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Trip Reports: Divin' & Ivan - Part 6
Bonaire Talk: Trip Reports: Archives: Archives 2000 to 2005: Archives - 2004-08-02 to 2005-05-08: Divin' & Ivan - Part 6
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Deborah Campbell (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #102) on Wednesday, October 6, 2004 - 12:35 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2004:

Breakfast at Caribbean Point – the full spread again, both hot and cold selections. We had planned to do a shore dive after breakfast, but that idea fizzled with the continuing uncertainty about when we’d be flying home. Mike said he didn’t expect any difficulties missing days at work, but Laura needed to change her schedule with the hospital if we weren’t going home on Sunday (she's a labor & delivery nurse.) So we called Air Jamaica’s 800-number again. It took quite a while to get through, but they moved our reservation to Sunday - or so we thought. The agent was confused about what day it was, and what days Air Jamaica flies from Bonaire to Montego Bay. She said flights were on Sundays and Wednesdays only. (They're on Saturdays, Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.) We asked whether flights were expected to be canceled on Sunday, since that’s what we were told by a different Air Jamaica agent yesterday. She said at that time, her information was that Sunday’s flights were still on - even though Ivan was at that moment still crossing Jamaica and had slowed down quite a bit.

Later, Mike and I had sodas at the Coconut Crash where other “stuck” Air Jamaica passengers had gathered. Everyone was trying not to worry -although a few had pressing work issues. The consensus was that we’d all relax if we knew at that moment whether we’d be leaving for sure on Sunday, Monday, next month or whenever. The afternoon dive was the perfect stress reliever.

PETRIE'S PILLAR - probably the best dive of the trip. This gorgeous site was recently reopened after having been closed for several years to give it a rest. It’s lush, and showed very little storm damage. We saw moray eels, two turtles, two frogfish and even more of Bonaire's typical tropicals than at other sites. The water was clear, and visually this was a colorful, stunning dive. Max depth was 53 feet, dive time was an hour and 13 minutes.

After diving, I tried several times to get through to Air Jamaica, but got a busy signal or a weird high-low tone that might have meant overloaded circuits. So, we gave up and went to happy hour. Laura and I had blue margaritas and Mike stuck with Amstel Bright. Other stranded Air Jamaica passengers seemed to be in a more festive mood than earlier in the day.

We returned to the Tipsy Seagull for dinner. This time Laura and I had the grilled tenderloin entrees and Mike had the surf and turf. A fine meal in a fine setting.

I finally got through to Air Jamaica at 8:30pm. I was told there would be no flight on Sunday from Bonaire to Montego Bay, but that could perhaps change overnight. Given that Ivan was still pounding Jamaica, I’m sure it was impossible for anyone to predict where and when Air Jamaica would resume flights.


SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2004:

Got on the phone first thing and sat on hold for almost 30 minutes, waiting for an Air Jamaica agent. This time I was told we would not be leaving until Wednesday, September 15 – and our reservations were changed and confirmed for that date. So we returned to the Plaza’s reception desk and extended our stay yet again. Not a problem, since no one was flying INTO Bonaire on Air Jamaica to take any rooms. Laura called the hospital and was able to change her work schedule, after which she felt much more relaxed.

Then we went to the dive shop to see about getting more boat dives. We were able to schedule a few. Luciano helped Mike choose a new mask; he’d been fussing with a slow leak because of a slight tear in the top of the skirt of his (very) old mask. Mike decided on a Cressi Big Eyes mask for $60, which seemed reasonably priced, especially for Bonaire.


SNORKEL 18 PALMS - I went snorkeling around 11am. The water had cleared, even in the shallows. I saw a small scorpionfish and - FINALLY!!! - a very large barracuda. Could this be the Son of Steve??? This ‘cuda was close to four feet long. It cruised by quickly out near the drop-off, so I might not have gotten a decent photograph. But this was the second-largest barracuda I've seen in Bonaire... a good sign!

For our afternoon boat dive, we asked for Petrie’s Pillar again, but another boat already occupied the mooring.

ANDREA II – A good dive with tons of fish, fearless yellowtails and even a couple of squid. I saw a Spanish hogfish eating small sea urchins, and there were huge mixed schools of blue tangs, goatfish, surgeons, parrotfish and trumpetfish moving together in what looked like a frantic feeding frenzy. Max depth was 56 feet, dive time was an hour and twelve minutes.

Happy hour with Amstel Brights and lots of semi-frantic people wondering when they’d be going home - so much for trying to relax. Word was circulating that Air Jamaica planned to send an extra flight to Bonaire to bring and pick up stranded passengers. Details were unknown, and it was unclear whether passengers would be able to get any farther than Montego Bay. We knew we were confirmed all the way to Baltimore on Wednesday, so we decided to stick with that plan and enjoy our extra time on Bonaire.

Dinner was at the Banana Tree. We’re sooooo lazy! Mike had the curry chicken pasta and said it was very spicy (which he likes) and quite good. Laura got her own plate of the tagliatelli pasta, while I had the beef tenderloin with pepper sauce (which was good, although exactly the same as the Tipsy Seagull’s grilled tenderloin entrée.)


MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2004:

Breakfast at Caribbean Point again. So much for my not eating more than two meals a day... I blew off those good intentions a week ago!

We tried to do Petrie’s Pillar again, but the site was occupied… word must be spreading that this is a great place to dive.

COUNTRY GARDEN - a site we've always enjoyed in the past. It seemed a little dark here, but that can happen in the mornings at northern sites when there are lots of clouds. Saw a small hawksbill turtle. The shallows here are dense and lush, nicer than the drop-off area. Max depth was 71 feet; dive time was an hour.

SMALL WALL - again. I saw a huge grouper, a lettuce sea slug, small moray eels, flounder, a sand diver who didn’t mind posing for the camera, and many creole wrasse. Max depth was 44 feet; dive time was an hour.

While we still expected to go home on Wednesday, we figured it wouldn’t hurt to reconfirm with Air Jamaica again. After many attempts (busy signals) we finally got through at 4:30pm. Wednesday’s reservations were confirmed. By now, Air Jamaica was probably sick of hearing from the Campbells.

At happy hour we heard that Air Jamaica was “definitely” sending an extra plane the next day (Tuesday) but that it might not actually be an Air Jamaica airplane. Several people were jumping at the opportunity to leave, even if they had to take a chance on being stuck in Montego Bay overnight. We much preferred to remain stuck in Bonaire.

We roused ourselves enough to walk across the street for dinner at the Old Inn. It was very pleasant to sit outside, although the restaurant was nearly empty. Laura and I had the beef with stroganoff sauce… which it isn’t, really - but this entrée is very good. Mike had an Indonesian soup and entrée. Several large side dishes were brought to the table - much more food than we could ever eat. But that didn't stop us from making quite a dent.

Part 7 is next.

 


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