Bonaire Trip Report 9/14-9/21

[deco_martini]

I'm still working on "Bonaire Shore Diving Made Stupid, Rev. 2", here is a trip report while I finish it.
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In previous trips, we tried different accommodations.

Trip1: we slummed it at a base budget off-shore fly-by-night operation
Trip2/3: we stayed in nice rooms at Den Laman on the shore

This trip we went a different route, we stayed at a Sand Dollar condominium we got a good deal on. Since the condo wasn't per person, we saved money by staying there, getting a dive package from BDA (the onsite at Den Laman and next door to Sand dollar), and getting a truck from Poppy. If you don't mind doing alacarte, this might work for you.

The bad:
1. LED super lumen flood cannon lights may scare aware all night life before you ever get in the water on your night dive. Try to go to less popular night dive spots or time your dive around the "cannonistas" if you have them diving on your house reef.
2. The reef next to the Hilma is developing algae issues. I used to like diving that site for the reef vs the wreck.

The good/cool/awesome:
1. the bad list was short
2. Conditions were great for diving the unmarked areas past vista blue. Unlike the sweet dreams/vista blue area, you have a soft-coral swimout vs a sandy bottom swim. Please don't go here though. I liked seeing brittle/soft corals in good shape. Saw a black/white crinoid out here too.
3. "Between 2 Buns" is open for lunch by the Chat & Browse in that key "Laman/Buddy/Don" diving area. Go there. Order sandwiches. Be happy. We ate there every day. Honestly, they should sell a 60 bucks all week meal plan or something. Get em in with that, then they buy 4 dollar pieces of pie and coffees too. The owner actually came out and thanked us for stopping by every day as we ate our steak and cheese sammiches before leaving to go catch our flight back.
4. Dive Master night at Bistro de Paris. 8 dollar burger plate. Good times. We had written the Bistro off our restaurant list but Chef makes a good burger and got us back.
5. Salt Pier. A good dive. I'm afraid it might get overdove. So don't go there. The key to salt pier is timing. You can go there and get a lousy dive.
6. Saw more staghorn coral this trip. Saw less lionfish.
7. Ate at the Island KFC for the first time. After years of hating on this, we decided to lighten up and do it ourselves. If was ... okay. It was a fun lark. Everyone loves the Colonel's gravy.


Great trip, can't wait for the next one.

 

[lcollar]

We are poised to leave for Bonaire on Friday the 27th of September. Will be my third visit and a first for my wife. Last time I visited was October 2011. Anything significantly different since then?

 

[deco_martini]

We are poised to leave for Bonaire on Friday the 27th of September. Will be my third visit and a first for my wife. Last time I visited was October 2011. Anything significantly different since then?

Maybe?
I was going to post this in my dive guide I'm working on....

Dive here (North to South):
Nukove->Karpata
(avoid the sites between karpata and oil slick, algae mess)
Oil Slick Leap (going south) -> Sabadeco (if you have friends there, private site)
(avoid the crud south of oil slick til you get to)
Cliff->Bari Reef
(avoid Eden rubble through town past airport until Invisibles, there is a "special" site before you get to town, but I wouldn't want to give that site away and have it get overdove)
Invisibles->Hidden Beach

That should keep you out of the fire coral, bleached out, algae covered spots. Alice in Wonderland might still be good. The sites near the airport/windsock area were always off my list after my first trip but I've extended that range south. I could be wrong though...

---------- Post added September 23rd, 2013 at 02:21 PM ----------

Oh, one small change. Charlie is even fatter. Jesus he scared the **** out of me first time he did a driveby this trip.

 

[herbdb]

We were at Den Laman during the same time you were next door. We were probably on the pier at the same time. Bari Reef is always good.

We stuck to easy entries because I am an old guy with artificial hips. Oil Slick was the only northern site we dove. Karpata was too rough for us to dive the day we tried. We did some boat dives on Klein Bonaire and they are starting to get a red algae there. We did Hilma Hooker from a boat too, I just have trouble with getting back up that iron shore ledge even without equipment.
.

Wind Sock is good with a very easy entry by the runway lights pier. Saw turtles there both times we dove it. The southern sites we dove were all good. I really enjoyed Salt Pier. The unmarked site just south of Invisibles is my favorite (lots of Staghorn Coral and saw Eagle Rays on the swim out.) We saw some Elkhorn coral on Aquarius, this was the first I recall seeing it on Bonaire.

Visibility was better than my trip last fall. Great trip. I am sorting through 800+ photos to see if I got anything good.

 

[deco_martini]

We were at Den Laman during the same time you were next door. We were probably on the pier at the same time. Bari Reef is always good.

We stuck to easy entries because I am an old guy with artificial hips. Oil Slick was the only northern site we dove. Karpata was too rough for us to dive the day we tried. We did some boat dives on Klein Bonaire and they are starting to get a red algae there. We did Hilma Hooker from a boat too, I just have trouble with getting back up that iron shore ledge even without equipment.
.

Wind Sock is good with a very easy entry by the runway lights pier. Saw turtles there both times we dove it. The southern sites we dove were all good. I really enjoyed Salt Pier. The unmarked site just south of Invisibles is my favorite (lots of Staghorn Coral and saw Eagle Rays on the swim out.) We saw some Elkhorn coral on Aquarius, this was the first I recall seeing it on Bonaire.

Visibility was better than my trip last fall. Great trip. I am sorting through 800+ photos to see if I got anything good.

Can't wait to see your pics. We'd crossed windsock off our list in the past, but it sounds like it might be ready to go back in rotation.

 

[lmorin]

...........
We stuck to easy entries because I am an old guy with artificial hips. Oil Slick was the only northern site we dove. Karpata was too rough for us to dive the day we tried. We did some boat dives on Klein Bonaire and they are starting to get a red algae there. We did Hilma Hooker from a boat too, I just have trouble with getting back up that iron shore ledge even without equipment.........

I'm an old guy, too. A former serious athlete who has an obscure neurological problem in both legs. My balance now sucks. My wife, never an athlete, and I have resorted to using canes when entering and exiting. A cane is not a panacea, but can have a huge positive impact on many entries and exits. I found two collapsible aluminum canes (bungee cord down the middle) on the internet that fold to about 12" max length. My wife made us each a holster that attaches to the bcd, one point at the hip and the other at the chest. After entering, the collapsed cane goes into the holster until the end of the dive. We did Karpata in August with canes. It is a bit amusing to see the faces of folks watching us emerge from the briny deep trudging landward with canes! But, again, they are not panaceas. Pick your spots. I am considering a modification of our procedures and may use a non-collapsible cane which is stronger. I would theoretically attach it to the tank when underwater, but have not yet figured the most efficient way to do so.

 

[herbdb]

I have used a collapsible hiking stick but forgot it this trip. Just tuck it in the cumberbund.

 

[deco_martini]

At Cliff last year, we ran into an older lady who runs her own eco-dive adventure whatever on Bonaire. She took a piece of PVC with her on shore entries, and jammed it somewhere in the shallows.