OK, here is a start...(not responsible for spelling errors, it is late and I am ready for bed:-))

Getting there: Air Jamiaca, no problems at all. Their service was better than a lot of American carriers. Coming back we ran into a storm in Montego Bay and had to abort the first landing and go around the other way, but made it.

Accomodations: Sand Dollar. Alan and Joan Zale's condo. Wonderful place and service. We had a view from the living room and master bedroom, nice to wake up in the morning and look out at the ocean! Had wine on the beach after our night dive and twilight dive there at Bari. Had a couple of donkeys come up to us and stole our apples (he..he..) Thanks Alan and Joan!

Dining: Capriccio's, City Cafe, Chibi Chibi, Dock of the Bay were all EXCELLENT, (tried Lion's but they were closed for Sept). Sand Dollar Terrace was not good, they have a great atmosphere with the pool there but they need to work on their food quality and service.

The good part...DIVING...Sand Dollar Dive and Photo were wonderful. A great group of folks that make you feel so comfortable and welcome!

Fish we saw, take out your Humaan fish id book and mark off about 70% of what is in there and that is what we saw!

Bari the first day, dropped over the reef and Michael and I just looked at each other and were in awe! I don't know what Bonaire was before Lenny, but it still has big coral, sponges, fish...again, refer to your Humaan book! We ended up diving Bari several times as it was convenient, and had the most abundant and big fish (other than Small Wall).

We were getting ready to make another dive in the afternoon, and as I trucked to the dark bathroom, grabbed the small plastic bottle on the counter, squirted what I THOUGHT was eye drops in my eye to water my contacts...NOT...it was the SWIMMER'S EAR DROPS!!! 98% isopropol alcohol right in my eye! Needless to say I spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch moaning and groaning. Made a late night snorkel without the contacts and it was actually pretty good!

Mi Dushi Klein Boniare...said, we want to see sea horses or turtles. Little Devil our DM came through and found a sea horse for us. Swam against the current and drifted back to the boat. Other fish - refer to the Humaan book!

Oil Slick Leap- heard there were sea horses so got there, decided on an entry point (giant stride and you DON'T know how shallow it is). The ladder is pretty rusty and broken, just hoped it would hold getting us out! Vis was only about 50-60 feet or so, we searched for about 20 minutes for the horses and Michael found them. Drop down to the mooring block and turn left, go about 20 yards or so and they are on some finger coral. 4 inches long or so.

Hilma Hooker- my b-day, got there, took hold of the mooring line and laughed! We could see the boat from the surface (somethin' you don't see in So Ca doing rec dives, 15 feet vis usually). Very cool wreck. Found a green mooray on the deck under the floor with about a nine inch head (9 inches wide). Fund dive, lots of fish and the reef next to the bottom is cool. Was nice doing a safety stop and actually having stuff to look at to pass the time!

Small Wall - Said hi to Goldie and got in. Charlotte was there and so was Tweety. Got some good pics. There is a juve coney hanging out right below the camera. He was there both times we visited the cam. Second time without the monkey and shark visors! Lots of good coral, sponges and big fish here. Definetly worth the trip! Did small wall again on Thursday, and of course was phenominal.

Bari night dive - lobsters, soap fish, spotted eels, on and on..oh and Charlie made his presence:-)

Little Blemen- Vis was again 50-60 feet, lot of spawning stuff in the water, but some nice corals here.

Angel City - Same vis as Little Blemen, strong currents at this point. Took us 25 minutes to go up, and 5 to get back down so we went back up for a few.

Bari Twi-light - best dive of the week. We dropped over the reef and it was truly a plethera of activity. Too much to even take in. Wish we would have done more of these...next time! OH, Bari on a day earlier came across a 5 foot baracuda, and I mistook it for a Tarpon and decided to chase it to get a good pic, got the pic and came out alive to put it midly! oops! those big silver fish look all the same to me:-)

Last day, did two at Bari cause it was good and again, convenient! For our deco waiting for our flight gig, we took a fish behaviour course at the Sand$ Dive from Ann to pass the time. Well worth it as I was able to figure out what some fishies were acutally up to, and was able to ID about 8 more species, to include a big midnight parrot!

Took a long snorkel the morning we left to say goodbye to all my sea friends...

birthday - For my birthday I have to thank my guests, Linda, Jake, Yana, Bas, Gerrit, Sandra, (Gerrit's nephew), Sue and Dan Williams. We had dinner at the Sand Dollar Terrace and had a very nice evening (despite all of Jake's butter that he got was opened and used!!) Went to Buddy's for after dinner drinks and sat by the water and chatted. Thank you all for a wonderful birthday!

I may post more later after I come down from my Bonaire high!!!

Cynde,

It's us who owe you a big Thank You for treating us to a very nice B-Day dinner - we enjoyed ourselves greatly (open & used butter packets not withstanding :-) ).

Jake

Masha Danki, for the report, Cynde Lee.....sounds like you had a fabulous time on Bonaire. Was this your first trip?? Thanks for the entertainment at the cams, too. You guys really looked impressive as you approached the reefcam...no joking! Quite an impressive shot! I hope you can blow that one up and save it. Carole

Cynde,

Glad to have another Bari addict, and another dusk diver. Change of light is the time of most activity: next trip also try La Machaca, the reef in front of Habitat and north to and beyond Cliff. Even more activity than Bari, and different.

For fish behavior my favorite book is 'Watching Fishes'. Ned DeLoach's book is good also. And Dee Scarr's series in 'Dive Training'. They are complementary.

Glad you had a good trip!!!

Jake

No, thank you and Linda for sharing your evening, conversation, and Yana and Bas (I absolutely adore them!) I would adopt them as pseudo grandkids! Can I send them presents and spoil them??? He...He...I know some Power Puff Girl things I could share with Yana!

Carole -- This was our first trip, but not our last by any means! I am already planning our next one:-)

Glen - thanks for the tip. I have already looked at the DeLoach book and it is on my list of next purchases. I will check out La Machaca next time. I wasn't sure if we could dive there as it was in front of Habitat. And yes, I am a Bari addict and dusk diver! I wish we would have discovered the dusk diving prior to our last night we could do it! Next time, we will do more!

Cynde,

I think that you will find that almost all the dive ops give the courtesy of diving from their docks to visiting divers who bring their own gear and tanks. One of CURO's reciprocity things, I believe. They only ask that you have the courtesy to check in with their office. (The one I know of that does not is Black Durgeon for the very reasonable reason that you have to go through their 'living room' to get to and from the water. Even careful divers can leave a trail of water and sand, etc. Easier to prohibit all. Thus the 'public way' entry to Small Wall just below Jake's house.)

Cynde,

Adopt and spoil away - the kids would love it, and you and Michael would make fantastic psuedo-grandparents

Jake

Ok Jake, let them be prepared for the birage of goodies:-) I think I will need to go Power Puff shopping this weekend:-)

Cynde, great trip report! Glad you had such a wonderful time. We all enjoyed Monkey Boy and Candygram's antics in front of the cameras. And now you know how both this board and the island are so addictive to all of us!