Hilma Hooker
- August 12, 2025
- Rated 4 of 5 by
Tate from Santa Barbara, California
Bonaire is a regional hub and port for many boats traveling between S and N. America, and it is especially friendly to oil tankers, which stop at the BOPEC facility on the island's north end. Because of the traffic, there is a good coast guard.
In the early 1980's, the coast guard intercepted a cargo ship off the coast of the island and discovered it filled with marijuana. They were at loss to know what to do with it, so they burned all the weed on board the ship, and from local lore, they burnt it all off the windward side of the island. Which means, of course, that the whole populous went to beaches there and got high from second hand smoke. That's the going urban legend. At any rate, the boat was eventually disposed of (read: sunk) off the leeward side of the island in about 100 feet of water in order to create yet another diving attraction.
The Hooker is relatively devoid of marine life, but none-the-less it's always a trip to be diving inside the hull of the boat. When I was there I became narced, at 100 feet, following my diving buddies through little tiny holes drilled to connect all the parts of the hull. Since the boat is upturned around 100 degrees, I became completely disoriented and a little spooked, especially since we had kicked up so much silt and debris off the surface of the ship and I couldn't see anything.
After you tour the innards of the ship, check out the props and rudders, and you'll probably also see a few schools of jacks which tend to hang out on the Hooker. Some of the fish in these schools grow to be quite large.
All in all, the Hooker makes for a great outing. Just be careful!
From journal Desert Island Diving