Jersey
Contributor
Back from 2 weeks doing the dive-drive package in 1 bedroom condo. Normally we do Bonaire mid -late March, but Easter messed up schedule with higher airfare and otherscheduling issues. Highlites of the trip here and Ill post additional infowith other tidbits and/or interesting bits. This was our 8th straight late Winter/Spring trip.
Travel no issues anywhere, thankfully. Delta (PHL-ATL-BON)on time, all bags made it, planes mostly full, not a ton of time betweenconnections, but enough to grab a bottle of water and a pre-made sandwich.Buddy staff met us at arrival, took our bags, bussed us over. We completed the forms on the plane and check intook minutes. Return was smooth, cleared customs easily, not much to declare. Ithought ATL was eliminating the reclaiming and rechecking bags after clearingcustoms but that was not the case.
Accommodations nicely renovated 1 ground floor bedroom, more thanadequate appliances, full size fridge with cold water in door, well stocked pots pans dishes, largebath with dual sinks (thankfully as my buddy hates to find my long hairs in hissink). Comfortable king bed with 100% cotton sheets and spread. AC worked well, no breaker tripping when running the AC, microwave and fridge. Large patiow/ table and chairs, we wrapped clothes line around a couple Adirondack chairsnext to our patio allowing us to lay out wet stuff to dry.
Diving first week had some strange strong winds andcurrents, second week winds died down, current dropped and visibility increaseddramatically. Air temps mid 80's, bottom temp started at 82, dropped to a chilly 81 by end of second week. We did only 19 dives over 2 weeks, 13 boat, mostly to Klein. Wehave now visited every open dive site on Klein by managing to get to the 3 sites(Ebos Reef, Ebos Special and Bonaventure) we had left. Special thanks to somecooperative Dive Masters and other divers on the boat for allowing us our folly! Longest 1:12, shortest:33, deepest 81 fsw, most averaged the 50 60 ft range. Fills wereconsistently between 2850 3100 psi, nitrox mix between 30 -32% with one fillat 34%. Couple leaky o-rings, but nothing significant, did hear an o-ring blowon a boat. More on sites and sightings later.
Dining we cook in about half the time. We brought somemeat, rice and spices complimented by shopping at The Wharehouse, Bonaire FoodGroup (a Sams Club version of Van den Tweels) and Zeong Kong. Dining outincluded Plaza Limena carpaccio, mixed grill and Peruvian beers; Casablanca mixed grill; Mi Banana(twice) half a chicken, pommes frittes and veggies for$9.50 plus $2 Polars and Dulche de Leche cake; Mona Lisa and Cappriccio for fine cuisine andfab wine lists; Red Dragon (Zeong Kong Plaza) enough food to eat in plus 2 more dinners and2 lunches; and Buddy Dive Friday night bar-b-que roast suckling pig andmultiple passes of a 5-6 foot Manta Ray. Buddys breakfast is sufficient enoughthat we nosh a bit of cheese, sausage, bread, crackers and fruit on the patioduring lunch/surface intervals.
In all a fabulous 2 weeks, never enough time and sitting here wondering why I came home.
Travel no issues anywhere, thankfully. Delta (PHL-ATL-BON)on time, all bags made it, planes mostly full, not a ton of time betweenconnections, but enough to grab a bottle of water and a pre-made sandwich.Buddy staff met us at arrival, took our bags, bussed us over. We completed the forms on the plane and check intook minutes. Return was smooth, cleared customs easily, not much to declare. Ithought ATL was eliminating the reclaiming and rechecking bags after clearingcustoms but that was not the case.
Accommodations nicely renovated 1 ground floor bedroom, more thanadequate appliances, full size fridge with cold water in door, well stocked pots pans dishes, largebath with dual sinks (thankfully as my buddy hates to find my long hairs in hissink). Comfortable king bed with 100% cotton sheets and spread. AC worked well, no breaker tripping when running the AC, microwave and fridge. Large patiow/ table and chairs, we wrapped clothes line around a couple Adirondack chairsnext to our patio allowing us to lay out wet stuff to dry.
Diving first week had some strange strong winds andcurrents, second week winds died down, current dropped and visibility increaseddramatically. Air temps mid 80's, bottom temp started at 82, dropped to a chilly 81 by end of second week. We did only 19 dives over 2 weeks, 13 boat, mostly to Klein. Wehave now visited every open dive site on Klein by managing to get to the 3 sites(Ebos Reef, Ebos Special and Bonaventure) we had left. Special thanks to somecooperative Dive Masters and other divers on the boat for allowing us our folly! Longest 1:12, shortest:33, deepest 81 fsw, most averaged the 50 60 ft range. Fills wereconsistently between 2850 3100 psi, nitrox mix between 30 -32% with one fillat 34%. Couple leaky o-rings, but nothing significant, did hear an o-ring blowon a boat. More on sites and sightings later.
Dining we cook in about half the time. We brought somemeat, rice and spices complimented by shopping at The Wharehouse, Bonaire FoodGroup (a Sams Club version of Van den Tweels) and Zeong Kong. Dining outincluded Plaza Limena carpaccio, mixed grill and Peruvian beers; Casablanca mixed grill; Mi Banana(twice) half a chicken, pommes frittes and veggies for$9.50 plus $2 Polars and Dulche de Leche cake; Mona Lisa and Cappriccio for fine cuisine andfab wine lists; Red Dragon (Zeong Kong Plaza) enough food to eat in plus 2 more dinners and2 lunches; and Buddy Dive Friday night bar-b-que roast suckling pig andmultiple passes of a 5-6 foot Manta Ray. Buddys breakfast is sufficient enoughthat we nosh a bit of cheese, sausage, bread, crackers and fruit on the patioduring lunch/surface intervals.
In all a fabulous 2 weeks, never enough time and sitting here wondering why I came home.