Trip Report December 14-21, 2024 Den Laman and Dive Friends

[souladdikt]

Spent a week in Bonaire at Den Laman (Flying Fish) with my wife. This is our third time to Bonaire but first time staying at Den Laman. We've used Dive Friends each trip. There's been a good amount of information about both Den Laman and Dive Friends, so there's not much information I can offer that isn't already in someone else's trip report. But here's a few things worth noting about the combo:

• We really enjoyed how quickly we could load up the truck and get going (and also how quickly we could rinse and store our gear at the end of the day). Being able to store stuff in the Dive Friends locker and grab tanks without having to lug gear downstairs was great.
• Flying Fish has a great view. The kitchen is quite nice with some room to chop things and has everything you need. The only thing missing is a washer. If you're staying longer than a week--or just like to pack up clean clothes on the way out--then that might matter to you.
• We noticed a larger number of short fills (~2000psi) this time around. Had a lot of slow o-ring leaks as well.

We were in Bonaire last August and felt the reef was in slightly better shape this time around. We mainly stayed south and enjoyed the healthy looking soft corals. Water temps were between 82F-83F. Visibility was pretty good but not amazing, with some cloudiness at most of the southern sites. A few things worth noting about the diving:

• Like @Trailboss123, we encountered a bait ball at Bachelor's Beach and Vista Blue. We'd been hearing reports of a ball at Bachelor's, so decided to check it out. We couldn't believe our luck when we saw it while swimming out to the buoy. The bait ball at Vista Blue was massive. Also got to swim with a spotted eagle ray at Vista Blue.
• There seems to be a lot of confusion about the mandated checkout dive. We have always done one after the orientation. With Dive Friends at Bari, there's usually someone from the shop there to hand folks weight (or take some off) when needed.

Looking forward to our next trip back. Oh, and here's a few pics of my wife with the bail ball at Vista Blue. It was my first trip with a camera (Divevolk housing for my Pixel 7) and I'm glad I had it just for this encounter.

 

[tkaelin]

Beautiful pics. Thanks for posting.

 

[RI Diver]

We were ther for the month of November. Stayed south of the airport at Bellevue condos. I also used Dive Friends and would use them again. I was getting tanks at Delphins but they had very limited DIN tanks and switched to the one across the street from the airport. I had 1 tank that had 1200 psi. I think someone just put it in the wrong bin, although they are labeled so a monkey could understand where to put empty tank. Never got to see the bail balls. Tons of fish, Octopusses, eagle rays etc. Had a great month and planning a return. Whatsapp has a gret place to meet buddies if need be.

 

[souladdikt]

We were ther for the month of November. Stayed south of the airport at Bellevue condos. I also used Dive Friends and would use them again. I was getting tanks at Delphins but they had very limited DIN tanks and switched to the one across the street from the airport. I had 1 tank that had 1200 psi. I think someone just put it in the wrong bin, although they are labeled so a monkey could understand where to put empty tank. Never got to see the bail balls. Tons of fish, Octopusses, eagle rays etc. Had a great month and planning a return. Whatsapp has a gret place to meet buddies if need be.

I stayed south at Belmar Apartments the last time and used the Dive Friends at Delfins. I like the drive through setup they had that made loading tanks easy. If I stay south again, then I might try VIP.

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

Nice pics!! That must have been a great experience!! I planned to leave my camera at home but will think twice!

 

[tkaelin]

Don’t do it. That will be the time you will have the once in a lifetime encounter

 

[souladdikt]

Nice pics!! That must have been a great experience!! I planned to leave my camera at home but will think twice!

Don’t do it. That will be the time you will have the once in a lifetime encounter

Funny thing, I didn't have my camera for the bait ball at Bachelor's and figured that I wouldn't see another one the rest of trip. Got lucky at Vista Blue on our second to last dive of the trip.

 

[tkaelin]

on a dive on little cayman after spending time looking at a seahorse I turned around to see an eagle ray which I followed to another sandy patch and observed for a while only to have a hammerhead swim by. And yes I had my camera.

 

[Chrisk919]

Nice pics!! That must have been a great experience!! I planned to leave my camera at home but will think twice!

Don't leave it. It's worth the weight/work. Some of the most healthy looking coral (regardless of SCTLD/bleaching) and sea life in the Caribbean.

 

[staggsSevin]

Looks like you had a great time! I loved staying at den laman over the years, the last few years we've moved on to Bellafonte during all the construction on the south side of Den Laman. Bari is a much better house reef than Bellafonte is but it's also good as well.

Not sure when we will return to Bonaire as this is the first year we haven't gone in the last 10yrs. We've been booking farther trips that require more time off so it doesn't leave much PTO.