Dive 14 – Hilma Hooker
98 ft/34 minutes
98 ft/34 minutes
Surface Interval: 1:07
Long-ass swim to the Hooker.
Lots of life around the wreck, a school of at least 8 tarpon inside, and
a spotted eagle ray feeding in the sand channel just beyond the wreck.
A drawing of the Hilma Hooker, courtesy of Mares.com
From numa.net:
She sailed under five aliases, carried an illegal cargo and was wanted by the FBI. Built and christened the Midsland in Holland in 1951, she visited a host of foreign ports while changing owners frequently over 30 years. She also sailed at the Mistrial, William Express, Ana, Doric Express and, finally, the Hilma Hooker. Her last port of registry was San Andres, Columbia, South America. The 236-foot freighter was heading north from San Andres in 1983 when it experienced steerage problems near Bonaire. The captain maneuvered his ship to the island and tied up at the Town Pier, but failed to navigate through customs. He had no papers to declare the vessel’s port of departure or designated port of entry. Local authorities red-flagged it, then ran it through Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization) as a prime suspect for drug trafficking. Both Interpol and the FBI had been tracking the vessel for months, the latter dubbing it “a designated drugger.” Sure enough, a fine-tooth comb search uncovered 25,000 pounds of marijuana stowed in bales behind a false bulkhead. Bonaire’s customs agents had themselves a sting and shipwreck aficionados had a new dive site. In 1984, after dive operators and volunteers diligently prepped her for sinking, the Hilma Hooker was put down off the southeast cost of the island. She came to rest on her starboard side in 60 to 95 feet of water and is heralded today as one of Bonaire’s premier dive sites.
She sailed under five aliases, carried an illegal cargo and was wanted by the FBI. Built and christened the Midsland in Holland in 1951, she visited a host of foreign ports while changing owners frequently over 30 years. She also sailed at the Mistrial, William Express, Ana, Doric Express and, finally, the Hilma Hooker. Her last port of registry was San Andres, Columbia, South America. The 236-foot freighter was heading north from San Andres in 1983 when it experienced steerage problems near Bonaire. The captain maneuvered his ship to the island and tied up at the Town Pier, but failed to navigate through customs. He had no papers to declare the vessel’s port of departure or designated port of entry. Local authorities red-flagged it, then ran it through Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization) as a prime suspect for drug trafficking. Both Interpol and the FBI had been tracking the vessel for months, the latter dubbing it “a designated drugger.” Sure enough, a fine-tooth comb search uncovered 25,000 pounds of marijuana stowed in bales behind a false bulkhead. Bonaire’s customs agents had themselves a sting and shipwreck aficionados had a new dive site. In 1984, after dive operators and volunteers diligently prepped her for sinking, the Hilma Hooker was put down off the southeast cost of the island. She came to rest on her starboard side in 60 to 95 feet of water and is heralded today as one of Bonaire’s premier dive sites.
Dive 15 – “Honey Hole”
106 ft/46 minutes
Surface Interval: 6:10
Unnamed dive site we named “Honey Hole” just south of Invisibles. The entry was next to a small-ish (think 2’ square) concrete block next to the road. Easy sand entry with a long-ass swim to the wall. At depth was a sand channel with an “Island” of coral that was 105’ at the sand and rose to 65’. VERY cool. 3 Lionfish in a small area, lots of fishes, holes, etc. Crossing back over the sand channel (populated with Garden Eels) we found a MASSIVE Green Moray – at least 5-feet long and very girthy. Also saw a large spiny lobster in a large cavity behind a coral head.
We thought we had discovered a new kick butt dive site but later on I found it in the book, listed as “The Rock” (rather than the normal yellow painted rock, there was a rock stack on the shoulder of the road marking the site).
We thought we had discovered a new kick butt dive site but later on I found it in the book, listed as “The Rock” (rather than the normal yellow painted rock, there was a rock stack on the shoulder of the road marking the site).
Mr. Green Moray
Dive 16 - The Cliff
113 ft/40 minutes
113 ft/40 minutes
Dusk dive. We entered
down a cobbly beach into uneven substrate difficult to maneuver with the
surge. Decent dive, but nothing super special.
