Nettles
Registered
Kind of a bittersweet trip this year. The last trip was same time in '23 and we had noticed a little of what we thought was Stony Coral Disease at Something Special and have followed closely since, so were somewhat prepared for what we saw on our first dives. The good news is one becomes acclimated to what is there now and the soft corals are better than ever. The bad news is most of the hard corals have been devastated. Dives like Karpata are only a parody of what they were two years ago and although the structure is still there, everthing is a monotone grey. Here and there there are pieces of healthy coral, which makes it more tragic in a way when one considers that the whole place used to look like that. I'm just grateful I got to see it "Back Then".
But other than that (how was the play, Mrs Lincoln?) we still loved diving in Bonaire. The water is still warm, reatively clear and full of fun critters to gawk at. We have a very casual dive schedule, 2 a day max, no boat dives, and still saw heaps of friendly turtles and eagle rays along with the usual suspects, including spectacular ostracods one night. We only dove Karpata and Tolo to the North once, deciding the Hell that is Kaminda Sabana/Montana (the road from Rincon), made those dives not worth it and found the dives to the South much preferable. I thought Tolo was in better shape than Karpata but we were having so much success with the southern sites we never went back. Maybe if the Rincon road wasn't like something out of Beruit...
No matter which site, there was plenty of company. The record was one Sunday monring at Hilma Hooker when there were 2 dive boats and 20+ trucks. Yikes! Needless to say we kept driving. The Salt Pier had shipping traffic for a few days, which no doubt contributed to the general congestion. We dove it late afternoon after they opened it up and had it almost all to ourselves. Bonus! Invisables, Tori's, Margate Bay and Vista Blue all had record numbers nearly every day at prime time, but would thin out a bit in the late afternoon. It only got stupid once, at Invisables, when a crowd from a dive boat dropped in on a crowd coming from shore, just as we were coming back to the buoy to get our bearing for the exit. Some of the worst divers I have ever seen in terms of ability and manners. It's probably just as well that I couldn't identify the nitwit chasing the turtle around.
Above the surface, construction continues apace. From the Esmerelda ruins to the far side of Hato everything is covered with a fine layer of concrete dust, and the infrastucture is largely state-of-the-art late 1900s. Lots of hand wringing but no real planning. Lord knows I have no ideas at this point. Lets not talk about the cruise ships.
Rains Fishes, La Cantina and Mona Lisa are still great choices for dining, and we lucked into Hooked on Sunsets (across from and north of Karels, where La Guernica used to be) when we got snuffed at El Pescado (seemingly closed) and took a chance. Might have been the best food of the trip. The big loser was Mi Banana with a steak that was inedible and a bill that was ridiculous. VIP was the hands down winner for take out. It is all good, but the ribs might be the best I've had anywhere other than a little roadside joint in NC.
Will we go back? I think so. We need to find a new place as our go-to for the last 4 trips just got sold, but we love the Jet Blue service, utilizing points, and despite years of searching I have yet to find anything in our budget which provides as much bang for the buck. While the negative aspects continue to grow, it is still a great place to dive. Newcomers should be entranced and old hands can weigh for themselves if it is still worth it. While what it has become tugs at our heart, the remnants are still quite special.
But other than that (how was the play, Mrs Lincoln?) we still loved diving in Bonaire. The water is still warm, reatively clear and full of fun critters to gawk at. We have a very casual dive schedule, 2 a day max, no boat dives, and still saw heaps of friendly turtles and eagle rays along with the usual suspects, including spectacular ostracods one night. We only dove Karpata and Tolo to the North once, deciding the Hell that is Kaminda Sabana/Montana (the road from Rincon), made those dives not worth it and found the dives to the South much preferable. I thought Tolo was in better shape than Karpata but we were having so much success with the southern sites we never went back. Maybe if the Rincon road wasn't like something out of Beruit...
No matter which site, there was plenty of company. The record was one Sunday monring at Hilma Hooker when there were 2 dive boats and 20+ trucks. Yikes! Needless to say we kept driving. The Salt Pier had shipping traffic for a few days, which no doubt contributed to the general congestion. We dove it late afternoon after they opened it up and had it almost all to ourselves. Bonus! Invisables, Tori's, Margate Bay and Vista Blue all had record numbers nearly every day at prime time, but would thin out a bit in the late afternoon. It only got stupid once, at Invisables, when a crowd from a dive boat dropped in on a crowd coming from shore, just as we were coming back to the buoy to get our bearing for the exit. Some of the worst divers I have ever seen in terms of ability and manners. It's probably just as well that I couldn't identify the nitwit chasing the turtle around.
Above the surface, construction continues apace. From the Esmerelda ruins to the far side of Hato everything is covered with a fine layer of concrete dust, and the infrastucture is largely state-of-the-art late 1900s. Lots of hand wringing but no real planning. Lord knows I have no ideas at this point. Lets not talk about the cruise ships.
Rains Fishes, La Cantina and Mona Lisa are still great choices for dining, and we lucked into Hooked on Sunsets (across from and north of Karels, where La Guernica used to be) when we got snuffed at El Pescado (seemingly closed) and took a chance. Might have been the best food of the trip. The big loser was Mi Banana with a steak that was inedible and a bill that was ridiculous. VIP was the hands down winner for take out. It is all good, but the ribs might be the best I've had anywhere other than a little roadside joint in NC.
Will we go back? I think so. We need to find a new place as our go-to for the last 4 trips just got sold, but we love the Jet Blue service, utilizing points, and despite years of searching I have yet to find anything in our budget which provides as much bang for the buck. While the negative aspects continue to grow, it is still a great place to dive. Newcomers should be entranced and old hands can weigh for themselves if it is still worth it. While what it has become tugs at our heart, the remnants are still quite special.
