Hi All-

Only had five days for a trip this time, no Patty, I took dive buddy Don instead (he had been before and loved it).

Stayed at Golden Reef, very good experience as you can see under accomodations thread entitled 'Golden Reef Inn'. It was excruciatingly hot this time, the 5 previous trips were considerably cooler.

Rented from Ilka at Everts Car Rental, always excellent and friendly service, and she has new trucks so it was nice to have a new Hilux with cold air conditioning.

No evidence of crime this trip, at snorkel/dive sites left sunglasses/bags on the beach (for drift snorkels) and in the truck, no problems.

Flights on time with AJ (see thread under 'Excellent AJ Experience').

Brought Michael some Folgers, rented phone, bought a couple of cigars for friends at home, no problems there.

Had a very nice dinner with Bob from RE/Max, at Mona Lisa, first time there, had the mixed seafood grill which was excellent (barracuda, wahoo and tuna with two huge shrimp in a great sauce mmmmmmm). Also ate with friends at Casablanca (twice!) in the air conditioning and first night at Lion's Den. This was odd - First night was Rincon Day - went to Tipsy Seagull - place empty except for two tables, 8pm, 'Sorry, the rest of the tables are reserved'. Very strange, no one in sight. Then went to Chibi and the fellow said 'Wait until 8:30, then I will seat you'... again, only 2-3 tables full. Oh well, and Garden Cafe and Donna and Giorgio's were closed for the holiday, so with hunger setting in, we ended up at a crowded Lion's Den.

Snorkeled at North Belnem, Tori's Reef, Angel City and Margate Bay.

I like to start at North Belnem with a long drift at the far left and go almost to the end of the beach. It's very comfortable, very little current, and since I like to go at least 45 minutes it works well. Lots to see. Tori's is my favorite, although Angel City was fantastic as well, not much current and lots of fish life. Margate Bay was a whole other world. The current was very rough and many times I could not see Don over the choppy waves, and visibility was not very far underneath either. But the plants, coral, sea fans etc are incredible! Some of them are 7-10 feet in height under there, all types of coral, all colors, but not as many fish. Just be careful of the choppiness and the current.

Had a couple of nice lunches - Super Corner and Ribs Factory - Super Corner has a great box lunch for about $5, including goat which I tried for the first time and really liked, but they have steak etc. as well, and I love the ribs with bbq sauce at Ribs Factory.

Another great trip, all too short, hopefully I can get down again in October, the PBD hit at the airport before I left Bon. :-( I am thinking about buying Karel's, since I only have to change two letters, and it sounds the same. ;-)

Thanks for reading,

Carl

Thanks for the report, Carl. So glad to see everything went well and you had a wonderful time, too.

How's the lot?? October, eh? You lucky devil! With Patty this time?? LOL.

We'll be down in a couple of weeks, can't wait.

It's good to see you spending more time in the water and really enjoying it, too. Good job!! Carole

I loved reading your report Carl. I loved Margate too!!! Those gorgonians and fans are really incredible!! I went on a guided snorkel with Renee there. She knows I can't do strong current and she always checks the current and chop before we get in. The day we went to Margate it was pretty calm. In fact, in October I got to do a lot of different sites that I don't usually get to because there is less wind, therefore less chop.

Current? I've read in several reports where people are talking about it. I thought Bonaire was known for it's non current and great vis. What's going on? By the way GREAT REPORT.

Ida,
Our trip in Mar/Apr was the first we have experienced a lot of current.....Even out in front of Capt. Don's! No problem, though, just follow the lessons you learned....go against the current to start and relax on the way back.

Ida,

A detailed report of ability levels and current is available in the DiveGuide, free at the airport or at the Tourist information center in Kralendijk.
Here is the website under construction, so right now you can only see the cover:
http://www.bonairediveguide.com

At the bottom of each dive site's description is a summary of current, ability group, boat dive, beach, etc. While I haven't found a complete online version, you can look here for dive site descriptions:
http://www.skin-diver.com/bonaire/main.html
and click "Dive Sites" on the right column.