deco_martini
Contributor
Nigel Powers: All right Goldmember. Don't play the laughing boy. There's only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people's cultures and the Dutch.
Car:
We got on a shuttle to island car rental where we were given a chev-ro-lett. Not a chev-ro-lay, a chev-ro-lett. The Dutch pronounce our cars better than we do. It had rusty wheels spray painted over with silver rustoleum. It was an S10 (replaced by the Colorado for years), which... isn't very new. The tire rods made noise. It was a five speed manual. There was a tank rack in the bed. In other words, it was perfect for us.
Meals:
Ribs Factory had good ribs, and priced exactly what I expect to pay for ribs in Memphis Tennessee. They brought me mayo to dip my fries in. Silly Dutch.
Patagonia was a good steak at a great steak price. Consider it an indulgence if you go and don't consider it if you are on a tight budget. Imported fresh beef you should expect to pay a lot for.
Capriccio served me a well priced Spaghetti Carbonara that was a sort of test. Spaghetti dishes tend to be half-hearted throwaways. The carbonara at Capriccio was delicious and done as a serious fine dining pasta entree.
Pasa Bon Pizza. So good we went twice. A medium with two amstel brights was not bad at all price wise.
Lover's Ice Cream. The one by Hato's market is practically unmarked. Inside you will find a cone of coconut (amazing), lemon (amazing), and other flavors for less than Baskin Robbins charges you for a cone.
Eli Deli. Great place to buy a real deli sandwich. If you want a chain sandwich, there is a Subway in town. Eli Deli sells real cheese and cured meats. The provolone for instance actually has flavor unlike say a Lenny's. Roast beef is a nice pink shade. The meats are good and the cheeses are nice and pungent.
We heard a lot about people thinking X Y or Z restaurant is expensive. Remember that some people think any restaurant where they pay over 6 bucks is expensive.
Grocery shopping:
We shopped at Warehouse Bonaire for food and were nearly ejected for taking pictures of their funny dutch foods and laughing. By they way, you can get "Cool American" Doritos in addition to "Pure Parika" Doritos. Most of the dutch chips are "cheese and onion" flavored abominations. The dutch think spreading things on toast is their mission from God. Thus, they have at least 1000 different fruity, nutty, or chocolate bread spreads stocked. Mayonnaise is of course sold in bucket sized containers for those rascally devils. For our lunches, we would up buying meat from Eli's deli and bread from a market and making sandwiches most days.
Dives:
We dove most of the usual sites. Let me just say this. I did a lot of reading of trip reports. The method we picked for diving was to get under the water, follow the compass in the direction of the buoy, then then head down the slope when we got there. You use what, maybe 100 psi over the sand? Have a chance to see an eagle ray and flounders? You have a good chance to adjust your gear in less than 10 feet of water, get your mask clear, and be ready to just relax on the way down. Yet consistently we saw people doing the "back swim to the buoy" method where they were hot, bothered, fogged their masks already, and were risking neck sprains turning to look at the buoy every five seconds.
I am sure it is a personal preference, but just forget the "dive the deepest part of your dive first" guideline. The few minutes you spend diving the shallows out to your dive site aren't going to hurt you. We saw an eagle ray in the shallows on our first Hilma Hooker dive on the way in. We were relaxed and comfortable in our gear by the time we started the descent to the hooker.
Contrast this with the other extreme. We saw a group of boat divers get in with their DM at the Hooker, sink 100 feet to the deep end of the wreck. Stand on the bottom and do an "okay" check. We are used to diving this way ourselves, but if we did have a problem, we would rather find it in 10-20 feet than have it at 100 since we have the option.
The reef next to the Hooker is also in great condition (protected by the hooker). We found our first ever invasive lionfish on the wreck and it was sort of weird seeing this foreign exotic looking fish with its long spiny fins glimmering in the sunlight. It was along the top of the wreck at about 60 feet down.
We found 2 pieces of fishing line our entire time in Bonaire, both were off 1000 steps. Neither was a risk to divers. Still, we saw people with the 1 foot bowie style dive knives strapped to their legs. Yeah. That's so cool. Rambo was a great movie. Leave the 80s behind. Leave the leg-machete at home. Underwater is not the time for Samurai roleplay.
Since I planned on doing a lot of repetitive diving, I left the calf spraining OMS slipstream fins at home and took my atomic splits. Despite wearing split fins I didn't die a single time on the trip. Honest. I have the atomic spring straps on them as well and getting in/out of those fins on shore entries is a breeze. It was my first trip with the atomic springs and I was really impressed with their quality.
Also new for me on this trip was an XS Scuba gauge reader mask. Comfy, and I used the magnifiers to look at small stuff (which there was a lot of on this trip).
Visibility was iffy all week, but it was fine if you think about it. Most stuff in bonaire is small, even the lionfish (since big ones get spotted and caught). The vis was fine considering you don't need to see 120 feet away to spot that random reef shark you might see.
Night diving was great, we did several in the buddy's/bari area. There is so much light from the resorts along the coast, that in the shallows you can usually turn your light off and navigate without it if you want a cool experience.
Dutch guy: Did you see the whale shark?
Us: whale shark?
Dutch guy: yeah, the whale shark
Us: what?
Dutch guy: did you see the whale shark?
Us: uhhh... no
Dutch guy: hahah, that is because this is bonaire and there is no whale sharks, i fool you!
We beat that guy up. Reminder, at most shore dive sites farther out, nobody can hear you scream.
Pro tips:
1. Leave the rambo knife at home.
2. Everything on Bonaire stings. Cactus, Scorpions, Ants, Fire Corals, etc. Be aware of your surroundings whether on land or in the water. I stepped on a thorn so long it went through my Croc shoe.
3. Don't even try to pay for anything with an Amex card. Save yourself a lot of disappointment. Take Cash and a Visa.
4. If you have only ever gone to very Americanized islands, be prepared to relax, be patient, and smile no matter what happens or how infuriatingly long it takes. You are technically in South America (the ABC islands are on the South American continental shelf). You are off the coast of Venezuela. Don't expect the DSL connection at your hotel to stay on. Don't expect people to be in a rush. Don't expect anything to happen in a hurry. Chill. Or better, Chillax.
5. You won't understand the street signs, but it really doesn't matter.
6. On departure, eat before you go to the airport. The little food stand in the departure terminal had foods that looked like science experiments.
7. Try diving more in the afternoon than the morning. The steeper reefs will be darker in the morning. We had great lighting in the afternoons (and slept in every day).
8. Don't wus out when you go to ninja dive some resort's reef. Just pretend like you are supposed to be there.
9. If you were at Divi Flamingo diving with the New York group, tell Malinda(?) to send me a copy of her topside photos.
10. If you were one of the dudes stuck waiting on the Memphis bound flight from Atlanta that got delayed 2 hours, send me those underwater pics you had on the ipad. Those were great.
Theft:
Didn't get robbed, didn't hear about any. We stayed in a room with a sliding door that you can wedge shut with a 2x4 and a back door with a serious deadbolt. Key to this security is actually locking it when you leave. Also, we followed the "don't leave valuable stuff in an abandoned car" thing that we would do anywhere in the US as well. An otterbox held our keys while we dove. We left crocs, caps, towels in our truck and didn't worry. We left the windows down, mostly to keep the vehicle cool. We actually tended to roll the front windows down and close our towels hanging in the doors as shades.
Car:
We got on a shuttle to island car rental where we were given a chev-ro-lett. Not a chev-ro-lay, a chev-ro-lett. The Dutch pronounce our cars better than we do. It had rusty wheels spray painted over with silver rustoleum. It was an S10 (replaced by the Colorado for years), which... isn't very new. The tire rods made noise. It was a five speed manual. There was a tank rack in the bed. In other words, it was perfect for us.
Meals:
Ribs Factory had good ribs, and priced exactly what I expect to pay for ribs in Memphis Tennessee. They brought me mayo to dip my fries in. Silly Dutch.
Patagonia was a good steak at a great steak price. Consider it an indulgence if you go and don't consider it if you are on a tight budget. Imported fresh beef you should expect to pay a lot for.
Capriccio served me a well priced Spaghetti Carbonara that was a sort of test. Spaghetti dishes tend to be half-hearted throwaways. The carbonara at Capriccio was delicious and done as a serious fine dining pasta entree.
Pasa Bon Pizza. So good we went twice. A medium with two amstel brights was not bad at all price wise.
Lover's Ice Cream. The one by Hato's market is practically unmarked. Inside you will find a cone of coconut (amazing), lemon (amazing), and other flavors for less than Baskin Robbins charges you for a cone.
Eli Deli. Great place to buy a real deli sandwich. If you want a chain sandwich, there is a Subway in town. Eli Deli sells real cheese and cured meats. The provolone for instance actually has flavor unlike say a Lenny's. Roast beef is a nice pink shade. The meats are good and the cheeses are nice and pungent.
We heard a lot about people thinking X Y or Z restaurant is expensive. Remember that some people think any restaurant where they pay over 6 bucks is expensive.
Grocery shopping:
We shopped at Warehouse Bonaire for food and were nearly ejected for taking pictures of their funny dutch foods and laughing. By they way, you can get "Cool American" Doritos in addition to "Pure Parika" Doritos. Most of the dutch chips are "cheese and onion" flavored abominations. The dutch think spreading things on toast is their mission from God. Thus, they have at least 1000 different fruity, nutty, or chocolate bread spreads stocked. Mayonnaise is of course sold in bucket sized containers for those rascally devils. For our lunches, we would up buying meat from Eli's deli and bread from a market and making sandwiches most days.
Dives:
We dove most of the usual sites. Let me just say this. I did a lot of reading of trip reports. The method we picked for diving was to get under the water, follow the compass in the direction of the buoy, then then head down the slope when we got there. You use what, maybe 100 psi over the sand? Have a chance to see an eagle ray and flounders? You have a good chance to adjust your gear in less than 10 feet of water, get your mask clear, and be ready to just relax on the way down. Yet consistently we saw people doing the "back swim to the buoy" method where they were hot, bothered, fogged their masks already, and were risking neck sprains turning to look at the buoy every five seconds.
I am sure it is a personal preference, but just forget the "dive the deepest part of your dive first" guideline. The few minutes you spend diving the shallows out to your dive site aren't going to hurt you. We saw an eagle ray in the shallows on our first Hilma Hooker dive on the way in. We were relaxed and comfortable in our gear by the time we started the descent to the hooker.
Contrast this with the other extreme. We saw a group of boat divers get in with their DM at the Hooker, sink 100 feet to the deep end of the wreck. Stand on the bottom and do an "okay" check. We are used to diving this way ourselves, but if we did have a problem, we would rather find it in 10-20 feet than have it at 100 since we have the option.
The reef next to the Hooker is also in great condition (protected by the hooker). We found our first ever invasive lionfish on the wreck and it was sort of weird seeing this foreign exotic looking fish with its long spiny fins glimmering in the sunlight. It was along the top of the wreck at about 60 feet down.
We found 2 pieces of fishing line our entire time in Bonaire, both were off 1000 steps. Neither was a risk to divers. Still, we saw people with the 1 foot bowie style dive knives strapped to their legs. Yeah. That's so cool. Rambo was a great movie. Leave the 80s behind. Leave the leg-machete at home. Underwater is not the time for Samurai roleplay.
Since I planned on doing a lot of repetitive diving, I left the calf spraining OMS slipstream fins at home and took my atomic splits. Despite wearing split fins I didn't die a single time on the trip. Honest. I have the atomic spring straps on them as well and getting in/out of those fins on shore entries is a breeze. It was my first trip with the atomic springs and I was really impressed with their quality.
Also new for me on this trip was an XS Scuba gauge reader mask. Comfy, and I used the magnifiers to look at small stuff (which there was a lot of on this trip).
Visibility was iffy all week, but it was fine if you think about it. Most stuff in bonaire is small, even the lionfish (since big ones get spotted and caught). The vis was fine considering you don't need to see 120 feet away to spot that random reef shark you might see.
Night diving was great, we did several in the buddy's/bari area. There is so much light from the resorts along the coast, that in the shallows you can usually turn your light off and navigate without it if you want a cool experience.
Dutch guy: Did you see the whale shark?
Us: whale shark?
Dutch guy: yeah, the whale shark
Us: what?
Dutch guy: did you see the whale shark?
Us: uhhh... no
Dutch guy: hahah, that is because this is bonaire and there is no whale sharks, i fool you!
We beat that guy up. Reminder, at most shore dive sites farther out, nobody can hear you scream.
Pro tips:
1. Leave the rambo knife at home.
2. Everything on Bonaire stings. Cactus, Scorpions, Ants, Fire Corals, etc. Be aware of your surroundings whether on land or in the water. I stepped on a thorn so long it went through my Croc shoe.
3. Don't even try to pay for anything with an Amex card. Save yourself a lot of disappointment. Take Cash and a Visa.
4. If you have only ever gone to very Americanized islands, be prepared to relax, be patient, and smile no matter what happens or how infuriatingly long it takes. You are technically in South America (the ABC islands are on the South American continental shelf). You are off the coast of Venezuela. Don't expect the DSL connection at your hotel to stay on. Don't expect people to be in a rush. Don't expect anything to happen in a hurry. Chill. Or better, Chillax.
5. You won't understand the street signs, but it really doesn't matter.
6. On departure, eat before you go to the airport. The little food stand in the departure terminal had foods that looked like science experiments.
7. Try diving more in the afternoon than the morning. The steeper reefs will be darker in the morning. We had great lighting in the afternoons (and slept in every day).
8. Don't wus out when you go to ninja dive some resort's reef. Just pretend like you are supposed to be there.
9. If you were at Divi Flamingo diving with the New York group, tell Malinda(?) to send me a copy of her topside photos.
10. If you were one of the dudes stuck waiting on the Memphis bound flight from Atlanta that got delayed 2 hours, send me those underwater pics you had on the ipad. Those were great.
Theft:
Didn't get robbed, didn't hear about any. We stayed in a room with a sliding door that you can wedge shut with a 2x4 and a back door with a serious deadbolt. Key to this security is actually locking it when you leave. Also, we followed the "don't leave valuable stuff in an abandoned car" thing that we would do anywhere in the US as well. An otterbox held our keys while we dove. We left crocs, caps, towels in our truck and didn't worry. We left the windows down, mostly to keep the vehicle cool. We actually tended to roll the front windows down and close our towels hanging in the doors as shades.
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