Ol' Blue / Boka di Tolo

Ol' Blue, also called Boka di Tolo, is a bay on Bonaire's northwest coast about thirty minutes' drive from Kralendijk, on the road that runs north towards Karpata and the national park.

It is one of the easier entries on this stretch: the coral bank shelves smoothly instead of dropping over ironshore, so you can walk in with fins in hand rather than pick your way down. The reef starts close and there is enough to see in five metres of water that snorkellers get as much out of it as divers.

Mornings are calmest — by afternoon the swell picks up on this coast and the entry stops being easy. Look for the yellow stone by the roadside; every public dive site on Bonaire is marked that way and this one is easy to drive past. There is nothing here: no shade, no water, no toilet, and the nearest shop is back in town. Free beyond the nature fee. An hour in the water, two hours all in.