Reidkon
Contributor
Wow! That's great! Where were you diving and what are those glowing objects?
This was the best thing we saw so far this week.
Darook is doing Bonaire, semi live action!
- Thread starter darook
- Start date
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TN Traveler
Contributor
Diving just off the dock at Belmar. We heard them the day before, but never saw them. There was a lot of schools of small fish doing strange things for several minutes, then they showed up - there were 35-50 of them in 3 groups - took a minute or so to think about the camera. 
They came around us on both sides - sort of skirting our bubbles. The last two (could not get a picture) were HUGE!
The staff said they had reports of Dolphins being seen along the south coast for the past week or so, with occasional sightings on the surface. But nothing like the size of this Pod.
I think the round lights are the sun hitting the top/sides of the waves - it was between 11 am and noon.
They came around us on both sides - sort of skirting our bubbles. The last two (could not get a picture) were HUGE!The staff said they had reports of Dolphins being seen along the south coast for the past week or so, with occasional sightings on the surface. But nothing like the size of this Pod.
I think the round lights are the sun hitting the top/sides of the waves - it was between 11 am and noon.
OP
darook
Contributor
Today was a nice relaxing day. We started at the Lake which is always one of my favorites. The second reef has some really neat coral structures and we saw a very large spotted drum there today. The first reef always has a lot of action. I was hoping for rays in the channel but didn't see any.
Second dive was the Garden AKA Soft Coral Garden. The site does not line up exactly with the BSDME book but is really the next marked site south of Vista Blue. Regardless, it is a GREAT dive with an easy entry. Just go into the the site marked as the Garden and instead of going straight to the shore head over to the right towards a large bush by the shore. There is a nice beach that makes for a really easy entry. Swim through the kicked up sand and be rewarded with the most dense soft coral on the island. Over the edge is a very healthy reef with slightly larger fish than towards the middle of the west side.
After that dive my lovely bride wanted to dry out for the remainder of the day. Lunch was the Big Momma burger at Between Two Buns which was terrific. The whole menu looked great and we will be back. Great place. After the enormous lunch, nap, and easy afternoon we had bread sticks which we purchased from behind the counter at B2B. Those combined with some cheese we had made a nice light dinner.
We will try to find that seahorse at Cliff in the next day or two. Thanks for the directions!
Second dive was the Garden AKA Soft Coral Garden. The site does not line up exactly with the BSDME book but is really the next marked site south of Vista Blue. Regardless, it is a GREAT dive with an easy entry. Just go into the the site marked as the Garden and instead of going straight to the shore head over to the right towards a large bush by the shore. There is a nice beach that makes for a really easy entry. Swim through the kicked up sand and be rewarded with the most dense soft coral on the island. Over the edge is a very healthy reef with slightly larger fish than towards the middle of the west side.
After that dive my lovely bride wanted to dry out for the remainder of the day. Lunch was the Big Momma burger at Between Two Buns which was terrific. The whole menu looked great and we will be back. Great place. After the enormous lunch, nap, and easy afternoon we had bread sticks which we purchased from behind the counter at B2B. Those combined with some cheese we had made a nice light dinner.
We will try to find that seahorse at Cliff in the next day or two. Thanks for the directions!
We love The Lake and Angel City. Both are fun to do a loop from shore to outer reef, fin along the outer reef for a while, and then cross over the sand flat and over the Hooker at 60' or so, and dive back along the inner reef. Both are fairly long loops, but doable with decent air consumption and/or not dropping to the bottom in a few places. When the visibility is good the Hooker is even more impressive when "finding" it from the deeper side.
Maybe even a little spooky. :scared:
Maybe even a little spooky. :scared:
Squirrelly G
Registered
If ya'll are here, why haven't we met up yet?
OP
darook
Contributor
Today was laundry, groceries, Something Special, Angel City, and Salt Pier. Nice dives all. We can fully put to rest the old question of needing a dive guide at Salt Pier. While Squirlly G and I were finishing our SI the Stinapa guys wandered past checking for BNMP tags. They were very nice, asked us where we were getting our tanks, if we have a camera, and if we were enjoying ourselves. No questions about a guide. They even suggested a place to look for a ray out there that we did not find. When I said we were using Wannadive for tanks the guy said he really likes their fills. I have to agree with him.
Why the question about the camera?
OP
darook
Contributor
Here are some pictures I have been taking this week.
This is a quickly (poorly) edited video I made from Something Special this morning.
---------- Post added December 11th, 2014 at 04:51 PM ----------
I don't know why they asked about the camera. Maybe they figure a certain percentage of photons are like the idiot I saw at Bachelor Beach this morning laying on the reef while supporting his camera on a coral head so he could video something. Total douche move. If you need to stabilize yourself use a finger or two on dead coral or sand. I learned that a few years back from John at Buddy. I already knew that laying on the reef was wrong unlike crap for brains I saw this morning.
Surf was up today! Entries were definitely more challenging. Squirrelly G and I called it a wrap after BB as she was a little out of sorts and the viz was not great. We did a pool side snooze after a delicious lunch at Between Two Buns. Later we did some exploring in our dive boat (truck) and signed up for the mangrove snorkel tour tomorrow afternoon. I did some snorkeling at Andrea I this evening and the surf even there was rocking a bit.
This is a quickly (poorly) edited video I made from Something Special this morning.
---------- Post added December 11th, 2014 at 04:51 PM ----------
I don't know why they asked about the camera. Maybe they figure a certain percentage of photons are like the idiot I saw at Bachelor Beach this morning laying on the reef while supporting his camera on a coral head so he could video something. Total douche move. If you need to stabilize yourself use a finger or two on dead coral or sand. I learned that a few years back from John at Buddy. I already knew that laying on the reef was wrong unlike crap for brains I saw this morning.
Surf was up today! Entries were definitely more challenging. Squirrelly G and I called it a wrap after BB as she was a little out of sorts and the viz was not great. We did a pool side snooze after a delicious lunch at Between Two Buns. Later we did some exploring in our dive boat (truck) and signed up for the mangrove snorkel tour tomorrow afternoon. I did some snorkeling at Andrea I this evening and the surf even there was rocking a bit.
OP
darook
Contributor
Today was spent with preliminary packing, poking around town and a delicious lunch at Rumba. Our only meals out this week were for lunch which is different than most people do it. One lunch at Rum Runners for the nice view, two lunches at between two buns, and the one today at Rumba. I think If there is a ship in town I prefer B2B, if not Rumba. It is faster, cheaper, and has a view.
This afternoon we did the Mangrove Center snorkel tour. It was great fun, beautiful, informative, and a great distraction from the fact that we are leaving tomorrow. One of the nice things that Bamboo Bali does is makes a Bon Bini driftwood sign for all of their guests and hangs it over your door. You get to take it home as a gift. Really nice touch.
---------- Post added December 12th, 2014 at 07:36 PM ----------
My reflections on Bamboo Bali are as follows:
Very nice cottages with excellent service that stays out of your way.
We were in the "Between the trees" cottage which is the only elevated one. It is very nice but the very steep stairs and the fact that the only place to eat was on the deck became tiresome. The stairs were not that much of a bother but looking at all of the cottages that did not have the climb made one jealous at the end of a long day. The mosquitoes made eating outside nearly impossible in the evening and that there was no table inside to do so a bit of a challenge. The other units seemed to provide a dining location inside.
Check in at both BBB and WD were seamless. No up sell to additional car insurance at BBB and the briefing was quick at Wannadive. The crew at WD was terrific. The check out dive was ok, but only due to weighting issues. It was clear that a very nice reef (Front Porch) was very near.
I would happily stay at BBB again and dive with WD but would do so at one of the ground level cottages.
I would dine at B2B and Rumba again as well. I would shop at Van Den Tweel and Zhung Kong again. VDT for the selection and pricing and ZK for the proximity and completely indifferent service. We didn't eat at any of the fancy places such as Mona Lisa and At Sea but hope to in the future.
---------- Post added December 12th, 2014 at 08:26 PM ----------
Here is a quick video I made of the snorkeling at the Mangrove Center today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lcg9C0--i8M
This afternoon we did the Mangrove Center snorkel tour. It was great fun, beautiful, informative, and a great distraction from the fact that we are leaving tomorrow. One of the nice things that Bamboo Bali does is makes a Bon Bini driftwood sign for all of their guests and hangs it over your door. You get to take it home as a gift. Really nice touch.
---------- Post added December 12th, 2014 at 07:36 PM ----------
My reflections on Bamboo Bali are as follows:
Very nice cottages with excellent service that stays out of your way.
We were in the "Between the trees" cottage which is the only elevated one. It is very nice but the very steep stairs and the fact that the only place to eat was on the deck became tiresome. The stairs were not that much of a bother but looking at all of the cottages that did not have the climb made one jealous at the end of a long day. The mosquitoes made eating outside nearly impossible in the evening and that there was no table inside to do so a bit of a challenge. The other units seemed to provide a dining location inside.
Check in at both BBB and WD were seamless. No up sell to additional car insurance at BBB and the briefing was quick at Wannadive. The crew at WD was terrific. The check out dive was ok, but only due to weighting issues. It was clear that a very nice reef (Front Porch) was very near.
I would happily stay at BBB again and dive with WD but would do so at one of the ground level cottages.
I would dine at B2B and Rumba again as well. I would shop at Van Den Tweel and Zhung Kong again. VDT for the selection and pricing and ZK for the proximity and completely indifferent service. We didn't eat at any of the fancy places such as Mona Lisa and At Sea but hope to in the future.
---------- Post added December 12th, 2014 at 08:26 PM ----------
Here is a quick video I made of the snorkeling at the Mangrove Center today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lcg9C0--i8M
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Okay, didn't know if they frowned on a camera near the pier for some reason.
