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Trip Reports: Dixie's Trip Report - Nov. 14-28, 2010
Bonaire Talk: Trip Reports: Dixie's Trip Report - Nov. 14-28, 2010
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dixie Greenwood (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #136) on Friday, December 3, 2010 - 9:46 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Everyone!
It's hard to believe my long awaited 2 week trip to Bonaire is over! I had a group of 24 with me the first week and then 6 of us stayed for a second week.
We arrived early in the morning in the middle of a thunderstorm (not nice!!) and the weather didn't get much better. We had more rain in the 2 weeks than I've seen in all my other 12 trips put together. Oh well - we were there to dive!

The group had an absolute blast despite the weather and we had awesome dives at many sites including the Hilma Hooker, Bari Reef, Red Slave, Tolo, Invisibles, Salt Pier and the Lighthouse (calm as could be the day we went!).
Tuesday night was a group spaghetti dinner and "initiation" for the newbies (we make them drink out of a fin!) and by the end of the 1st week I certified 10 for their advanced o/w - great job everyone!
The 2nd week was supposed to be more relaxing with some diving and touring. Unfortunately it rained even more that week and we couldn't get over to Spelonk or Lac Cai as the roads were pretty washed out. Oh well - next time...

We ate out 4 different times - great pizza from Capt. Don's; the Special from Bobbejans (awesome & it lasted for 2 meals); Thanksgiving dinner at Sunset B&G - one of the best meals ever and they let us have seconds!; and finally Unbelievables which was fabulous.

Jim & I met some great people on this trip from Texas, Virginia, California and Pennsylvania -we hope to see you all again & please keep in touch! Photos: visibility wasn't the greatest this trip with the weather conditions so photography was a challenge (especially wide angle which I'm not so good at in good conditions LOL!!). I also had some issues with strobes & cables but we managed to work around them as best as possible.

Here are some pics - I'll get a few more posted over the weekend.

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Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By KOB (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #320) on Friday, December 3, 2010 - 9:52 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Dixie -- as usual, your pics are fabulous !! Can't wait to see more !!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Freddie................someoneisawizeass (BonaireTalk Deity - Post #15310) on Friday, December 3, 2010 - 9:57 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

You got that right KOB!!!! they are spectacular:) thanks for sharing Dixie :)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Beck-eeee (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #2662) on Friday, December 3, 2010 - 10:48 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Whoooo! Nice eagle ray, Dixie!!! :):):) (as if the rest of them aren't nice, ha!)

More please?!?!?!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dixie Greenwood (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #137) on Friday, December 3, 2010 - 11:35 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Here's another 3 photos - more tomorrow night!

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Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By nestor kopko (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #145) on Saturday, December 4, 2010 - 12:28 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hey Dixie, glad you had a great time. Carol and I are already looking to go back in May with Greg but won't know until her boss approves her vacation request. Have they done anything with the wall that came down at Sandollar or is it still roped off. I love the eagle ray pics. we saw a few of them while we were there but I either didn't have my camera with me or I just couldn't get close enough to them. I did however meet a couple of very friendly squid who were inquisitive enough to kiss my strobe.BTW, have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year. Almost forgot, did you hear that the CROWSNEST burned down up in Tobermory?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dixie Greenwood (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #138) on Saturday, December 4, 2010 - 12:36 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Nestor! The area around the wall was still roped off when we left - it was to rainy for anyone to work on it LOL! We saw eagle rays at Red Slave & Tolo - Jim got some great video too. We'll most likely be back next November as we're off to the Silver Banks in March to snorkel with humpback whales.

Holy cow - I didn't hear about the Crowsnest - I'll have to see what I can find out.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By nestor kopko (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #146) on Saturday, December 4, 2010 - 12:44 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

I think Mitch Wilson posted some pics of the fire on his facebook page. Have you thought of diving the West Coast of Puerto Rico. That is also a migration route for Humpbacks also. We had one swim over top of us last March when we were there. apparently last year was very busy with humpbacks also. Just a thought. We love P.R.'s west coast. That is the one island Carol really hates to leave.So much to see/do topside also.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dixie Greenwood (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #139) on Sunday, December 5, 2010 - 12:12 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Here's some of my favourite photos from the trip!

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Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jeremy Leis (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #6) on Sunday, December 5, 2010 - 6:42 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I think you posted this before, but can you post what your photo setup is? Amazing photos! Kudos!

I'm curious how you control your bouyancy at such close shots. I watched a guy at Oil Slick just kick the entire reef and bang into everything as he took his huge setup down. Made me so angry! He should take lessons from you, no doubt.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dixie Greenwood (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #140) on Sunday, December 5, 2010 - 9:07 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks Jeremy!
I have a Nikon D70s (6.3mp) in a Subal housing and Sea&Sea YS110 strobes. This trip I tried dual strobes on some dives but I ran into problems with my cables so things didn't go quite as planned. I like to experiment with lenses & the closeup eagle ray photos were actually taken with a 50mm portrait lens. The above Macro shots were taken with a 105mm lens and so was the hogfish! I use a 60mm lens about 90% of the time though.
I do have very good buoyancy control & that comes from lots of practice (26 years as a scuba instructor!). I also try & find spots of sand/rubble areas where I can stay stationary for a while to try & get photos (ie. jawfish). You also need lots of luck & a very patient buddy to wait for you....!!
Dix.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Lori Mulhisen (BonaireTalker - Post #94) on Monday, December 6, 2010 - 10:13 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

You have outdone yourself again! Thank you so much for sharing your awesome photos!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jeremy Leis (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #7) on Monday, December 6, 2010 - 11:18 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I just had a heart attack when I saw how much a Subal housing is. EEK! So jealous....I'm as green as one of those parrots with envy :) Very nice work and keep them coming. I may have to work my way up to such a nice setup.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dixie Greenwood (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #141) on Monday, December 6, 2010 - 11:46 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Oh I know - they are so expensive now! Luckily I bought mine about 5 1/2 years ago before the price was so crazy.
The downside is that my housing only fits the Nikon D70 camera so I can't fit my D300s in it to use underwater. But it works well so I won't be replacing it anytime soon!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By "Barbie"Ruth******Ken's forever love (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5265) on Tuesday, December 7, 2010 - 3:26 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Dixie, these are just breathtaking! Thank you so much for sharing! I absolutely love the picture you posted of the salt "mountains"! Keep them coming!!!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dixie Greenwood (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #142) on Tuesday, December 7, 2010 - 9:48 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

I love the "Salt mountains" too! That was the first time I'd ever seen their reflections in the water. We were just heading back from a dive so it was "stop the truck Jim!!", get the camera out of the u/w housing and take some pictures fast!

I'm also surprised at how many Parakeets we saw. Every morning (6-7am) at the resort there were 20-30 in the trees between Sanddollar and Buddy. I had never seen more than 2 at a time and usually no more than 6-8 per trip!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By robint (BonaireTalker - Post #23) on Friday, December 31, 2010 - 12:25 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Very nice photos! We are thinking about going back to Bonaire in 2011. Our last trip there was in 2006 and we wanted to see some photos, see how things are underwater and topside, etc. So thanks for the post!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By elaine sculley (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1855) on Monday, January 3, 2011 - 1:43 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

dixie
if these were not ur best u should see some of ours. not bad but lots to through out. my husband is the camera man

thanks for wow pics
elaine

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dixie Greenwood (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #149) on Tuesday, January 4, 2011 - 9:42 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks Elaine - I did have great photo opportunities on this trip!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Eric M. "CamMan" (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1492) on Tuesday, January 4, 2011 - 12:52 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Got my Padi card with Dixie's pic of the ray on it the other day in the mail. They even credited her on the back. Very cool!

e.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dixie Greenwood (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #150) on Tuesday, January 4, 2011 - 8:08 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

That's Awesome - I didn't know they put a photo credit on it too! I'm still waiting for mine....

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Carl (*) (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #2031) on Tuesday, January 4, 2011 - 8:10 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Dixie -
as always - I am in awe.....

Fabulous.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Eric M. "CamMan" (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1503) on Wednesday, January 5, 2011 - 9:17 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Yep, in very small lettering on the back it says, Photo by Dixie Greenwood.

e.

 


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