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Bonaire: Den Laman and Dive Friends, October 16-30, 2024
My wife and I recently made our eleventh visit to Bonaire, and like the last seven, stayed at Den Laman and dived with Dive Friends.
Reservations: We made all of our reservations online, Sunwise for Den Laman, AB Car Rental for our truck, Dive Friends, and American Airlines. Reservations worked flawlessly.
Travel: Our flight down to Bonaire from Philadelphia would initially have included a very short layover in Miami. Instead, we flew down a day early and spent the night at the Miami International Airport Hotel. I had stayed there once before on a trip to Malpelo. The hotel was fine, the flight to Bonaire the next morning was very easy. We got ripped off for a mediocre dinner and drinks at Air Margaritaville Miami. Next time, we will eat in the hotel restaurant, the menu looked good. Our return to Philadelphia from Bonaire was very smooth with a stop in Miami. I always expect the worst transiting through Miami, this time it was quick and easy. Immigration was extremely crowded, with very long lines. I was grateful we have Global Entry and barely stopped on our way to reclaim and recheck our luggage before going through security.
We were picked up at the airport to get our truck from AB Car Rental. The truck was fine, a newer model than we have had a few times.
We paid our Bonaire Visitor Entry online ahead of time and breezed through the checkpoint prior to immigration. We also obtained our STINAPA park tag online prior to our visit and got our souvenir medallions at Dive Friends Sand Dollar/Den Laman.
Accommodations: We called Sunwise while picking up our truck and Cecile met us at Den Laman to let us in. We stayed in the two-bedroom sea view Wahoo on this visit as none of the one-bedroom ocean fronts were available for our two-week dates. Cecile took care of a few missing kitchen items, important to us, as we cook most of our own meals. We stayed in Wahoo once before in 2019. The sea view is now largely blocked by the new Isidel Beach Park, between Den Laman and Chogogo.
Isidel Beach Park is now finished or nearly finished. It is very nice seeing local families and kids enjoying the park. There are four eating establishments of various types (see Fat Dog, below), a children’s play area, an adult exercise area, BBQs, and palapas. There is a sloping walkway down to the water that also serves as public access to Bari Reef. There is a good amount of parking at the entrance to the park at the Hato Circle. Unfortunately, the boat ramp on the north side of the park has recently been completed after our visit. I have reviewed Isidel Beach Park separately, with some photos.
Meals: We were in Bonaire by ourselves this visit and prepared most of our own meals. We did much of our shopping at Zhung Kong, located a little north of Den Laman. It is better stocked every time we visit. We did eat out a little, all within walking distance of Den Laman. The pizzas at Pizza Mare are excellent and made for an additional lunch. The food from the small food truck near the entrance to Isidel Park, Pita Madre, is excellent. Our favorite is the Pita Madre chicken gyros with fire fries and jalapeno mayonnaise. There is a very good taqueria in a small kiosk just inside Isidel Park, The Fat Dog. The chicken and fish tacos with a variety of salsas were delicious. We didn’t visit the very good Doner Station or Luciano’s ice cream on this visit, both located just across the circle.
Dive Operation: Dive Friends Sand Dollar/Den Laman is located between the two resorts. Divers staying at either resort have the use of the very nice gear storage room and access to the pier, with easy access to Bari Reef. There is a 10% discount with Dive Friends when booking Den Laman with Sunwise. Our good friend Joan is still working at Dive Friends Sand Dollar/Den Laman. We have known her for 20 years now, from the days of Andre and Bonaire Dive & Adventure.
A local resident
Dive Friends boats pick up at the pier for 2 tank morning dive trips to Klein Bonaire and northern sites not accessible by shore. On this visit, we did six boat trips, four on the larger catamaran, Tiki Diver, and two on the smaller Pascal.
Dive Friends is one of a small number of dive centers offering diving with the Avelo System. I certified on Avelo on our visit to Bonaire in December 2023 and rented gear on two days, for six more dives on this visit. I posted a follow up separately,
Diving: We had very good weather on this visit, mostly sunny and very warm. Daytime temperatures were often in the low 90s, occasional periods of clouds were appreciated. Winds were generally quite mild and we had only a few brief rains. Water temperatures were the warmest we have ever had in Bonaire, 84-85 degrees. Visibility was generally 60-80 feet. Currents were typically none to mild. However, on one afternoon at Bari Reef, there was such a strong south current that we had to abort the dive as we were unable to make progress against the current. This was the first time ever that we called a dive in Bonaire.
Unfortunately, the bad news. Much of hard coral cover has been adversely affected by SCTLD and coral bleaching. It is hard for me to tell the difference between the two, there is quite a lot of white coral. There is generally not a lot of algae though it is apparent in some areas. I would like to be optimistic that some of the coral bleaching is recoverable, but the water temperatures on this visit were not encouraging.
Much of our diving was still very enjoyable as the sea life is still generally quite good, with some caveats. We saw many tarpon, tiger grouper were generally quite small. There were the usual schools of brown and blue chromis, creole wrasse, bogas, tangs, and horse-eye jacks. We saw several turtles, only a single eagle ray. There were several seahorses, no frogfish or octopuses this trip. There were quite a few spotted morays and goldentail morays, a few green morays, no chain morays this visit. The usual reef fish were well represented though the distribution seemed different, less white spotted and scrawled filefish as an example. Sharp nosed puffers seemed to be everywhere.
I keep trying to be optimistic that Bonaire is resilient and can recover for future trips for all of us who love the island.
My wife and I recently made our eleventh visit to Bonaire, and like the last seven, stayed at Den Laman and dived with Dive Friends.
Reservations: We made all of our reservations online, Sunwise for Den Laman, AB Car Rental for our truck, Dive Friends, and American Airlines. Reservations worked flawlessly.
Travel: Our flight down to Bonaire from Philadelphia would initially have included a very short layover in Miami. Instead, we flew down a day early and spent the night at the Miami International Airport Hotel. I had stayed there once before on a trip to Malpelo. The hotel was fine, the flight to Bonaire the next morning was very easy. We got ripped off for a mediocre dinner and drinks at Air Margaritaville Miami. Next time, we will eat in the hotel restaurant, the menu looked good. Our return to Philadelphia from Bonaire was very smooth with a stop in Miami. I always expect the worst transiting through Miami, this time it was quick and easy. Immigration was extremely crowded, with very long lines. I was grateful we have Global Entry and barely stopped on our way to reclaim and recheck our luggage before going through security.
We were picked up at the airport to get our truck from AB Car Rental. The truck was fine, a newer model than we have had a few times.
We paid our Bonaire Visitor Entry online ahead of time and breezed through the checkpoint prior to immigration. We also obtained our STINAPA park tag online prior to our visit and got our souvenir medallions at Dive Friends Sand Dollar/Den Laman.
Accommodations: We called Sunwise while picking up our truck and Cecile met us at Den Laman to let us in. We stayed in the two-bedroom sea view Wahoo on this visit as none of the one-bedroom ocean fronts were available for our two-week dates. Cecile took care of a few missing kitchen items, important to us, as we cook most of our own meals. We stayed in Wahoo once before in 2019. The sea view is now largely blocked by the new Isidel Beach Park, between Den Laman and Chogogo.
Isidel Beach Park is now finished or nearly finished. It is very nice seeing local families and kids enjoying the park. There are four eating establishments of various types (see Fat Dog, below), a children’s play area, an adult exercise area, BBQs, and palapas. There is a sloping walkway down to the water that also serves as public access to Bari Reef. There is a good amount of parking at the entrance to the park at the Hato Circle. Unfortunately, the boat ramp on the north side of the park has recently been completed after our visit. I have reviewed Isidel Beach Park separately, with some photos.
Trip Report Thread 'Isidel Beach Park October 2024'
Meals: We were in Bonaire by ourselves this visit and prepared most of our own meals. We did much of our shopping at Zhung Kong, located a little north of Den Laman. It is better stocked every time we visit. We did eat out a little, all within walking distance of Den Laman. The pizzas at Pizza Mare are excellent and made for an additional lunch. The food from the small food truck near the entrance to Isidel Park, Pita Madre, is excellent. Our favorite is the Pita Madre chicken gyros with fire fries and jalapeno mayonnaise. There is a very good taqueria in a small kiosk just inside Isidel Park, The Fat Dog. The chicken and fish tacos with a variety of salsas were delicious. We didn’t visit the very good Doner Station or Luciano’s ice cream on this visit, both located just across the circle.
Dive Operation: Dive Friends Sand Dollar/Den Laman is located between the two resorts. Divers staying at either resort have the use of the very nice gear storage room and access to the pier, with easy access to Bari Reef. There is a 10% discount with Dive Friends when booking Den Laman with Sunwise. Our good friend Joan is still working at Dive Friends Sand Dollar/Den Laman. We have known her for 20 years now, from the days of Andre and Bonaire Dive & Adventure.
A local resident
Dive Friends boats pick up at the pier for 2 tank morning dive trips to Klein Bonaire and northern sites not accessible by shore. On this visit, we did six boat trips, four on the larger catamaran, Tiki Diver, and two on the smaller Pascal.
Dive Friends is one of a small number of dive centers offering diving with the Avelo System. I certified on Avelo on our visit to Bonaire in December 2023 and rented gear on two days, for six more dives on this visit. I posted a follow up separately,
This is a follow up to the initial review I posted on Jan 2, 2024
scubaboard.com
My wife and I returned to Bonaire for two weeks, October 16-October 30. I rented Avelo gear for 2 days and did 6 more dives. I have somewhat limited mobility of my right shoulder and had some difficulty reaching the pump button on the Jetpack. Avelo supplied me with a modified Jetpack that was very easy for me to use. It moved the button about 4 1/2 inches to the side and about 1 1/2 inches higher. I downloaded the Avelo Mode to my Shearwater...
Review - Diving the Avelo System
The Avelo System is innovative diving equipment that allows you to dive differently than with traditional gear. The Avelo System consists of the Jetpack and the Hydrotank. The Jetpack is a backplate, harness, battery, and pump. The Hydrotank consists of a flexible bladder holding the gas and a...
My wife and I returned to Bonaire for two weeks, October 16-October 30. I rented Avelo gear for 2 days and did 6 more dives. I have somewhat limited mobility of my right shoulder and had some difficulty reaching the pump button on the Jetpack. Avelo supplied me with a modified Jetpack that was very easy for me to use. It moved the button about 4 1/2 inches to the side and about 1 1/2 inches higher. I downloaded the Avelo Mode to my Shearwater...
Diving: We had very good weather on this visit, mostly sunny and very warm. Daytime temperatures were often in the low 90s, occasional periods of clouds were appreciated. Winds were generally quite mild and we had only a few brief rains. Water temperatures were the warmest we have ever had in Bonaire, 84-85 degrees. Visibility was generally 60-80 feet. Currents were typically none to mild. However, on one afternoon at Bari Reef, there was such a strong south current that we had to abort the dive as we were unable to make progress against the current. This was the first time ever that we called a dive in Bonaire.
Unfortunately, the bad news. Much of hard coral cover has been adversely affected by SCTLD and coral bleaching. It is hard for me to tell the difference between the two, there is quite a lot of white coral. There is generally not a lot of algae though it is apparent in some areas. I would like to be optimistic that some of the coral bleaching is recoverable, but the water temperatures on this visit were not encouraging.
Much of our diving was still very enjoyable as the sea life is still generally quite good, with some caveats. We saw many tarpon, tiger grouper were generally quite small. There were the usual schools of brown and blue chromis, creole wrasse, bogas, tangs, and horse-eye jacks. We saw several turtles, only a single eagle ray. There were several seahorses, no frogfish or octopuses this trip. There were quite a few spotted morays and goldentail morays, a few green morays, no chain morays this visit. The usual reef fish were well represented though the distribution seemed different, less white spotted and scrawled filefish as an example. Sharp nosed puffers seemed to be everywhere.
I keep trying to be optimistic that Bonaire is resilient and can recover for future trips for all of us who love the island.
