Bonaire Trip Report March 30 - April 7th (sorry for the delay)

[rottielover]

Opps forgot another highlight...

I forgot to mention that our group got together and collected some money from everyone, those that didn't do the salt pier dive went up to Pasa Bon Pizza and picked up a bunch of Pizza, and stopped off at the store and get refreshments.

After our group was done with the night dive at the salt pier, there was hot pizza and cold soda and beer waiting for us We had a really nice little beach party, eating some really good pizza (dang, I'm back on food again, I must be hungry today).

EDIT: I re-read my prior posts and I can see where I started going way too negative. That was absolutly not what I wanted to do... It must be because I'm back at work and posting while working

 

[herman]

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EDIT: I re-read my prior posts and I can see where I started going way too negative. That was absolutly not what I wanted to do... It must be because I'm back at work and posting while working

Don't worry, the members of the PBD support group understand....welcome new member.

 

[1_T_Submariner]

Hey Rottielover, thanks for the reviews. We are headed to buddy dive in Sept.

 

[Boat Chick]

Rottielover, sounds like you have made some good memories. Was the boat by Something Special Our Confidence? It is just South of Eden Beach, on it side, and in around 55F of water.

 

[rottielover]

Cynde, your description sounds about right, I recorded the depth of the wreck as 50-60 feet in my log book...

 

[EnronX]

RottieLover, did you happen to hear much else about dive sites on the east side of the island? We are going back to Bonaire in two weeks and were hoping to meet up with a guide that will take us out beyond Lac Bay...Glad you liked Bonaire, I'm counting the hours until we get back!

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/nategabig/album/576460762374493345/photo/294928804030341943/67

 

[djac5700]

We (EnronX and I) actually have a day reserved with Bas to dive Lac Cai. Looking forward to it... Thoughts on other places on the east to request?

Nate - I recognize that pic......................... Something tells me you'll have another pretty soon

 

[rottielover]

EnronX and djac5700

The only thing I really know about the east side is that our group went with Larry's Wild Side diving. My wife and I did not go with that group.

What I heard was that Larry's is a very good and safe op, and they got that way/stay that way by being very strict with the rules. If your not ready to go when they say to go, forget it. Apparently Larry's operates a zodiac type boat (ridgid hull with inflatable sides). What I heard was that eveyone had to backroll off the sides when prompted (be ready when they say "GO!").

I do not know what sites they went too.

I'll send an email to my friends that went over there and see if I can get an answer back too you before you leave for your trip.

 

[EnronX]

That would be great to hear some first-hand accounts from your friends...thanks!

By the way, I am pretty sure that I'm Amstel Bright's #1 fan...nothing better than some late-night pizza and a Bright after a long day of diving! :beer: :beer:

Can you elaborate on what you meant when you said:

"We had some others in the group that went up and did 1000 steps by boat and said that it wasn't that good, and the comments I heard about Oil Slick... well I dare not repeat them here in public ..."

If you want to PM them I certainly understand, but those were in my opinion two fantastic dives that both Drew and I put down as "can't miss" for our upcoming trip. We did Oil Slick as a night dive last year and saw an amazing array of wildlife.

Thanks again.

 

[rottielover]

Here is one email I got back:

"I thought the Wild Side dives were a lot of fun. The day we were there the seas were pretty calm, 3 – 4’, usually it averages a couple feet more than that. We went with Larry’s Wild Side Diving which is the only operator that will take people out there. The 2 dives we did were not really that far out, maybe a 15 minute boat ride so if they want to go way out to sea they might need to find some private charter. Experiencing the boat was worth it in my opinion, it is a one of a kind custom so that was pretty cool. All of the sea life is bigger on that side of the island and some different species as well. We saw a Moray that was easily 8-10’ long, a really big puffer fish, and some eagle rays. I would not go over there and spend the money just for the coral life however, it is probably not a “pretty” as the normal dive sites. To summarize…next time I go to Bonaire I will definitely dive with Larry again.

I am sure you know this already, but Larry does have a web site that tells more about the operation http://www.larryswildsidediving.com/. "


As far as 1000 steps and oil slick -

The comments I heard about 1000 steps was that it was pretty, but after doing it by boat they probably would have prefered a Klien site instead. This is only from 1 person, I did not talk to the rest of the group that did that dive. I personally did not do 1000 steps on this trip.

Oil Slick - I did not talk to anyone from our group that did this dive. The comments I heard about oil slick were from other divers staying at the resort. I struck up a conversation with some guys at the bar and we were talking about site's we'd been too up till that point in the week. Maybe it was the beer talking, but they made it sound like it wasn't worth doing. However, I am the type that likes to "see it for myself" so the next time I'm on Bonaire I will most likely dive that site. Just cause I got some bad reviews from someone at a bar, doesn't mean anything.

Keep in mind this is all 3rd and 4th hand information, I can only give you first hand info on a couple sites off Klien, and the few sites we did by boat and around buddy's.

My personal opinion after this trip, would be that if you have boat dives, try to get them to take you out too Klien or too difficult shore entry sites like 1000 steps, or even the hooker (to get a little bit extra gas time). After I get some more experiance I might consider the "wild side", but not with 40ish dives to my name... Maybe when I'm up closer to 100 dives.

Sites that I personally dove on this trip:

Klien Sites -
Hand's Off
South Bay

West Side Sites-
Buddy's Reef
Hilma Hooker
Peties Pillar (spelling?)
Something Special
Un-named drift North of Andrea I
Salt Pier


Total number of dives for this week was 12

5 of these were at Buddy's Reef, so that might tell you something right there