MN Lakeman
Contributor
Back from my third January trip to Bonaire, but this time it was a Dad n Son adventure. My 19 yr old son immediately started to dive into his OW manual @ Christmas break from college, & finished all but his last four OW dives literally the day before we left. Ive flown 2 different airlines to get there my 2 previous visits this time I thought I would give Insel a shot
.despite the several negative forum posts on this little Curacao airline. Bottom line, I would fly with em again, but definitely allow AMPLE time for layovers. Lets just say they seem to be on island time. We did the Wednesday Charlotte departure, & really enjoyed the much lower volume of travelers mid-week vs. weekends especially @ the Flamingo airport. At 1/3 of the current cost (Continental & Delta) for round trip, Im willing to accept the nuisance delays.
We stayed @ a terrific low budget apartment property called Tropicanna, owned by the same Dutch couple (Roland & Irene) who own & run another nearby property BonaireFun. Located just a few blocks from the water & a 1 minute drive to Eden Beach, which is where the associated dive shop, Wannadive is located. Clean, safe (locked & secure walledcourtyard) & what some would call eclectic I call it fun & funky. I rely a great deal on TripAdvisor for all my travels, & they rated both properties #1 & 2. Like my flights, @ a third of what Belmar Condos (which I love & had stayed @ our previous 2visits ) would have charged just the 2 of us w/ a dive n drive pkg. It was GREAT! Wannadive has an outstanding instructor/dive master staff. Carlos & Tama did a great job with my sons cert. referral , leading a small class of students through their 4 final dives. Rental truck provided by AB, & since it was just 2 of us (I guess?), they gave us a small KIA SUV whichwas fine, but I still prefer the pickup tailgate for suiting up. Both my son & I got up early on 3 mornings & swam an easy 20 minutes of laps back & forth in front of Eden Beach (my son even swam right over the top of a spotted Eagle Ray, feeding in the shallow sand! Wannadive has a tank cage (& Nitrox included free like most of the shops ) both @ Eden Beach & south, @ Windsock resort. Oh & cuddos to the awesome dive shop owner @ the Flamingo resort, for fixing my integrated dive computer connection (@ no charge!!)
We bought our groceries @ the new Dutch grocery store what an improvement on food quality, but a bit more spendy. We ate out only in the evenings: Pasa BonPizza (honesty, the best sausage tomato pie Ive ever had!), It Rains Fishes(outstanding barracuda), Paradise Moon (excellent Mango Shrimp & fish tacos), Cactus Blue (still my favorite place there), & great burgers & music @ City Café. Of course how could we leave town for the apt. w/o a stop @ the homemade ice cream shop Gios Gelateria??
OK the diving. Viz was not the best this 1st week of January, but not terrible either. We did however have beautiful sunny days nearly every day, making reef life look pretty darn great (it was apparently quite rainy the couple weeks before we arrived). I found school size of smallerfish HUGE in comparison to earlier visits especially Brown Chromis. Many encounters with the familiar Bonaire Creole Wrasse highways. Just one Hawks Bill (with tags attached to eachfront fin), the largest tarpens Ive ever seen, many spotted morays but onlyone green. In general, I just cant agree with some of the recent forum posts regarding a depletion of fish life. Coral was largely healthy in my opinion, with the exception of the far reef @ Angel City & @ Andrea I. I also have to say after diving Karpata (always my favorite) twice this trip, the north is MUCH better than heading out south. Two sites I had not dove my 1st two trips - Salt Pier & Bari Reef, were excellent. Just after exiting from the Hilma Hooker, we spotted a pod of dolphins swimming by
Watch my attached video & please let meknow your assessment. Gas off day was spent @ the donkey sanctury (go...just go. SO funny) & windsurfing & Jibe City.
Sorry this is sooo long, but I think its important to post a positive review of this wonderful divers paradise to offset the many negative ones I read just before this trip. Id like to counter just one more virilone that just never ends .the theft problem with personal articles in vehicles. I had a nice chat with one of the ladies @ AB Rental (who has been working for them for over 10 years AND is a dive master ),& when I asked if she felt this problem was any worse. Her response? She reported to me that she estimates out of their fleet of 250 vehicles, they get a report maybe one a month or more often, just one every other month. Well this is my 3rd visit - & no problems.
Ive been diving all over this great planet for 11 years now, & the only places I ever repeat is Coz & Bonaire. I wish Bonaire was closer to my MN home, cuz it would be the only one Id revisit again & again. What a perfect place to take a new diver (17dives!). Like his older sister (who camewith me 3 years ago), he is hooked on the sport.
Bonaire 2012 HD - YouTube
We stayed @ a terrific low budget apartment property called Tropicanna, owned by the same Dutch couple (Roland & Irene) who own & run another nearby property BonaireFun. Located just a few blocks from the water & a 1 minute drive to Eden Beach, which is where the associated dive shop, Wannadive is located. Clean, safe (locked & secure walledcourtyard) & what some would call eclectic I call it fun & funky. I rely a great deal on TripAdvisor for all my travels, & they rated both properties #1 & 2. Like my flights, @ a third of what Belmar Condos (which I love & had stayed @ our previous 2visits ) would have charged just the 2 of us w/ a dive n drive pkg. It was GREAT! Wannadive has an outstanding instructor/dive master staff. Carlos & Tama did a great job with my sons cert. referral , leading a small class of students through their 4 final dives. Rental truck provided by AB, & since it was just 2 of us (I guess?), they gave us a small KIA SUV whichwas fine, but I still prefer the pickup tailgate for suiting up. Both my son & I got up early on 3 mornings & swam an easy 20 minutes of laps back & forth in front of Eden Beach (my son even swam right over the top of a spotted Eagle Ray, feeding in the shallow sand! Wannadive has a tank cage (& Nitrox included free like most of the shops ) both @ Eden Beach & south, @ Windsock resort. Oh & cuddos to the awesome dive shop owner @ the Flamingo resort, for fixing my integrated dive computer connection (@ no charge!!)
We bought our groceries @ the new Dutch grocery store what an improvement on food quality, but a bit more spendy. We ate out only in the evenings: Pasa BonPizza (honesty, the best sausage tomato pie Ive ever had!), It Rains Fishes(outstanding barracuda), Paradise Moon (excellent Mango Shrimp & fish tacos), Cactus Blue (still my favorite place there), & great burgers & music @ City Café. Of course how could we leave town for the apt. w/o a stop @ the homemade ice cream shop Gios Gelateria??
OK the diving. Viz was not the best this 1st week of January, but not terrible either. We did however have beautiful sunny days nearly every day, making reef life look pretty darn great (it was apparently quite rainy the couple weeks before we arrived). I found school size of smallerfish HUGE in comparison to earlier visits especially Brown Chromis. Many encounters with the familiar Bonaire Creole Wrasse highways. Just one Hawks Bill (with tags attached to eachfront fin), the largest tarpens Ive ever seen, many spotted morays but onlyone green. In general, I just cant agree with some of the recent forum posts regarding a depletion of fish life. Coral was largely healthy in my opinion, with the exception of the far reef @ Angel City & @ Andrea I. I also have to say after diving Karpata (always my favorite) twice this trip, the north is MUCH better than heading out south. Two sites I had not dove my 1st two trips - Salt Pier & Bari Reef, were excellent. Just after exiting from the Hilma Hooker, we spotted a pod of dolphins swimming by
Watch my attached video & please let meknow your assessment. Gas off day was spent @ the donkey sanctury (go...just go. SO funny) & windsurfing & Jibe City.Sorry this is sooo long, but I think its important to post a positive review of this wonderful divers paradise to offset the many negative ones I read just before this trip. Id like to counter just one more virilone that just never ends .the theft problem with personal articles in vehicles. I had a nice chat with one of the ladies @ AB Rental (who has been working for them for over 10 years AND is a dive master ),& when I asked if she felt this problem was any worse. Her response? She reported to me that she estimates out of their fleet of 250 vehicles, they get a report maybe one a month or more often, just one every other month. Well this is my 3rd visit - & no problems.
Ive been diving all over this great planet for 11 years now, & the only places I ever repeat is Coz & Bonaire. I wish Bonaire was closer to my MN home, cuz it would be the only one Id revisit again & again. What a perfect place to take a new diver (17dives!). Like his older sister (who camewith me 3 years ago), he is hooked on the sport.
Bonaire 2012 HD - YouTube
