Hello from Bonaire!

[Natasha]

And he wrote a new one. I'll post it a bit later.

(Becky he was so happy when I told him you mentioned it here)

Give me a moment
Lend me an ear
As we stand about and raise good cheer.
We dove on this island a week and a day
A swim with the fish
All in good play.
Now we have packed and travel to fly
Let's give a group hug
And say Goodbye.

David Newman

 

[Bob]

Hello from Bob and Beth,
I'll get right to it. What a great trip! The diving was the easiest and most convenient I've ever done. Got to see lot's of things, Beginning of the Coral Spawn, Eagle Rays, Seahorses and all those lobsters on the Thursday night dive.(I thought about you Charlie) Wish I could have kept a couple of the ones I caught. What a blast playing with the bugs at 50fsw with a full moon glaring on the surface above. Something I'll never forget. The group that Natasha put together were skilled divers, good people and just enjoyable to be around. We had great fun in and out of the water. Beth and I even went on Safari with Idaho Dave and wife Jerri. We had a ball. We'll make the trip again next September.
A word on the Plaza Resort. First Class. The rooms are large and comfortable and the people at the resort will go out of their way to make sure you are enjoying your stay. Toucan Diving, the same. Thanks to Steve for treating us right. We got a two tank dive for ten dollars and one free dive. I don't know of any dive op in Florida that sells two tank dives for ten dollars, much less give dives away. Thanks to Dive Master's Erwin, Ebby, Erika and Luis. Great divers and better Dive Masters. They let you dive and stay out of the way. By the way, these guys use little if any air, you can't outlast them. All in all, the trip exceeded our expectations. See you next year in Bonaire. :tree: Bob.

Thanks Natasha and David. :ko:

 

[Natasha]

I should be thanking you. This was a fantastic group. Any group leader's dream. Thank you for the encouraging words. It gives me the motivation to continue.
Now, let's start posting the dive reports!
I'll give you my last dive.
It was also my best for the week.
My air consumption this trip was the best I ever had.
This dive was 47 minutes at 84 degrees. I had 3100 PSI and came back with 2100 PSI. Nitrox.
Dive Buddies were Dave1, Dave 2, Suzanne, Denton, and Anita.
Place: 18th Palm Behind the Plaza Resort : Shore Dive
We saw 3 eels and I had the honor of holding and petting a frog (toad) fish.
Yes, Dave1 saw him, and he just came right to me. I was able to hold him and gently pet him. He seemed to really enjoy it. Suzanne can vouch for this.
Anyway, it was a great way to end the trip. Very magical for me.
So, my question to you is ..which dive on Bonaire was your favorite? You can only pick one!

 

[Walter]

Natasha,

There's a big difference between a Frogfish and a Toadfish.

I agree with everyone, it was a great trip, I just hope I can find some time to post a trip report. Things have been hectic.

June,

You got me. I never got Renee. I tried twice, but was unsuccessful both times. Beverly is another story.

On the night dive after the wedding, I hitched a ride on MB without using a line. I've never been able to pull that off before (he might have had something on his mind). To make it even better, while I was getting a ride, Den was holding onto my valve, so MB was actually towing two divers.

It was great to see friends again and to make new friends.

 

[Natasha]

I saw of picture of him in Sandy's Pictures. I think she called him a frog fish, and Dave 1 called him a toad fish. So which one is he? I don't know. Just as long as some witch doesn't come by and turn me into one, I guess it doesn't matter.

Glad you had a good time Walter, even if it was only a short stay because of the wedding. Looking forward to your longer report.

 

[SunshineFish]

Bob once bubbled...
...all those lobsters on the Thursday night dive...

WHAT LOBSTERS??? I missed the lobsters?

 

[sea nmf]

Boy, it's hard to choose just one. I will go with the Town Pier because there was just Ebby, Renee, Sue, & I and NO OTHER DIVERS!

If I had to describe it, I would say it was an explosion of color, a spotted drum convention, a marine creature disco party. We saw eels, octopus, decorator crabs, porupine puffer, spotted drums, and many, many other creatures. There were sponges in colors that you can't even dream in. The famous orange cup coral (soft) was everywhere. There is trash under there but some of the creatures have made it their homes.

This dive will crowd out other memories and remain one of the very special dives of my life.

Afterward, there was the keystone cop quality of "Renee's Adventures in Peeing". With her dive skin still on, she ran to the Customs Office (we had met and chatted with Cliff earlier) and begged to use the facilities. When it was my turn, I saw that Renee had left an indoor pool for Cliff to clean up and for me to wade through. I verified that it was only sea water on the floor, and that the human water made it into the proper recepticle. However, I could not find the light and so I had to be in total darkness. By this time, Cliff was out with the divers and there was no one to ask.

I slept great that night.

 

[Denton]

I'm doing my happy dance (not a pretty sight). Only minutes ago the Doc removed my cast!!! Yahoo! Let's go diving!

Ok, I'll calm down... Favorite dive? Either my first dive Saturday afternoon from the shore when I realized how easy diving with a broken arm and a cast would be or even better, after Ebby dropped most of the boat and Steve off after one tank and took Kim, Kevin, Sandy, Erwin and myself to the Forest on Klein Bonaire for a 74 minute drift dive. Erwin only stopped because he thought we were bored. D'oh!

Now do you guys see why, after four trips with Natasha, I'll be coming back for more? She has a knack of putting together great trips with great people. Pressures on Natasha, let's see you out do yourself!

See ya all soon (Cayman?),

Denton

 

[Natasha]

Did someone say Cayman?
Guess what I did today? I held 10 rooms for Grand Cayman.
I figured I better not wait until DEMA because the space could sell out there.
So we now have our next trip ready to go.
( Bigger Grin )

PS Denton: So glad your cast is off! No more Ice Skating for you. Stick to Scuba much safer!

 

[dinghydiver]

Okay...I did it. I finally logged on to the scubaboard...

My favorite dive was the night dive, which was MY FIRST ONE EVER!! The entire trip was a terrific experience but the night dive was an adventure. David & I enjoyed meeting everyone & are trying to devise a plan, a cunning plan, to do Cayman in March.

Many thanks Natasha & Dave #1!

Bob & Beth--thank you so much for letting us tag along with you for the tour around the island. We enjoyed getting to know you & scouting out some good dive sites!

June--thanks for the tow to the ladder (note to self...).

Sandy, we've looked at your pictures & they really turned out great--thank you for posting them for everyone.

Too many people to thank & wish well but please know we enjoyed meeting everyone & we took the "come visit us" offers seriously! Also, if anyone would like to dive a cold mud pit (sorry hun), they are more than welcome to stop by & go w/ Dave#4. Actually, you can stop by anytime!

Until next time!!
-J