A bit late; took the laptop to Bonaire with the intention of uploading pics from Chat& browse during the week; the reality is there are better things to do on Bonaire than play with a computer. Janet, Sarah, Lilly (see her trip report) and I had a wonderful week, after a touchy start. Reserved a truck through Belmar with AB, and on arrival they had no record of it. Turns out Belmar never made the res. The manager at AB gave us his company vehicle for the week and we were on our way.

The winds during most of the week were exceptionally calm. Had the opportunity to dive the far south e.g. Red Slave in dead calm conditions. Saddened to see the sea fan gardens that were there last year flattened by the hurricane, but below the dropoff this part of the island is the healthiest and lushest in our opinion. Enjoyed watching the kiteboarders.

We dove the east side with Larry. DEAD calm, got up to Spelonk then White Hole. Arriving at the boat in the AM with no wind we were nearly carried off by mosquitoes. I have hiked in the woods in Vermont in Spring, spent many a night on Barnegat Bay in NJ, and NEVER seen skeeters like this. In Bonaire on dry land we were in full suits with hoods to keep the buggers off while we set up our gear, then jumped in the water for relief until Larry was ready to go.

The dives were cool but no mantas, sharks, tarpon. Enough has been said on this site about Larry's operation. I would definitely go again.

Saw turtles on most dives off the Belmar house reef, but could guarantee this only by leaving camera behind. We saw schools of Southern Sennet on multiple dives, have never seen this species before.

Best restaurant meals were (no surprise) Capriccio and Mona Lisa. The changes at Rumrunners were very impressive. We enjoyed Pasabon Pizza, Garden Cafe, Lion's Den (Old Speckled Hen on tap) still haven't made it to Casa Blanca, Bistro de Paris - next time. Best meals were thise we cooked at the condo and ate on our patio, though.

We had a great New Years Eve watching the fireworks with Jim, Cathy, Martin and Jim and Cathy's friends from Norway whose names are lost to too much beer and Champagne. Truly magical, and we hope to repeat it next year.

Our return trip was a bit rocky with a long delay in MoBay, made more tolerable by hanging with Jack, Barb, Eric and Dylan. Lilly had a bit too much at the bar though. Apparently there's no drinking age for bears.

Deep in PBD, with little hope of relief until next December...

more pics

Thank-you for your report. Your pics are amazing!!! Wow!!!

Wow, Great pics! Re: skeeters and Barnegat Bay.. 2004 was the last year I'll have to deal with "greenheads" on the Great Bay (just south of Barnegat Bay). Now we will have to endure Bonaire skeeters! LOL

Anyway great pics and glad you had a wonderful time. Happy belated New Year!

Liz

David,
Great report and photos, but I have to ask: what is that in the 1:19AM post? I looked and looked, but can't see anything distinctive.

Susan,

Hold your mouse over the picture and it will give a description - in this case a fossil conch.

David,

AWESOME pictures and report - thanks for sharing!

Belinda
16 days!!!!!

Wowwww David, great report and fabulous pictures ! Glad you enjoyed the Belmar.

Great composition! Interesting shots. Thanks!

Belinda,
Duh! Thanks!

STUNNING PHOTOS..bravo

I really hope my pictures come out even HALF as nice as yours did. Beautiful job.

Thanks to everyone for the compliments on the pictures. Full disclosure: all were taken with an Olympus c5050z/pt015 in full auto (idiot) mode and internal strobe only. Almost all were post processed with photoshop album's "autofix" function (idiot mode again). Some are heavily cropped. The post processing is the reason for some of the strange colors like the neon green in the star coral with the goby. This may not be the right way to shoot pictures but I can relax, enjoy the dive, keep half an eye on my buddies, and sort it out later.


Liz,
We have been driven from many an anchorage on Barnegat bay, Little Egg, Great Bay, the Mullica by voracious Greenies. They actually are worse than mosquitos, Bonairean or otherwise, because a) they HURT 2)they consider DEET a condiment, and c) they can stay with a boat moving at 20 kt. I'll trade them for Bonaire mosquitos (and trade Bonaire for Jersey) anytime.
You must be thrilled to be moving to or ?have moved to Bonaire...so far only a fantasy for us.

Susan, I first noticed these embedded conch shells at Boca Kokolishi in the park, since have seen them all over the place. Presumably they are fossilized in what was seabed or reef.

***
Does anyone have any idea why some appropriately sized 30-40 kb jpegs just refuse to upload to the site? I have some pictures I'd like to add that just won't go. Any advice would be appreciated.

-David

Great report David

More pictures if they will upload

Wow great pics! I'll tell you we first loved the OLY 5050, then the 5060, now they have come out with a 7070 what's next? Which one is the best deal for the money?

David, I love your pics, many familiar sites/subjects with a different point of view! Lovely! Nice to see you and your family too!

OK, not taken on Bonaire, but my favorite picture - found this Goldcrowned Seagoddess on the Benwood off Key Largo this summer.

In the mangroves. No scolding - Sarah has spent countless hours in Marine Bio programs on Bonaire & in Fla and knows what can safely be handled and how to replace it unharmed.

After the 7070 they came out with the 8080, at the following link.

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_product_lobbypage.asp?l=1&p=16&bc=2&product=961

It has mixed reviews as an underwater camera though. Long shutter lag and makes a bit of noise. It does have a plethora of options, but after seeing these pictures I'm thinking anything higher then the 5050 might be overkill!!

At the risk of the moderators moving this thread to photography/videography, shutterlag on the 5050 is a pain. I won't replace it until there is something reasonably priced with no appreciable lag. As I've said, these are basically snapshots done by someone with no technical skill on full auto mode. If you like them I can take credit for the composition, but the camera and software did the rest.

here is David's QM2 and Morning glory photo wonderful!!!

David, nice report and those pictures are just amazing. Thanks for sharing with us.

Thanks for the assist, Freddie! I don't know what the glitch was.

-David

David, Very nice report. Thanks for all of the photos.

David,
Great pics - loved the fossil conch - will have to look for them! These pics have added to the rising excitement in my house for our trip next week. Thanks. And your comment re: computer - I was thinking that we would use it often, but my priorities have changed - we will deal with it LATER! (while suffering full-blown PDB).