BigBubbaJ
Contributor
Time to post the Trip Report!
AWESOME. I went down via Continental from Den -> IAH and then took the redeye from IAH to BONAIRE!
Travel Companion: Waterskier1
Hotel: Golden Reef Inn
Dive Shop: WannaDive
Overall Trip Rating: A+++
We did 26 dives for a total of 17 h 21m of bottom time.
Hotel Report: The golden reef inn is a very nice place to stay. I would stay there again in a heartbeat. Gibi, the chef is there every morning at 7:30 am making eggs to order, including fresh fruit, pancakes, yogurt, cereal, sausage, bacon and toast. I heard some others complain that Gibi made everything but eggs offsite, so much of the bacon and sausage and pancakes were cold. I ate every day in their pleasant outdoor eating area and found no cold food, and Gibi does uses catering dishes with Sterno fuel, perhaps I ate at 7:30 every day so the food was very fresh. Coffee was always hot and delicious. I looked forward to breakfast every day! Gibi was a GREAT source of knowledge about Bonaire and all the dive sites, though he hasnt dove for ovetr 10 years. I think I like Gibi a lot, which may influence my feelings about his cooking!
We did attend the Golden Reef BBQ. I LOVED it, but heard VERY different reviews from other folks who were staying there. The menu was salads (lettuce, pasta, and others), Fresh Wahoo, chicken, goat stew, ribs, and AMazing bread and garlic butter. I really enjoyed dinner, and LOVED the goat stew. Thought the rum punch was a nice touch and loved the flan for desert. Nice!
Car:
Our package with GRI included a dive truck, which was an off brand chinese version of a toyota, a "deer". The rental company was very low key and we had no problems with them or the truck, though our antenna was broken. We didnt use the radio and preferred to talk or enjoy silence while driving.
Diving: We did 26 dives for a total of 17 h 21m of bottom time. Upgraded to the unlimited Nitrox for 25 bucks. We had to REALLY watch the o-rings for quality, but Ricks rig seemed more tolerant of questionable o-rings than mine did.
Spectacular.
Saturday:
Eden's Rubble
Oil Slick Leap
Karpata
Sunday:
Hilma Hooker
INvisibles
Margate Bay
Bachelors Beach
Bachelors Beach (Night)
Monday:
1000 Steps
Ol Blue
Buddy Reef
Andrea I
Tuesday:
Gibi's Cliff (South Bari Reef)
Cliff
Oil Slick LEap
Windsock
Buddys Reef (Night)
Wednesday:
Unmarked site north of BOPEC- named by someone staying at our hotel, TA2
Nukove - BEST dive of trip : Squid, LOTS of fish - GREAT DIVE!!!
Karpata
Alice in WOnderland
Thursday:
Hilma Hooker
Something Special
Oil Slick Leap - ( I love the giant stride from here... more than anything else!!!)
Margate Bay
Buddy's Reef - GINORMOUS puffer at the wreck...so big it seemed fake!
I was happy to have my 75th dive in Bonaire... and would go back any time. The reef is enourmous and beautiful. The people super friendly. I would stay at the GRI, but perhaps next time the night by the nightstand will be plugged in!!! (liz???)
-Justin
Pix and a couple of poorly edited bad videos at Justin's Photos
AWESOME. I went down via Continental from Den -> IAH and then took the redeye from IAH to BONAIRE!
Travel Companion: Waterskier1
Hotel: Golden Reef Inn
Dive Shop: WannaDive
Overall Trip Rating: A+++
We did 26 dives for a total of 17 h 21m of bottom time.
Hotel Report: The golden reef inn is a very nice place to stay. I would stay there again in a heartbeat. Gibi, the chef is there every morning at 7:30 am making eggs to order, including fresh fruit, pancakes, yogurt, cereal, sausage, bacon and toast. I heard some others complain that Gibi made everything but eggs offsite, so much of the bacon and sausage and pancakes were cold. I ate every day in their pleasant outdoor eating area and found no cold food, and Gibi does uses catering dishes with Sterno fuel, perhaps I ate at 7:30 every day so the food was very fresh. Coffee was always hot and delicious. I looked forward to breakfast every day! Gibi was a GREAT source of knowledge about Bonaire and all the dive sites, though he hasnt dove for ovetr 10 years. I think I like Gibi a lot, which may influence my feelings about his cooking!
We did attend the Golden Reef BBQ. I LOVED it, but heard VERY different reviews from other folks who were staying there. The menu was salads (lettuce, pasta, and others), Fresh Wahoo, chicken, goat stew, ribs, and AMazing bread and garlic butter. I really enjoyed dinner, and LOVED the goat stew. Thought the rum punch was a nice touch and loved the flan for desert. Nice!
Car:
Our package with GRI included a dive truck, which was an off brand chinese version of a toyota, a "deer". The rental company was very low key and we had no problems with them or the truck, though our antenna was broken. We didnt use the radio and preferred to talk or enjoy silence while driving.
Diving: We did 26 dives for a total of 17 h 21m of bottom time. Upgraded to the unlimited Nitrox for 25 bucks. We had to REALLY watch the o-rings for quality, but Ricks rig seemed more tolerant of questionable o-rings than mine did.
Spectacular.
Saturday:
Eden's Rubble
Oil Slick Leap
Karpata
Sunday:
Hilma Hooker
INvisibles
Margate Bay
Bachelors Beach
Bachelors Beach (Night)
Monday:
1000 Steps
Ol Blue
Buddy Reef
Andrea I
Tuesday:
Gibi's Cliff (South Bari Reef)
Cliff
Oil Slick LEap
Windsock
Buddys Reef (Night)
Wednesday:
Unmarked site north of BOPEC- named by someone staying at our hotel, TA2
Nukove - BEST dive of trip : Squid, LOTS of fish - GREAT DIVE!!!
Karpata
Alice in WOnderland
Thursday:
Hilma Hooker
Something Special
Oil Slick Leap - ( I love the giant stride from here... more than anything else!!!)
Margate Bay
Buddy's Reef - GINORMOUS puffer at the wreck...so big it seemed fake!
I was happy to have my 75th dive in Bonaire... and would go back any time. The reef is enourmous and beautiful. The people super friendly. I would stay at the GRI, but perhaps next time the night by the nightstand will be plugged in!!! (liz???)
-Justin
Pix and a couple of poorly edited bad videos at Justin's Photos
