Wow! What a week!
Our Bonaire adventure started 4:15 AM February 28th when the alarm went off for our 7 am Delta flight out of Greensboro, NC. With all the winter weather lately and lows down to 2 degrees last week then 6 inches snow Thursday we are ready for the a little warm air and sunshine!
We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare. Good thing since my checked bag weighed in at 57 pounds and Eric's at 52. Looks like our luggage scale is about 3 lbs light. So the wonderful attendant said get mine to 52, we did, and all was right with the world again. The plane was full but take off was on time. Short layover then on time arrival in Bonaire with our luggage.
Truck rental was Telerin and the agent met us at the airport but the truck was not ready. So they provided us with a car that belonged to one of the employees mothers! We checked in at Beachcomber Villa (more later) then Dive Friends (Hamlet location) and was in the water at the Cliff for our first dive by 4 pm!
Beachcomber Villa. This was our 5th visit with Tim and Leanne. Read the reviews. Its all true. Clean, secure, perfect location with a beautiful second floor terrence over looking the Cliff dive site. Our truck did not arrive as planned the next day so Tim drove us to Bari reef and picked us up after our dive since we could not use the loaner car to dive, just another example of their personal service with a smile. And let me tell you. Tim can cook a mean BBQ rib!
Dive Friends Hamlet. Friendly, helpful staff. Tanks average 3200 psi and Nitrox analysis rock solid at 32 to 32.7. Only one occasion when my preferred 63 cf tanks were not available but we were headed south so just stopped at the Port Bonaire location and picked up my tanks. No hassle getting 3 tanks for the extreme northern or southern trips. Or if we needed an extra tank for a planned night dive after the location closed. And that is my one complaint with DFs, I wished they had longer hours or provided after hours tank access.
Weather. A bit more rainy then our typical late winter visits. Wind was only a significant factor for one day and then it did not affect the dives but made gearing up more challenging.
Dives. This trip was more focused on the southern sites but we dove from Sweet Dreams to Tolo for a total of 22 dives and 22.5 hours underwater. Water temperature read a steady 81 degrees and viz ranged from 75 to 100 feet. Did two new (for us) shore dives. Small Wall and Kite City.
Sealife. Lots of turtles that seemed to care less that we were there. Really close encounters. One eagle ray during the safety stop at Invisibles. All the usual fish suspects. Two truly huge lobsters. Lots of eels; green, spotted, chain, sharptail, garden, golden, and a snake eel as well. Of course tarpon on night dives. Only one octopus sighting and one lonely seahorse that was in the exact same spot as last fall!
Food. Only two dinners out. First was Bobbyjans take out. Made the mistake of not calling ahead and it was a long wait. The food was not as good as past visits, dry and over cooked. Second was lunch at Blennies Buddy Dive. It was good but overpriced.
Pictures. I regret that our new gopro was a near bust. Headed back for replacement. Skyped GoPro from the island. Excellent response and they even offered to send a temporary to use during our vacation but unfortunately since we were in Bonaire this wasnt a viable option. I have downloaded what we were able to get but havent gone through them yet to see if there is anything worth posting.
Return. Yep. Already planned for next year!
Our Bonaire adventure started 4:15 AM February 28th when the alarm went off for our 7 am Delta flight out of Greensboro, NC. With all the winter weather lately and lows down to 2 degrees last week then 6 inches snow Thursday we are ready for the a little warm air and sunshine!
We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare. Good thing since my checked bag weighed in at 57 pounds and Eric's at 52. Looks like our luggage scale is about 3 lbs light. So the wonderful attendant said get mine to 52, we did, and all was right with the world again. The plane was full but take off was on time. Short layover then on time arrival in Bonaire with our luggage.
Truck rental was Telerin and the agent met us at the airport but the truck was not ready. So they provided us with a car that belonged to one of the employees mothers! We checked in at Beachcomber Villa (more later) then Dive Friends (Hamlet location) and was in the water at the Cliff for our first dive by 4 pm!
Beachcomber Villa. This was our 5th visit with Tim and Leanne. Read the reviews. Its all true. Clean, secure, perfect location with a beautiful second floor terrence over looking the Cliff dive site. Our truck did not arrive as planned the next day so Tim drove us to Bari reef and picked us up after our dive since we could not use the loaner car to dive, just another example of their personal service with a smile. And let me tell you. Tim can cook a mean BBQ rib!
Dive Friends Hamlet. Friendly, helpful staff. Tanks average 3200 psi and Nitrox analysis rock solid at 32 to 32.7. Only one occasion when my preferred 63 cf tanks were not available but we were headed south so just stopped at the Port Bonaire location and picked up my tanks. No hassle getting 3 tanks for the extreme northern or southern trips. Or if we needed an extra tank for a planned night dive after the location closed. And that is my one complaint with DFs, I wished they had longer hours or provided after hours tank access.
Weather. A bit more rainy then our typical late winter visits. Wind was only a significant factor for one day and then it did not affect the dives but made gearing up more challenging.
Dives. This trip was more focused on the southern sites but we dove from Sweet Dreams to Tolo for a total of 22 dives and 22.5 hours underwater. Water temperature read a steady 81 degrees and viz ranged from 75 to 100 feet. Did two new (for us) shore dives. Small Wall and Kite City.
Sealife. Lots of turtles that seemed to care less that we were there. Really close encounters. One eagle ray during the safety stop at Invisibles. All the usual fish suspects. Two truly huge lobsters. Lots of eels; green, spotted, chain, sharptail, garden, golden, and a snake eel as well. Of course tarpon on night dives. Only one octopus sighting and one lonely seahorse that was in the exact same spot as last fall!
Food. Only two dinners out. First was Bobbyjans take out. Made the mistake of not calling ahead and it was a long wait. The food was not as good as past visits, dry and over cooked. Second was lunch at Blennies Buddy Dive. It was good but overpriced.
Pictures. I regret that our new gopro was a near bust. Headed back for replacement. Skyped GoPro from the island. Excellent response and they even offered to send a temporary to use during our vacation but unfortunately since we were in Bonaire this wasnt a viable option. I have downloaded what we were able to get but havent gone through them yet to see if there is anything worth posting.
Return. Yep. Already planned for next year!
