Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Another windy day in paradise . . .
BONAIRE WEATHER - It actually IS rather windy, more than usual. At least it's blowing out of the east, which means it doesn't muck up the diving too much. The vis in the shallows is so-so (40-50 feet) but once you get below the shoulder the reef (around 40 feet), it opens up to 60-80.
LOTS OF DAYTIME TARPON - We're used to seeing Tarpon at night but only occasionally during the daytime. Not today. They were EVERYWHERE on Buddy's Reef, down around 80 feet or so, in group of 3 to 5 animals. Very nice. And they'd let you get relatively close before giving you the evil eye and moving off.
GETTING HERE IS HALF THE FUN - We opted to do United through Newark (and then Newark-Bonaire) rather than through Houston because of the return flight being much better. We had a redeye into Newark, 90-minute layover, and then four more hours down to Bonaire. I was lucky in that I slept most of the way on both legs. (Thank you Zzzquil.) Once at Buddy Dive, we got settled in to our rooms, did the resort orientation, made a trip to the grocery store, and conked out.
FOUR DIVES SUNDAY - Three for most people, four for me. Mandatory house reef check-out dive first, and then other house reef dives. We have always loved the Buddy Dive house reef and the pix will show you why. Lots of stuff to see and all literally right in front of you. We'll start our boat dives Monday so will have an opportunity to get over to Klein Bonaire as well as hit sites that are not easily accessible from shore.
PIX EVERY DAY - My hope is to post Top 10 Daily pix every day so hopefully you can take a daily peek and enjoy the trip along with us vicariously. I've already got the pix from today's dives up. Use the general "A Taste of Bonaire" link and then choose the day you want to see. Here's the SmugMug link which will show you each day as it posts (usually around 7PM PDT): A TASTE OF BONAIRE 2018 - DAILY TOP 10 PIX .
CHAMBER DAY IS GETTING CLOSER - Roughly two and a half weeks to go so don't get left behind. Sign up for a boat, join the crew of the Flying Dutchman, accept the Chamber Challenge, &/or get a ticket for Chamber Evening aka Scuba Prom. Loads of fun and it all supports a good cause, our Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber.
That'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving . . . once I get back from Bonaire.
- Ken
BONAIRE WEATHER - It actually IS rather windy, more than usual. At least it's blowing out of the east, which means it doesn't muck up the diving too much. The vis in the shallows is so-so (40-50 feet) but once you get below the shoulder the reef (around 40 feet), it opens up to 60-80.
LOTS OF DAYTIME TARPON - We're used to seeing Tarpon at night but only occasionally during the daytime. Not today. They were EVERYWHERE on Buddy's Reef, down around 80 feet or so, in group of 3 to 5 animals. Very nice. And they'd let you get relatively close before giving you the evil eye and moving off.
GETTING HERE IS HALF THE FUN - We opted to do United through Newark (and then Newark-Bonaire) rather than through Houston because of the return flight being much better. We had a redeye into Newark, 90-minute layover, and then four more hours down to Bonaire. I was lucky in that I slept most of the way on both legs. (Thank you Zzzquil.) Once at Buddy Dive, we got settled in to our rooms, did the resort orientation, made a trip to the grocery store, and conked out.
FOUR DIVES SUNDAY - Three for most people, four for me. Mandatory house reef check-out dive first, and then other house reef dives. We have always loved the Buddy Dive house reef and the pix will show you why. Lots of stuff to see and all literally right in front of you. We'll start our boat dives Monday so will have an opportunity to get over to Klein Bonaire as well as hit sites that are not easily accessible from shore.
PIX EVERY DAY - My hope is to post Top 10 Daily pix every day so hopefully you can take a daily peek and enjoy the trip along with us vicariously. I've already got the pix from today's dives up. Use the general "A Taste of Bonaire" link and then choose the day you want to see. Here's the SmugMug link which will show you each day as it posts (usually around 7PM PDT): A TASTE OF BONAIRE 2018 - DAILY TOP 10 PIX .
CHAMBER DAY IS GETTING CLOSER - Roughly two and a half weeks to go so don't get left behind. Sign up for a boat, join the crew of the Flying Dutchman, accept the Chamber Challenge, &/or get a ticket for Chamber Evening aka Scuba Prom. Loads of fun and it all supports a good cause, our Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber.
That'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving . . . once I get back from Bonaire.
- Ken
