Trip Report Buddy Dive - Bonaire October 2021

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Blues Runner

Contributor
Messages
211
Reaction score
425
Location
Jacksonville, FL
# of dives
500 - 999
We returned to Buddy Dive Bonaire for the first time in a couple of years with friends. Important to comprehend the entry requirements for arrival into Bonaire to avoid disappointment. The Buddy check in, trunk rental and Bonaire STINAPA Park fees may all be processed on line prior to your arrival.

Buddy has used the Covid down time to rebuild the palapalla that houses Blennies restaurant. They also enclosed the breakfast area of Ingredients restaurant. Both are much nicer in there present state.

The resort was full the week we were there. Pent up demand has brought many folks from the Netherlands and the US.

The dive operation has not changed. The boats were busy in the AM and the drive through tank area was busy throughout the day. We love shore diving there and opt for the Drive & Dive Package which provides a pickup truck, unlimited tanks and breakfast each day.

We dove our favorite dive site Invisibles multiple times. It was great to experience The Salt Pier, Karpata, Tolo, Bari Reef, Hilma Hooker and Jeff Davis sites again. The reefs continue to be in fairly good shape.

We cooked dinner a couple of nights. Amazing how great spaghetti (think carbs) tastes after a full day of shore diving. We also revisited several of our favorite restaurants. Sebastian's on the ocean, Capriccio (Italian) , Mezz (Mediterranean) and Osaka (sushi & teppan yake). The restaurants were very busy. Reservations were necessary.

A few of my favorite pictures and video.





Anemone #2.jpg
Coral.jpg
Flounder #2.jpg
Hilma.jpg
nudi2 (1 of 1).jpg
Spotted Eel.jpg
Staghorn 4.jpg
trigger.jpg
urchin.jpg
 
Glad to hear you had a fine trip. Love that Hilma Hooker shot. Been years since I've been there, but I really liked Buddy Dive Resort's pier, house reef and buffet breakfast.
 
Thanks for the report. Love your pics what set up do you have??
 
Thanks for the report. Love your pics what set up do you have??
My still camera is a Sony RX100 II in a Nauticam housing, single Sea & Sea strobe and a Bigblue focus light. I shoot with manual settings. Unit is six years old. You give up sensor pixels and speed with a compact, but I like the ability to tuck the rig under my stomach when not shooting pictures.
 
Impressive you get these results with a single strobe. I used a mark 1 RX100 for years until finally trading up to a mark V. I had both in tiny Recsea housings, I mean tiny, adn they are both just great cameras--you can't really go wrong with the RX100.

But I've always used 2 YS-D2s, which perforce makes for a relatively big rig (also have a GoPro and Kraken 5000 mounted), so will have to think about sizing down to a single strobe given how outstanding your photos are.

Do you generally position the strobe directly above the camera to avoid side shadow?

Again, nice work.
 
What day were you at the salt pier? I'm fairly certain I'm in the background of that video!
 
Impressive you get these results with a single strobe. I used a mark 1 RX100 for years until finally trading up to a mark V. I had both in tiny Recsea housings, I mean tiny, adn they are both just great cameras--you can't really go wrong with the RX100.

But I've always used 2 YS-D2s, which perforce makes for a relatively big rig (also have a GoPro and Kraken 5000 mounted), so will have to think about sizing down to a single strobe given how outstanding your photos are.

Do you generally position the strobe directly above the camera to avoid side shadow?

Again, nice work.
I have a one arm tray. My DS2 is on a Kraken 200mm cylindrical float arm attached to the center ball on the housing. I keep it to the right side of the camera. This allows me to adjust the light position easily. My focus light is on the grip arm ball on the left side. I adjust aperture and sometimes speed to avoid using the strobe. I adjust exposure gaps in Lightroom.
 

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