Trip dates: February 13-21
Den Laman Condo - Stayed in 1 bedroom on the 3rd (top floor). Beautiful and large condo for 2 people. View is fantastic - overlooking the ocean, Bari Reef, nice view both north and south and Klein. Staff and housekeeping was great. Put us up in a 2 bedroom the first night do to a double booking (they called us in the states in advance to ask if ok) and offered us a nice bottle of wine and guaranteed us early check-in as we came in on the 7am flight from Newark. Both rooms are gorgeous. If you have two couples, consider the owners suite on the ground level floor - it's magnificent and they just started renting it out!
Bonaire Dive & Adventure - Overall good dive operation and FREE Nitrox. Just be aware that they lock up Nitrox tanks from 4:30pm to 8:30am. Get whatever you need for night/early mornings before they close
Total Car Rental - They were rather short on trucks this week and tried giving us a truck with the spare chained in the bed. Complained and they were very accomodating and gave us a replacement with little trouble. Some people behind us in line though had to wait for cars to be delivered to their resort. Trucks are all manual and relatively new
Diving Conditions - Water temperatures pretty much in the 78-80 degree range on all dives. Cold enough for a 5mm for me and a 5mm with core warmer for my girlfriend. We completed 25 dives in the week - all were 1 hour + dive time, so we probably spent between 28-32 hours in the water all together. Overall, LOTs of the typical fish, coral, creatures that you expect to see, but not alot of "special" or rare creatures. Also very few larger species. We completed 4 dives in the far North in Washington Slagbaai National Park. Conditions were not too bad (the Northernmost site had large waves even at 8:30am and we passed on that site). Shallows remain broken coral. Lots of juvenille fish inhabiting the area, but past hurricanes and storms have not allowed the area to recover in the shallows. Walls were ok and probably the most prolific area on the island for fish. We also made dives on the Northern sites (ie. Thousand Steps, La Dania's, Karpata). Try a drift dive from La Dania to Karpata - very nice in the shallow and likely that turtles will follow along with you. House reefs still nice. Eden Resort across the harbor to something special has 3 very nice Jackknife fish that swim together. Can't miss them in the sand channel if you keep your eyes open. There are three nice boats that you can dive on there - The tugboat heading North towards Den Laman, the sailboat in front of Eden, and the wooden fishing boat about 6-8 minute swim from Eden Beach. Plan at least 2 dives there. To the south, some of our dives included Bachelor's Beach, Angel City, and White Slave. White Slave has some of the most prolific gorgonians. This is one of my favorite dives. Just beware of current here and plan to dive early in the morning. IF current is heading SOUTH, don't dive - the next stop is Venezuela! If current is heading NORTH, you may still have a hard time getting back to shore at the slave huts as their can be a tide pulling you out. If so, just drift a bit North and then come in. You can walk back to your car. Klein - Only did one dive this time on Klein. It was Captain Don's site. Pretty far around the other side of Klein. Boat actually got back late (with just the two of us) and the staff on shore was not too thrilled as they were left waiting. Site was ok, but again, didn't see anything fantastic...
Salt Pier - By far one of my favorite dives is Salt Pier. Dive shops may tell you that they don't have authorization and some signs say no diving without dockmaster permission, however there was no dockmaster there and we saw multiple trucks there over the week. We parked South of the pier and entered in the sandy area between 2 big rocks (if you look, you'll find it). We did three dives on the pier - two during the day and one at night. There was no damage, wires, or other loose debris that we noticed that would be problematic. There is definitely debris on the ground, but nothing that will cause you problems. The pilings are full of life, with many sponges taking up residence. There were at least 20 tarpons and many barracuda. On two occasions we saw a 6 foot + green moray eel. The light filtering through the pilings is very nice. Definitely shoot with wide angle during the day.
Town Pier - Still closed as far as everyone we spoke to.
Outdoor Bonaire - Mangrove Kayaking/Snorkeling & Caving On Saturday, our offgassing day, we booked a private tour with Hans, the owner of Outdoor Bonaire. He picked us up at Den Laman 7:30am sharp as indicated. We were the first at the Mangroves - we spent several hours kayaking and snorkeling. Very Very interesting! Hans is extremely knowledgeable and eco-friendly. He spent all the time we needed to get our photos and let us know when the "GROUP" trip was approaching our snorkeling spot so we could finish up. That was a good thing as the mass of kayaks/snorkelers with kids descended on the narrow passageway! Afterwards, Hans drove to Jibe City where we had a nice lunch and watched the windsurfers. What a beautiful bay! After lunch, we made the trek out to our first of two caves. The water cave, set in the bush, was a short hike. When Hans pulled out a rope, tied it to a tree, and then threw it down a hole, I was like WHAT! I hate heights - really!. My motto has always been, "I'd rather be a 100 feet under than 100 feet up". However, Hans shared a few tips on descending down the hole on the rock wall and waited below to guide us. My girlfriend loves climbing, so she thought this was a cake walk. The water was crystal clear, the formations beautiful and very much unspoiled. Just fantastic. The second cave was a dry cave. It consisted of climbing down a long extension ladder through a small hole in the ground. This cave was even more beautiful in terms of columns, stalagmites and stalactites than the first. I'd definitely recommend Hans and Outdoor Bonaire. Contact him before you get to the island and set up whatever you want to do. If you can - definitely recommend booking him for a private day. It is something special!
Carnivale - So what do you do on Valentine's Day in Bonaire. Well yes, of course you dive! And in the afternoon, you celebrate with the locals in their Carnivale parade. Definitely fun loving people, Carnivale was colorful, fun, and rather tame compared to other places. Definitely worth going for several hours if you find yourself in Bonaire in the February time frame.
Summary - This was my third trip to Bonaire. Will definitely be back. Seemed that fish life was more difficult to spot on this trip. February might be a bit more difficult time than summer. However, didn't stop the two of us from taking over 2,500 pictures. Working on editing them and will then post to my shutterfly site.
Feel free to ask any questions and will do my best to answer...
Den Laman Condo - Stayed in 1 bedroom on the 3rd (top floor). Beautiful and large condo for 2 people. View is fantastic - overlooking the ocean, Bari Reef, nice view both north and south and Klein. Staff and housekeeping was great. Put us up in a 2 bedroom the first night do to a double booking (they called us in the states in advance to ask if ok) and offered us a nice bottle of wine and guaranteed us early check-in as we came in on the 7am flight from Newark. Both rooms are gorgeous. If you have two couples, consider the owners suite on the ground level floor - it's magnificent and they just started renting it out!
Bonaire Dive & Adventure - Overall good dive operation and FREE Nitrox. Just be aware that they lock up Nitrox tanks from 4:30pm to 8:30am. Get whatever you need for night/early mornings before they close
Total Car Rental - They were rather short on trucks this week and tried giving us a truck with the spare chained in the bed. Complained and they were very accomodating and gave us a replacement with little trouble. Some people behind us in line though had to wait for cars to be delivered to their resort. Trucks are all manual and relatively new
Diving Conditions - Water temperatures pretty much in the 78-80 degree range on all dives. Cold enough for a 5mm for me and a 5mm with core warmer for my girlfriend. We completed 25 dives in the week - all were 1 hour + dive time, so we probably spent between 28-32 hours in the water all together. Overall, LOTs of the typical fish, coral, creatures that you expect to see, but not alot of "special" or rare creatures. Also very few larger species. We completed 4 dives in the far North in Washington Slagbaai National Park. Conditions were not too bad (the Northernmost site had large waves even at 8:30am and we passed on that site). Shallows remain broken coral. Lots of juvenille fish inhabiting the area, but past hurricanes and storms have not allowed the area to recover in the shallows. Walls were ok and probably the most prolific area on the island for fish. We also made dives on the Northern sites (ie. Thousand Steps, La Dania's, Karpata). Try a drift dive from La Dania to Karpata - very nice in the shallow and likely that turtles will follow along with you. House reefs still nice. Eden Resort across the harbor to something special has 3 very nice Jackknife fish that swim together. Can't miss them in the sand channel if you keep your eyes open. There are three nice boats that you can dive on there - The tugboat heading North towards Den Laman, the sailboat in front of Eden, and the wooden fishing boat about 6-8 minute swim from Eden Beach. Plan at least 2 dives there. To the south, some of our dives included Bachelor's Beach, Angel City, and White Slave. White Slave has some of the most prolific gorgonians. This is one of my favorite dives. Just beware of current here and plan to dive early in the morning. IF current is heading SOUTH, don't dive - the next stop is Venezuela! If current is heading NORTH, you may still have a hard time getting back to shore at the slave huts as their can be a tide pulling you out. If so, just drift a bit North and then come in. You can walk back to your car. Klein - Only did one dive this time on Klein. It was Captain Don's site. Pretty far around the other side of Klein. Boat actually got back late (with just the two of us) and the staff on shore was not too thrilled as they were left waiting. Site was ok, but again, didn't see anything fantastic...
Salt Pier - By far one of my favorite dives is Salt Pier. Dive shops may tell you that they don't have authorization and some signs say no diving without dockmaster permission, however there was no dockmaster there and we saw multiple trucks there over the week. We parked South of the pier and entered in the sandy area between 2 big rocks (if you look, you'll find it). We did three dives on the pier - two during the day and one at night. There was no damage, wires, or other loose debris that we noticed that would be problematic. There is definitely debris on the ground, but nothing that will cause you problems. The pilings are full of life, with many sponges taking up residence. There were at least 20 tarpons and many barracuda. On two occasions we saw a 6 foot + green moray eel. The light filtering through the pilings is very nice. Definitely shoot with wide angle during the day.
Town Pier - Still closed as far as everyone we spoke to.
Outdoor Bonaire - Mangrove Kayaking/Snorkeling & Caving On Saturday, our offgassing day, we booked a private tour with Hans, the owner of Outdoor Bonaire. He picked us up at Den Laman 7:30am sharp as indicated. We were the first at the Mangroves - we spent several hours kayaking and snorkeling. Very Very interesting! Hans is extremely knowledgeable and eco-friendly. He spent all the time we needed to get our photos and let us know when the "GROUP" trip was approaching our snorkeling spot so we could finish up. That was a good thing as the mass of kayaks/snorkelers with kids descended on the narrow passageway! Afterwards, Hans drove to Jibe City where we had a nice lunch and watched the windsurfers. What a beautiful bay! After lunch, we made the trek out to our first of two caves. The water cave, set in the bush, was a short hike. When Hans pulled out a rope, tied it to a tree, and then threw it down a hole, I was like WHAT! I hate heights - really!. My motto has always been, "I'd rather be a 100 feet under than 100 feet up". However, Hans shared a few tips on descending down the hole on the rock wall and waited below to guide us. My girlfriend loves climbing, so she thought this was a cake walk. The water was crystal clear, the formations beautiful and very much unspoiled. Just fantastic. The second cave was a dry cave. It consisted of climbing down a long extension ladder through a small hole in the ground. This cave was even more beautiful in terms of columns, stalagmites and stalactites than the first. I'd definitely recommend Hans and Outdoor Bonaire. Contact him before you get to the island and set up whatever you want to do. If you can - definitely recommend booking him for a private day. It is something special!
Carnivale - So what do you do on Valentine's Day in Bonaire. Well yes, of course you dive! And in the afternoon, you celebrate with the locals in their Carnivale parade. Definitely fun loving people, Carnivale was colorful, fun, and rather tame compared to other places. Definitely worth going for several hours if you find yourself in Bonaire in the February time frame.
Summary - This was my third trip to Bonaire. Will definitely be back. Seemed that fish life was more difficult to spot on this trip. February might be a bit more difficult time than summer. However, didn't stop the two of us from taking over 2,500 pictures. Working on editing them and will then post to my shutterfly site.
Feel free to ask any questions and will do my best to answer...
