Just a short post to drop a couple of notes to the board - been reading for years and picked up a lot of great info here.

Just got back last night from Bonaire. Great trip - couple of thoughts until I have time to type up something more detailed.

1. I got eaten ALIVE by the bugs. Many places had insect repellant available in plain view - I brought some of the 10 to 15% Deet products - I would recommend taking the 100% Deet and some insect bite pain remover product when you go if in the next few weeks to a month. I used plenty of Insect repellent but my legs look like they have Chicken Pox - I am on Benedryl now but will be a good week or more until I am feeling better - made the flying fun with all the itching. Out of our group of 11 - I got bit the most but many others commented on it and we were always slathering on the bug spray before going out to eat or to sit outside. While we were down there had two days with LOTS of rain - main road into town actually flooded and everyone was downshifting to go through the water slowly - only about 6 inches of water in a couple of places but more water than I remember hearing from the board.

2. Stayed at Harbour Village four years ago and did this trip also. MAJOR difference in the feel of the place - good place to stay but staff was less "English Speaking" than we rememeber. Had to actually write out our breakfast order one day because the waitress couldn't understand what we were saying. Don't get me wrong - I know english is not the main language - but I don't remember any problems with being understood the last time I went four years ago. Spa is shut and massages and such are appointment only - resort seemed less busy compared to others and the general feel was just not what we remembered. Also got the feel around Bonaire a bit that 9/11 affected them a bit more than I had heard and the English issue might be more of that then I expected before going.

3. Fish life seemed less than what we all remembered 4 years ago. Our group is two families (11 people) with 7 divers. We all commented we remembered more fish, bigger fish, etc.

4. Had good meals at a number of places - Lions Den, Richards, Donna & Georgios, Chez Lucille - but had some bad meals at a few places. Most noticably was the meal at Consentinos. Had a FABULOUS meal four years ago - this time one of our party got a piece of fish that was basically over cooked so bad that it was inedible - and the service was poor. Had to ask for water twice. Now before everyone starts posting that it was Islandtime - we have traveled in the islands extensively and actually are very forgiving if we see some service and friendliness - spent more time waiting at Lions Den and Richards but the staff was friendly, we sat at the bar and drank, etc. We do not complain loudly on many issues because we are there to relax and enjoy ourselves - so our bad experience was not just island time or similar - something more than that.

5. Overall - good diving, great fun with family and friends and had some great experiences with many Bonairians but a few issues that readers might want to keep in mind before there own visits - Oh and I would recommend going to Bonaire to anyone - it is really a great place - just a few things people should plan on before landing on the island.

More when I have time and my sister has got some of her pictures posted.

ajcampbell

P.S. We dove with Great Adventures at Harbour Village and had a great time with the crew there - if you end up staying at Harbour Village - don't worry about the Dive Shop - They were wonderful.

hmmm... sounds odd about the fish size and count. We were there at the same time, and some of our group was commenting about how there were more fish than we'd remembered from other trips, espcially more of the large groupers. Our last trip was 2 1/2 years ago and this was our 4th trip. The use of bug repellent is a given, we always coat ourselves well and don't usually have much of a problem.

Andrew

We got back on the 2nd Jan and the bugs were more of a problem than ever before - but Bonaire has had a lot of unusual rain for several months. Fishlife has been as good or better than the last few years. Unusual and brief sightings for us were a Manta and a large shark both 70 feet deeper and moving along the bottom fast in not good viz. Turtles were an everyday event and we had several long encounters, the longest for 30 minutes at three feet away - thats a lot of pictures!!!

Sounds strange about the fish also - either we had an amazing trip 4 years ago and saw amazing fish - or we were on the wrong dive sites. Didn't see any groupers - but did see a couple of turtles and I saw a shark deep on one of the dives. Saw plenty of smaller fish but not many big ones. Four years ago I saw a school of about 6 big barracuda but only saw two or three the entire week we were diving this time. Guess you will have those kinds of dive trips. Plenty of small to med (4 inches to 12 inches) but few larger specimens - except for the trumpet fish - plenty of Trumpetfish.

On the unusually high rainfall - I agree totally - four years ago no rain at all - this trip at least a couple of days with rain - three days with plenty - morning after we got in the night before, late in the week (Seemed like at least an inch or more) and then a pretty heavy rainfall this last Sunday as we were at the airport getting ready to leave. I saw so many areas where there was standing water - and I am sure that the mosquitoes and no see ums are loving the breeding grounds.

I was bored earlier as I sit here relaxing and counted my bites - over 200 I can see. Average of at least 25 a day. I never have problems in Minnesota and most areas of the states - for some reason I was the tasty morsel to the Bonairian insects. And as I mentioned I had been using bug spray just about every time I went out. Ugh.

Can't wait for a couple of days to go by so my body can recover from some of these bites and let me get back to normal.

I will try and find time later this week for a more detailed report. For now 24 is coming on - love that show.

Andrew...we were on the island the same week as you...have to agree that the bugs were persistant...deep woods off BEFORE sunset helped us out.. We saw ALOT of people who looked like they had the chicken pox! Not sure if this was bug related...or sun related...
Fish life looked pretty damn good where we dove...I thought there were alot more fish than usual..especially juvenile's.
The abundence of rain must have had an impact on the insects...but the donkeys (what we saw) looked happy...and I have never seen so many flamingos so close to town....
So...I guess it is all in whatcha like.....
Hope you had a good time..all in all