rreconnu
Registered
Bonaire Trip Report Nov 5-12, 2012
My wife and I just got back from a week long dive trip to Bonaire. This was my wifes first dive trip. She had done her confined water sessions for her PADI Open Water cert in NC in October, but we decided to do her open water dives in Bonaire. This turned out to be a great decision as warm water, pretty fish and great visibility is a much more pleasant place to learn than a cold, dark quarry!
We traveled all day on Monday going from Raleigh to Miami, Miami to Curacao and then Curacao to Bonaire. Not sure why, but for some reason we couldnt book the whole trip from Raleigh to Bonaire so we had to go through customs, get our bags and recheck them in Curacao. It didnt seem like a big deal, but it turned out to be a bit of a hassle. Customs was quick, but rechecking the bags involved waiting in line at the Curacao airport for over an hour. Curacao has a departure tax for some of the airlines (We were using Insel Air) so keep your boarding pass from your previous flight so you can prove that you are just a transit ($2) instead of a departure ($24ish). If you use an electronic boarding pass on your phone, make sure its up and your phone is charged as the Internet connection at the airport is sketchy and theres no place to plug in your phone.
Ive read a number of people complaining about Insel Air. At least for us, on this trip, it was fine. We arrived about 15 min late, but it is Island Time so no big deal. Customs in Bonaire is simple and quick. Be warned, baggage claim is outside under a roof and filled with mosquitos. They didnt bother me much, but wife got eaten because we didnt pack any bug spray in the carry on. We didnt have to wait very long so it wasnt too bad.
Wed rented a condo at Bellevue on VRBO through Sunbelt Realty and their representative was at the exit of baggage claim waiting for us with the key. We had rented a truck through AB Car Rental and their van was there as well. EASY! Ive put a review of Sunbelt and Bellevue #3 on the VRBO site if you are interested so I wont cover it here. (http://www.vrbo.com/372075#comments) AB Car Rental was fantastic. The truck was clean and practically brand new. They were friendly and helpful and I couldnt recommend them more. I paid a little extra for the insurance and apart from piece of mind, it made the rental process really easy. No need for inspections checking out or in, just pick it up, drive it, gas it up and drop it off.
We got a discount trough Sunbelt for Dive Friends so we went with them for my wifes referral and unlimited shore diving as well. It was pretty much dumb luck, but it turned out to be a good thing. Prior to the trip, Carolyn was helpful and responsive to emails as we organized everything. Once we got there, we found that they have locations all over the place so swapping out tanks between dives is easy and quick. They were laid back, but responsive, friendly, flexible and helpful. I would highly recommend them.
My wifes open water dives were done at Dive Friends Yellow Submarine location down town. I cant say it was the easiest place to find initially, but once you figure out how to get to the waterfront (Turn left at the pizza place down what looks like a one way alley) its easy to find. While she was doing her certification dives, I dove with one of their divemasters, Tim, out in front of the dive shop for my check-out dive. It was a very relaxing and easy dive and felt much more like diving with a buddy than being checked out in any way. Basically, its a chance to check out your gear and make sure youre weighted right.
My wife really liked her instructor Rick who made her comfortable and really helped make it a successful and positive experience so if you are looking to do a referral, Id highly recommend Dive Friends and Rick specifically.
After my check out dive. I decided to do the Hilma Hooker because it was a little deeper and thought it might not be someplace to take my wife as a new diver. Its about a 15 min ride from downtown and maybe 5 minutes from Port Bonaire (if you need tanks). It was really easy to find, plenty of parking and a fairly easy entry. I got in the water just as no less than 3 dive boats were pulling onto the moorings. I thought Id have time to dive it before they got in the water, but because the swim out was a bit further than Id anticipated (not far, just farther than Id read) I was only able to make one pass of it prior to it starting to rain down new divers, in shiny new dive gear. Itd guess there were no less than 30 divers on it. Visibility went to hell and any chance of photos went away as packs of roving newbies photo bombed every good shot with their bad buoyancy.
Needless to say, I was concerned that I may have made a horrible, horrible mistake coming to Bonaire if dives were going to be like Grand Central Station. But, Im happy to say, for the rest of the trip as long as I avoided anyplace the boats were at, we never saw another diver.
Im not going to bore you with reviews of every dive site. Id recommend either using Scuba Shore Diving Region: ABC Islands or get a copy of Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy from one of the local dive shops. They both proved valuable, and very accurate.
In general, you arent going to have a bad dive on Bonaire. We primarily stayed on the southern sites. They were very close to our condo, conditions were great, fish life was astounding (compared to most other Caribbean locations Ive dove), they were safe and entry was pretty easy. Nothing against the northern sites in any way, Im sure they are great as well. But when we drove by them on the way up to the national park on our last day, they had a lot more divers on them, the entry usually took some hiking and climbing, parking was limited and secluded so Id be more concerned about theft.
Air temperature was 85. Water Temperature was 84. Visibility on the top of the reef off the flats was about 40. At about 50 feet on the reef it was about 70ish. Current was negligible. Structure was mostly hard coral and sponges with soft coral and sea fans and such mixed in. Fish were abundant and pretty much your typical Caribbean mix. I did notice a lot more of them and many more large schools than other places. Color was good overall (for the Caribbean) although some sites (Margate Bay, White Slave and Alice in Wonderland) seemed to have a little more color. As far as big ticket items, we saw no turtles, rays, sea horses or frog fish. We did talk to plenty of divers and snorkelers who did. Frankly, its probably my fault as much of my attention was on my newly certified wife so I wasnt really looking for much beyond the immediate area.
I will call out one site in particular. The salt pier was amazing. We dove it 3 times. You no longer need a guide to dive it so just make sure there isnt a ship parked at it and go for it. The fish life was mind boggling at times. On one dive, it got to the point that I couldnt see where I was going because the schools of fish were so dense. Ive never seen anything like it. Besides the life, the structure is cool, the light does some amazing things for a photographer and its an easy dive.
Lastly, just a few words on Bonaire itself:
Theft we didnt have any issues what so ever. Use common sense and youll be fine, just like everywhere!
Power Rolling blackouts are commonplace so chances are youre going to have at least one day with no power.
Internet It seems to be mostly DSL. Its pretty slow and unreliable. We found an ice cream place downtown with free WiFi and a more reliable connection than our condo and we used it as much as we could to avoid International Data Charges.
Food The Dutch market is cool. Its like an Ikea grocery store. Its a mix of Dutch, South American and American and the prices are on par with the US. Eating out is hit and miss. There are a few excellent places, but you pay for it. Try not to freak out about the service. Just take a deep breath and tell yourself over and over "Island Time". They'll get to it.
We enjoyed every dive and it was an absolutely perfect place to take a new diver. There is no doubt that we will be back. Maybe next time we'll dive some of the northern sites or boat dive Klein Bonaire. Id recommend Bonaire to anyone interested in a laid back place with idealic weather, nice people, and all the diving you can stand.
My wife and I just got back from a week long dive trip to Bonaire. This was my wifes first dive trip. She had done her confined water sessions for her PADI Open Water cert in NC in October, but we decided to do her open water dives in Bonaire. This turned out to be a great decision as warm water, pretty fish and great visibility is a much more pleasant place to learn than a cold, dark quarry!
We traveled all day on Monday going from Raleigh to Miami, Miami to Curacao and then Curacao to Bonaire. Not sure why, but for some reason we couldnt book the whole trip from Raleigh to Bonaire so we had to go through customs, get our bags and recheck them in Curacao. It didnt seem like a big deal, but it turned out to be a bit of a hassle. Customs was quick, but rechecking the bags involved waiting in line at the Curacao airport for over an hour. Curacao has a departure tax for some of the airlines (We were using Insel Air) so keep your boarding pass from your previous flight so you can prove that you are just a transit ($2) instead of a departure ($24ish). If you use an electronic boarding pass on your phone, make sure its up and your phone is charged as the Internet connection at the airport is sketchy and theres no place to plug in your phone.
Ive read a number of people complaining about Insel Air. At least for us, on this trip, it was fine. We arrived about 15 min late, but it is Island Time so no big deal. Customs in Bonaire is simple and quick. Be warned, baggage claim is outside under a roof and filled with mosquitos. They didnt bother me much, but wife got eaten because we didnt pack any bug spray in the carry on. We didnt have to wait very long so it wasnt too bad.
Wed rented a condo at Bellevue on VRBO through Sunbelt Realty and their representative was at the exit of baggage claim waiting for us with the key. We had rented a truck through AB Car Rental and their van was there as well. EASY! Ive put a review of Sunbelt and Bellevue #3 on the VRBO site if you are interested so I wont cover it here. (http://www.vrbo.com/372075#comments) AB Car Rental was fantastic. The truck was clean and practically brand new. They were friendly and helpful and I couldnt recommend them more. I paid a little extra for the insurance and apart from piece of mind, it made the rental process really easy. No need for inspections checking out or in, just pick it up, drive it, gas it up and drop it off.
We got a discount trough Sunbelt for Dive Friends so we went with them for my wifes referral and unlimited shore diving as well. It was pretty much dumb luck, but it turned out to be a good thing. Prior to the trip, Carolyn was helpful and responsive to emails as we organized everything. Once we got there, we found that they have locations all over the place so swapping out tanks between dives is easy and quick. They were laid back, but responsive, friendly, flexible and helpful. I would highly recommend them.
My wifes open water dives were done at Dive Friends Yellow Submarine location down town. I cant say it was the easiest place to find initially, but once you figure out how to get to the waterfront (Turn left at the pizza place down what looks like a one way alley) its easy to find. While she was doing her certification dives, I dove with one of their divemasters, Tim, out in front of the dive shop for my check-out dive. It was a very relaxing and easy dive and felt much more like diving with a buddy than being checked out in any way. Basically, its a chance to check out your gear and make sure youre weighted right.
My wife really liked her instructor Rick who made her comfortable and really helped make it a successful and positive experience so if you are looking to do a referral, Id highly recommend Dive Friends and Rick specifically.
After my check out dive. I decided to do the Hilma Hooker because it was a little deeper and thought it might not be someplace to take my wife as a new diver. Its about a 15 min ride from downtown and maybe 5 minutes from Port Bonaire (if you need tanks). It was really easy to find, plenty of parking and a fairly easy entry. I got in the water just as no less than 3 dive boats were pulling onto the moorings. I thought Id have time to dive it before they got in the water, but because the swim out was a bit further than Id anticipated (not far, just farther than Id read) I was only able to make one pass of it prior to it starting to rain down new divers, in shiny new dive gear. Itd guess there were no less than 30 divers on it. Visibility went to hell and any chance of photos went away as packs of roving newbies photo bombed every good shot with their bad buoyancy.
Needless to say, I was concerned that I may have made a horrible, horrible mistake coming to Bonaire if dives were going to be like Grand Central Station. But, Im happy to say, for the rest of the trip as long as I avoided anyplace the boats were at, we never saw another diver.
Im not going to bore you with reviews of every dive site. Id recommend either using Scuba Shore Diving Region: ABC Islands or get a copy of Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy from one of the local dive shops. They both proved valuable, and very accurate.
In general, you arent going to have a bad dive on Bonaire. We primarily stayed on the southern sites. They were very close to our condo, conditions were great, fish life was astounding (compared to most other Caribbean locations Ive dove), they were safe and entry was pretty easy. Nothing against the northern sites in any way, Im sure they are great as well. But when we drove by them on the way up to the national park on our last day, they had a lot more divers on them, the entry usually took some hiking and climbing, parking was limited and secluded so Id be more concerned about theft.
Air temperature was 85. Water Temperature was 84. Visibility on the top of the reef off the flats was about 40. At about 50 feet on the reef it was about 70ish. Current was negligible. Structure was mostly hard coral and sponges with soft coral and sea fans and such mixed in. Fish were abundant and pretty much your typical Caribbean mix. I did notice a lot more of them and many more large schools than other places. Color was good overall (for the Caribbean) although some sites (Margate Bay, White Slave and Alice in Wonderland) seemed to have a little more color. As far as big ticket items, we saw no turtles, rays, sea horses or frog fish. We did talk to plenty of divers and snorkelers who did. Frankly, its probably my fault as much of my attention was on my newly certified wife so I wasnt really looking for much beyond the immediate area.
I will call out one site in particular. The salt pier was amazing. We dove it 3 times. You no longer need a guide to dive it so just make sure there isnt a ship parked at it and go for it. The fish life was mind boggling at times. On one dive, it got to the point that I couldnt see where I was going because the schools of fish were so dense. Ive never seen anything like it. Besides the life, the structure is cool, the light does some amazing things for a photographer and its an easy dive.
Lastly, just a few words on Bonaire itself:
Theft we didnt have any issues what so ever. Use common sense and youll be fine, just like everywhere!
Power Rolling blackouts are commonplace so chances are youre going to have at least one day with no power.
Internet It seems to be mostly DSL. Its pretty slow and unreliable. We found an ice cream place downtown with free WiFi and a more reliable connection than our condo and we used it as much as we could to avoid International Data Charges.
Food The Dutch market is cool. Its like an Ikea grocery store. Its a mix of Dutch, South American and American and the prices are on par with the US. Eating out is hit and miss. There are a few excellent places, but you pay for it. Try not to freak out about the service. Just take a deep breath and tell yourself over and over "Island Time". They'll get to it.
We enjoyed every dive and it was an absolutely perfect place to take a new diver. There is no doubt that we will be back. Maybe next time we'll dive some of the northern sites or boat dive Klein Bonaire. Id recommend Bonaire to anyone interested in a laid back place with idealic weather, nice people, and all the diving you can stand.
