WE LOVE BONAIRE! Trip report and video – November, 2014

[choiahoy]

Great report thanks so much for sharing....I also love my little S110 and my husband and I have a little Cavalier King Charles Spaniel !

The S110 is a great little camera and I find myself using it more often than my larger t3i, which is a lot clumsier to carry. I bought mine a few years back because of the sensor size and the fact that it could shoot stills in RAW. This was my first time shooting a lot of video and I like how there were white balance presets, but you could also save a custom one, and white balance on the fly as well.

Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are the best! My Sam loves the ocean water. I think he wants to dive...

 

[Bas Tol(B.A.S.Diving)]

"The worst (and most expensive) dive we did, by far, was a guided shore dive at Cai. Though no fault of our guide, the visibility was mud and few critters were out. It was very disappointing as we were so looking forward to the dive. Hoping for better luck on the next trip, and we’ll likely try it via boat. "

Hi Michael,

I'm sorry to see you had such a bad experience. I knew it was not the best edition of a Cai dive. But I had no idea you felt THIS bad about it. You should've told me! Because it would have been for free! I can't remember exactly all the things I showed you. But usually, when viz conditions are bad like we had, I can still turn it into a pretty interesting dive. With different types of shrimp, school of Tarpon, Spanish Grunt, mosquito size spotted drums and other cool juvies, Lobsters, packs of anemones, conchs, mutton snappers, cup corallimorph etc. I understand the dive was not what you were expecting... with turtles and rays. But I'm pretty sure I managed to also show you things you had not seen before.
'Your most expensive dive, by far' remark comes across a bit sour to me. If you check prices of guided dives at other dive ops you will see that my price of $50 p/p is actually one of the cheapest, especially if you consider the fact that you will not be part of a bigger group, unlimited dive time, experience & knowledge of your guide. Also without this most expensive dive you would not have had your best dive of your trip. Very good, accurate info for free. While at another dive op they wuld have tried to weasel you into another guided dive you could have done perfectly fine by yourself with 3 minutes worth of good information.
Nevertheless, please let me know when you come back to Bonaire. Maybe you can give me another chance to show you just how good this dive can get. As usually it's the best dive, highlight of people's trip. It will be for free. Or stop by and get your money back.

Best fishes,
Bas Tol
BAS Diving

 

[choiahoy]

Hi Bas,

Hope you've been well. It seems you're very insulted and that wasn't my intention.

First, let me say that I purposely didn't mention you by name in my post because I did not want anyone who read my report to associate a bad dive with you. We understand what's within a guide's control and I can assure you that we feel very strongly that you did more than what you could. I hope my large tip, my wife's hug, and my thanks showed that to you as well. No need for my money back or a free trip.

Secondly, I think you misunderstood that I "felt THIS bad about it" and my "remark comes across a bit sour." No malice intended--the simple fact is that it was the worst dive of the trip--if you remember, the first thing you did when we surfaced was apologize. But I think the tone of the writing in my trip report is very fair (again, no fault of yours, but I think I'm clear on that) and it just highlights Bonaire's amazing appeal that you can dive for "free" and to your heart's content without having a bad dive...unfortunately, the only bad dive we've had in our 70 dives in Bonaire was with you. When I wrote we'd try it from a boat next time, the reason is simply "why not?"

In regards to what you wrote about my best dives and the information you provided, thanks again! We're grateful for your kindness and your information certainly made finding the site very easy.

Bas, my apologizes if you felt insulted.

Best,

Mike

 

[Reidkon]

Very nice reply Mike. My DW and I are returning to Bonaire in March and considering diving the east coast and know the conditions can be iffy. I am still on the fence on whether it's worth it.

 

[oldschoolto]

"The worst (and most expensive) dive we did, by far, was a guided shore dive at Cai. Though no fault of our guide, the visibility was mud and few critters were out. It was very disappointing as we were so looking forward to the dive. Hoping for better luck on the next trip, and we’ll likely try it via boat. "

Hi Michael,

I'm sorry to see you had such a bad experience. I knew it was not the best edition of a Cai dive. But I had no idea you felt THIS bad about it. You should've told me! Because it would have been for free! I can't remember exactly all the things I showed you. But usually, when viz conditions are bad like we had, I can still turn it into a pretty interesting dive. With different types of shrimp, school of Tarpon, Spanish Grunt, mosquito size spotted drums and other cool juvies, Lobsters, packs of anemones, conchs, mutton snappers, cup corallimorph etc. I understand the dive was not what you were expecting... with turtles and rays. But I'm pretty sure I managed to also show you things you had not seen before.
'Your most expensive dive, by far' remark comes across a bit sour to me. If you check prices of guided dives at other dive ops you will see that my price of $50 p/p is actually one of the cheapest, especially if you consider the fact that you will not be part of a bigger group, unlimited dive time, experience & knowledge of your guide. Also without this most expensive dive you would not have had your best dive of your trip. Very good, accurate info for free. While at another dive op they wuld have tried to weasel you into another guided dive you could have done perfectly fine by yourself with 3 minutes worth of good information.
Nevertheless, please let me know when you come back to Bonaire. Maybe you can give me another chance to show you just how good this dive can get. As usually it's the best dive, highlight of people's trip. It will be for free. Or stop by and get your money back.

Best fishes,
Bas Tol
BAS Diving

Well, I have never liked a DM on dives... Or a guide for that matter... I just love to find my own way and see what I see... This post has changed my mind... I'll be giving Bas a call when we get to bonaire in february... I think he will be like diving with a friend ....

Jim...

 

[choiahoy]

Very nice reply Mike. My DW and I are returning to Bonaire in March and considering diving the east coast and know the conditions can be iffy. I am still on the fence on whether it's worth it.

Reidkon,

Exciting to hear you're heading to Bonaire soon. We're going to Mexico next week, but Bonaire occupies a special place in our hearts, no doubt.

There are many Scubaboarders who considered the east coast dive their best one of Bonaire. Unfortunately, my experience was the opposite. So clearly, your mileage may vary, but I think it's certainly worth a try for you. Let us know what you ended up doing and post up a report!

Happy diving and and enjoy your trip.

 

[drrich2]

If anybody runs across the thread curious about a guided Cai shore dive with Bas, I've done it and posted a thread with some photos showing the varied topography observed on that one dive. It was one of my so far all-time best dives, and the longest dive I've ever been on.

When I went, I'd been corresponding with Bas and he was obviously keeping the forecast and anticipated conditions in mind. If anyone's planning a trip, I recommend it, but I also recommend keep your planning flexible as to just which day you dive it. I don't know what % of the time conditions are good; just a suggestion. Definitely a different experience from what I've gotten on the west coast.

Richard.