The Bonaire report

[DiveMaven]

Yes, pretty consistent everywhere we went.

 

[Rescue Diver68]

Does anyone know if Den Laman will have 100cf tanks for my airhog husband so he doesn't cut my dive time in half?

 

[ClayJar]

Does anyone know if Den Laman will have 100cf tanks for my airhog husband so he doesn't cut my dive time in half?

For the record, it would be Bonaire Dive and Adventure, not Den Laman, as BDA is the dive op. Anyway, I rather doubt you'll have access to 100cf tanks.

Still, it's Bonaire, so you can creatively interpret things and consider his high air consumption an asset rather than a liability. Since it's all-you-can-dive, you don't *lose* any dive time by having shorter dives. Instead, you *gain* even more variety in your dives. With shorter dives, you can visit more sites in the same amount of bottom time. :biggrin: (Okay, so it's not exactly a persuasive argument, but we're hunting silver linings here.)

As for my trip, on which I'll be leading four other divers, for most of the "normal" reef sites, I can live with going however far we can get before someone hits turn pressure and then returning along the reef at a shallower depth. I'd like to do some of the "deeper" things on my list with only my "usual" buddy, as our air consumption is very similar and not high, giving us the most time. Still, I guess I can live with it if everyone else is doing well enough on the shallower dives and feeling up for diving Hilma Hooker one morning. Diving is sharing, after all.

 

[rjchandler]

{SNIP}

I also heard that if you keep descending sooner or later you will hit a thermocline...so now I make sure all of my dives are done 20ft or above while on Bonaire.

I hit thermoclines at Red Beryl and Tori's Reef last week, complete with distorted hazy water and sucko viz. Then I saw all the eagle rays -- boy were they mucking up the water bouncing off the bottom - no concept of bouyancy control.

 

[1_T_Submariner]

I also heard that if you keep descending sooner or later you will hit a thermocline...so now I make sure all of my dives are done 20ft or above while on Bonaire.

You are from Chicago and are worried about a thermocline in Bonaire??? Ok I almost bit on that one. Nice try.

 

[tridacna]

...to my own lack of bilingualness or trilingualness, or quadlingualness.
.

Two languages = bilingual

Three languages = trilingual

One language = American

 

[Papa Steve]

We just returned from Bonaire on Saturday after 2 weeks on the island, and although we were prepared for how expensive the island is, it was somewhat shocking to see prices anyway. By the second week, we had figured out where to go for good, inexpensive dinners and probably spent 1/2 the amount of money the second week than the first.

We seemed to alternate days diving either north or south sites in the mornings. Since they are pretty different in topography, it kept things fresh and interesting the whole time. Conditions were fabulous with little to no current, and we only got blown out of diving the southern site we wanted once (entry would have been to risky with a camera).

We're already planning our return for next year.

We're heading down in September. When you get a chance I'd like to hear what restaurants you found were a good value.

 

[del_mo]

The only "restaurant" that I found to be the same as home prices was the KFC. Made for a great and usually quick lunch/surface interval.

We brought some food with us to help cut the costs some. There are two "large" supermarkets, one downtown (best) and one on the road to the airport. Selection isn't like home, but okay. Gasoline prices will curl your toes!

 

[Mossman]

The only "restaurant" that I found to be the same as home prices was the KFC. Made for a great and usually quick lunch/surface interval.

We brought some food with us to help cut the costs some. There are two "large" supermarkets, one downtown (best) and one on the road to the airport. Selection isn't like home, but okay. Gasoline prices will curl your toes!

Interesting. I find the prices in Bonaire restaurants cheaper than home. I guess it depends where home is.

Take Cactus Blue, for instance, a restaurant that often garners comments on how "expensive" it is.

According to the website, the 12 ounce filet mignon at Cactus Blue retails for $26.95. It's one of the best filets I've ever had, perfectly aged Argentinean beef. Meanwhile, a 12 ounce filet of U.S.D.A. prime beef will run $30 and up out here, with restaurants that charge in the $40 range pretty common too.

Appetizers there run $6.95 to $8.95. Appetizers at Outback Steakhouse back home run $6.99 to $8.99. Outback charges $21.99 for a 9 ounce filet, made from poorly-trimmed poorly-aged choice beef. In fact, across the board, Cactus Blue's prices are very similar to Outback's. You'd think a popular restaurant on a Caribbean island would be more expensive than a mediocre American steakhouse found in every U.S. city, but it's not.

When I go to Bonaire, I eat like a pig, knowing that if I ate like that at home, with similar quality of ingredients and food preparation, I'd probably spend twice as much.

 

[herman]

I have the same impression Moss, I often hear comments about the high price of restaurants on Bonaire but from my experience they run about the same as here in Raleigh....but the food is much better.