On Island Trip Report Bonaire 20 Feb - 11 Mar

[Adaveke]

23 Feb

I woke up early and opened the curtains expecting to see a bright and sunny day. In stead I was greeted by clouds and a soft rain... I thought about writing an email to queen Beatrix in order to complain that she allowed rain on her little island in the sun, but at second thought I decided against the email. After all, the poor thing must have more things on her head with that golden charriot that needs polishing and all those coffee shops that need to be ran. And I'm quite sure that those wooden shoes don't make themselves... Besides, the plan is to do some diving, we're going to get wet after all.

After breakfast, we decide to head up north and see what the divespots are like. You know the drill...
'Shall we stop here?'
'Are you crazy? The grand total of two trucks is present. It will be crowded down there, drive on!'

At Tolo there is a family of snorkelers in the water and no other trucks to be spotted, so we decide this is the spot for our first dive. It turned out to be a good choice: no lion fish to be spotted, a big ass barracuda who thought it would be nice to pay us a visit (3 times on one dive) up and close and all the lettuce leaf slugs my heart could ever desire. It was a good dive!

After Tolo we decide tho head up even further north and check if we could find Candy Land and/or Taylor Maid. We found them okay, but on seeing the surf we chickened out. Does anyone have some tips, tricks and pointers?
So we decided to head back for lunch and ended up at Rum Runners again. The Rum Runners Choice Salad was devine. Really liked it!

After lunch we headed south to Wanadive Eden Beach. The visibility wasn't up to Bonairean standards, but lets be realistic: Bonaire at its worst is still better than the local quarry in Belgium at its best...
We saw some big puffers on this dive, some very active morrays and some scorpion fish. All in all a good dive.

Since the vis was low and the cloud covered sun was also getting low, we decided to call it a day and have some pre dinner beers at the Eden Beach Bar. It turned out that we had the bar to ourselves. According to the bartender it has been slow for quite some time now. The hotel is being renovated, which keeps the people away. It still gets busy in the afternoon when the cruise ships dock, but this week there are no cruise ships. I'm not complaining.

After drinks, we headed up to Pasa Bon Pizza. You know it's good, so I don't need to explain that one. We ended the evening back at Bamboo Bali with relaxing jacuzzi and a good book.
Life is good!

 

[chauncy19]

adaveke,
$43.10 doesn't sound too bad for a spring strap. more than i paid for a pair but had the luxury of waiting and the internet. didn't realize spring straps broke but everything does....
enjoying your updates.
Much easier dealing with scuba items than Curacao. was on curacao recently and that certainly was one thing i missed about Bonaire--ease of repair and replacement of equipment.

 

[Adaveke]

adaveke,
$43.10 doesn't sound too bad for a spring strap. more than i paid for a pair but had the luxury of waiting and the internet. didn't realize spring straps broke but everything does....
enjoying your updates.
Much easier dealing with scuba items than Curacao. was on curacao recently and that certainly was one thing i missed about Bonaire--ease of repair and replacement of equipment.

True, it's not breaking our backs, but we paid $32 for the ones we bought in Belgium. Now that I think about it, they broke, maybe these are better

 

[helimvee]

Your daily diary entries are great, but hard to read given that we are expecting another 15 cms for tomorrow.

Seriously, it sounds like you are having a great time.

And now I have a craving for a gin and tonic ... and I don't drink gin.

 

[Adaveke]

24 Feb

In the morning we had some seriously heavy rain and some serious wave action going on, so we decided to skip the diving in the morning. We ended up driving around the island in the rain, which has a special kind of magic to it.

Lunch was had at Elle's again, the service was a bit slow this time, but they where friendly as always.

In the afternoon we did Hilma Hooker and I'm sad to say that even here we spotted a lion fish. The vis was the best I've ever seen on the Hooker, what a great dive.
I looked around, but I could not spot Tony (the resident Tarpon, I nicknamed him last visit). Maybe later on he will be back.

Since it was thursday, it was Free Rum Punch time at The Hut. Top it off with a nice BBQ and some beers at the bar, and you have the recipe for a great evening!

 

[Adaveke]

Your daily diary entries are great, but hard to read given that we are expecting another 15 cms for tomorrow.

Seriously, it sounds like you are having a great time.

And now I have a craving for a gin and tonic ... and I don't drink gin.

We're having a great time alright. Sorry to hear about the weather at your end. If it can lift your spirit I'll have to return to cold and rainy Belgium one day

If you don't drink gin, no worries, there is other good stuff that goes with tonic... Rum for example just don't apply to much tonic

 

[Adaveke]

25 Feb

Another somewhat rainy day in paradise.
We submerged during a tropical downpour at Weber's Joy. Apparently the rain gives a special sort of ambiance to the reef. It seems the predators are more active when there isn't that much sun...
Weber's Joy is an absolutely wonderful place, lots of big boulders, nooks and crannies. Lots to see. We spotted 4 (yes, that's right, four!) lion fish on this one dive. With three of them on the same boulder.

We came up with clear skies, and headed back to BBB for a quick rinse and some lunch @ Rum Runners. I had the Kari Kari Sandwich, it was very tasty!

In the afternoon we headed towards the donkey sanctuary to visit Edy. The donkey we recently adopted. Turns out she is a bit shy, but the rest of them sure isn't!

After we had as much donkey fun as we could stand, we returned to BBB for pre diner Gin Tonic in the Jacuzzi. Life can be great!

Diner itself was had at Sense. Lovely place, great decor, friendly service and the food was very good. We both had the catch of the day, which was wahoo. It was cooked to perfection and accompanied by very fresh vegetables.
For desert we had the crème Brulée. Very good! We will go back there during this trip.

 

[jennfl]

Hi Adaveke! It's been great reading your reports. I love to pretend I'm there by reading trip reports. Yours are great, very detailed!

Couple of questions for you since you are there now, and I can take advantage of your perspective..... We will be there in May for one week, can't wait, even though I just found out I'm pregnant and can't dive. We will be snorkeling instead, but still looking forward to it.

Just read you ate at Sense. Is that located at the Tropical Inn where Tropical Divers is? Just curious how the hotel itself looks. We are diving with them, or at least my boyfriend is now, not me. We are planning to stay somewhere else, but may change our minds.

Also, have you been by the airport? How is it with the construction noise at night? The place we plan to stay is very very close to the airport, Waterlands Village. So, just wondering if the noise at night will be annoying or not. My boyfriend read an article online with the local Bonaire newspaper and it said they have to build a temporary tarmac production plant. They showed a picture. Just looked obnoxious, but maybe it's not even a big deal at all!

Anyway, I will keep reading your posts. Thanks so much!!

Jenn

 

[gert7to3]

Re: broken fin strap. If you use spring straps, take one of your old original rubber straps with buckles along. Anything breaks, you can save a dive. I also carry zip ties (wire ties) in my BC pocket. You can patch anything back together with them. I have saved the day on two broken fin straps (once while underwater) and one broken mask strap with those things.

Thanks for the reports. I just applied for a trip (#7) in May.

 

[Adaveke]

Hi Adaveke! It's been great reading your reports. I love to pretend I'm there by reading trip reports. Yours are great, very detailed!

Couple of questions for you since you are there now, and I can take advantage of your perspective..... We will be there in May for one week, can't wait, even though I just found out I'm pregnant and can't dive. We will be snorkeling instead, but still looking forward to it.

Just read you ate at Sense. Is that located at the Tropical Inn where Tropical Divers is? Just curious how the hotel itself looks. We are diving with them, or at least my boyfriend is now, not me. We are planning to stay somewhere else, but may change our minds.

Also, have you been by the airport? How is it with the construction noise at night? The place we plan to stay is very very close to the airport, Waterlands Village. So, just wondering if the noise at night will be annoying or not. My boyfriend read an article online with the local Bonaire newspaper and it said they have to build a temporary tarmac production plant. They showed a picture. Just looked obnoxious, but maybe it's not even a big deal at all!

Anyway, I will keep reading your posts. Thanks so much!!

Jenn

Hi Jenn,

we didn't check the surrounding at Sense, it is located directly across the street from Plaza though. Since, we'll pass there again during our trip, I'll check it out.

We haven't heard anything coming from the airport, but we're 'far' away. Best to check with others on that one. Although I wouldn't worry to much, the airport grounds are quite big.

PS: congrats!