Bonaire 2003 Trip and Dive Report

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socaldiver

Contributor
Messages
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Location
Maui
# of dives
100 - 199
Well, the 2003 trip to Bonaire is over but what a trip.

First off, my wife Kath (Summer99) and myself want to thank Natasha for putting the trip together; secondly we want to thank our "group leader" Bob for doing a good job of watching out for everyone; next thanks to Toucan Diving, Ramon, Luis, Erika and Anuuk in particular.

We arrived in Bonaire on 9/6, and after checking in we met most of our group at the dive shop, got our indoctrination and off we went to do our checkout dive.

I have been fortunate to do some diving in a few areas: kelp forest off Southern California, Maui, Sea of Cortez in Baja, the quarries of Kentucky , Key Largo and Blue Springs in Florida. The diving in Bonaire has been the best I have ever encountered. The diving was easy and the reefs were absolutely beautiful. I managed to shoot 11 rolls of film underwater with my Reefmaster nd 75% came out beautiful. I am going to try to get them transferred to CD (my scanner isn't working) so I can download them for all to see.

I only did 14 dives while we were there but everyone was memorable.

Dive 1: 18th Palm: This was our (Kath and myself) checkout dive and what a way to start. We saw various types of coral and sponges, a huge green moray and at the end of the dive an octopus, along with the normal tropical marine life. My max depth was 59 fsw, 42 minutes, viz about 60 ft, water temp at depth 82 and came back with 1200 psi.

Dive 2: Rock Pile, Klein Bonaire, boat dive: highlight was seeing a peacock flounder along with the coral, sponges and normal marine life. Max depth 84 fsw, 50 minutes, viz 60', water temp 82 and came back with 1000 psi (had a short fill of 2800) to start.

Dive 3: North Belham, boat dive: nothing out of the ordinary, just more beautiful reefs. Max depth 64 fsw, 57 minutes, viz 60', water temp 81, 800 psi (after another short fill of 2800).

Dive 4: Small Wall, boat dive: highlight of this dive was seeing a seahorse, a couple of spotted eels and of course visiting the underwater webcam. Max depth 54 fsw, 57 minutes, viz 80', water temp 82, and 1050 psi left.

Dive 5:Bonaventure, Klein Bonaire, boat dive: beautiful reef but nothing out of ordinary. Max depth 53 fsw, 61 minutes, viz 80', water temp 82, 950 psi left.

Dive 6: Salt Pier, boat dive: saw tarpon, peacock flounder and barracuda among the marine life. Had our group video taken by Anuuk during this dive (the video is outstanding). Max depth 62, 56 minutes, viz 80'. water temp 82, 800 psi left.

Dive 7: Forest, Klein Bonaire, boat dive: nothing out of the ordinary on this dive. Max depth 52 fsw, 60 minutes, viz 80', water temp 82, 1000 psi.

Dive 8: Oil Slick Leap, boat dive: Saw an octopus on this dive as well, everything else the same. Max depth 57 fsw, 63 minutes, viz 80', water temp 82, 1050 psi left.

Dive 9: Nearest Point, Klein Bonaire, boat dive: cruised over the reefs just taking pics and admiring the beauty, also saw a turtle. Max depth 60 fsw, 66 minutes, viz 80, water temp 82, 1200 psi left.

Dive 10: 18th Palm, shore dive: nothing out of the ordinary, did the other side of the reef from first dive, didn't think it was as nice as first dive on site. Max depth 39 fsw, 62 minutes, 50' viz, water temp 82, 1300 psi left.

Dive 11: Bonaventure, Klein Bonaire, boat dive, night dive: eels, a HUGE lobster and a crab were the highlight of this night dive. Max depth 50 fsw, 44 minutes, viz 50', water temp 82, 1300 psi left.

Dive 12: Karpata, boat dive: reef very healthy, another big lobster along with the coral and sponges. Max depth 61 fsw, 61 minutes, viz 80', water temp 82, 1300 psi left.

Dive 13: 1000 steps, boat dive: saw a turtle as well as other marine life. max depth 51 fsw, 62 minutes, viz 80', water temp 82, 1050 psi left.

Dive 14: Town Pier, shore dive, night dive: a tarpon kept swimming among us, eels, an octopus and seahorses were among the highlight of the dive, however, the orange cup coral on the pillars were awesome. 19 fsw, 54 minutes, viz 30', water temp 82, 1500 psi.

It was a pleasure seeing and getting to dive with my buddy Bob again, meeting his wife Beth. Also meeting Dimitri, Stephanie, Jim, Paul and Matt was nice.

I can't say enough about the resort. It was very nice and the staff friendly. I felt their restaurants were okay but wished they had a wider variety of food rather than buffets in 2 of the 3 locations. But, the price was reasonable and the quantity was excellent.

Kath and I can't wait til next September so we can get together again with everyone and dive our sweet a_ _ es off some more.
 
socaldiver once bubbled...
Well, the 2003 trip to Bonaire is over but what a trip.

First off, my wife Kath (Summer99) and myself want to thank Natasha for putting the trip together; secondly we want to thank our "group leader" Bob for doing a good job of watching out for everyone; next thanks to Toucan Diving, Ramon, Luis, Erika and Anuuk in particular.

We arrived in Bonaire on 9/6, and after checking in we met most of our group at the dive shop, got our indoctrination and off we went to do our checkout dive.

I have been fortunate to do some diving in a few areas: kelp forest off Southern California, Maui, Sea of Cortez in Baja, the quarries of Kentucky , Key Largo and Blue Springs in Florida. The diving in Bonaire has been the best I have ever encountered. The diving was easy and the reefs were absolutely beautiful. I managed to shoot 11 rolls of film underwater with my Reefmaster nd 75% came out beautiful. I am going to try to get them transferred to CD (my scanner isn't working) so I can download them for all to see.

I only did 14 dives while we were there but everyone was memorable.

Dive 1: 18th Palm: This was our (Kath and myself) checkout dive and what a way to start. We saw various types of coral and sponges, a huge green moray and at the end of the dive an octopus, along with the normal tropical marine life. My max depth was 59 fsw, 42 minutes, viz about 60 ft, water temp at depth 82 and came back with 1200 psi.

Dive 2: Rock Pile, Klein Bonaire, boat dive: highlight was seeing a peacock flounder along with the coral, sponges and normal marine life. Max depth 84 fsw, 50 minutes, viz 60', water temp 82 and came back with 1000 psi (had a short fill of 2800) to start.

Dive 3: North Belham, boat dive: nothing out of the ordinary, just more beautiful reefs. Max depth 64 fsw, 57 minutes, viz 60', water temp 81, 800 psi (after another short fill of 2800).

Dive 4: Small Wall, boat dive: highlight of this dive was seeing a seahorse, a couple of spotted eels and of course visiting the underwater webcam. Max depth 54 fsw, 57 minutes, viz 80', water temp 82, and 1050 psi left.

Dive 5:Bonaventure, Klein Bonaire, boat dive: beautiful reef but nothing out of ordinary. Max depth 53 fsw, 61 minutes, viz 80', water temp 82, 950 psi left.

Dive 6: Salt Pier, boat dive: saw tarpon, peacock flounder and barracuda among the marine life. Had our group video taken by Anuuk during this dive (the video is outstanding). Max depth 62, 56 minutes, viz 80'. water temp 82, 800 psi left.

Dive 7: Forest, Klein Bonaire, boat dive: nothing out of the ordinary on this dive. Max depth 52 fsw, 60 minutes, viz 80', water temp 82, 1000 psi.

Dive 8: Oil Slick Leap, boat dive: Saw an octopus on this dive as well, everything else the same. Max depth 57 fsw, 63 minutes, viz 80', water temp 82, 1050 psi left.

Dive 9: Nearest Point, Klein Bonaire, boat dive: cruised over the reefs just taking pics and admiring the beauty, also saw a turtle. Max depth 60 fsw, 66 minutes, viz 80, water temp 82, 1200 psi left.

Dive 10: 18th Palm, shore dive: nothing out of the ordinary, did the other side of the reef from first dive, didn't think it was as nice as first dive on site. Max depth 39 fsw, 62 minutes, 50' viz, water temp 82, 1300 psi left.

Dive 11: Bonaventure, Klein Bonaire, boat dive, night dive: eels, a HUGE lobster and a crab were the highlight of this night dive. Max depth 50 fsw, 44 minutes, viz 50', water temp 82, 1300 psi left.

Dive 12: Karpata, boat dive: reef very healthy, another big lobster along with the coral and sponges. Max depth 61 fsw, 61 minutes, viz 80', water temp 82, 1300 psi left.

Dive 13: 1000 steps, boat dive: saw a turtle as well as other marine life. max depth 51 fsw, 62 minutes, viz 80', water temp 82, 1050 psi left.

Dive 14: Town Pier, shore dive, night dive: a tarpon kept swimming among us, eels, an octopus and seahorses were among the highlight of the dive, however, the orange cup coral on the pillars were awesome. 19 fsw, 54 minutes, viz 30', water temp 82, 1500 psi.

It was a pleasure seeing and getting to dive with my buddy Bob again, meeting his wife Beth. Also meeting Dimitri, Stephanie, Jim, Paul and Matt was nice.

I can't say enough about the resort. It was very nice and the staff friendly. I felt their restaurants were okay but wished they had a wider variety of food rather than buffets in 2 of the 3 locations. But, the price was reasonable and the quantity was excellent.

Kath and I can't wait til next September so we can get together again with everyone and dive our sweet a_ _ es off some more.
I was there and I will tell the other side later!
 
Which resort did you stay at? How were the rooms?

BTW nice report...I'll be there in 2 weeks.
 
is the place we stayed at and the rooms were very nice.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
 
i posted my report under the topic "Bonaire...Fall 2003"
Don't know how to transfer it over to this topic. Due to my accidental and idiotic injury, i returned home on day 3. with a broken wrist. Nevertheless, i have only words of praise for the hotel & dive staff.

I am happy to read that you enjoyed your trip. Wish i had been there a little longer to enjoy the dives with you.
best regards,
mimi
 
socaldiver once bubbled...
and off we went to do our checkout dive.
I'll be in Bonaire in about 2 weeks, what are the checkout dives all about?
Is this standard for all the dive operations there?
Thx
Cjh
 
yes, it is SOP in Bonaire. You do not pay for the dive. It is an excellent way for the dive operation to find out the level of skill you have aquired. And it is equally beneficial for the diver..you get to check out your gear & weights in the water without it costing you a penny. Win/win for everyone.
 
It is actually a requirement from the Bonaire Marine Park and is part of getting your park permit. Granted, you get the tag first but it is still required as part of getting the tag.

CJH, in case you don't know, you have to buy a marine park permit (plastic tag) to be allowed to dive in Bonaire. The check out dive is part of getting the tag. It's $10 and is good until Dec of the year it's issued. It makes a nice reminder of your trip. They are a different color each year.
 
Hi Divers:
Welcome Back!
I have heard from the Plaza Resort. They gave me a full report on what went on, down there!
It sounded like they had some trouble with Jimmy's and Paul's room.
Lot's of trouble! But in the end they upgraded them to an awesome room, one of the best ocean front rooms on the property!
And the dive shop messed up and miscommunicated to each other on the farewell get together.
They feel aweful. They wrote to me about this right away.
Ramon promises to make it up to us BIG TIME next year, and says we can even give him spankings! Sounds good to me!
I'll be there next year no doubt. It was very hard for me to make this one because of my huge move from Chicago to Houston, and a few other factors.
So, I want to offer a very large THANK YOU to Bob & Beth for stepping in and taking my place.
(And you thought travel agents didn't work didn't you?)
Ha!
 
Glad to hear you guys had a great time. We also stayed at the Plaza when I went last January and had very good luck with them. Great resort, comfortable rooms (we stayed in the condos at the back of the property), and a really well run dive shop. We had Luis and Erika with us for the entire week, they were great!

But for the life of me, I just couldn't get used to those itsy-bitsy mini-beers... :wink:

-Roman.
 

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