Diving Bonaire without seeing a sea turtle is a disappointment. Although the first 2 visits I didn’t see them, but since then I always do. They are often on the top of the reef, looking for food. Then it is easy to approach them. They look at me with their big eyes, wondering what I will do. Just taking pictures, or movies; watching them eat and swim along side when they go away. Untill they have enough of me, and then it’s “bye, bye, see you next time”.
2 species are common, but they look very much alike. They are the green and the hawksbill sea turtle.
According to Wikipedia these are the main differences:
| GREEN SEA TURTLE | |
| head |
 green sea turtle head round face with 2 scales between eyes |
| carapace | max. 1 m |
| shell plates do not overlap; at the rear smooth and scalloped | |
| food | adults are vegetarian (sea grass and algae) |
| HAWKSBILL SEA TURTLE | |
| head |
 hawksbill head face with a pointed beak and 4 scales between eyes, |
| carapace | max. 90 cm (females) |
| shell plates overlap; at the rear pointed | |
| food | mostly sponges but also other animals and plants |