Bonaire Trip Report 2005

Well, we were a bit worried about this one. We had always stayed in a 2 Bedroom condo with 4 divers, but this time we were 6 divers in a 3 bedroom condo. Actually, it went very well and we all got along great. The living room was a little smaller, but we didn’t have any difficulties. We were staying at Buddy Dive Resort again. This was the 4^th time there for some of us. This year the resort got quite a bit larger as it had recently purchased the neighboring resort; Lions Dive. They added probably half again as many people with that acquisition. They did purchase another dive boat, but it did get a little tough getting space on the boat each morning. Our package included 6 boat dives which we did as 2 tank dives in the morning on Mon, Wed, and Frid. The rest of the time we did shore diving. Bonaire is thought by many to be the shore diving capital of the world. Our package included 2 rental vehicles which caused the first and last problems we had in Bonaire. We were picked up at the airport and taken by van to Buddy’s only to find out that the resort was out of vehicles. They told us they had already gotten us vehicles at the rental car place at, you guessed it, the airport. We had to bum a ride back to the airport and deal with surly and incompetent people there to get our trucks. Actually the trucks we got were WAY nicer than the ones the resort rents. They had cloth seats, a radio, and (drum roll please)… air conditioning. We almost felt guilty using such nice trucks for our diving vehicles. After a quick stop at the grocery store for supplies, we were ready to start relaxing at the resort. We couldn’t dive that evening, so we just hung around the resort and hit the sack early. Normally our Caribbean trips involve a 6AM flight which means we are getting up at 2AM. That makes for a long day and a short night. Our condo was a 3 bedroom with one bedroom on the ground floor as well as a kitchen, bathroom, and living room. We essentially had no dining room as this area was taken up by the third bedroom. This was no big deal as any guy knows the proper place to eat is on the couch in front of the TV. Oh yeah, we actually had a TV with cable. (Some of the group complained that some of us were glued to the TV whenever we weren’t diving.)

The upstairs was split into 2 bedrooms each with their own bathroom and balcony.

The next morning we started off doing a shore dive to get the new people acquainted with the area. The dive right off Buddy’s is very nice. The wall drops off to over 100 feet which is great if you want to test out a camera housing which 2 of us did. That afternoon we took a little excursion to the wreck of the Hilma Hooker. Most of us had dived that wreck before, but this time Brent and I found a passage into the engine room which was really cool. The entire engine and generator was visible. There are always a couple of big tarpon hanging around the wreck (probably the same ones hanging around the resort dock at night) as well as some barracudas.

Most of our boat dives were to Klein Bonaire. We initially had some objections to this since last year we had such rotten visibility out there. This year, however, the vis was much improved. I really wanted a photo of a frogfish this year, so I told the divemaster I would give him $10 if he found me one. He spent almost the entire dive looking for one (our group was very experienced and didn’t need him to hold our hands). Just at the end of the dive he found one and couldn’t wait to show it to me. A cool little yellow one wedged down in a cluster of fire coral. Not the best photo opportunity, but a deal is a deal.

Bonaire is not known for spectacular visibility. Most of our dives were in the 50-80 foot visibility area. On a couple of the shore dives toward the south end we had lower visibility due to the surge. The typical shore dive involves a somewhat tricky entry. There is usually a big pile of dead coral rubble a few yards up from the water. Then there is a short area of hard rock up to the water’s edge. Right at the edge, there is a short drop off and of course there are small coral heads right nearby. Not as bad as it may sound, but if the surge is high, it can be tough especially if there are sea urchins underfoot and if you are carrying a camera. We saw some really tough dudes walking out barefoot. Most people who have full foot fins bring along a pair of water mocs for the egress. No one in our group fell, but we saw a bunch of scraped up shins and knees among some of the resort guests from falls on shore dives. The dive sites to the north like Ol Blue and 1000 steps tend to be a bit easier entry although some involve a few stairs.

Once in the water, the typical dive site involves a rather sparse area between the shore and 20 feet deep. Most of the shallow coral has been blasted into the aforementioned rubble on the shore. The deeper coral is still healthy and there are plenty of sponges and gorgonians, too. The typical reef is a wall sloping down from about 30 feet to 80-100 feet and in some cases to pretty much infinite depths. Due to the fact that we were making 4 dives per day, none of us ventured much deeper than 70-80 feet on most dives, and a great majority of our time was spent shallower than 60 feet. One notable exception was on our annual dive to the Marie Bahn or the Windjammer. A great wreck which starts at 140 feet and goes down from there. We typically limit the max depth to 165 feet to avoid excessive deco times. Meticulous pre-dive planning led to a flawless decompression dive.

Bonaire isn’t known for big critters, but we did see a couple of eagle rays, turtles, and big tarpon as well as a few barracuda and big snappers. There were lots of tropicals such as angelfish, parrotfish, wrasses, and damsels. Close inspection of anemones would reveal many cleaner shrimp. Bonaire has more spotted cleaner shrimp than anywhere I have dived.

Anyone who has read anything on the message boards about Bonaire knows that people are very concerned about theft. The rental car company practically insisted that we get the insurance for vandalism and they even told us exactly how much it would cost if we didn’t have the insurance and our window got broken when they break into the vehicle. Once again we had absolutely no problem there. Every dive we left mesh bags, water bottles, shoes, sunglasses, and in one notable case a slightly moist camera was left on the truck seat. Nothing was touched. We did hear about one couple who exited the water only to spot some local on a bicycle rummaging through their belongings. The guy rode off knowing full well they wouldn’t be able to catch him in time. I think it is interesting to note that the one item everyone says can be left out is scuba tanks. That is because they all say “Buddy Dive” on them and they will be unable to fill them. Of course the implication is that other stuff can be easily sold. I think that the culprits are probably well known and it is just seen as a way to wring a few extra dollars out of the tourists. There is essentially no violent crime, only petty theft.

The weather during our week there was cooler than normal. Daytime temps were in the mid-upper 80s and evening temps were in the mid 70s. It rained almost every evening, but usually late enough that only the really hearty partiers were inconvenienced. Of course that has 2 big drawbacks. One the gear never dried at all. We would hang our stuff out in the evening and next morning it would still be dripping wet. The second problem was the mosquitoes. Normally they were not bad in the condo, but one night my patio door blew open and I had hundreds of bites the next morning.

All in all, though, it was a great week. Our trips to Bonaire involve a lot of freedom to dive, eat, sleep whenever we want which is often a relief from some of the more structured resorts where meals are served at specific times and there is very little variation. Despite the few annoyances we had, most of us agreed that we will return next January.