I'm sorry I couldn't stay the entire time. Just as things were starting to get interesting I had to leave.
I lucked out in roommates. Mark and I got along exceptionally well.
Saturday
We arrived at Flamingo International about 2:30 on Saturday afternoon.
#1. We made a beach dive at 5:31. June was my buddy for the Saturday afternoon dive. This was our "checkout" dive although noone checked us out. This first dive had the best visibility of any I made while in Bonaire - about 90 ft. We headed for the second reef and June saw Garden Eels in the sand between the reefs. I totally missed them. When I finally started to look, it became apparent Garden Eeels are quite common in Bonaire. We saw a 3 ft Cubera Snapper on the first reef
18 Palms
Depth: 118' Viz: 90' 30 minutes
#2. We made the first night dive of the trip that same evening, dropping below at 9:15. June and I were the only divers to brave the night and cruised along without light for much of the dive. A pixie dust halo surrounded my buddy. At one point, we spotted a large (about 5 ft) shape approaching from the top of the wall. We briefly saw the slender fish shape as a silhouette before it dropped down the wall toward us. We couldn't make out any details and the silhouette was visible for too short a time to know what was approaching. I could see it was getting pretty close, so when it was about 5 ft away I turned on my light. The light caused the Tarpon to turn away. It did continue to follow us through out the dive.
18 Palms
Depth: 108' Viz: unknown 34 minutes
Sunday
#3 Next morning, Denton, June, Mark, David (Natasha's) and I met for a dive which began at 6:34. We were amazed at how beautiful our surroundings were. After the dive June asked if I'd seen the Garden Eels. I hadn't thought to look.
18 Palms
Depth: 120' Viz: 80' 32 minutes
#4 After breakfast, it was time for another dive. Again, June was my buddy. My mission was to see the Garden Eels. At 9:12, We began our dive. After accomplishing my mission, I returned to the shallow portions of the wall.
18 Palms
Depth: 107' Viz: 70' 43 minutes
#5 It wasn't long before other wanted to start diving, so at 10:25 I joined a group of 6 for my 3rd dive of the day. Denton, June, Bob, Natasha, Beverly and I enjoyed additional exploration of the reef. After awhile, folks started to surface without signaling. I came up to see what was going on. They were talking about the dive. June was below me. I told them June & I would be below if anone wanted to join us. Beverly joined us and we continued on. June found a Sharptailed Eel. We came across Suzanne and Chicago Dave. June exited stage right, leaving Beverly and me to continue alone. Just before we ended our dive, we saw Sandy, Jerri and #4 (#1 to Jerri).
18 Palms
Depth: 61' Viz: 60' 1 hour 4 minutes
#6 At 3:42 in the afternoon, Florida David, Beverly and I set out for the second reef. I barely got to the second reef when I needed to start up. We spent the majority of the dive off gassing around 35 - 45' on the wall. I took some photos I hope turn out. There was a small piece of coral with attached fire coral alonf one side. From the right angle, it looked like a stage upon which played a juvenile Rock Beauty and an as yet unidentified Moray. Beautiful images! I hope I got lucky with the camera. At dive's end, Beverly and I played with some squid. David having exited earlier. We shined my light along the squids' bodies. They seemed to enjoy the light and let us approach to within a foot.
18 Palms
Depth: 117' Viz: 60' 1 hour 2 minutes
#7 Our second night dive started at 6:20. Anita, Florida David, Raphael, Neil, Mark, Gary, Sabina and I made up the group. Gary and Sabina were not part of our trip, but they fit in and I believe just about everyone adopted them. Sabina diving in a dress was extremely funny.
18 Palms
Depth: 50' Viz: unknown 51 minutes
Monday
#8 Mark, Natasha's David, June, Neil and I began Monday's dives at 6:13 AM.
18 Palms
Depth: 100' Viz: 60' 58 minutes
#9 When we were told this site's name, I thought it was part of the instructions. Our first boat dive began at 8:58 AM. June, Beverly and I formed a three man buddy team. Beverly pointed out a small Hawsbill Turtle. This was the most beautiful reef I saw in Bonaire.
Hands Off
Depth: 104' Viz: 80' 1 hour 2 minutes
#10 June, Beverly & I started down at 10:55. I played some games on this dive, pulling out my buddy line and looping it on Beverly's tank valve. She towed me along for several minutes and never did catch me. June turned around and saw me being bad, but she didn't rat on me.
Cliff
Depth: 69' Viz: 50' 1 hour 5 minutes
#11 Anita, Florida David, Beverly and I headed north along the reef at 2:37 that afternoon. The highlight was when Anita found a Frogfish that looked like a piece of orange sponge.
18 Palms
Depth: 61' Viz: 60' 1 hour
Tuesday
#12 Tuesday morning also began with a dive at 6:15. Florida David, Anita, June, Mark, Neil, #4 (#1 to Jerri) helped me begin my last day of diving around Bonaire. It was a totally relaxing dive.
18 Palms
Depth: 66' Viz: 60' 32 minutes
Lucky #13 Was the Hilma Hooker. Bob needed this dive to complete his wreck certification. Raphael joined us to make it a three man buddy team. Vladi video taped this dive and played with his shark hand puppet. This is a great wreck! Lots of fun to dive. As we descended, I could tell by Bob's expression, he felt exactly the same.
Hilma Hooker
Depth: 100' Viz: 60' 38 minutes
#14 Bob was again my buddy as we hit the water at 10:36. The highlight of this dive were the Seahorses. The coral was also beautiful, it seems better off Klein Bonaire than off the main island.
Bonaventure
Depth: 63' Viz: 90' 1 hour 7 minutes
#15 My flight was scheduled to lift off at 3:10 on Wednesday afternoon, so I wanted a full 24 hour period prior to my flight, especially with so many dives in such a short period. Becky, Susan and Renee invited Mark and me to hop in their rental for a ride to a more distant dive site. Mark, Renee and I formed a three man buddy team and headed south along the reef at 2:18. A very enjoyable and relaxing dive. After the dive, we received a short tour of the local area.
Alice in Wonderland
Depth: 60' Viz: 70' 52 minutes
A completely delightful trip! Tuesday evening we played volleyball, ate barbeque and visited. We got together as a group both Monday and Tuesday evenings. Monday was a wonderful meal with excellent company. I wish we had not be divided into three groups. I completely enjoyed my time visting with June, Bob & Beth and Kevin & Kim, but there were others I didn't get to visit with as much as I would have liked. Tuesday, I was able to visit with more of our group. Tuesday, the meal was not as good, but Tuesday evening was very special.
I hope to dive with everyone again soon!
I lucked out in roommates. Mark and I got along exceptionally well.
Saturday
We arrived at Flamingo International about 2:30 on Saturday afternoon.
#1. We made a beach dive at 5:31. June was my buddy for the Saturday afternoon dive. This was our "checkout" dive although noone checked us out. This first dive had the best visibility of any I made while in Bonaire - about 90 ft. We headed for the second reef and June saw Garden Eels in the sand between the reefs. I totally missed them. When I finally started to look, it became apparent Garden Eeels are quite common in Bonaire. We saw a 3 ft Cubera Snapper on the first reef
18 Palms
Depth: 118' Viz: 90' 30 minutes
#2. We made the first night dive of the trip that same evening, dropping below at 9:15. June and I were the only divers to brave the night and cruised along without light for much of the dive. A pixie dust halo surrounded my buddy. At one point, we spotted a large (about 5 ft) shape approaching from the top of the wall. We briefly saw the slender fish shape as a silhouette before it dropped down the wall toward us. We couldn't make out any details and the silhouette was visible for too short a time to know what was approaching. I could see it was getting pretty close, so when it was about 5 ft away I turned on my light. The light caused the Tarpon to turn away. It did continue to follow us through out the dive.
18 Palms
Depth: 108' Viz: unknown 34 minutes
Sunday
#3 Next morning, Denton, June, Mark, David (Natasha's) and I met for a dive which began at 6:34. We were amazed at how beautiful our surroundings were. After the dive June asked if I'd seen the Garden Eels. I hadn't thought to look.
18 Palms
Depth: 120' Viz: 80' 32 minutes
#4 After breakfast, it was time for another dive. Again, June was my buddy. My mission was to see the Garden Eels. At 9:12, We began our dive. After accomplishing my mission, I returned to the shallow portions of the wall.
18 Palms
Depth: 107' Viz: 70' 43 minutes
#5 It wasn't long before other wanted to start diving, so at 10:25 I joined a group of 6 for my 3rd dive of the day. Denton, June, Bob, Natasha, Beverly and I enjoyed additional exploration of the reef. After awhile, folks started to surface without signaling. I came up to see what was going on. They were talking about the dive. June was below me. I told them June & I would be below if anone wanted to join us. Beverly joined us and we continued on. June found a Sharptailed Eel. We came across Suzanne and Chicago Dave. June exited stage right, leaving Beverly and me to continue alone. Just before we ended our dive, we saw Sandy, Jerri and #4 (#1 to Jerri).
18 Palms
Depth: 61' Viz: 60' 1 hour 4 minutes
#6 At 3:42 in the afternoon, Florida David, Beverly and I set out for the second reef. I barely got to the second reef when I needed to start up. We spent the majority of the dive off gassing around 35 - 45' on the wall. I took some photos I hope turn out. There was a small piece of coral with attached fire coral alonf one side. From the right angle, it looked like a stage upon which played a juvenile Rock Beauty and an as yet unidentified Moray. Beautiful images! I hope I got lucky with the camera. At dive's end, Beverly and I played with some squid. David having exited earlier. We shined my light along the squids' bodies. They seemed to enjoy the light and let us approach to within a foot.
18 Palms
Depth: 117' Viz: 60' 1 hour 2 minutes
#7 Our second night dive started at 6:20. Anita, Florida David, Raphael, Neil, Mark, Gary, Sabina and I made up the group. Gary and Sabina were not part of our trip, but they fit in and I believe just about everyone adopted them. Sabina diving in a dress was extremely funny.
18 Palms
Depth: 50' Viz: unknown 51 minutes
Monday
#8 Mark, Natasha's David, June, Neil and I began Monday's dives at 6:13 AM.
18 Palms
Depth: 100' Viz: 60' 58 minutes
#9 When we were told this site's name, I thought it was part of the instructions. Our first boat dive began at 8:58 AM. June, Beverly and I formed a three man buddy team. Beverly pointed out a small Hawsbill Turtle. This was the most beautiful reef I saw in Bonaire.
Hands Off
Depth: 104' Viz: 80' 1 hour 2 minutes
#10 June, Beverly & I started down at 10:55. I played some games on this dive, pulling out my buddy line and looping it on Beverly's tank valve. She towed me along for several minutes and never did catch me. June turned around and saw me being bad, but she didn't rat on me.
Cliff
Depth: 69' Viz: 50' 1 hour 5 minutes
#11 Anita, Florida David, Beverly and I headed north along the reef at 2:37 that afternoon. The highlight was when Anita found a Frogfish that looked like a piece of orange sponge.
18 Palms
Depth: 61' Viz: 60' 1 hour
Tuesday
#12 Tuesday morning also began with a dive at 6:15. Florida David, Anita, June, Mark, Neil, #4 (#1 to Jerri) helped me begin my last day of diving around Bonaire. It was a totally relaxing dive.
18 Palms
Depth: 66' Viz: 60' 32 minutes
Lucky #13 Was the Hilma Hooker. Bob needed this dive to complete his wreck certification. Raphael joined us to make it a three man buddy team. Vladi video taped this dive and played with his shark hand puppet. This is a great wreck! Lots of fun to dive. As we descended, I could tell by Bob's expression, he felt exactly the same.
Hilma Hooker
Depth: 100' Viz: 60' 38 minutes
#14 Bob was again my buddy as we hit the water at 10:36. The highlight of this dive were the Seahorses. The coral was also beautiful, it seems better off Klein Bonaire than off the main island.
Bonaventure
Depth: 63' Viz: 90' 1 hour 7 minutes
#15 My flight was scheduled to lift off at 3:10 on Wednesday afternoon, so I wanted a full 24 hour period prior to my flight, especially with so many dives in such a short period. Becky, Susan and Renee invited Mark and me to hop in their rental for a ride to a more distant dive site. Mark, Renee and I formed a three man buddy team and headed south along the reef at 2:18. A very enjoyable and relaxing dive. After the dive, we received a short tour of the local area.
Alice in Wonderland
Depth: 60' Viz: 70' 52 minutes
A completely delightful trip! Tuesday evening we played volleyball, ate barbeque and visited. We got together as a group both Monday and Tuesday evenings. Monday was a wonderful meal with excellent company. I wish we had not be divided into three groups. I completely enjoyed my time visting with June, Bob & Beth and Kevin & Kim, but there were others I didn't get to visit with as much as I would have liked. Tuesday, I was able to visit with more of our group. Tuesday, the meal was not as good, but Tuesday evening was very special.
I hope to dive with everyone again soon!
? It sure looked liked a lot of fun!
