drrich2
Contributor
Hi:
Recently spent a week in Bonaire mainly solo diving (May 17 - 24). Out of 28 dives, did 1 with Bas Tol with BasDiving.com (guided dive at Cai, great experience), and 2 boat dives (Mi Dushi off Klein Bonaire, and Small Wall out front of Black Durgeon Inn). On the condition I was solo certified, Buddy had no problem with me solo diving. I asked for a 30 cf AL pony tank setup; they rented me a 40 cf half-filled to 1500 PSI (ah, well, close enough). I'm a snap shooter with an old Canon G10 with Canon UW housing, only the built-in flash when I use it, set to Underwater scene mode, and I let Adobe PhotoShop Elements 8 do 'Auto Levels' when I resize to 800 x 600 so as to reintroduce some color.
Despite the name 'Small Wall,' it looks like The Cliff to me, just larger.
I'll share a few links and thoughts. Stayed at Buddy Dive Resort in a ground floor 'hotel room' given that I was traveling solo. Costs a good deal more than per person with a room mate, but a big part of a Bonaire trip is airfare, and there's no single supplement for that. This room was near the dive shop and restaurant area, and had good wifi reception. Irritating having to re-enter the access code a lot, but it worked on the notebook computer and was 'free.' Paid to upgrade to an automatic truck; can't drive stick, and especially not in a foreign country where I don't know what all the road signs mean. Out back are 2 piers, and a couple of metal ladders, good for getting in. You can head south toward Bari Reef in the distance, or north past Captain Don's Habitat to that shallow boat wreck before you'd hit The Cliff site.
The sign up board; the only 2 tank boat trip I noticed that week was the one I dove; I'm 'Richard in 503' diving NT (nitrox tank). The other trips were single tank, pretty large occupancy, and I like the freedom of shore diving.
Buddy Dive is involved with the coral restoration project; to the north from the pier in the sandy section of the shallows, there are some 'trees' with coral growth. You'll see at varied dive sites where stag horn coral is being reintroduced. On the other hand, if you're heading back shallow right off the bottom, it's easy to blunder up to/under one of these things, try to veer off of it and blunder into another one, and Buddy's Reef is a popular night dive (I think I did one evening turned night, and 5 night, dives during my stay, all on Buddy's Reef).
Here's that boat wreck (LA MACHACA) to the north. Found a neat crab on it; I wonder whether it's a channel cling crab?
Speaking of entries. You can get 'ladder access' at a number of resorts on the island (e.g.: Buddy Dive Resort, Eden Beach, Windsock Resort, I would think Captain Don's, and you can use the pier at Sand Dollar if you book with Bonaire Dive & Adventure rather than Dive Friends). Up north, the landscape is hilly, even a bit mountainous, and fairly densely thicketed with an impressive array of thorny plants. Some entries are pretty nice; I consider Tolo (a.k.a. Ol'Blue) a nice, underrated site with a good entry/exit.
Late in the dive, I was 'cheating' by hanging out in shallow water near a stag horn coral region to the north of entry, when guess who I saw in about 10 feet of water working the sand? Rascal turned and came by me, too.
I also blundered upon a big free-swimming green moray eel; this chap showed up about 4 or 5 feet in front of me, kind of a 'HellOOOOO, there, buddy' moment, but it swam off.
Bachelor's Beach offers ladder access, sort of.
Recently spent a week in Bonaire mainly solo diving (May 17 - 24). Out of 28 dives, did 1 with Bas Tol with BasDiving.com (guided dive at Cai, great experience), and 2 boat dives (Mi Dushi off Klein Bonaire, and Small Wall out front of Black Durgeon Inn). On the condition I was solo certified, Buddy had no problem with me solo diving. I asked for a 30 cf AL pony tank setup; they rented me a 40 cf half-filled to 1500 PSI (ah, well, close enough). I'm a snap shooter with an old Canon G10 with Canon UW housing, only the built-in flash when I use it, set to Underwater scene mode, and I let Adobe PhotoShop Elements 8 do 'Auto Levels' when I resize to 800 x 600 so as to reintroduce some color.
Despite the name 'Small Wall,' it looks like The Cliff to me, just larger.
I'll share a few links and thoughts. Stayed at Buddy Dive Resort in a ground floor 'hotel room' given that I was traveling solo. Costs a good deal more than per person with a room mate, but a big part of a Bonaire trip is airfare, and there's no single supplement for that. This room was near the dive shop and restaurant area, and had good wifi reception. Irritating having to re-enter the access code a lot, but it worked on the notebook computer and was 'free.' Paid to upgrade to an automatic truck; can't drive stick, and especially not in a foreign country where I don't know what all the road signs mean. Out back are 2 piers, and a couple of metal ladders, good for getting in. You can head south toward Bari Reef in the distance, or north past Captain Don's Habitat to that shallow boat wreck before you'd hit The Cliff site.
The sign up board; the only 2 tank boat trip I noticed that week was the one I dove; I'm 'Richard in 503' diving NT (nitrox tank). The other trips were single tank, pretty large occupancy, and I like the freedom of shore diving.
Buddy Dive is involved with the coral restoration project; to the north from the pier in the sandy section of the shallows, there are some 'trees' with coral growth. You'll see at varied dive sites where stag horn coral is being reintroduced. On the other hand, if you're heading back shallow right off the bottom, it's easy to blunder up to/under one of these things, try to veer off of it and blunder into another one, and Buddy's Reef is a popular night dive (I think I did one evening turned night, and 5 night, dives during my stay, all on Buddy's Reef).
Here's that boat wreck (LA MACHACA) to the north. Found a neat crab on it; I wonder whether it's a channel cling crab?
Speaking of entries. You can get 'ladder access' at a number of resorts on the island (e.g.: Buddy Dive Resort, Eden Beach, Windsock Resort, I would think Captain Don's, and you can use the pier at Sand Dollar if you book with Bonaire Dive & Adventure rather than Dive Friends). Up north, the landscape is hilly, even a bit mountainous, and fairly densely thicketed with an impressive array of thorny plants. Some entries are pretty nice; I consider Tolo (a.k.a. Ol'Blue) a nice, underrated site with a good entry/exit.
Late in the dive, I was 'cheating' by hanging out in shallow water near a stag horn coral region to the north of entry, when guess who I saw in about 10 feet of water working the sand? Rascal turned and came by me, too.
I also blundered upon a big free-swimming green moray eel; this chap showed up about 4 or 5 feet in front of me, kind of a 'HellOOOOO, there, buddy' moment, but it swam off.
Bachelor's Beach offers ladder access, sort of.
