socaldiver
Contributor
Well, the 2003 trip to Bonaire is over but what a trip.
First off, my wife Kath (Summer99) and myself want to thank Natasha for putting the trip together; secondly we want to thank our "group leader" Bob for doing a good job of watching out for everyone; next thanks to Toucan Diving, Ramon, Luis, Erika and Anuuk in particular.
We arrived in Bonaire on 9/6, and after checking in we met most of our group at the dive shop, got our indoctrination and off we went to do our checkout dive.
I have been fortunate to do some diving in a few areas: kelp forest off Southern California, Maui, Sea of Cortez in Baja, the quarries of Kentucky , Key Largo and Blue Springs in Florida. The diving in Bonaire has been the best I have ever encountered. The diving was easy and the reefs were absolutely beautiful. I managed to shoot 11 rolls of film underwater with my Reefmaster nd 75% came out beautiful. I am going to try to get them transferred to CD (my scanner isn't working) so I can download them for all to see.
I only did 14 dives while we were there but everyone was memorable.
Dive 1: 18th Palm: This was our (Kath and myself) checkout dive and what a way to start. We saw various types of coral and sponges, a huge green moray and at the end of the dive an octopus, along with the normal tropical marine life. My max depth was 59 fsw, 42 minutes, viz about 60 ft, water temp at depth 82 and came back with 1200 psi.
Dive 2: Rock Pile, Klein Bonaire, boat dive: highlight was seeing a peacock flounder along with the coral, sponges and normal marine life. Max depth 84 fsw, 50 minutes, viz 60', water temp 82 and came back with 1000 psi (had a short fill of 2800) to start.
Dive 3: North Belham, boat dive: nothing out of the ordinary, just more beautiful reefs. Max depth 64 fsw, 57 minutes, viz 60', water temp 81, 800 psi (after another short fill of 2800).
Dive 4: Small Wall, boat dive: highlight of this dive was seeing a seahorse, a couple of spotted eels and of course visiting the underwater webcam. Max depth 54 fsw, 57 minutes, viz 80', water temp 82, and 1050 psi left.
Dive 5:Bonaventure, Klein Bonaire, boat dive: beautiful reef but nothing out of ordinary. Max depth 53 fsw, 61 minutes, viz 80', water temp 82, 950 psi left.
Dive 6: Salt Pier, boat dive: saw tarpon, peacock flounder and barracuda among the marine life. Had our group video taken by Anuuk during this dive (the video is outstanding). Max depth 62, 56 minutes, viz 80'. water temp 82, 800 psi left.
Dive 7: Forest, Klein Bonaire, boat dive: nothing out of the ordinary on this dive. Max depth 52 fsw, 60 minutes, viz 80', water temp 82, 1000 psi.
Dive 8: Oil Slick Leap, boat dive: Saw an octopus on this dive as well, everything else the same. Max depth 57 fsw, 63 minutes, viz 80', water temp 82, 1050 psi left.
Dive 9: Nearest Point, Klein Bonaire, boat dive: cruised over the reefs just taking pics and admiring the beauty, also saw a turtle. Max depth 60 fsw, 66 minutes, viz 80, water temp 82, 1200 psi left.
Dive 10: 18th Palm, shore dive: nothing out of the ordinary, did the other side of the reef from first dive, didn't think it was as nice as first dive on site. Max depth 39 fsw, 62 minutes, 50' viz, water temp 82, 1300 psi left.
Dive 11: Bonaventure, Klein Bonaire, boat dive, night dive: eels, a HUGE lobster and a crab were the highlight of this night dive. Max depth 50 fsw, 44 minutes, viz 50', water temp 82, 1300 psi left.
Dive 12: Karpata, boat dive: reef very healthy, another big lobster along with the coral and sponges. Max depth 61 fsw, 61 minutes, viz 80', water temp 82, 1300 psi left.
Dive 13: 1000 steps, boat dive: saw a turtle as well as other marine life. max depth 51 fsw, 62 minutes, viz 80', water temp 82, 1050 psi left.
Dive 14: Town Pier, shore dive, night dive: a tarpon kept swimming among us, eels, an octopus and seahorses were among the highlight of the dive, however, the orange cup coral on the pillars were awesome. 19 fsw, 54 minutes, viz 30', water temp 82, 1500 psi.
It was a pleasure seeing and getting to dive with my buddy Bob again, meeting his wife Beth. Also meeting Dimitri, Stephanie, Jim, Paul and Matt was nice.
I can't say enough about the resort. It was very nice and the staff friendly. I felt their restaurants were okay but wished they had a wider variety of food rather than buffets in 2 of the 3 locations. But, the price was reasonable and the quantity was excellent.
Kath and I can't wait til next September so we can get together again with everyone and dive our sweet a_ _ es off some more.
First off, my wife Kath (Summer99) and myself want to thank Natasha for putting the trip together; secondly we want to thank our "group leader" Bob for doing a good job of watching out for everyone; next thanks to Toucan Diving, Ramon, Luis, Erika and Anuuk in particular.
We arrived in Bonaire on 9/6, and after checking in we met most of our group at the dive shop, got our indoctrination and off we went to do our checkout dive.
I have been fortunate to do some diving in a few areas: kelp forest off Southern California, Maui, Sea of Cortez in Baja, the quarries of Kentucky , Key Largo and Blue Springs in Florida. The diving in Bonaire has been the best I have ever encountered. The diving was easy and the reefs were absolutely beautiful. I managed to shoot 11 rolls of film underwater with my Reefmaster nd 75% came out beautiful. I am going to try to get them transferred to CD (my scanner isn't working) so I can download them for all to see.
I only did 14 dives while we were there but everyone was memorable.
Dive 1: 18th Palm: This was our (Kath and myself) checkout dive and what a way to start. We saw various types of coral and sponges, a huge green moray and at the end of the dive an octopus, along with the normal tropical marine life. My max depth was 59 fsw, 42 minutes, viz about 60 ft, water temp at depth 82 and came back with 1200 psi.
Dive 2: Rock Pile, Klein Bonaire, boat dive: highlight was seeing a peacock flounder along with the coral, sponges and normal marine life. Max depth 84 fsw, 50 minutes, viz 60', water temp 82 and came back with 1000 psi (had a short fill of 2800) to start.
Dive 3: North Belham, boat dive: nothing out of the ordinary, just more beautiful reefs. Max depth 64 fsw, 57 minutes, viz 60', water temp 81, 800 psi (after another short fill of 2800).
Dive 4: Small Wall, boat dive: highlight of this dive was seeing a seahorse, a couple of spotted eels and of course visiting the underwater webcam. Max depth 54 fsw, 57 minutes, viz 80', water temp 82, and 1050 psi left.
Dive 5:Bonaventure, Klein Bonaire, boat dive: beautiful reef but nothing out of ordinary. Max depth 53 fsw, 61 minutes, viz 80', water temp 82, 950 psi left.
Dive 6: Salt Pier, boat dive: saw tarpon, peacock flounder and barracuda among the marine life. Had our group video taken by Anuuk during this dive (the video is outstanding). Max depth 62, 56 minutes, viz 80'. water temp 82, 800 psi left.
Dive 7: Forest, Klein Bonaire, boat dive: nothing out of the ordinary on this dive. Max depth 52 fsw, 60 minutes, viz 80', water temp 82, 1000 psi.
Dive 8: Oil Slick Leap, boat dive: Saw an octopus on this dive as well, everything else the same. Max depth 57 fsw, 63 minutes, viz 80', water temp 82, 1050 psi left.
Dive 9: Nearest Point, Klein Bonaire, boat dive: cruised over the reefs just taking pics and admiring the beauty, also saw a turtle. Max depth 60 fsw, 66 minutes, viz 80, water temp 82, 1200 psi left.
Dive 10: 18th Palm, shore dive: nothing out of the ordinary, did the other side of the reef from first dive, didn't think it was as nice as first dive on site. Max depth 39 fsw, 62 minutes, 50' viz, water temp 82, 1300 psi left.
Dive 11: Bonaventure, Klein Bonaire, boat dive, night dive: eels, a HUGE lobster and a crab were the highlight of this night dive. Max depth 50 fsw, 44 minutes, viz 50', water temp 82, 1300 psi left.
Dive 12: Karpata, boat dive: reef very healthy, another big lobster along with the coral and sponges. Max depth 61 fsw, 61 minutes, viz 80', water temp 82, 1300 psi left.
Dive 13: 1000 steps, boat dive: saw a turtle as well as other marine life. max depth 51 fsw, 62 minutes, viz 80', water temp 82, 1050 psi left.
Dive 14: Town Pier, shore dive, night dive: a tarpon kept swimming among us, eels, an octopus and seahorses were among the highlight of the dive, however, the orange cup coral on the pillars were awesome. 19 fsw, 54 minutes, viz 30', water temp 82, 1500 psi.
It was a pleasure seeing and getting to dive with my buddy Bob again, meeting his wife Beth. Also meeting Dimitri, Stephanie, Jim, Paul and Matt was nice.
I can't say enough about the resort. It was very nice and the staff friendly. I felt their restaurants were okay but wished they had a wider variety of food rather than buffets in 2 of the 3 locations. But, the price was reasonable and the quantity was excellent.
Kath and I can't wait til next September so we can get together again with everyone and dive our sweet a_ _ es off some more.