Bonaire June 2012
Well... I better put something down or this report isn't going to happen at all - from my end, anyway. I'm glad to have a relative Bonaire "Newb" (Yay Scubie Doo) with the youth and excitement to have gotten this thread started. If it was up to us old codgers it wouldn't be happening...
Bonaire delivered as usual, as it always has for me. I still contend that if your priority is DIVING that Bonaire is pretty difficult to beat for price and a land based warm water destination. This was trip #6 for me since 2008, and my final morning dive of the trip was dive #150 for me in Bonaire's much loved waters. I simply cannot get there often enough.
My
report from a couple of years ago has a ton of detail on the island and should be helpful for a bit of pre-trip research if you are so inclined, although the place we stayed no longer exists. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions on island specifics.
Let me take a couple of swipes at Highlights / Lowlights:
#1 - Slinging 80's. We have talked about doing this forever and this time everyone had their slings ready, had
practiced switching tanks and gasses, and were ready to go. To be very clear - we simply used a slung 80 on certain dives for additional gas,
not to go deeper than recreational depths or go into deco. Most of us who dive in the PNW are not enamored by the idea of going to 130fsw with 77 cu ft of gas, no matter how pretty and clear the water is. Being able to do the double reef systems, the deeper walls, the Hilma Hooker, and basically not have your lack of air be the main factor in your dive was a tremendous treat, and if you acquire the skills before you go I would heartily recommend doing some of your dives that way. However - make sure you bring a good set of paddle fins for your trip. Splits are fine, but when you're pushing a camera and an additional tank... well, let's just say the paddles aren't for looks, but for the thrust they provide.
#2 - The Company. How cool is it to spend a week diving with good, solid divers who are actually good peeps?!? Way cool... The milestone dives for all of us made it even more fun, but it was the quality of the persons on this trip that really made it. Thanks Keith, Bill, Zach, and Jesse!
#3 - Talk to Your Landlords! We stayed at
Tropicana Apartments. We had met Roland and Irene on our previous trip, and they had been very good to us in a very difficult time so we had decided to stay with them. The apartments were spacious, and were quite adequate even though they might have been a bit spartan to some tastes. The first couple of days we had some "nigglies" - coffee pots that didn't work, missing spatula, etc etc. Every day Roland would ask us "So, how are things?" "Fine, just fine!" we would say, then go off grumbling. Silly, silly, silly. Roland isn't a mind-reader, and the minute you told him what was missing he opened up rooms of every supply one could possibly need and was more than accommodating. Arm-chair psychologists feel free to rip us up at this point.....
Oh, by the way, there are certain "fauna" that live in the vegetation at the apartments, and they do NOT like salt water!
#4 - Picture Dissatisfaction. Yeah, one of the unfortunate side-effects of this trip is a pretty hefty dissatisfaction with my camera equipment. I am not happy about my pics this time. I could blame it on ScubieDoo and his awesome pics - and of course I partially do, but it looks like I am going to be needing to do some upgrading in the next year or so. Sigh... a never ending parade of Scuba Units flits by...
A few of my
very inadequate pics from the trip are
here .
#5 - Future Trips. I'm not sure when I will be able to get back, but I'm thinking that I will be planning for a couple of weeks, shoot for September / October, and intentionally do a TON of diving on the Eastside of the island, AKA "The Wildside". It is time. The animals are larger, more abundant, and the encounters wilder, and it is time I go there. It is NOT easy diving, but if you can time it with wind reversals it is doable, and that will be my focus next time. I also am hoping to put together enough peeps to do one of the vacation rentals that is on the water so we have our own house-reef. Planning, anyone?
Thanks again guys, for a wonderful trip - I hope to do it again some year!
And finally, here's a couple shots that I do like - even though I wish there were more!
