Just returned from a week in Bonaire. We were there 1-3 to 1-9. Dove 6 days with Capt Dons and stayed at Coral Paradise. The diving and stay was very enjoyable. This was our fourth trip and this was a family trip with my wife and our 19 and 22 year olds and all four of us dove. Our kids were certified on Bon in 2009.
Flight: We flew United from Newark. Fly times better than in past. Scheduled departure 8:55 AM EWR and 3:30 PM Bon. Much better than the redeye schedule. Could not believe how small the seats and spaces have become in economy and no food unless you pay. Only real negative of the flight though was that my 6 cu ft pony was not in my bag in Bon. It must have been removed in Newark. Not sure why as I have traveled with it before (no valve attached). I filed a lost item report while in Bon and will be filing a missing item from checked luggage claim tomorrow.
Accommodations: 4th time staying at Coral Paradise. Vincent, Caroline and Louise are doing a wonderful job running the place. Nice improvements since our last visit - new rinse tanks and gear lockers storage area with a shower and grill with covered cooking and eating area out by the pool big pluses. It is so nice also to be picked up at the airport and pick up the rental truck at CP eliminating that step at the airport.
Food: We made a trip to Van Den Tweel and picked up food for all our breakfasts, some of our lunches and a dinner. We dined out at Bobbijans, La Guernica, Rain Fishes, Mona Lisa, and Rum Runners. We enjoyed all our dinning out. We also hit Mi Banana for a lunch and enjoyed it as well. Someone from SB suggested Mi Banana and the food was very good. Pan seared red snapper with creole sauce, rice, plantains and small salad for $16.25. Not sure I would have found it or stopped in without the recommendation on SB. Thanks.
Diving: We dove through Capt Dons with 6 days unlimited shore diving and 6 boat dives each. My daughter and I dove nitrox. Orientation, getting park passes and some rental gear took about 30 mins Sun morning and we were in the water diving by 10 AM. The wind was up before our arrival and through Sat and Sun but improved for the rest of the week. Water temps were a consistent 77 which was fine but we were hoping for warmer. Dove with a 3/2 Shortie and either a long sleeve rash guard, 1 mil Bare hooded vest or all three. Vis was down to about 60' but improved and some sites better than others. We may have had 80'-100' at some sites and some dives during the week. The fish/marine life was more abundant than on past trips which is notable as Bon always seems to have a ton.
We dove Klein sites and Karpata and Country Garden by boat and Andrea 1, Windsock, Invisibles and Salt Pier by truck and the house reef at Capt Dons to Buddy’s and Cliff and Small Wall many times. 20 dives this trip.
Enjoyed Salt Pier more than I expected. Dove it at the end of the day around 5 PM and the sun in the West lit up the piers from behind. Very nice. On the return in the shallows we came across turtles scrapping in the hard pan bottom with their fins. Not sure why. Looked like they were feeding but not sure what they were eating. They seemed oblivious to us and we watched them until we were just about out of air.
Had another similar experience at Windsock. We dove this site at 5:30 and we had the beach and dive site to ourselves. Shortly after we started our dive near the solitary piling we encountered an octopus swimming above the corals. It also seemed oblivious to our presence and ended up watching and following him around for 20 minutes. Amazing creatures. Swimming using its jets. Settling on the bottom, changing its colors, shape and textures. Pic colors off as I mistakenly left the camera on land mode. Will try to correct later.
Some photos attached. Hope to return in 2018.
Flight: We flew United from Newark. Fly times better than in past. Scheduled departure 8:55 AM EWR and 3:30 PM Bon. Much better than the redeye schedule. Could not believe how small the seats and spaces have become in economy and no food unless you pay. Only real negative of the flight though was that my 6 cu ft pony was not in my bag in Bon. It must have been removed in Newark. Not sure why as I have traveled with it before (no valve attached). I filed a lost item report while in Bon and will be filing a missing item from checked luggage claim tomorrow.
Accommodations: 4th time staying at Coral Paradise. Vincent, Caroline and Louise are doing a wonderful job running the place. Nice improvements since our last visit - new rinse tanks and gear lockers storage area with a shower and grill with covered cooking and eating area out by the pool big pluses. It is so nice also to be picked up at the airport and pick up the rental truck at CP eliminating that step at the airport.
Food: We made a trip to Van Den Tweel and picked up food for all our breakfasts, some of our lunches and a dinner. We dined out at Bobbijans, La Guernica, Rain Fishes, Mona Lisa, and Rum Runners. We enjoyed all our dinning out. We also hit Mi Banana for a lunch and enjoyed it as well. Someone from SB suggested Mi Banana and the food was very good. Pan seared red snapper with creole sauce, rice, plantains and small salad for $16.25. Not sure I would have found it or stopped in without the recommendation on SB. Thanks.
Diving: We dove through Capt Dons with 6 days unlimited shore diving and 6 boat dives each. My daughter and I dove nitrox. Orientation, getting park passes and some rental gear took about 30 mins Sun morning and we were in the water diving by 10 AM. The wind was up before our arrival and through Sat and Sun but improved for the rest of the week. Water temps were a consistent 77 which was fine but we were hoping for warmer. Dove with a 3/2 Shortie and either a long sleeve rash guard, 1 mil Bare hooded vest or all three. Vis was down to about 60' but improved and some sites better than others. We may have had 80'-100' at some sites and some dives during the week. The fish/marine life was more abundant than on past trips which is notable as Bon always seems to have a ton.
We dove Klein sites and Karpata and Country Garden by boat and Andrea 1, Windsock, Invisibles and Salt Pier by truck and the house reef at Capt Dons to Buddy’s and Cliff and Small Wall many times. 20 dives this trip.
Enjoyed Salt Pier more than I expected. Dove it at the end of the day around 5 PM and the sun in the West lit up the piers from behind. Very nice. On the return in the shallows we came across turtles scrapping in the hard pan bottom with their fins. Not sure why. Looked like they were feeding but not sure what they were eating. They seemed oblivious to us and we watched them until we were just about out of air.
Had another similar experience at Windsock. We dove this site at 5:30 and we had the beach and dive site to ourselves. Shortly after we started our dive near the solitary piling we encountered an octopus swimming above the corals. It also seemed oblivious to our presence and ended up watching and following him around for 20 minutes. Amazing creatures. Swimming using its jets. Settling on the bottom, changing its colors, shape and textures. Pic colors off as I mistakenly left the camera on land mode. Will try to correct later.
Some photos attached. Hope to return in 2018.
