Bonaire Trip Report & Intro.

[tiggrr]

Wow! That was a really great trip report!

(even though I am super depressed...our trip was 3 weeks ago )

Yea, the mosquitos were insane. I was spraying myself at night because there always seemed to be 1 or 2 dive bombing my head while laying in bed. We were getting in soo late and having to hang gear....was hard to keep them out.

I liked your giant stride pic!!

 

[DiverKKC]

nice trip report. Just so you know, I think your "grouper" was a Cubera Snapper.

 

[drrich2]

Thanks, DiverKKC; very good to know. I've seen plenty of yellow-tailed snappers, but I'm not familiar with the snappers, and 'grouper' was the closest thing I could think of when I saw this fish, given it's size. Aside from the size it reminded me a bit of a school master or some sort of grunt (I saw more blue-striped grunts this trip than last, I think), but the size difference was so prominent. I googled the Cubera Snapper you noted and I see they can get very large.

Richard.

 

[DiverKKC]

You're welcome, Richard. The same thing happened to me on my first trip to Bonaire. I was doing a night dive on the Front Porch tugboat, and descended to see a very large grouper-like fish at the bow that stayed with us the whole dive. It looked between 4 and 5 feet long, had a slight copper-tinge to it with pale vertical barring, thick lips and visible teeth.

When i surfaced I told a dive buddy, an experienced dive master, it looked like a snapper but didn't think they got that big. He corrected me and told me it was a very large Cubera Snapper, the biggest he had ever seen. I've seen quite a few since, but none that size (or even close).

That was my 3rd night dive, quite a treat.

Heading back to Bonaire in June. I think I'll hit that night dive again, just for the memories

 

[Pembina]

nice trip report. Just so you know, I think your "grouper" was a Cubera Snapper.

Did you see the Cubera Snapper at Capt Don's Reef? We were there 3 weeks ago and on our first day we saw a group of 3 and then a short while later saw 2 more. It was the only dive that we saw them and it was our orientation dive and did not have our camera with us so no lasting memories. Oh well, I guess that is excuse #47 as to why we need to return.

Excuse for return list (in progress)
#1 see Kenny & Margaret again at Coral Paradise Resort
#2 dive Hilma Hooker (I was a wimp and afraid of the entry)
#3 tour Washington Slagbaai Park (ran out of time)
#4 collect some of the 1 cent and 5 cent Guilders to make into buttons for a shirt.
#5 improve my underwater photography

to be continued later . . . .

 

[tiggrr]

Did you see the Cubera Snapper at Capt Don's Reef? We were there 3 weeks ago and on our first day we saw a group of 3 and then a short while later saw 2 more. It was the only dive that we saw them and it was our orientation dive and did not have our camera with us so no lasting memories. Oh well, I guess that is excuse #47 as to why we need to return.

Excuse for return list (in progress)
#1 see Kenny & Margaret again at Coral Paradise Resort
#2 dive Hilma Hooker (I was a wimp and afraid of the entry)
#3 tour Washington Slagbaai Park (ran out of time)
#4 collect some of the 1 cent and 5 cent Guilders to make into buttons for a shirt.
#5 improve my underwater photography

to be continued later . . . .

#6 Go to Pizza place

 

[DiverKKC]

Did you see the Cubera Snapper at Capt Don's Reef? We were there 3 weeks ago and on our first day we saw a group of 3 and then a short while later saw 2 more. It was the only dive that we saw them and it was our orientation dive and did not have our camera with us so no lasting memories. Oh well, I guess that is excuse #47 as to why we need to return.

Excuse for return list (in progress)
#1 see Kenny & Margaret again at Coral Paradise Resort
#2 dive Hilma Hooker (I was a wimp and afraid of the entry)
#3 tour Washington Slagbaai Park (ran out of time)
#4 collect some of the 1 cent and 5 cent Guilders to make into buttons for a shirt.
#5 improve my underwater photography

to be continued later . . . .

The huge one was on the Front Porch tug (at night), but that was a couple of years ago. I saw a few smaller ones at other sites, but forget which. I had no camera, of course :depressed:

 

[tiggrr]

#7. UV Night Dive

 

[tiggrr]

#8 Subsidize trip by carrying other divers gear up and down 10,000 steps for $

 

[tiggrr]

#9 Watch Sun come up over Hilma Hooker



Wow!! You really have to go back!! You should take me with you.....