Just back from Bonaire- quick TR 9/10-9/17

[darook]

Got back last night from Bonaire and thought I would give a quick TR for those of you getting ready to go. We stayed at Buddy for the second time and were very happy there. Love the drive through. Only did two boat dives and probably will never do one again on Bonaire, I just prefer doing my own thing.

Water temps we 86 degrees on my two computers. I was wam in just skins for the first three dives but would get cold on the fourth so used some thin neoprene and that was just fine.

Visibility varied from 40' to 80'. Seemed the best down South. Currents varied on an hourly basis between zero and pretty strong. Wind shifted out of the south on Monday and that killed most of the diving that day.

Ate primarily around the resort at their pool bar and next door at Rum Runners. Went downtown and had dinner at Cactus Blue one night. Pricy but delicious and very well prepared.

Coral bleaching to a degree is visible on every site though there is still a lot of healthy coral. Seemed like fewer anemones to me. Touch me not sponges spawned while we were diving which was great. Saw typically one lion fish per dive.

Favorite site was Invisibles. Hundreds of garden eels and the second reef there was the fishiest I have seen on the island.

Will post a link to pics when I get them finished.

 

[drrich2]

Glad you had a good time. What sites did you run into significant current on? I ask because there is periodically current at Eden's Rubble, between Bonaire & Klein Bonaire, that I've run into before, and otherwise I was under the impression that current was more an issue toward the south & north ends of the island (where the Atlantic flows around Bonaire's top & bottom, so to speak). I'm wondering whether you saw atypical currents.

Glad you liked Buddy Dive Resort; I'm hoping to check it out in the not-too-distant future.

Richard.

 

[Irikonji_Dive_Gear]

Thanks for the TR! Cactus Blue is a great place to eat. We really like Pasa Bon (the only stoplight in Bonaire) and Will's Tropical grill too!

Did you see many Lionfish?

 

[sffrenchman]

I was there the same week. Experienced significant current at Red Beryl. Saw tons of lionfish, an average of 5 per dives, in particular below 100 fsw.

 

[darook]

Rich the current in front of Buddy was frequently pretty strong but never a big deal. During the orientation they indicated that they had seen strange currents recently and they were attributing that to storms passing north.

IDG, we saw lionfish on most dives though usually a max of two. There are still lots of native species on the reef so they don't seem to be impacting it terribly. I had the LF fritters at Cactus Blue and they were delicious.

 

[jimw]

We were next door the 9th thru the 16th, at Habitat. Similar currents probably at the same time. One nite the current was going south and although we were only 50 feet south of the rope going to depth on the dropoff--it took us quite a while to swim back to it. But we weren't kicking hard either. It seemed as though it would go north for a while then south--it shifted during dives sometimes. We were diving Forest on the south side of Klein when the wind from the south and waves came up. The ladder was wild for Bonaire and we got some bruises. They put the boats in the harbour for the afternoon and nite. Wierd stuff--I assumed it had to do with storms passing far to the north--Maria, etc. The stairs entry at Habitat was even an adventure for a few days--breaking waves and no viz by the dock. I used the stairs as I have a bad back and went in with fins on............Darook, how were the stairs at Buddy's?? I've used them before, just wondering if conditions were similar to Don's.

 

[darook]

The stairs at Buddy were fine Sunday, treacherous Monday, a little rough on Tuesday morning and then fine Tuesday afternoon on. I think the wind shift was definitely related to Maria. That is the first time I have ever lost any diving to weather on Bonaire.

 

[jimw]

That is the first time I have ever lost any diving to weather on Bonaire.

Us too, although on another trip; we left on Sunday--they had BIG waves, taking out docks and shore facilities on the Tuesday following.

 

[Broct]

Is this normal for this time of the year? I will be arriving in October.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

 

[darook]

I think wind reversals are a bit more common in the fall due to tropical storms passing along well north of the island. I have been to Bonaire and Curacao the last few years and the weather was excellent both times with dives being lost to Amstel Bright perhaps but not the weather. :cool2: