Bonaire’s Salt Pier

Back when Bonaire became the high point of diving destinations in the Caribbean, there were two man-made structures received a lot of attention by divers as the “place to go” for day and night dives. The first was the Town Pier located on the waterfront of downtown Kralendijk. The other is a massive 600-foot-long loading pier owned by the Cargill North America which operates salt mining operation down on the island’s southern end.

Some of the typical forms of marine life that are known to dwell below Bonaire’s Famed Piers.

By day the Town Pier’s L-shaped wharf would come across as something not particularly impressive but a night the concrete pilings covered orange cup corals would come alive in bright orange hues. But that was only the beginning of it as those same pilings with their heavy growth of sponges and corals served as shelter to a menagerie of invertebrates and small fish. Due to the increase in boat traffic, the Town Pier is pretty much off-limits to scuba diving. Fortunately, Bonaire’s Salt Pier down south is still very much open for business.

Bonaire’s Salt Pier remains one of my favorite dives on the island. It has been only a few years since I saw it last, but the