This was our first trip to Bonaire. We booked our trip through Bay Adventures, stayed at the Plaza Resort and dove with Toucan Diving. I also took the "Touch the Sea" PADI course with Dee Scarr. We referred to this site for trip advice, so I'll try to reciprocate with information on the above as well as mentioning the restaurants we enjoyed and comment on the diving experience. This is my first trip report, so please be patient with this rookie.
After spending twelve wonderful days on the island, I am sure this will be a repeat destination for all of us. Everyone we met while we were there had been there several times before; we were the only newbie’s to the island on our dive boats.
Prior to Bonaire, my diving experience has been three trips to Cozumel and one each to Belize (Turneffe Island) and Curacao. Of these, it is my impression that Bonaire has by far the widest variety of fish, creatures, sea fans and sponges. With 72 dive sites to choose from, repetition is never an issue. Travel time by boat to the dive sites ran only 15-30 minutes max. For shore dives the reef was typically just a short 30-50 foot swim from shore.
DIVING CONDITIONS:
We were told by the locals that Bonaire has been experiencing an unusual weather pattern since November. They have had above average rainfall, which has contributed to reduced visibility. However, no one was complaining about 50-75 feet. We had several overcast days, which contributed to the reduced visibility, only one day with a little rain and a couple of evenings. The water temperature was 77-80 degrees. With the repetitive dives, my 3/2 full wet suit was quickly layered with my hood, 3mm vest and eventually my 3mm shorty core warmer. (Note, I’m always colder then average.) Most of the women were using hooded vests and/or 5mm full suits.
Choppy water was only a factor for the entry and exit on the shore dives, which were rough at times.
TOUCAN DIVING:
Though Bonaire is marketed as the best “shore diving” destination, I would strongly recommend booking 1 or 2 boat dives a day to experience the diving around Klein Bonaire and to dive the more difficult shore access sites. We booked the two tank morning boat and did a shore dive in the afternoon and/or a night dive. Over the ten days of diving, I did 30 dives, 2-4 per day, without feeling fatigued.
Toucan diving has three “Island Hopper” boats that hold a maximum of 12 divers per boat. Two dive masters per boat take turns leading the group or steering the boat. The park only allows one dive boat per mooring, so we rarely saw other divers, unlike the crowds in Cozumel. Each dive was approximately 20-30 minutes into the (little if any) current and back. Consistently each dive was at least an hour, with additional time to check out the reef around the area of the mooring.
There are gear lockers at the shop and rinse tanks. You carry your gear to the boat each morning, set up your own rig and rinse and re-store your gear at the end of the day. We prefer handling our own gear, so this was perfect for us. There’s 24 hour access to full tanks (unless you’re diving Nitrox).
We had two of the best dive masters that I have ever had the pleasure of diving with; I would highly recommend requesting Ebby or Pieter when you book your dive package. Both of these gentlemen take great pleasure in finding the special creatures on the reef to show their guests. From the tiniest little nudibranch, frog fish and sea horses, to the biggest Goliath Grouper I’ve ever seen. Ebby carries a slate to enable communication, which was wonderful since he was showing us things we had no idea what they were!
SHORE DIVING:
We discovered late into our trip, an excellent book that anyone planning on doing shore dives should invest in, available at the dive shop or I was told you can find it on line. “Bonaire Diving Made Easy” By Jessie Armacost. The Third Edition is 2003-2004. All of our other books were extremely out dated. This book describes the entrance, exit and the topography of each of the dive sites. Without this book, we made a point of asking the dive masters and other divers which of the sites had easy access points.
Dive sights are extremely well marked by yellow stones along the roadway. The shop allows you to take as many tanks at one time as you need. You pull your truck right up to the shop, load up your gear and tanks and go…any time you like. Having read all of the warnings about theft from vehicles left unattended at dive sites, we invested in $4.00 mesh laundry bags to carry our gear for the shore dives. We left anything unnecessary in our lockers. We used a small plastic case to carry the keys for the car, lockers and room and a small amount of cash with us on our dives. We may have been overly cautious, but we certainly didn’t have any problems.
Though we enjoyed shore diving, I would have been just as content doing my usual three boat dives a day. You wouldn’t miss a thing…other then the experience of hauling your gear and acting as your own dive master.
Shore dives we did: Oil Slick (Leap), Alice in Wonderland, Ole Blue, Witch’s Hut, Town Pier (Night Dive) and Invisibles. And a couple dives on the reef in front of the Plaza.
TOUCH THE SEA WITH DEE SCARR
This experience will give you a deeper appreciation for the wonderful under water world we all obviously enjoy being a part of. It’s an opportunity of a life time, so don’t miss out! Check out Dee’s website at www.touchthesea.com. You can either do a single dive with Dee to get an introduction to her vast knowledge of under water creatures, or take one of her PADI Specialty Courses. Dee is a world renowned conservationist, sharing her knowledge of how to preserve the beautiful reef systems that we all enjoy, while at the same time interacting with the creatures we come in contact with, in a noninvasive manner. You can meet Dee every Monday night at Capt. Don’s Habitat where she does a slide show and presentation on her program.
I was fortunate enough to arrange to take the 3 dive Specialty Course with Dee. I was amazed at how it changed what I observed and understood about the reefs on my subsequent dives, it was one of those “price less” experiences.
PICTURES:
This was my first experience with an underwater camera. I will attempt to upload a few of the best shots. Anyone interested in looking at the entire collection is welcome to view them at http://www.pbase.com/gonediving_again/bonaire.
PLAZA RESORT:
First let me preface with, when I’m on a dive vacation, my accommodation needs are simple. I’m interested in a hot shower, clean sheets, room to spread out my gear, camera, etc., easy proximity to the dive shop and breakfast. The Plaza was definitely several notches up from what I consider necessary to be comfortable. On a scale of 1-10, I would probably give this resort an 8 and would stay there again. However, I would only recommend it to others with a couple of qualifiers. Be aware that it is next to the airport (noise) and is on the opposite end of town from the other resorts, which doesn’t really matter if you have a vehicle, or if you’re not interested in trying the restaurants located at the other resorts. The rooms were clean and comfortable, just showing a little wear and tear.
You would really have to focus on the “little” things to find anything to complain about. We had a two bedroom, two bath suite with a full kitchen, dining area and living room. The bedrooms were VERY good sized, tiled floors, good sized closet space and the two baths were also quite large. There were dual air conditioners in each room, which was WAY too chilly for me (I turned them off in my room.) and just right for my travel companions (a couple of Polar Bears). The first couple of days we were frustrated by the mosquitoes that invaded our rooms, we figured out VERY quickly to limit the time the door was open as we were coming and going. Unfortunately, the maid was leaving it open when she was in. There weren’t any screens on the doors and windows, so they remained closed at all times.
I found the staff at the resort to be friendly, responsive and professional. The grounds were tropical and well manicured.
We booked the breakfast buffet as a part of our package, to insure a good meal before a long day of diving. The buffet featured pastries, fruit, made-to-order omelets and the full variety of other breakfast items, including pancakes, sausage and bacon. Highly recommend it. We stocked up on sandwich fixings at the local grocery store for lunch in our room in between our morning and afternoon dives. Then we sampled the local restaurants for dinner. (See Restaurants.)
The biggest draw back is the air traffic noise. There was one flight that departed at about 3:00 in the morning! I’m a VERY light sleeper, so it woke me up the first couple of nights, but it would have had to have landed on our building to wake me up the majority of the week due to exhaustion knocking me out cold.
RESTAURANTS:
Bonaire has a wide variety of dining establishments to choose from, either independent restaurants in town or restaurants located at the different resorts. We didn’t have a bad meal all week. Our only real complaint was the unbelievably slow service at the Banana Tree, located at the Plaza. We had one dinner there where we did everything for ourselves except cook the meal! (Okay, we didn’t go in the kitchen or behind the bar, but it nearly came to that!)
The “A” restaurants were Richard’s Waterfront Dining (Steak and Seafood) say HI to Richard, he’s a great host and Casablanca (International). “B+“ City Café (International), Tipsy Seagull (Steak and Seafood), Croccantino (Italian) and Lion’s Den (International). For convenience to the Plaza and good food, Old Inn right across the street had good seafood and variety.
Word of advice, pay attention to the bill when it comes, check to see if they have already added the service charge, several establishments put it right on the bill. It’s also not a bad idea to make reservations at the more popular dining establishments, seating is limited and waits can be fairly long.
TRAVEL PLANS:
We booked our plane, hotel and diving package through Bay Adventures. This was the second successful vacation that Felix has arranged for me, I would highly recommend checking out their website and contacting Felix directly. (www.bayadventures.com, felix@bayadventures.com) We had read several reports on the web about problems with connections through Aruba to Bonaire. Traveling from Minneapolis, looking for the best fare, we had no real choice but to fly Delta to Aruba, with one stop in Atlanta. We then connected to Bonaire Excel…that’s when things got interesting, both on our arrival and departure days. Our connection was delayed by two hours, so we relaxed outside for a bit while waiting for our plane. Seeing an increase in activity, I rechecked with the desk and found that our flight had been canceled and they were switching us to a different flight. When I inquired about our destination now showing Curacao, we received no explanation, just an assurance that we were still going to Bonaire. At the gate we found dozens of other confused passengers, the majority of whom did not speak English. There was one couple that had been waiting for eight hours to get to Curacao. So though we were delayed by a couple of hours, we were relieved when our plane continued on to Bonaire, after only a brief stop in Curacao.
Felix had anticipated problems with Bonaire Excel and provided enough time between flights on our return to avoid major problems that could have resulted from the two hour delay departing from Bonaire and another two hour delay in Aruba getting checked in due to the computers going down! Multiple customs checks leaving Aruba could also complicate making a connection.
So, if you can avoid using Bonaire Excel, do. If you can’t, give yourself several hours to anticipate the confusion and disarray this airline seems to operate under on a daily basis.
WASHINGTON NATIONAL PARK:
This is a beautiful area of the island…but tourists beware. I wish we had been better warned prior to getting to the park that it is a one-way road around the park. If you want to see the coast line, your only option is to take the long route, 2 ˝ hours of driving. The short route (1 ˝ hours) cuts through the center of the park and brings you back on the interior loop, so you don’t see the coast line. We took the long route, which took more then 3 ˝ hours because of the deep wash outs caused by the unusual rains…it was a brutal drive. We could have used twice the water then we had taken with us.
This area of the island is unusual compared to the rest of the island, so it was worth seeing, at least once. The waves are impressive compared to the calm of the southwest coastline. However, allow enough time to relax and enjoy it and take a cooler with lots of water and maybe even a light snack! If you want to see birds, keep in mind they are most active in the morning and at dusk. It’s too hot during the day to think that you’re going to see a lot of activity. There’s a small admission fee, I think it was $10 per person and the latest you can enter the park is 3:30.
POWER OUTAGE:
One of the more unusual events during our stay was the island wide power outage caused by a fire at the power plant. For the better part of our visit, generators were used to provide power to alternating areas of the island through out the day. However, we were unaware of the problem until the dive shop staff started talking about it and how it was affecting their homes and their ability to fill the tanks. We only experienced the power going out once when we were back at our room for lunch one afternoon. The restaurants had to close when the power was scheduled to be off in town, making finding a place to eat interesting, it took a little planning. But considering the magnitude of the problem, we were amazed at how little we were impacted by it, a tribute to the people in Bonaire.
SUMMARY:
Bonaire is a wonderful place to visit. The diving is ideal, the people are warm and friendly and the island attitude is laid back and relaxed. We will definitely be going back!
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By Linda Cazier (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #1) on Sunday, March 27, 2005 - 12:50 pm: 
