Our trip to Bonaire last week was absolutely fantastic. It was a totally relaxing and fun experience. The folks that went were filled with fun and enthusiasm. The dive operation bent over backwards to be helpful and gave us a memorable time. The hotel, while not the Ritz, proved comfortable and uncrowded.
We started our week watching our plane being deiced in Atlanta and marveling through the airport windows at the snowfall. We were two hours late leaving Atlanta which put us in Bonaire after five in the afternoon but we stopped at Cultamara’s for the obligatory couple of cases of beer and some basic staples and headed for the hotel. Delicious barbecue at Bobbie Jan’s on Saturday night passed our expectations. The end of a long day enabled easy sleep and we dreamed of the dives ahead.
Sunday morning came early. The breakfast crew was on island time but the guys at Wannadive assured us there was no hurry. After working out the initial minor gear problems we headed north along the reef for our first dive. The reef at Eden Beach forms a point with the beach facing northeast. From the sailing harbor to just north of Eden Beach the reef is a recovering mass of coral rubble.
In late November 1999 Hurricane Lenny made Atlantic history as the first storm to traverse the Caribbean basin from west to east in 113 years. We know that the most destruction associated with a hurricane in the northern hemisphere is on the right side of the eye. Bonaire would be on the left side of most storms and is considered to be out of the hurricane belt. While Lenny didn’t strike Bonaire directly, strong winds on the right caused heavy wave action that did major damage to the normally leeward side of the island. Lenny packed 155 mph winds, caused $330 million U.S. dollars in damage and resulted in 17 deaths along her path. In Bonaire, large areas of directly exposed reef were destroyed. The point at Eden Beach was one of the areas.
In addition to budding corals and sponges three structures along the reef attract a magnificent variety of marine life. A concrete hull boat called Baka di Laman (water taxi) is at 60 to 90 feet directly off the pier, further up a huge concrete culvert sits at 30 feet and finally a steel hull tugboat lies on her port side with the stern facing south at 70 to 100 feet. At the tug the lush reef begins to the north.
One of the first things I noticed was dozens of garden eels and yellow head jawfish with eggs. The Baka di Laman is like diving in an aquarium.
Both the culvert and the Baka are concrete and sport a marvelous variety of corals and sponges. The outside of the culvert is covered with yellow cup coral. The reef named Eden Rubble is definitely a worthwhile site to visit on many occasions. Highlights were juvenile trunkfish, the jawfish with eggs, and a small yellow frogfish. We did a boat dive per day to Klein Bonaire plus alternating days of north and south allowed us to experience sites from Karpata to Margate Bay. From White Slave Beach we watched the sunset and thrilled to a green flash. There were turtles on most every dive, frogfish and a six-inch orange seahorse. Our first time visitors to the island definitely saw it all.
Eden Beach is a clean and quiet resort. The rooms are a little narrow and they make you rent beach towels but we really enjoyed the relative solitude. The rooms are two stories with bedrooms on the second floor and the entire room is air conditioned. My suggestions to them would be the addition of microwaves, an ice machine, and free beach towels. Other than that the resort is comfortable and nice.
I can’t say enough good things about Bart and Bob and the whole crew at Wannadive. They bent over backwards to help us have the best possible diving experience. My suggestion to them is to keep up the good work.
The relatively private beach at Windsock Beach Resort is the best thing going. The Wannadive Hut is a cultural experience. It’s a rustic setting with bar and cheap rooms. They even have a deer head that sings Sweet Home Alabama. The entire crew met us there Friday afternoon and we completely killed their supply of Polar.
Water temperatures were surprisingly cool. We averaged 77 degrees and were really happy to have brought a full length 3mm suit. We did 23 lazy dives and had an absolutely grand time. In addition, we found time to cruise Goto Meer, dos Pos, Rincon, Boca Onima, the ancient etchings, and the shops in Kralendijk. We enjoyed the island lights, picking out constellations, and watching meteors from atop Seru Largu at night. In Rincon we sampled Norman’s “vegetarian soup.” (Don’t ask) Folks who swore never to do a night dive awoke at 5 am for the dawn dive.
The crew welcomed us back but after experiencing Ray for a week suggests that next time I submit a psychological profile of my divers.
We started our week watching our plane being deiced in Atlanta and marveling through the airport windows at the snowfall. We were two hours late leaving Atlanta which put us in Bonaire after five in the afternoon but we stopped at Cultamara’s for the obligatory couple of cases of beer and some basic staples and headed for the hotel. Delicious barbecue at Bobbie Jan’s on Saturday night passed our expectations. The end of a long day enabled easy sleep and we dreamed of the dives ahead.
Sunday morning came early. The breakfast crew was on island time but the guys at Wannadive assured us there was no hurry. After working out the initial minor gear problems we headed north along the reef for our first dive. The reef at Eden Beach forms a point with the beach facing northeast. From the sailing harbor to just north of Eden Beach the reef is a recovering mass of coral rubble.
In late November 1999 Hurricane Lenny made Atlantic history as the first storm to traverse the Caribbean basin from west to east in 113 years. We know that the most destruction associated with a hurricane in the northern hemisphere is on the right side of the eye. Bonaire would be on the left side of most storms and is considered to be out of the hurricane belt. While Lenny didn’t strike Bonaire directly, strong winds on the right caused heavy wave action that did major damage to the normally leeward side of the island. Lenny packed 155 mph winds, caused $330 million U.S. dollars in damage and resulted in 17 deaths along her path. In Bonaire, large areas of directly exposed reef were destroyed. The point at Eden Beach was one of the areas.
In addition to budding corals and sponges three structures along the reef attract a magnificent variety of marine life. A concrete hull boat called Baka di Laman (water taxi) is at 60 to 90 feet directly off the pier, further up a huge concrete culvert sits at 30 feet and finally a steel hull tugboat lies on her port side with the stern facing south at 70 to 100 feet. At the tug the lush reef begins to the north.
One of the first things I noticed was dozens of garden eels and yellow head jawfish with eggs. The Baka di Laman is like diving in an aquarium.
Both the culvert and the Baka are concrete and sport a marvelous variety of corals and sponges. The outside of the culvert is covered with yellow cup coral. The reef named Eden Rubble is definitely a worthwhile site to visit on many occasions. Highlights were juvenile trunkfish, the jawfish with eggs, and a small yellow frogfish. We did a boat dive per day to Klein Bonaire plus alternating days of north and south allowed us to experience sites from Karpata to Margate Bay. From White Slave Beach we watched the sunset and thrilled to a green flash. There were turtles on most every dive, frogfish and a six-inch orange seahorse. Our first time visitors to the island definitely saw it all.
Eden Beach is a clean and quiet resort. The rooms are a little narrow and they make you rent beach towels but we really enjoyed the relative solitude. The rooms are two stories with bedrooms on the second floor and the entire room is air conditioned. My suggestions to them would be the addition of microwaves, an ice machine, and free beach towels. Other than that the resort is comfortable and nice.
I can’t say enough good things about Bart and Bob and the whole crew at Wannadive. They bent over backwards to help us have the best possible diving experience. My suggestion to them is to keep up the good work.
The relatively private beach at Windsock Beach Resort is the best thing going. The Wannadive Hut is a cultural experience. It’s a rustic setting with bar and cheap rooms. They even have a deer head that sings Sweet Home Alabama. The entire crew met us there Friday afternoon and we completely killed their supply of Polar.
Water temperatures were surprisingly cool. We averaged 77 degrees and were really happy to have brought a full length 3mm suit. We did 23 lazy dives and had an absolutely grand time. In addition, we found time to cruise Goto Meer, dos Pos, Rincon, Boca Onima, the ancient etchings, and the shops in Kralendijk. We enjoyed the island lights, picking out constellations, and watching meteors from atop Seru Largu at night. In Rincon we sampled Norman’s “vegetarian soup.” (Don’t ask) Folks who swore never to do a night dive awoke at 5 am for the dawn dive.
The crew welcomed us back but after experiencing Ray for a week suggests that next time I submit a psychological profile of my divers.
