What a GREAT trip we had to Bonaire! Here are a few details.... GETTING THERE Uh-oh, it was the Miami-Curaco-Bonaire ALM deal. BUT...a 25 minute delay each way in Curaco was the only problem, if you want to call it that. All luggage arrived; staff was very friendly. DIVING I did my open water referral this time, with Bon Bini Divers. I couldn't have asked for a more positive experience (especially since my pool class was really negative). I received one on one instruction for all my dives. Mananita Diaz was my instructor; she is absolutely TERRIFIC. Once I got certified, my husband (who's a very advanced diver)and I took off for various sites. We dove Bari Reef several times (that's where I was tested-we did a night dive there was well, but the vis was only about 30 feet), Windsock, Andrea I (difficult entry), Nukove Beach (even MORE difficult entry), Weber's Joy, Angel City, and Invisibles-all shore dives. Boat dives were The Lake, Cap'n Don's Reef, Small Wall (hubby was caught on the camera!)-my husband also dove Oil Slick Leap (while I was being tested), and Hilma Hooker (too deep for me at this time). What a wonderful experience-highlights were 2 seahorses, a sleeping nurse shark, garden eels, a flounder that was swimming, and an 8 foot moray eel that was really fat. I worked hard on my skills, and thanks to Mananita, learned a LOT about bouyancy and relaxing underwater. Bon Bini is a class act operation, with a lot of personalized service. The setup is convenient and flexible. Thanks to Mananita, Francie, Mary (for helping arrange accomodations), and Danielo for his great sense of humor and caring about new divers. ACCOMODATIONS We had a really nice unit at the Lion's Dive. We had stayed there before, and really liked the small quiet atmosphere. Things have changed there since Lenny, but really for the better. There's a coral sand beach where the old restaurant is, and a new restaurant which is pretty darned good. The unit had a full kitchen, and overlooked the ocean-there's a small pool, and they work hard to keep it up. DINING We ate most of our breakfasts and some of our lunches in, but restaurants we visited were It Rains Fishes (great), Cappricio (great-a little pricey), Mona Lisa twice (I had barracuda both times, it was wonderful), Kon Tiki (very good), Zeezicht (ok), Buddy's and Rumrunners (pretty good). Most of our food was very good. OTHER STUFF We went to the barbecue thrown by Jake and Linda Richter. What a nice time we had there-met many people, and came in contact with many locals, including Caren, who runs the Sea & Discover program. She is a wealth of information about the sea, and fascinating to listen to. The Richters threw quite a bash; their hospitality was most appreciated by us. Met new people; made new friends. We also did the kayaking trip in the mangroves on our last, non diving day. This was arranged through Sand Dollar-I can't remember the name of the naturalist who guided us, but it was a woman. She was great, explaining a lot of stuff. We had fun trying something different, and learning more about the delicate ecosystem. In all, a wonderful trip. Feel free to e-mail me or post if you have specific questions. |