Last summer my newly-graduated and -employed young daughter (Mary Helen) did not get to make the trip with us (wife, older daughter, new SIL and me). I told her I'd take her as soon as she had accrued vacation, so when she said the word I booked us for a week at Beachcomber Villas. I couldn't talk any of the others into going with us so the two of us took off for a week in Bonaire.
Now, a week is just not enough but when it is what one has one has to make the best of it.
Travel:
Dining:
Other outings:
Now, I know some of you really enjoy the park, and to each his own. And we enjoyed the stretch along the east coast of the long route - climbing the cliffs and the blowholes and such. But the rest of it - meh. No, not meh. Only do it if you've counted all your socks and starched and ironed your underwear. There is absolutely no reason I can see to subject oneself to the long and boring drive thru the scrub brush for the views on the east and the snorkeling places on the west. It's just not worth it (to us).
Lodging
Diving
Margate Bay is one of my favorite dives. I really like the soft corals. Well, this time as we were turning the dive a free-swimming green moray swam with us for a while. That thing was as big around as my waist, and "svelte" is not a word used in a sentence with my name in it. Then a little later, I saw a turtle swimming toward us. It was a loggerhead that I don't think I could have put in the bed of the truck. It swam by close enough for me to touch the barnacles on its back.
And then there was the bright orange frogfish.
And the squid.
(I do have pic's of the seahorses, but none of the mermaids, green flash, unicorns or other mythical things).
I did not take the GoPro on most dives, and the video I did get is horrendous, so I'm not posting much of it. I did take some top-side video. I had MH hang it out the window of the truck as we drove around. Those of you who have been to Bon can ignore it. I thought that others who haven't been might like to get a sense for what it looks like and directions and such - or they can ignore it too, because it is pretty boring.
I will post pics and video in a later post.
Now, a week is just not enough but when it is what one has one has to make the best of it.
Travel:
Everything went off mostly right on time. Friday night flight to Atlanta, retrieve bags and shuttle to Doubletree for the night. Cab to F on Saturday morning. We arrived in Bonare about 20 minutes early on Saturday. The return was the reverse, but we flew directly home without the overnight in ATL, arriving about 11:00PM. There was only one hiccup. Our plan for departure day was to leave Beachcomber Villas about 1130, go to the airport, check-in and drop bags, then go downtown to Karel's or Rumba for a final lunch. Well, when we got in the truck to leave we discovered we had a flat. Leanne went to DFB and got a tank and we used one of those little attachments for the inflator-hose to pump it up. Then we charged to the airport - lunch was a sandwich in the departure area. It was good, but not the same as sitting on the pier. Oh well...
Dining:
We went to Van Den Tweel to get breakfast and lunch stuff, and beer on Saturday after arrival. We ate dinner out every evening except night dive nights when we had leftover pizza and sandwiches. Here's the list:
Pasa Bon Pizza on arrival night, and take-out after a night dive. As always, a good pie and excellent salad - cold and crisp.
El Mundo for bacon cheese burgers and fries
At Sea - We twisted Leanne's arm into joining us. Carpaccio appetizer was excellent. My tuna a little overcooked, but we had a very nice evening.
Sebastians - Final night, and it was among the very best I've had on Bon - ever. I'm sure the company (my daughter and Leanne) and the wine/drinks had nothing to do with it. I had heard mixed things about Sebastians, but we wanted to sit on their deck and were willing to take our chances on the food. As it turned out the food was excellent, as was the service.
Between2Buns for breakfast one day.
We also dropped in Gio's for gelato - chocolate for her, mango for me.
One day as we were riding down the road by VDT, MH started shouting "Doner!!! Doner!!! Lets get Doner for lunch!!". I said "why do we want doughnuts for lunch?" What she had seen was "Fresh Market" directly across the street from Warehouse grocery, with a sign that said "Döner" - a big ol' sandwich that was delicious. Get the "Döner brood", then eat it all or save half for later. They have a few standup tables if you want to eat there, but I recommend taking it with you - so you'll have a shower available to wash the sauce off. Oh, be sure to get the "hot sauce". It is not very hot, but is delicious. $18 for 2 sandwiches and 2 cokes. We had it for lunch 2 days.
El Mundo for bacon cheese burgers and fries
At Sea - We twisted Leanne's arm into joining us. Carpaccio appetizer was excellent. My tuna a little overcooked, but we had a very nice evening.
Sebastians - Final night, and it was among the very best I've had on Bon - ever. I'm sure the company (my daughter and Leanne) and the wine/drinks had nothing to do with it. I had heard mixed things about Sebastians, but we wanted to sit on their deck and were willing to take our chances on the food. As it turned out the food was excellent, as was the service.
Between2Buns for breakfast one day.
We also dropped in Gio's for gelato - chocolate for her, mango for me.
One day as we were riding down the road by VDT, MH started shouting "Doner!!! Doner!!! Lets get Doner for lunch!!". I said "why do we want doughnuts for lunch?" What she had seen was "Fresh Market" directly across the street from Warehouse grocery, with a sign that said "Döner" - a big ol' sandwich that was delicious. Get the "Döner brood", then eat it all or save half for later. They have a few standup tables if you want to eat there, but I recommend taking it with you - so you'll have a shower available to wash the sauce off. Oh, be sure to get the "hot sauce". It is not very hot, but is delicious. $18 for 2 sandwiches and 2 cokes. We had it for lunch 2 days.
Other outings:
We did the Sail/Snorkel/Dinner trip on the sailboat 'Compass'. We had a very nice time. WWGUY, if you're reading this note that they serve Polarcita, not Polar. The sail was the highlight - winds blowing hard from the east. Normally the snorkel stop was on Klein, but it was so rough we went to Andrea - an indifferent spot to me. But overall, a good time. If I had it to do again, I'd probably want a shorter trip - we went from 1500- dark - and could skip the snorkel, just do the sail and dinner.
I've always poo-pooh'ed the UV/fluorescent outings, but MH was hot to do it so we did it on Wednesday night at Somthing Special. Leanne booked us with FlowBonaire. Zsussannah (sp?) guided. OK, it was great. I mean really amazing. Z is passionate about what she does, and it shows from her pre-dive briefing all the way through the post-dive beer/de-briefing. If you've never done it make sure you do it next time. You will NEVER touch the sand again if you can help it. I've been diving a really long time, seen some really strange things. This astounded me.
On dry Friday we went to the park. We had gone when MH was 11-12, and she wanted to do it again. I offered up a spa-day instead, but she was adamant. About 3 hours into the trip she asked me why I didn't talk her out of it. I said I tried, that she could have had the spa, mangrove kayaking trip, windsurfing, kite-boarding, just about anything else. She said I only offered the spa and she didn't want that, that if I'd offered any of the other things she would have jumped on it. Oh well.
I've always poo-pooh'ed the UV/fluorescent outings, but MH was hot to do it so we did it on Wednesday night at Somthing Special. Leanne booked us with FlowBonaire. Zsussannah (sp?) guided. OK, it was great. I mean really amazing. Z is passionate about what she does, and it shows from her pre-dive briefing all the way through the post-dive beer/de-briefing. If you've never done it make sure you do it next time. You will NEVER touch the sand again if you can help it. I've been diving a really long time, seen some really strange things. This astounded me.
On dry Friday we went to the park. We had gone when MH was 11-12, and she wanted to do it again. I offered up a spa-day instead, but she was adamant. About 3 hours into the trip she asked me why I didn't talk her out of it. I said I tried, that she could have had the spa, mangrove kayaking trip, windsurfing, kite-boarding, just about anything else. She said I only offered the spa and she didn't want that, that if I'd offered any of the other things she would have jumped on it. Oh well.
Now, I know some of you really enjoy the park, and to each his own. And we enjoyed the stretch along the east coast of the long route - climbing the cliffs and the blowholes and such. But the rest of it - meh. No, not meh. Only do it if you've counted all your socks and starched and ironed your underwear. There is absolutely no reason I can see to subject oneself to the long and boring drive thru the scrub brush for the views on the east and the snorkeling places on the west. It's just not worth it (to us).
As always, Beachcomber Villas, and as always, outstanding. Tim was in Canada, so Leanne was on her own. The result was we got to enjoy her company for a couple of dinners and dives. I'm not going to carry on here - look at their website for reviews, photos, and the like. www.bonairebeachcombervillas.com
It is not for everybody. There are 2 apartments on the top floor of the villa. One has a queen bed, the other 2 queen beds. Full kitchens on each. If that arrangement works for you then I highly recommend it.
It is not for everybody. There are 2 apartments on the top floor of the villa. One has a queen bed, the other 2 queen beds. Full kitchens on each. If that arrangement works for you then I highly recommend it.
Diving
We mostly did 3 dives each day, starting Sunday and ending Thursday. A couple of days we did night dives. The wind was howling out of the east, which led to relatively cool days. In fact, I stayed cold for the entire week wearing full 3mm. Next time I'll have a hooded vest to layer with it. Usually we go in Aug/Sept. Leanne laughs at me when I explain that we go to Bonaire then to get away from the heat at home, but this time I was just uncomfortably cool.
Dive Friends Bonaire was our dive op. Again, they were excellent. Nitrox was spot-on 32% all week and fills were 3200+. No o-ring problems whatsoever. DFB has a new retail outlet in the strip mall across the round-about from Between2Buns, and it is well-stocked, large, and bright. As I age, I find it more and more attractive to dive at DFB Oasis, or DFB YellowSub, or DFB Dive Inn where there are benches, bathrooms, beer, and showers.
Overall, the shallow areas where a bit cloudy due to the winds (I believe), but that didn't keep us from hanging around the mooring blocks and sandy flats until I got too cold to stand it. Current was running east-to-west, north-to-south (edit: south to north, not n-s) for most of the week.
I bought that damned GoPro last year, and decided that I'd just take it on a few dives this trip. As always, when you don't take the camera...
Dive Friends Bonaire was our dive op. Again, they were excellent. Nitrox was spot-on 32% all week and fills were 3200+. No o-ring problems whatsoever. DFB has a new retail outlet in the strip mall across the round-about from Between2Buns, and it is well-stocked, large, and bright. As I age, I find it more and more attractive to dive at DFB Oasis, or DFB YellowSub, or DFB Dive Inn where there are benches, bathrooms, beer, and showers.
Overall, the shallow areas where a bit cloudy due to the winds (I believe), but that didn't keep us from hanging around the mooring blocks and sandy flats until I got too cold to stand it. Current was running east-to-west, north-to-south (edit: south to north, not n-s) for most of the week.
I bought that damned GoPro last year, and decided that I'd just take it on a few dives this trip. As always, when you don't take the camera...
Margate Bay is one of my favorite dives. I really like the soft corals. Well, this time as we were turning the dive a free-swimming green moray swam with us for a while. That thing was as big around as my waist, and "svelte" is not a word used in a sentence with my name in it. Then a little later, I saw a turtle swimming toward us. It was a loggerhead that I don't think I could have put in the bed of the truck. It swam by close enough for me to touch the barnacles on its back.
And then there was the bright orange frogfish.
And the squid.
(I do have pic's of the seahorses, but none of the mermaids, green flash, unicorns or other mythical things).
I did not take the GoPro on most dives, and the video I did get is horrendous, so I'm not posting much of it. I did take some top-side video. I had MH hang it out the window of the truck as we drove around. Those of you who have been to Bon can ignore it. I thought that others who haven't been might like to get a sense for what it looks like and directions and such - or they can ignore it too, because it is pretty boring.
I will post pics and video in a later post.
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sure hope things warm up over the summer. I'll be back in Grenada and area in November and not looking forward to a repeat of the water temps. 
