Kim and I left from SeaTac at 8:30 am on Friday, flying through Huston. In Huston, we met up with Keith who was on the same flight from there to Bonaire. We arrived in Bonaire at 5:30 am Saturday and things looked hopeful. There was a driver waiting for us at the airport, complete with the little sign with our names on it. Off to the Golden Reef we went. The drive was downhill all the way there. First, we'd need to pay for the ride from the airport which was supposed to be included in what we paid. Second, the driver was supposed to be picking us up again to take us to the truck rental but he knew nothing about it. When we got to the Golden Reef, we hit the bottom of the barrel. The parking area was strewn with beer bottles and fresh vomit. Behind the rooms, the pool are was covered in more bottles, broken glass and vomit. Patio furniture was floating in the pool and tossed on the roof. After some quick deliberation, we decided that we would not be staying at the Golden Reef and we were going to put it behind us ASAP, and get on with the vacation.
We got a ride from the Golden Reef over to WannaDive where our dive package was supposed to be arranged. We told our long, sad story to Bob from Wannadive and he helped us find a place to stay and setup a complete package for us. He even personally, drove us over to get our rental trucks. We got settled into our room, went back to Wannadive to do our checkout dive and then head to the Airport to pickup Tom who arrived in the afternoon. Kim and I spent the rest of the day figuring out the local roads, grocery shopping, etc.
With all the mayhem behind us we started out day 2 with our first real dive at Fish Hut South. Kim and I basically followed Keith and Tom around the island the whole week, relying on their expertise of where to dive and when. Kim is generally good for two dives a day and I expected that she would be doing the morning dives with me and that I do the afternoons with Keith and Tom. To my surprise, she was often more enthusiastic about dives 3 and 4 than I was. Of the 21 dives that I did during the trip, she only passed on Three. Two were night dives, which she does not do.
While all the dives were fantastic, my favorite by far was La Dania's Leap. The entry is a 3 foot giant stride off the coral wall into 15 feet of water. The nearest exit is 1km north at Karpata. I was a bit hesitant but made the leap. death star in hand. The reef is spectacular. We had a very mild current, pushing most of the way to Karpata, just fast enough to cover the km in an hour.
I posted a link to a bunch of pictures in another thread but here are a few more.
- The water was a wonderful 82-85 degrees the whole trip. I wore only a lycra skin and my 5 mil drysuit hood and stayed warm the whole time. Our dives were mostly 50-70 minutes. According to Tom and Keith, there was a strong thermocline around 100 fws but I never made it that far. My max depth was 51 fws with an average around 30 fsw.
- Keith struggled a bit at first, trying to figure out what to do with those flipper thingies.
- Eventually he figured out though.
- The requisite, group photo. I should have asked a passing diver to take a photo of all four of us. I'd like to see how you explain that underwater.
- Not the most flattering picture of Keith.
- Tom on the other hand, knows how to pose for a picture.
- This was the luckiest fish ever. On a night dive, a huge Tarpon must have taken a dozen tries at this guy before giving up.
- It was just so cute seeing the parrotfish sleeping. I wish I looked that good when I get woken up
- Tom, looking good!
- Every time I look at this pic, I get the heebie jeebies. Pleasant dreams.
- I really love Rock Beauty Angelfish and saw dozens of them but I could never get a good picture.
- And Keith wonders why he has camera problems.
- Not unexpectedly, there were lots of parrot fish but they mostly ignore you. This guy was really friendly though. It kind of reminded me of the the black rockfish who follow you around and almost beg for a photo
- Kim is the squid charmer. On at least 3 of our dives, we spent 40 minutes diving and another 30 minutes, playing with squid.
