My husband, two teenage boys and I returned last week from 2 fantastic weeks of diving!
Our trip began in Curacao with our first dive at Ocean Encounter's West. We dove their house reef "Alice in Wonderland" and were very impressed. Very healthy reef and great marine life... saw my first green moray eel! Very cool! We headed topside for a quick lunch and went on OE West's afternoon boat dive to Watamula. Wow.. gorgeous dive! We were with one other couple and had two dive masters.. Again gorgeous coral formations.. a beautiful dive all around and 5 minutes on the boat!
OE West was wonderful to work with, very friendly and knowledgeable. I would have dove more with them but the trip to get to Westpunt from where we were staying was a bit of a drive.
We stayed at Lion's Dive and was pleased with the resort.... except for the construction. I was less than pleased with that aspect upon arrival.... A little pricey for a resort undergoing a facelift in my opinion. Ocean Encounters was also located at the resort and was fine to work with. We only used them to rent tanks and BCDs. The staff was pleasant. We did 2 shore dives from the house reef and wasn't very impressed. I don't know my marine biology to well (yet) but there seemed to be a lot (too much) of algae growth... and not a lot of healthy corals or sponges.
Didn't experience any food that was worth mentioning on Curacao except one... The Indonesian Rijstaffel.... I will admit that I am a picky eater so the strange meats and all that I won't comment on because the rest of the group liked it... However, my son was violently ill all night after eating the eggs. They were boiled and curried.. I knew I shouldn't have let him eat them.. poor kid! We were told to get reservations and on father's day were the only ones in the restaurant until we were leaving. The staff was amazing.. and very nice.. just wouldn't eat there again.
We had a great time in Willimstead... checking out the floating bridge and just cruising around on our no dive day..We visited the Seaquarium and were pleased with our visit. Seaworld with out all of the hipe and a chance to learn a lot if you wish..
We flew Divi Divi Airlines to Bonaire and I have to agree with the opinions before me.. It is a very well ran operation. A little spooky landing.. but a quick 25 minutes and we were there! $40 each way per person... Can't beat that!
Bonaire..... I loved! We stayed at the Carib Inn and will certainly stay there again. The Inn is set up perfectly for diving and is in the middle of the dive sites and close to town... Close enough to walk to a few of the restaurants. Everyone there was very nice and enjoyable to be around. Our rooms were nice sized with kitchens, living rooms and air conditioning. They have a nice pool and a great little dock to giant stride off of! The house reef was nice.
We are fairly new divers so the South end seemed to have overall easier entries for us and they always seemed a bit more colorful. Our favorite was Windsock because we found a pair of seahorses and that was super cool! Magrate Bay was also a favorite as was Angel City. The boys really enjoyed Hilma Hooker as this was our first Wreck and it was pretty neat. I had a huge Tarpon sit and almost pose for me while I took it's picture there. I was also intrigued by the Sergeant Major Fish and how they were circling the hull above these bright purple circles... a mating thing? Chime in if you know what I am talking about!
We also really enjoyed Andrea I on the north side and Weber's Joy. We visited 1000 steps on our no dive day and were kicking ourselves for not doing it. As long as you are sturdy walking with your gear it isn't that bad.
Another note about diving.... we heard mixed messages about whether or not our rubber booties were good enough.. They are not! Unless you have super tough feet, it is much better to get a pair with nice thick soles. I got a killer bruise in the arch of my foot just walking through the dead coral on the beach with my soft rubber booties. We also had a couple of sea urchin pokes.. We only did shore dives and while I loved each one.. my feet were ready to come home after 18 dives!
On that note... the Carib Inn has amazing prices for gear.. and they sell a few different types of booties! Just FYI!
I wasn't expecting the food to be so costly while visiting Bonaire.. but I have to say, at least it was always worth it. I honestly enjoyed every meal I had there. Like I said earlier... I am a picky eater!
We enjoyed a fabulous Barracuda at Wills, a wonderful mixed grill at Chibi Chibi, a great meal at Sunset, and ate at Paradise Moon twice.... the best Fajita Salad EVER! We also LOVED the ice cream... (especially the coconut) at Lover's... and Mike at the Chat n' Browse was very nice to chat with!
We ate in our room for breakfast and most lunches to save money on food...... although the prices at the supermarket are pretty high too. I think I remember someone posting that they packed cereal from home... a great idea.. Wish I would have done that! Another note... beer is pricey too!
If anyone is looking for a fantastic business idea... move to Bonaire and open up a Micro Brewery!
Overall a great trip.... will definitely head back. It was very relaxing being able to dive at our own pace. Hitting the Dive Boats at 8:00 am is not always our thing... especially having teenage boys!
Our trip began in Curacao with our first dive at Ocean Encounter's West. We dove their house reef "Alice in Wonderland" and were very impressed. Very healthy reef and great marine life... saw my first green moray eel! Very cool! We headed topside for a quick lunch and went on OE West's afternoon boat dive to Watamula. Wow.. gorgeous dive! We were with one other couple and had two dive masters.. Again gorgeous coral formations.. a beautiful dive all around and 5 minutes on the boat!
OE West was wonderful to work with, very friendly and knowledgeable. I would have dove more with them but the trip to get to Westpunt from where we were staying was a bit of a drive.
We stayed at Lion's Dive and was pleased with the resort.... except for the construction. I was less than pleased with that aspect upon arrival.... A little pricey for a resort undergoing a facelift in my opinion. Ocean Encounters was also located at the resort and was fine to work with. We only used them to rent tanks and BCDs. The staff was pleasant. We did 2 shore dives from the house reef and wasn't very impressed. I don't know my marine biology to well (yet) but there seemed to be a lot (too much) of algae growth... and not a lot of healthy corals or sponges.
Didn't experience any food that was worth mentioning on Curacao except one... The Indonesian Rijstaffel.... I will admit that I am a picky eater so the strange meats and all that I won't comment on because the rest of the group liked it... However, my son was violently ill all night after eating the eggs. They were boiled and curried.. I knew I shouldn't have let him eat them.. poor kid! We were told to get reservations and on father's day were the only ones in the restaurant until we were leaving. The staff was amazing.. and very nice.. just wouldn't eat there again.
We had a great time in Willimstead... checking out the floating bridge and just cruising around on our no dive day..We visited the Seaquarium and were pleased with our visit. Seaworld with out all of the hipe and a chance to learn a lot if you wish..
We flew Divi Divi Airlines to Bonaire and I have to agree with the opinions before me.. It is a very well ran operation. A little spooky landing.. but a quick 25 minutes and we were there! $40 each way per person... Can't beat that!
Bonaire..... I loved! We stayed at the Carib Inn and will certainly stay there again. The Inn is set up perfectly for diving and is in the middle of the dive sites and close to town... Close enough to walk to a few of the restaurants. Everyone there was very nice and enjoyable to be around. Our rooms were nice sized with kitchens, living rooms and air conditioning. They have a nice pool and a great little dock to giant stride off of! The house reef was nice.
We are fairly new divers so the South end seemed to have overall easier entries for us and they always seemed a bit more colorful. Our favorite was Windsock because we found a pair of seahorses and that was super cool! Magrate Bay was also a favorite as was Angel City. The boys really enjoyed Hilma Hooker as this was our first Wreck and it was pretty neat. I had a huge Tarpon sit and almost pose for me while I took it's picture there. I was also intrigued by the Sergeant Major Fish and how they were circling the hull above these bright purple circles... a mating thing? Chime in if you know what I am talking about!
We also really enjoyed Andrea I on the north side and Weber's Joy. We visited 1000 steps on our no dive day and were kicking ourselves for not doing it. As long as you are sturdy walking with your gear it isn't that bad.
Another note about diving.... we heard mixed messages about whether or not our rubber booties were good enough.. They are not! Unless you have super tough feet, it is much better to get a pair with nice thick soles. I got a killer bruise in the arch of my foot just walking through the dead coral on the beach with my soft rubber booties. We also had a couple of sea urchin pokes.. We only did shore dives and while I loved each one.. my feet were ready to come home after 18 dives!
On that note... the Carib Inn has amazing prices for gear.. and they sell a few different types of booties! Just FYI!
I wasn't expecting the food to be so costly while visiting Bonaire.. but I have to say, at least it was always worth it. I honestly enjoyed every meal I had there. Like I said earlier... I am a picky eater!
We enjoyed a fabulous Barracuda at Wills, a wonderful mixed grill at Chibi Chibi, a great meal at Sunset, and ate at Paradise Moon twice.... the best Fajita Salad EVER! We also LOVED the ice cream... (especially the coconut) at Lover's... and Mike at the Chat n' Browse was very nice to chat with!
We ate in our room for breakfast and most lunches to save money on food...... although the prices at the supermarket are pretty high too. I think I remember someone posting that they packed cereal from home... a great idea.. Wish I would have done that! Another note... beer is pricey too!
If anyone is looking for a fantastic business idea... move to Bonaire and open up a Micro Brewery!
Overall a great trip.... will definitely head back. It was very relaxing being able to dive at our own pace. Hitting the Dive Boats at 8:00 am is not always our thing... especially having teenage boys!
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// ww
