.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Share of the last 30 years with a storm that month.

NOAASea surface temperature, from OISST and MUR
ERA5Wind, waves, rain and air temperature, via Open-Meteo
OBISMarine species records within 60 km
IBTrACSTropical cyclone tracks, 1996 to 2025

Bonaire marine life — what you'll see diving

1,352 records within 60 km

Species	When	Reliability	Evidence	Records
Green turtle	All year	Near-guaranteed	19/28	513
Spotted eagle ray	All year	Near-guaranteed	18/28	63
Hawksbill turtle	Jul–Aug, Oct	Near-guaranteed	18/28	544
Southern stingray	All year	Near-guaranteed	17/28	46
Loggerhead turtle	Jun, Aug	Hit-or-miss	4/28	128
Bottlenose dolphin	Apr, Jun–Aug	Hit-or-miss	5/28	11
Yellowfin tuna	Jan	Hit-or-miss	4/28	11

Peak Present

Observed window: Months with records. Peak is where most of them fall.
Reliability: Near-guaranteed in 60% of surveyed years or more
Likely 30% to 60%
Hit-or-miss under 30%
Evidence: Years it was seen, out of the years anyone surveyed.
Records: OBIS sightings within 60 km.

These are sightings people logged, not a full survey of the reef. A species missing from a month may just mean nobody recorded one.

Diving Bonaire — common questions

When is the best time to dive Bonaire?: Conditions barely change across the year at Bonaire, so any month works — pick on wildlife or price.
When is the diving season in Bonaire?: There is no real season in Bonaire: conditions barely change, so you can dive any month.
Is the diving in Bonaire good for beginners?: Yes. It suits Open Water divers, so it works for a first trip after certification.
How warm is the water in Bonaire?: Between 27 and 29 °C at the surface across the year, coldest in February and warmest in October. It runs cooler below the thermocline.
What wetsuit do I need in Bonaire?: A 3 mm full suit covers the coldest water of the year. In the warmest months a skin or 3 mm shorty is enough.
What is the visibility like in Bonaire?: Roughly 15 to 30 m depending on the month. That is estimated from satellite chlorophyll-a rather than measured in the water.
What will I see diving Bonaire?: The most consistently recorded species are Green turtle (near-guaranteed), Spotted eagle ray (near-guaranteed) and Hawksbill turtle (near-guaranteed), from 1,352 records within 60 km.
Does Bonaire get tropical storms?: Yes. Over 30 years of records a storm passed within 250 km in Jun–Nov, most often in September at 4 of 30 years.
Is there current in Bonaire?: The tide rises and falls 0.4 m around the full and new moon, against 0.2 m in between. How much of that becomes current depends on the shape of the channel.
How do you dive Bonaire?: Mostly from the shore. Trips run through the season, Dec–Apr.