Papa Steve
Guest
Travel:
Ike changed our plans to fly through Houston on the Friday redeye. Had to travel down via the Saturday redeye out of Newark. We had a 7 hour layover in Newark which made for some killer jetlag by the time we finally got to Bonaire on Sunday morning.
We stayed at Den Leman. I have nothing bad to stay about them or Bonaire Dive and Adventure. Everything was first class. Very nice rooms, very friendly people, and a nice, efficient dive operation.
Both my wife and I did a half day underwater photography class at Fish-eye photo which is located there on the premises. The class included several hours of instruction, the rental of a camera (if needed) and a photo dive with the instructor. Not only was he able to put us on a frog fish but was able to review our pics right there on the dive and recommend some setting or composition changes right there on the spot. For those wanting to try underwater photography, its worth the $75.00. For those with a modest amount of experience it would probably be mostly review.
The required reef orientation turned out to be about a 1 ½ hour Bonaire island orientation. It was mostly helpful information but probably pretty painful for those whove been to the island before.
Diving:
We didnt get to get in as many dives as I had hoped. It sucks getting old. The serious jetlag, a half day of being a little under the weather, and the fact that it was an anniversary celebration did cut into our dive time a little. But it was all good . . no regrets. All time away from work with my sweetie is good time.
We Dived:
Bari three times our orientation dive, our photography class dive, and a night dive. Though all dives were good, its a little ironic that we dived this the most and it was my least favorite dive. We did enjoy diving with the Tarpons on the night dive.
Angel City my favorite. Just an awesome dive enhanced with probably the best viz of the trip.
Windsock - good dive
Karpata second favorite. We were psyched out about the entry from our research. The surf was calm and the wind from the right direction made it a no-brainer. It was actually one of our easier entries.
Hilma Hooker right behind Karpata in our list of favorites. Had a close encounter with a Barracuda in the sand in the shallows just off of the reef. We went around him. He didnt seem to be in the mood to give up his spot.
Buddys reef not too different than Bari but this is where we saw the Goliath Grouper.
Invisibles went down to the sand flats looking for Rays. No luck . . .but still a great dive.
Alice in Wonderland also went looking for Rays . . no luck. Theres also some nice coral up in the shallows so we came up off the reef a little early and spent a lot of time in the shallows snapping pics and shooting some video. Got some nice video swimming along side a squid. Spending half the dive in the shallows gave us a nice 70 minute dive.
Dining:
We hit the grocery store and pretty much did breakfast and lunch in our room.
We ate dinner three times at the Sunset there at Den Leman. We wanted to hit as many places as possible but their nightly specials were always something we wanted to have. Wednesday lobster night was great. Their desserts, however, were a little disappointing. (Fortunately, Lovers Ice Cream was just a few hundred feet away) Overall the food was great, though a little on the high side.
Hilltop Just north of town about 5 kms from Buddys. I had the pork chops. They were awesome. This was a great meal for the price. We both had a great dinner for around $20.00 total. I had to ask them to double check the bill since I thought they undercharged us. We got there about 5:30. They did not start serving dinner until 6:00. We were going to have to pass since we were meeting some people later for a night dive. They gladly opened the kitchen early for us. Good people.
Papaya Moon. Probably the best meal of the week. I had steak and my wife had the shrimp enchiladas. The Crème Brule and the Raspberry/Lemon Tiramisu was to die for. Ray, a fellow San Antonian, was a great host.
Bobbejans- The ribs were awesome. I wish they were open more than the weekend.
Roses in Rincon My wife had the fried fish. I had the beef stew. Great food, great atmosphere, great people, and a cool ride to Rincon on our rented scooter.
Bugs- we were prepared for the worst. I never saw, or felt a bug. I guess the wind is usually down in September. Most days there was a fairly decent breeze out of the east or the southeast. It was my first trip so I dont have anything to compare it to. But we had no bug problems.
Coolest stuff underwater:
Frog fish at Bari.
Squid at Invisibles
The tarpon hunting off our lights at Bari and hanging out at Hilma Hooker
Large Eel at Windsock
The Hilma Hooker just a pretty ominous site seeing that large wreck appear out of the blue
Coolest stuff above water:
Experiencing the unique, blended culture of the Dutch Caribbean
Cruising the east side of the island on a scooter.
Rincon
The cool birds The love birds and the Orioles mostly to the north and the Pelicans and the Flamingos mostly to the south.
We're already planning our next trip. Actually we were trying to find a way to stay while we were still there.
Ike changed our plans to fly through Houston on the Friday redeye. Had to travel down via the Saturday redeye out of Newark. We had a 7 hour layover in Newark which made for some killer jetlag by the time we finally got to Bonaire on Sunday morning.
We stayed at Den Leman. I have nothing bad to stay about them or Bonaire Dive and Adventure. Everything was first class. Very nice rooms, very friendly people, and a nice, efficient dive operation.
Both my wife and I did a half day underwater photography class at Fish-eye photo which is located there on the premises. The class included several hours of instruction, the rental of a camera (if needed) and a photo dive with the instructor. Not only was he able to put us on a frog fish but was able to review our pics right there on the dive and recommend some setting or composition changes right there on the spot. For those wanting to try underwater photography, its worth the $75.00. For those with a modest amount of experience it would probably be mostly review.
The required reef orientation turned out to be about a 1 ½ hour Bonaire island orientation. It was mostly helpful information but probably pretty painful for those whove been to the island before.
Diving:
We didnt get to get in as many dives as I had hoped. It sucks getting old. The serious jetlag, a half day of being a little under the weather, and the fact that it was an anniversary celebration did cut into our dive time a little. But it was all good . . no regrets. All time away from work with my sweetie is good time.
We Dived:
Bari three times our orientation dive, our photography class dive, and a night dive. Though all dives were good, its a little ironic that we dived this the most and it was my least favorite dive. We did enjoy diving with the Tarpons on the night dive.
Angel City my favorite. Just an awesome dive enhanced with probably the best viz of the trip.
Windsock - good dive
Karpata second favorite. We were psyched out about the entry from our research. The surf was calm and the wind from the right direction made it a no-brainer. It was actually one of our easier entries.
Hilma Hooker right behind Karpata in our list of favorites. Had a close encounter with a Barracuda in the sand in the shallows just off of the reef. We went around him. He didnt seem to be in the mood to give up his spot.
Buddys reef not too different than Bari but this is where we saw the Goliath Grouper.
Invisibles went down to the sand flats looking for Rays. No luck . . .but still a great dive.
Alice in Wonderland also went looking for Rays . . no luck. Theres also some nice coral up in the shallows so we came up off the reef a little early and spent a lot of time in the shallows snapping pics and shooting some video. Got some nice video swimming along side a squid. Spending half the dive in the shallows gave us a nice 70 minute dive.
Dining:
We hit the grocery store and pretty much did breakfast and lunch in our room.
We ate dinner three times at the Sunset there at Den Leman. We wanted to hit as many places as possible but their nightly specials were always something we wanted to have. Wednesday lobster night was great. Their desserts, however, were a little disappointing. (Fortunately, Lovers Ice Cream was just a few hundred feet away) Overall the food was great, though a little on the high side.
Hilltop Just north of town about 5 kms from Buddys. I had the pork chops. They were awesome. This was a great meal for the price. We both had a great dinner for around $20.00 total. I had to ask them to double check the bill since I thought they undercharged us. We got there about 5:30. They did not start serving dinner until 6:00. We were going to have to pass since we were meeting some people later for a night dive. They gladly opened the kitchen early for us. Good people.
Papaya Moon. Probably the best meal of the week. I had steak and my wife had the shrimp enchiladas. The Crème Brule and the Raspberry/Lemon Tiramisu was to die for. Ray, a fellow San Antonian, was a great host.
Bobbejans- The ribs were awesome. I wish they were open more than the weekend.
Roses in Rincon My wife had the fried fish. I had the beef stew. Great food, great atmosphere, great people, and a cool ride to Rincon on our rented scooter.
Bugs- we were prepared for the worst. I never saw, or felt a bug. I guess the wind is usually down in September. Most days there was a fairly decent breeze out of the east or the southeast. It was my first trip so I dont have anything to compare it to. But we had no bug problems.
Coolest stuff underwater:
Frog fish at Bari.
Squid at Invisibles
The tarpon hunting off our lights at Bari and hanging out at Hilma Hooker
Large Eel at Windsock
The Hilma Hooker just a pretty ominous site seeing that large wreck appear out of the blue
Coolest stuff above water:
Experiencing the unique, blended culture of the Dutch Caribbean
Cruising the east side of the island on a scooter.
Rincon
The cool birds The love birds and the Orioles mostly to the north and the Pelicans and the Flamingos mostly to the south.
We're already planning our next trip. Actually we were trying to find a way to stay while we were still there.
Reading your report made me feel like I was there again, and ours ended exactly the way yours did....talking about another trip....which we've already scheduled for next summer! 
