Trip Report Bonaire January’25

[tkaelin]

Just finished a wonderful week diving on Bonaire. JetBlue nonstop from JFK. Avis Pickup. Capt Dons Deluxe OceanFront Jr. Suit. Breakfasts and most lunches in.

19 dives, 5 of which were boat (La Dania's Leap, Country Garden, Small Wall, South Bay and Angel City), 5 solo and 2 night. With the truck we dove Salt Pier and Bari's twice. Surf and swells were up when we arrived but settled down during the course of the week and the vis improved as well. Dove Capt Dons House Reef and Cliff multiple times every day.

We enjoyed the diving with lots of the usual suspects but only one turtle and no seahores or frogfish. They were out there but we just didn't find them. Highlights were a 4-5' green moray swimming at La Dania's, marble size juve trunkfish, Longsnout Butterfly in the orange phase, a very large grouper, and schools of very friendly Palometas and shy Ballyhoos or Baloas (silver needlefish) by the Capt Don dock.

New this year for us were: Dining at Chefs. We thoroughly enjoyed the food and experience. The evening lasted 3.5 hours and cost was about $300; Isidel Park, the new park at Bari’s. The new ramp into the water makes the access super easy. The water side restaurant, krioyo fusion, is run by an award winning Bonaire’s chef, and worth checking out.

This was our sixth trip with detailed trip reports posted in the past. Please let me know if I can answer any questions.

Will post some u/w pics and short videos when I have some more time

 

[tkaelin]

 

[arew+4]

The irresistibly low fares on JetBlue have us making an unscheduled trip to Bonaire at the end of March. Den Laman, Dive Friends, All-In car rental. Will post a short trip report when we get back.

Some questions for you, how was the water temp? Much has been made of the Coral Bleaching, did you notice much of it, how did it compare to your last trip?

We were last there in June 2022, and I'm going to try to re-stage a couple of photos to get a sense of the impact.

 

[tkaelin]

Some questions for you, how was the water temp? Much has been made of the Coral Bleaching, did you notice much of it, how did it compare to your last trip?

Water temps were consistently 82 degrees and for us very comfortable.

Coral bleaching can be seen if you are looking for it but did not impact our ability to enjoy our dives. I think it is more of a mindset issue. Yes there is bleaching that can be seen but are you going to spend your time focusing on the small percent of the reef that you can find it or look at the reef as a whole much like our hikes in the woods in New England. There are dead dying and diseased trees throughout the forest but we don't spend our time focusing on just that part of the forest as opposed to enjoying the forest as a whole which is generally more healthy than not. On our dives bleaching was more evident on some sites than others. Also there are positive signs of new life such as small brain corals that seem to be in more abundance than I recall.

Just a note on the positive of our JB flight. We arrived on a Saturday when no other big flights had landed and on our departure on the following Sat it was the same. I saw that later in the day 3 US bound flights were scheduled to depart within 20 minutes of each other which I am guessing made check in, bag drop, security and departure time not so much fun for folks on those flights

If staying at Dan Lemans you should definitely check out the food options at Isidel.

Enjoy your trip.

 

[scubadada]

Hi @tkaelin

Did you use the ramp at the south end of Isidel Park or the boat ramp at the north end for your entries and exits? Was the boat ramp being used for any boats? Did you have an opportunity to eat at any of the establishments within the park?

The water temp was warm when we were there in October, 84-5 degrees. It was 82 when we were there in December 2023, same as it was for you this trip. We've made 8 trips since 2017 and this seems to be the usual pattern. We've only had one trip when the water was much cooler, April 2019, mostly 79, some 80 degrees.

 

[tkaelin]

Did you use the ramp at the south end of Isidel Park or the boat ramp at the north end for your entries and exits? Was the boat ramp being used for any boats? Did you have an opportunity to eat at any of the establishments within the park?

We used what had been referred to as the handicap ramp, the south ramp and not the boat ramp. It had a railing and grated ramp into the water where it was easy to fin up and then just swim out without having to walk out into the water stepping down into rock and rubble.

We ate at krioyo fusion once for lunch and enjoyed our meal. You can find menus on line. I had a goat burger with bacon jam and my wife had a beet salad with grilled fresh fish, wahoo I think. We also stopped another day for breakfast but after ordering was told that they had an issue in the kitchen and could not serve food. Apparently they ran out of gas and the delivery had been delayed. We just had cappuccinos which were also very good.

At Chefs they mentioned that the chef at krioyo fusion is a bonairian who has been recognized and received awards in Caribbean chef’s circles.

We did not see the other food venues in the park open on our two visits.

 

[dmaziuk]

... a very large grouper ...

He's sticking around, then? -- I think it's the biggest I've seen on Bonaire: a good Roatan-sized. Unlike the Roatan ones, he's shy and wouldn't come close for a good shot

 

[tkaelin]

That is the one. I have a video I will try to edit and upload tonight. My estimate was around 3’ and maybe around 45lbs. My id was a black grouper

 

[scubadada]

...At Chefs they mentioned that the chef at krioyo fusion is a bonairian who has been recognized and received awards in Caribbean chef’s circles.

We did not see the other food venues in the park open on our two visits.

When we were there, The Fat Dog and Plazita Lima both opened at 5 pm, Fat Dog closed Wed and Thurs and Plazita Lima closed Wed

Chef Rhashindra Donge at Seaside Krioyo Fusion was named Caribbean Chef of the Year twice. The restaurant was open at 8 am when we were there, closed Mon.

 

[souladdikt]

The irresistibly low fares on JetBlue have us making an unscheduled trip to Bonaire at the end of March. Den Laman, Dive Friends, All-In car rental. Will post a short trip report when we get back.

Some questions for you, how was the water temp? Much has been made of the Coral Bleaching, did you notice much of it, how did it compare to your last trip?

We were last there in June 2022, and I'm going to try to re-stage a couple of photos to get a sense of the impact.

Have you used All-In car rental before? I haven't seen them used in the numerous trip reports, so it would be good to get some feedback on another option.