Bonaire, What did you wish you knew before you went?

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divemonkey33

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Basically the title says it all. What did you wish you knew before you got there that you discovered? Like on the last day you found this great place to eat or there is a tour of some remote place. More of the hidden jems of Bonaire, and less of the well known that is on every website about Bonaire.
 
I wish I knew about Dos Pos walk years ago. This walk is an incredible experience. This is a clip from my website:

Hikers will be thrilled with the diverse options. One such hike, Ruta Dos Pos, takes you through the wild countryside of Bonaire on well marked trails. The trail is for intermediate hikers and takes 1-1.5 hours. The trail takes you past a fruit plantation, Dos Pos--the local water source for neighboring farmers, and a myriad of animal life. If you are quiet, you will catch a glimpse of the wild pigs locally known as porko di mondi. See Watapana trees, a massive Tamarind tree, and some amazing rocks and geological formations. Cactus is plentiful with many varieties seen on this hike. In the distance near the peak you may see Lake Goto. Listen to the songs of the small chuchubi bird or the squawking prikichi.
 
1. - don't fly through Curacao
2. - have dog treats for the strays
 
To be honest, my first dive at Salt Pier was kinda blah compared to an average reef dive. The second time we went around 3:30pm when the sun had everything lit from the right angle and it was a 500% better dive.
 
Do the park. Get tanks, bring beers, dive the park - while touring the park. Make a day of it. Eat at the restaurant in said park.
 
Bring bug spray. DEET or what ever the most toxic (but safe) product you can find.
The no see um's and mosquito's suck.
 
A few of mine might sound negative but here goes.

I wish I had known in advance about the visibility and coral bleaching. A group of 8 of us went down. First dive (compared to 6yrs ago) was like - bummer :( It's hard for me to write that because my first trip everything just seemed like paradise. I still really enjoyed it, but many of the group were underwhelmed. Now it's a year later. I hope the viz has improved but I haven't read much otherwise - I really, really hope I am wrong. Viz does not have to be 100+ feet to enjoy dives - but the bar had been set pretty high. The same goes for the beautiful reef colors that were gone, night diving under the town pier, etc.

We did a Wild Side dive on our last day. That dive rocked!!!! I wish I had known in advance how fun and easy it was - I would have went much earlier in our trip to leave room for a second trip over there.

For restaurants, it also seemed like things were down a bit from the previous trip (specifically w/r to service). Makes total sense given the economy. Maybe staffs were leaner compared to pre recession times. I guess I thought Bonaire was so popular that they would be more immune to this with so many long term return travelers.

All that being said, a bucket list item is to dive there with my daughter one day when she gets certified - 6yrs to go!
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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