Bonaire Trip Report 3-6-10 - 3-13-10 (Pic heavy)

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tardmaster - My son and I are making our first trip to Bonaire on our own - just decided to do it based on the reports from here and from friends - not as part of any group. We are from the Atlanta area, and will be leaving for BON on June 12, staying for a week. Looks like you are going at the same time. I have my AOW, and several specialty certifications, but my son has very limited experience (he's 18 and solid, just not very experienced yet with only 10-12 dives under his weight-belt). Tell me about the group - it would be nice to meet some friendly faces down there.

Can't wait!!
 
tardmaster - My son and I are making our first trip to Bonaire on our own - just decided to do it based on the reports from here and from friends - not as part of any group. We are from the Atlanta area, and will be leaving for BON on June 12, staying for a week. Looks like you are going at the same time. I have my AOW, and several specialty certifications, but my son has very limited experience (he's 18 and solid, just not very experienced yet with only 10-12 dives under his weight-belt). Tell me about the group - it would be nice to meet some friendly faces down there.

Can't wait!!

mr. maker,

I cant wait to hear your opinion of Bonaire. This will be my & my wife's second trip and we love it. We are a part of a group of 23 people from our lds (East Atlanta Divers in Covington, Ga.). We are staying at Buddy's and we are all stoked about going so much that some of us has started to pack. If I didnt have checkout dives to assist with this weekend, I'd already have my gear packed and waiting by the door. Would love to get together, maybe at the airport, to meet ya and let you know what a good time you are in store for. What part of Atlanta are you guys from?

Looking forward to meeting you and your son,

Jerry (a.k.a. Tardmaster)
 
I couldnt get on the Phil Foster Park Water conditions link.
Tell me about the Bonaire Odyssey.
I do my travel during peak season to dive need to get away formthe frozen tundra.
 
Can you give any infromation on Den Laman a lot of divers say to stay at Buddy Dive? What are your thoughts?
 
Can you give any infromation on Den Laman a lot of divers say to stay at Buddy Dive? What are your thoughts?

i can only talk of buddy's. first class operation on ALL aspects.
 
Jerry, We live in Suwanee and are staying with Tropical Divers in K-town. We got a package that includes an apartment, rental vehicle with tank racks, unlimited air/nitrox, etc. We were just planning to go and explore the island on our own and dive our butts off. We are on the 9:40am Delta flight on the 12th; we will be easy to spot because we will both be wearing $hit-eating grins. :D My son just got his passport in the mail and this will be his first trip out of the country. He and I have been diving together a couple of times in the Keys, but we are really stoked about this trip.

I did a trip to AKR in Roatan last year and had a blast, so I'm really excited to take my son with me this time to Bonaire.

Tell me about NTA - I presume you aren't referring to a No-Take Area, which is how Bonaire's marine park is designated.

It will be a pleasure to meet you.
 
Also, what camera were you using on this trip?

I use a Canon G10 & my buddy Wallob uses a Canon A620; both in Canon-brand underwater housings made for them. We usually use underwater mode, and I open pics in Adobe PhotoShop Elements & try 'AutoLevels' to see if it provides a better effect or not. That's about all the post processing I do, aside from reducing resolution so I can get JPEGs that aren't huge.

Richard.
 
Can you give any infromation on Den Laman a lot of divers say to stay at Buddy Dive? What are your thoughts?

Ms diver,

Leaving Friday morning for Bonaire :D & staying at Den Laman. From what I've read from posts it gets decent reviews as does the dive op & house reef I'll post a trip report when we get back.
 
Regarding Bonaire Dive and Adventure at Den Laman. BDA has restricted hours IMO, not opening the gear room until 8:30am and locking up nitrox tanks at 4:30. The easy way around this is to simply take your gear up to your room before they lock it up at 9pm, and keep tanks in your truck or one of the outside lockers. We've stayed at Den Laman the past 2 years (and return this summer!) and we've found this to be the best way around the weird hours. Plus since the condos are on the 2nd and 3rd floors, you can safely leave your stuff on your balcony if you want. :)

People rave about Buddy's drive up tank station, but frankly I don't see how that's easier than simply backing your truck up to the door at BDA to load tanks and/or rinse gear. 6 of one, half dozen of the other IMO. ;)

Steve, if you're a photographer don't hesitate to pop into Fish Eye Photo and meet Tim, the owner. If you're at all interested in a photo course, I'd strongly recommend doing it with Tim, he's an excellent teacher and you'll see instant improvement (unless you're already a good photographer) in your photos. His courses start at 1/2 day and go up to 3 days, and he'll modify and tailor the content to what you need, so he doesn't do a "canned" course for everyone.
 

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