Bonaire on a whim in two weeks

[pa diver]

Great responses, SB's never fail to provide what you need.

Let's see ordered "the book", will pack light, will pay departure tax upon arrival, developing a restaurant and dive site list, will immediately adjust to island time (never a problem) stock fridge with cold beers, already have cheap flip flops and shades, mmmmm, what else am I missing.

So, any of SB's on the island at this time?

 

[Martha]

Bonaire on a whim... I am green with envy!!! Some of our favorite sites are Ol' Blue, Oil Slick Leap, and Karpata. They're all good though, so I doubt you'll be disappointed wherever you dive. My favorite restaurants (so far) are It Rains Fishes and Pasa Bon Pizza. Also, definitely try Bright beer. It is so refreshing! If you need any specific advice, you could try the bonairetalk.com website. They have tons of Bonaire info. I hope you have a great trip!!!

 

[pa diver]

Anyone know anything about the bonefishing down there? I have emailed a couple of guides but no response yet. From what I can find it looks like you can get to the flats pretty easy, knowing what part of teh flats the fish are on is probably a different story.

 

[scubadobadoo]

Can't wait to go diving with ya'll or maybe have some food on Saturday or even late Friday night if ya want...lunch anything....two ships passing on your last day lol...you are gonna love Bonaire!

Dive sites...Angel City, 1000 Steps, Andrea I with the Iguanas all over the place on the beach, really all of them. Seriously. The northen sites aren't better but they are a bit more rolling so I think sites like Karpata tend to stick out more in memories than the sand flats to mini-wall sites of the southern sites. In terms of fish life, all about the same. Hands down my favorite place to dive in the world!

Food...I personally like the food in Cozumel more but that's just me. Favorites were El Fogon Latino, Pasa Bon Pizza, Rest. at Buddy Dive surprisingly good, and Casablanca. But ya know, food is a very personal thing. For example...Cactus Blue gets stellar reviews but we didn't dig it all that much so there ya go. We tend to like "local" type places the best. The reality is that compared to Cozumel you really don't have that many options for Dining in Bonaire. The same 15 or so places come up everytime you ask about food in Bonaire so TRY THEM ALL lol.

Top side...do the donkey sanctuary (fun), take a windsurfing lesson at jibe city, go watch the kite boarders (truly insane to see), do the town pier dive!, get a massage, ice cream at lovers was just ok, chat and browse was cheap and easy to deal with, drive along the southern shore, rent a bike and put it in your pickup and go ride some trails, relax, eat....repeat...just some thoughts...HAVE FUN MIKE! See ya there!

 

[del_mo]

1,000 steps needs to be walked...at least one time down and back.

 

[pa diver]

Can't wait to go diving with ya'll or maybe have some food on Saturday or even late Friday night if ya want...lunch anything....two ships passing on your last day lol...you are gonna love Bonaire!

Dive sites...Angel City, 1000 Steps, Andrea I with the Iguanas all over the place on the beach, really all of them. Seriously. The northen sites aren't better but they are a bit more rolling so I think sites like Karpata tend to stick out more in memories than the sand flats to mini-wall sites of the southern sites. In terms of fish life, all about the same. Hands down my favorite place to dive in the world!

Food...I personally like the food in Cozumel more but that's just me. Favorites were El Fogon Latino, Pasa Bon Pizza, Rest. at Buddy Dive surprisingly good, and Casablanca. But ya know, food is a very personal thing. For example...Cactus Blue gets stellar reviews but we didn't dig it all that much so there ya go. We tend to like "local" type places the best. The reality is that compared to Cozumel you really don't have that many options for Dining in Bonaire. The same 15 or so places come up everytime you ask about food in Bonaire so TRY THEM ALL lol.

Top side...do the donkey sanctuary (fun), take a windsurfing lesson at jibe city, go watch the kite boarders (truly insane to see), do the town pier dive!, get a massage, ice cream at lovers was just ok, chat and browse was cheap and easy to deal with, drive along the southern shore, rent a bike and put it in your pickup and go ride some trails, relax, eat....repeat...just some thoughts...HAVE FUN MIKE! See ya there!

I guess we will play Friday night by ear, I'll try to post something on the board late in the week to let you know what's happening. We can do a shallow dive or maybe a "you dive, we snorkel" thing on Saturday because we leave early on Sunday morning. From what I gathered reading and re-reading the posts, we will do the things you mentioned and a little bone fishing. I rented a guide one morning early in the week to get a flavor for it, i.e. location, technique and flies...........then I figured we can wing it after that.

We will do more than our share of wondering around the island, something both of us really enjoy is exploring new places. As far as the diving, we shall see, but from what I've read it sounds like we could become addicted pretty quickly. Se ya soon..............whooooo, whoooooo, 4 days and here we come.

 

[herman]

Just thought of another fun thing to do, esp if someone is scared of lizzards. Go to the indian inscriptions on the windwards side of the island and bring some food-fruit is good. Toss some on the ground and watch the ground start to move, blue tail lizzards will appear from nowhere and soon you will be surrounded by hundreds of them. They are harmless but be warned they will climb on you if given the chance...great close up photo ops. Watching a full grown man screem like a little girl...priceless...even better with photos.

 

[Tom Smedley]

The coffee is as good as coffee can get. If you are doing Air Jamaica pick up a couple of bags of Blue Mountain on your stop. Also the European coffees abound in the local groceries. Jacobs Kronung in a variety of roasts is one of the best coffees anywhere. Or you can bring your own brand from home - but as travelers we are leaving home to try new stuff. However - if you desire splenda in your coffee you do need to bring it cause it ain't sold there. Bring a tube of 16 oz cups. There seems to be no source on Bonaire for larger cups. Bring a collapsable cooler so you can have cool drinks on the road - One store had them for us $9 yesterday. You could bring one and leave it for the next guest. Bring a variety of snap caps like you find on bottled water. You can buy a two liter bottle or two of something to drink and pour out the something to drink. Fill the bottle with water and leave it on top of your car while diving for a refreshing warm water shower when you get out.

Bring your sense of caution and do not leave anything laying on your car seat that you would not leave unsecured on your car seat back home. If you do, do not blame someone for taking it.

Finally and most importantly - Bring your sense of humor and exercise it freely. Do not sweat the small stuff but go forth and enjoy the wonders of Bonaire.

 

[Warmwater Wank]

Something that won't be clear until you are there--Bonaire is "easy to figure out". There is no getting lost in city traffic or on confusing streets, no big crowds to wade thru. And while everyone has favorite dive sites, any site can become a favorite--it's that enjoyable all over. WannaDive will give you good advice for sites when they give you your first day's briefing--like whether it's better to dive north or south as the winds swing around a bit during the day. By day 2 or 3 you start to feel right at home (if it takes that long!), ready to give advice to any "newcomer". Ah heck, you'll be staying w/ Liz & Ed. That's all you need to really know. (Well, that and Amstel Bright.) // ww

 

[pa diver]

The news on coffee is music to my ears, although we luckily get to avoid Air Jamaica. Coming thru from Houston so hopefully it will be uneventful. Sense of humor is always packed and we both enjoy "island time" so a slow pace will be just right.

"Bring a variety of snap caps like you find on bottled water" do the bottles there not have lids that are reattachable?

Our collapsable cooler has been on many vacations...............has not failed us yet. Will be sure to visit the iguanas and look forward to flyfishing while gassing off. Four days, work will be tough this week. So only scubadoobadoo and his lovely better half on the island during our visit?