Day three, part two
On the way back from the south end, we stopped to inspect the red slave huts, Pink Beach and Bachelor’s Beach. The sun was high and I was already slightly scorched from the previous day’s sunbathing, so our visits were short. On the road above Bachelor’s, we saw a blue car with dark-tinted windows, its single occupant barely visible behind the wheel. I was reminded of the web posts alerting visitors to recent car burglaries taking place, with a similar vehicle being the common thread. It looked suspicious to me; one person alone, sitting on the roadside at a place frequented by divers in the middle of the day…but I admittedly have an overactive imagination.

Carol freshened up in the room while I hit the Banana Tree for a carryout lunch, a club sandwich and a Bonaire burger (fried fish sandwich), which we enjoyed in air-conditioned luxury, then followed with a nap. We were up and about again by late afternoon, and decided to have a stroll around Kralendyk. We parked the truck in the lot near the Customs House and went over to Town Pier, where the square backside of a large ship was visible, pulling slowly away to sea. A four-masted sailing ship (the Windjammer Cruise ship Polynesia) was moored at town pier, adding a nostalgic touch to the scene.

Carol and I strolled hand in hand down the waterfront, enjoying the evening breeze as sounds of laughter, clinking glasses and faint music floated by. Kralendyk in the low season is in my opinion nearly perfect; alive but not obnoxiously so, more like a gathering of friends than a wide-open party. We watched the sun set behind the Polynesia, lingering as day faded into dusk, then made our way back to the Plaza. Dinner that night was mixed grill under the stars at the Tipsy Seagull, where I was reminded by the local insects not to venture out in the evening without first applying repellent. The food was good, though, and the atmosphere serene and intimate. I later suited up, retrieved one of the tanks supplied near the beach by Toucan Divers, and waded out for a night dive.
A fair number of divers prefer not to go underwater in the dark. Granted, in unfamiliar surroundings, when the field of view is restricted by a flashlight beam, it is easy to feel the icy prickle of cold eyes on one’s back, but once the territory is known and the absence of diver-swallowing creatures understood, the experience can be extremely rewarding. It seems that I see something new on every night dive.
I finned out past the buoy, descending with the slope of the reef until I saw the white sand bottom. The assortment of damselfish and wrasse I had seen during the daylight hours had disappeared, replaced by nocturnal species. Blackbar soldierfish, squirrelfish and little cardinals hovered around the coral heads and tube sponges. More glasseye snappers hung in the gaps between the rocks, staring out at me as I passed. I switched off my light for a moment and looked up toward the surface, waving my hand and watching the trail of sparks set off by the motion. In a coral mound at around ninety feet, I found two types of cardinalfish that I had not recorded before, and made quick mental notes as to their markings. Anemonies seemed to be everywhere, along with glass-bodied cleaner shrimp, waving their neon blue-banded claws for attention. In the dark recesses of the reef, other crustacean eyes glowed like campfire coals. I love to dive at night. Adding another dimension to the undersea world makes the space to explore twice as big, with more living things, more mysteries, more surprises.
I was back in the room in time to catch “Six Feet Under,” Carol’s new favorite show, and enjoy a nightcap before turning in. Two days in Bonaire, and we were still having a very good time.

Your great trip report is reminding me it's only 4 months until I'm there. Thanks for sharing.

George..got to hand it to you to be able to "venture out" after the tipsy seagull! This is the reason we have never done a night dive...too much wogga at night! Great report....

George, did you go on the night dive by yourself? Where is the Tipsy Seagull? I can't imagine I've not at least seen it.

James,
The Tipsy Seagull is one of three restaurants on the Plaza Resort grounds. It is between the poolside beach and the mouth of the lagoon where Toucan's dive boats come and go. There are pictures at plazaresortbonaire.com.
geo.
PS. Solo diving? Never! (that's my story, and I'm sticking to it...)

George, come to think of it, I've been there. I just couldn't think of where it was. I even had free drinks there once when I pulled an older man from Venezuela out of the ocean when he was having a heart attack. The people at the Plaza treated me regally after I did this deed, and I was staying at the Divi. It's a pretty cool place as I remember.