Thursday Crew Does Bonaire

[Tom Nic]

A chunk of the Thursday Crew has been in Bonaire this week. Bassman, Bucknaked, and Pogiguy05 just got back on the plane and should be in Houston in a few hours.

I decided to stay another week.

Fabulous diving - 150' viz the first day, deteriorating to 80-100 the rest of the week. Manta Ray on a night dive. The usual Bonaire critters. The manic hijinks of the Thursday crew. Staying on the water in our house with private dock. All combined to make a fabulous week.

This week is a crash course for me in photography. This is my first time shooting with a strobe (albeit a small one), and my first time shooting completely manual - adjusting aperture, shutter speed, etc as I go. I still feel like a blind squirrel, but am finding an occasional nut.

Funny - your temps this weekend will be warmer than Bonaire. Makes me smile...

More later.

These two shots were at night.

[bucknaked]

Meh

[bucknaked]

I know u have more pics than that to post. Enjoy your other week. And be carful. Had a great time its almost cheating to dive I. Warm water. Thanks for the great week and it was kick ass to see y'all again

[pogiguy05]

As I sit here waiting 3 more hours for my flight and no sign of Keith yet. Really enjoyed our week of diving and the only hing I could wish for is more time to stay and dive.There are no terrible dive sites in Bonaire and as first timer I would recommend anyone who has no been to go and enjoy some great diving. You dont have to stay in a beach front house and there is so much diving in a short drive. Unless your one of them people who really need to change your clothes alot my suggestion is not to worry about taking alot of clothes. 2 swim suits and 2 non cotton shirts to rotate and the only time I wore street clothes were the day I arrived and the day I left.

[Jeremy]

Nice!

No crime issues on your trip then?

[Tom Nic]

No crime issues on your trip then?

Not even a hint of them.

Luck of the draw, really. We went everywhere but the park without a sniff of trouble.

[Scubie Doo]

Totally jealous! Glad you guys had fun

[YellowEye]

Sounds like a fantastic trip!
That's quite the load of cylinders you had there... Can't wait to hear more about the trip!

[pogiguy05]

Nice!

No crime issues on your trip then?

No we had no issues with anything stolen and when we dived the Hilma hooker I got to the wreck and realized I forgot to bring my camera with me. It was still in the rinse tank when we got out. I even left money between the cushion and spring of the front passenger seat and nothing went missing. I think most troubles happen when they have their annual festival and there are a lot of Venezuelan's there. That is just my guess though.

You really need to be good on your feet on most entries as they can be tricky. Definitely a great pair of hard sole wet boots are recommended. They were all great dives but if I had to pick a #1 it was the night dive at Salt Pier. There was so much life on that dive you could get whip lash. ;-) Highlight of that dive for me was as I shined my light onto a small rock reef a small Octo POPPED out so fast it startled me. Then he flowed like water all over that formation which was really cool. 25 dives in 6 days the only thing left is to do a cold water dive soon. I am just afraid I will forget something hahahahaha

[Tom Nic]

I guess even Divemasters in paradise get bored. I almost thought I took a wrong turn and "met the Man" in Bonaire.

107fsw in the sand.





Although this "man" was a bit cooler, I thought, as were its companions.

[Jeremy]

What site is this????

[Tom Nic]

Sara's Smile, Belmar house reef. You have to be staying at the Belmar to dive it.

[Jeremy]

We were thinking of staying at Buddy Dive.

How has Belmar been?

[Tom Nic]

We were thinking of staying at Buddy Dive.

How has Belmar been?

Never stayed at Buddy Dive. Love the house dive there and usually do it once or twice.

Belmar has been awesome. I would stay here again in a heartbeat.

Mine the reports on TripAdvisor. I pay close attention to the negative ones, oddly enough. I learn alot about a place that way and filter the cranks.

[Jeremy]

Does Belmar have tank rentals? Or are you getting tanks from somewhere else?

[Tom Nic]

Does Belmar have tank rentals? Or are you getting tanks from somewhere else?

Yes they do. Actually, It is Buddy Dive that handles their gas and their trucks.

I was already getting my gas at WannaDive and so just extended to 2 weeks. WannaDive has been my go to place for gas on every trip.

[Jeremy]

Nice! Thanks for the hot tips!

[bucknaked]

How does the belmpre compare to the house

[BASSMAN]

http://www.nwdiveclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=21181