The Hilma Hooker is an easy shore dive and a very attractive dive for the less experienced diver. She lies in  105’ to the sand at the southern tip of Bonaire near the salt evaporation beds. Interior access is very open and accessible making this a very safe wreck dive even for the relative novice. After a short swim out from the beach, you swim out to the buoy marking the bow, over the edge of the typical Bonaire dropoff, and there she lies stretched out on her starboard side on a smooth sand bottom. It’s an easy drop down the line to her bow and then you can drift on down to the vertical deck and follow along her length to the first mast which stretches southward into the sand. Just past the mast is an open hold where you can swim through without any danger of being snagged by debris. You will always find the ever present tarpon hanging around the hold as if they consider it their home. You may only find a couple, but usually there are several hanging about like they’re just waiting for their next meal, which, of course is probably exactly what they’re doing as the hull is full of schools of shiners / baitfish.

Next comes the wheelhouse which is an easy swim through with an inquisitive moray that shows up occassionally. The Hooker (as she is affectionately called) was sunk intentionally as a dive site to attract divers to the area which explains why all the tangle and mess from an actual sinking due to mother nature isn’t present. The hull hasn’t yet attracted much in the way of growth except in the midship/ stack area, so the vessel is still fairly clean. While midship, take a swim around the stack before heading on back to the stern where the prop and rudder stick up prominately. In the shot of the stern, it’s possible to see just how close she lies to the edge of the reef dropoff. Also, you can see the buoy line attached to the stern. You can choose to head up this line and follow the reef back to shore, or, if air allows, take the tour along the hull to return to the bow line and end with a safety stop hanging there above the bow. Either way, the Hooker is one of those fun dives that’s a must do when in Bonaire

If you have air and time, the shallows just adjacent to Hooker are a great place to find small critters in the clumps of rock at the upper edge of the dropoff. This past trip to Hooker we found a large area which must have been a rookery for eels. Every pile of coral and rock had a small 18 inch or so eel in or under it.

We actually went back and did a shallow dive on the coral heads just to photograph the small things scattered all over the area.

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