PBD...bad

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Cynde: Nothing like a glass of wine (or a fine scotch on the rocks) watching the sun majestically sink below the horizon & waiting for the green flash. My idea of relaxation after a hard day of diving. Tough job, but I can see you were up for it..
And on top of it, at that stage of the evening now you have to decide where to go for dinner!

Vince, you got that right! BTW, your building is looking good!

Awesome pictures.....Waaaaaaaaaaa I wanna be there RIGHT NOW. I'm gonna need cheese to go with my whine

Ayorkiemom, can I join you in the cheese and whine?

Thanks Cynde! Having a couple of bad PBD days here. Do I recognize the ring on your dive buddy? I think I know her. Glad you had a picture perfect trip.

under the radar...that's pretty good

and i guess i "blew" my chance to get a dive on small wall... i won't let it happen again

see ya 'round...

Sponge...yep...you blew it ;-) Next time heh heh

I'll have to get my NEW copy of BSDME out tonight as I marked all the sites I went to in the book. I visited a few new sites this time and fell in love, and have new favorites on my list. Hopefully I can get the report together tomorrow with more pics

Great pics Cynde! I think I know your dive buddy too! And I totally recognize those tarpon from Salt Pier!

ok - getting there, AA redeye, AE to Bon. Had a Hampton Inn burger in Isla Verde, then went over to the Inter Continental for a massage and hot tub, then back to the airport. I guess it pays to travel off season. I've never seen the AE terminal so empty. Flight left on time and I arrived on island 15 minutes early! Go figure!

I stayed at the Black Durgon for 3 nights at the beginning of my trip, and 2 nights at the end. Rona and Rick are awesome and really make you feel at home. My BC blew a hole on my check out dive, but we got it fixed and had no other problems Michael joined me for the last 4 days.

Black Durgon, the atmosphere is what makes this place. Relaxing, comfortable, and the pier and house reef can't be beat. I had some great snorkels in the mornings and the life on the reef close to shore is incredible. Spent a couple of evenings on the pier drinking wine, eating pizza, and chatting with friends. Our last night we took a table and chairs out and had pizza and wine and chatted...best view on island The rooms are clean and stocked with the "necesities" [sic]. They have AC and cable TV...can't ask for more. I had a table and chairs outside my door with the awesome view I'd certainly stay there again

Diving...I only told a couple of people I was coming, and I really needed to relax and hang low and DESTRESS...it was nice. I had some absolutely incredible dives and saw some incredible stuff. The winds were blowing, and the swells were up from the South.

Don't have the book in front of me, but from memory, here goes.

Salt Pier (twice)
Oil Slick (twice)
Black Durgon (a few times)
Bari (Susan and I played with a school of tarpon for a while, it was fun)
Front Porch - The New Yorker wreck - WICKED current, more on that later
Esmerelda
The Lake (strong current and we saw people exiting with SKI POLES - more on that later)
My Place
Angel City
Red Beryl North
Calabasas (disapointing)

BT'ers I met or met again

Tish (met finally)
Josie
Jerry and Louise
Brian
Spongebob
Anonymous and his wife Danielle

Dove Salt Pier twice with Roger Burnham (www.blennylips.com), and Marcia. Haven't yet viewed the DVD that Roger made for me (my laptop is "acting up" again,) but the first time we dove the pier we saw squid, a turtle, a ray, the usual tarpon school, baraccuda, and of course, other cool fish. The second time was when the whales were moving up the coast. See this thread. Roger and Marcia are always a pleasure to dive with, and Marcia always finds very cool stuff

Dining

Pasa Bon Pizza (3 times, I had the blue cheese pizza once, and it was really good)
Wil's Tropical Grill - yummy mahi mahi
Garden Cafe with Michael Gaynor - great chicken wrap

Pagagonia - filet with mushroom sauce, what else? Call ahead and get reservations for a seaside table

La Flambouyant - great french onion soup and quiche

Bistro de Paris - great french onion soup and I had the tenderloin with garlic mashed potatoes for dinner, and it was YUMMY

Capriccio's twice. I went the first time with Lisa and Susan and we had the garlic shrimp and this meat appetizer (can't remember the Italian name), and the nioki (sic), lobster pasta (unbelievable big chunks of lobster) and the pumpkin ravioli. Went back again with Michael and had the garlic shrimp appetizer, nioki, and Michael had a pasta. Jerry, Louise, and their friends Victoria and Barry were there so I had Jerry and the owner recommend a bottle of wine...it was GOOD!

the Brossiere (sic), it's in town, at the end of the walk area by the Remax sign. they have tables in the sidewalk area that is under the roof covering. I had a sandwich for lunch and it was delicous

Lion's Den - Michael had the chicken fetucchini and it was delicious. We really went there for the view and it was worth it (Patagonia was closed and he really wanted to eat on the water - we weren't at the Black Durgon so our "favorite table" was not available ;-)"

All of the above were excellent.

Michael had wanted to do a sailing trip, so we chartered the Mushi Mushi. It was awesome! Sailed south, down toward Salt Pier, then over to Klein. Moored up for a snorkel, and then sailed back to the harbor. I would highly recommened going out on a sail and snorkel with them. Susan, Lisa, Anonymous, Danielle, Cora, Nick, and Michael and I were the only ones on the boat, and it was saweeet!

http://www.bonairenauticomarina.com/

Cynde,

Sounds like an awesome trip! Thanks for sharing and YES cheese and very little "whine" anytime you're in Virginia or when we happen to be on BON at the same time...my treat

Cynde..Sounds like you had a great trip!
But, ski poles & the Lake (one of my personal favorite sites)? Inquiring minds want to know more.

We're looking forward to being down there in a couple of weeks, but I realize we've got a looonnnggg wait till the building is completed.

Wow, that's what I'm talking about. Here it is 0656 EST, temp about 24 degrees, snow expected Thursday, etc. I feel all good now reading this. Thanks Cynde. Inter-Continental, cheeseburgers, wine, rainbows with Boairean leprechauns, it was all good.

Great report Cynde! I'll be there next Friday

tick..........tick..........tick

Sunrise?!?!?! I am so proud of your Grasshopper

Glad you had a great time! It is nice when you don't have appointments/committments, isn't it? Eat, sleep, snort, whenever the mood strikes, that's a vacation

Wow, I still can't believe you were up and functioning at sunrise;-)

Great report, Cynde! Can't wait to hear more... and maybe some more pics??

Cam, tick, tick, tick, down to 8 days here!

Nice! Glad to see you had a wonderful time. I'm counting the days till we go!!

Forgot, ate at Bobby Jan's 3 times...mmmmm ribs are gooooodddd....

Tom

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quote:

Wow, I still can't believe you were up and functioning at sunrise;-)

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I didn't say I was "functioning"...lol! As Susan puts it "It's fun to watch the fish AND Cynde wake up on the reef at the same time...lol! We actually did 2 or 3 AM early morning dives...I hate getting up that early, but man is it worth it to see all the fish on the playground having fun!

I'll try to get more pics, and commentary up later today

Cynde, Glad to hear you got some R&R in paradise. Hearing the whales must have been so cool!

Life is good! And it sounds like your duration on Bon was good too! My favorite place for decompressing is at the end of the dock at BD, whether it's morning, noon, or night! I've spent many a night out there while our night divers were down, and it's the best for recharging internal batteries!

Cynde, I know from personal experience that you can do those early morning dives! I still remember the picture you took of your watch to prove it!

Cinthia, glad you had an awesome time and relaxed!!! Life is very good

OMG...I am sooooo depressed now! Someone give me some zanax or something! My laptop broke down for the last time this morning...gone to the dead laptop boneyard...got a new one and just viewed the dvd that Roger made...O...M...G...waaaaaaaaa! tarpon, squid, turtle, tons of fish...does not help PBD at all

Cynde - great report & pics! The rainbow is beautiful. Glad you de-stressed
Looking forward to more pics

Cynde - I am so glad that you had a wonderful and relaxing trip. See, the whales read that you were going to Bonaire and headed over for a quick visit with you - glad that you all hooked up.

Thanks again for sharing - some day I will share my 2006 trip...when I get all of the other things done. LOL!

Love it, Love it, Love IT!!
"Eat, sleep, snort whenever the mood strikes"
I'm rolling Tom - that there is just Cynde funny!!
Great pictures and report Cynde - so glad you had a well-deserved relaxing time

Great report, Cynde! I love the picture of your feet - great perspective, in photography terms. Danielle and I enjoyed meeting you and Michael and had a great time on the Mushi Mushi - thanks again. And I think "the brossiere" is actually "Brasserie Bonaire". A brasserie is French for something between a cafe and a restaurant, I think.

Anonymous, thanks for the correct spelling, I couldn't remember it!

OK, finally getting around to finishing my report!

non-diving activities - Mushi Mushi - Michael, myself, Susan, Lisa, Cora and Nick from Maine, and Anonymous and Danielle The boat is clean, large, they provide drinks and we brought some munchies and Anonymous and Danielle brought a nice big watermelon.

We sailed South past Jerry (again, where I was waiving like a maniac as he was sitting on his balcony getting sun)


We sailed down toward Salt Pier. There were tons of lying fish all over to see, it was fun. Then we went and moored over at Klein and had a good hour or so snorkel. I hated to go back to the dock!




Michael and I had fun sitting at Karel's having a beer and relaxing, this is something I have never done before because I'm so obsessed with diving. Since I was on island for ten days before Michael came, I promised him we would do more 'relaxing' things

Diving - as I said, diving was fantastic. I'm not happy with my pics, but oh well!

The Lake - Susan and I got there and were gearing up and another truck pulled up. I saw two divers exiting the water...and to my wondering eyes I could NOT believe what I saw...they had black ski poles and were using them as they walked out of the water. I looked at Susan and said "uh...do they have in their hands what I think they do?" So, we were both pretty much mouths agape, and as I'm trying to get their license plate number, Susan is gathering other information. They said they only use them to enter and exit...my question was, what do they do with these five foot hard poles while they are in the water????? Someone had reported earlier in the week seeing a couple 'poling' down the reef, I can only assume these were the same folks. Anyway, we called the Marine Park to let them know about it, I never heard, but I would hate to see others see this and think it is OK to use them just to steady yourself out of the water....IMHO, if you can't get in and out with assistance of a buddy, then you should stick to the docks...Look for the Marine Park to add a new rule "no ski poles."There was a pretty wicked current at The Lake, but it was a nice dive.

We TRIED to make the cams one day. We entered at Front Porch, dropped down to The New Yorker wreck which is at about 90-100 feet. Got down there, took a couple of pics, and then BOOM...welcome to the current express! We thought we would "drift" to Willy, then work our way back up and over to Front Porch...as we were literally going by at mach 3 speed, Susan looked at me and we decided we needed to "alter our dive plan" we both grabbed onto a mooring line (and remained horizontal in the current), while we decided that there was no way to get to Willy, play, and go against this wicked current and for me to have enough air (I was an unusual air hog this trip, it was odd). I have never encountered such a strong current there. Soooo, we start to make our way back up the slope...and believe me, I was not making much ground. I found a brick at around 17 feet, and decided to do my safety stop NOW...as I clung to the brick...body horizontal in the wind...and caught my breath. I did have some little juve fish to entertain me while I waited though...I don't think they liked me "looming big and large" over them, but tough beans little fish!!!!




As we were putzing in the shallows, I almost missed this scorpion fish, which Susan found.


I found a flounder I found a flounder...say that 10 times fast

Nice pics! And I know that current you speak of!!! Becky and I hit it once. I did not think we were going to make it back up the slope. It comes on fast and hard.

Any more pics to share? PBD is a little hard today.

We dove Bari Reef one day because I wanted to check out the reef balls. As we get in the water, there was a turtle



We head down the reef and there are tons of juvi chromies...and then a nice big school of tarpon show up...so, we decided to hang with them and "play"...as they are my favorite Caribbean fish, both Susan and I had HUGE smiles on our faces and were laughing through our regs the entire time




We also came across a HUGE grouper getting cleaned at Bari





Here are the reefballs. They are on the North end in the shallows. There were juve fish inside, but not much growth on the outside.

Tribs...you are right about fast and strong! I've hit current there before, but man, this thing was like warp 10 Captain Kirk! lol!

OK, the last....

















Salt Pier



We did Angel City at dawn, swam out to the second reef...and there was so much going on you really couldn't take it all in...pics don't do justice to what Susan and I saw...at one point we were just hanging taking it all in...

Forgot a couple...


Thankfully, Tom (bless you my dear) sent this photoshopped pic to Rona at the Black Durgon to put on the refrigerator so there would be no "incidents" such as happy happy happy people trying to say "good morning" to me...which could have been a REAL disaster!


(Message edited by cyndelee on February 20, 2007)

I got these pics from Anonymous

2 more...


and I LOVE this picture of Danielle and Anonymous...Anonymous, where was it taken?

Oh, Anonymous, thanks for the compliment on the hammock pic

here's my last one

Sounds like you had a nice time?

Nice report Cynde.

NOT helping my PBD. Nice report and pics, Cynde. Dying here, no Bonaire plans for the 1st time in, like, years, so can't even count down the days. Jonesin' BAD.

nice self-photo cynde...much better than the one down at the local post office

ya got a few good pics;) especially the rock beauty...

David, I don't have a next trip planned either

Bob, thanks. I think the Rock Beauty and the scorpion fish are the only ones that really aren't crap! LoL!

Thanks for the nice report! Also: great pics, Cynde, never mind that you think they aren't good. I love the scorpion fish one - the one time we saw one I didn't have my camera with me. The pic of Danielle and me was taken at Windsock, AFTER checking in for our flight home, believe it or not. The flight was delayed for several hours, but checking in was at the normal time. We could have done what everybody else was doing, which was going through customs and getting bored in the departure lounge, but I had an idea. So we bought a bottle of water, crossed the parking lot and walked another 200 yards or so - and there we were, on the shade of a nice tree on Windsock beach. We read a little, reflected on the good times had this time around, had fun watching the little wading birds at our feet, watched the dolphins going by on their way back from Klein, and studied the little rock pools on the beach, which were full of beautiful juvenile fish, including miniature sand divers and a school of minuscule sergeant majors. A lovely way to spend your last hours on Bonaire.

Anonymous, it's a great picture! I thought it was taken on one of the beaches North! You're smart by leaving the airport and walking over to Windsock and enjoying the sea and wildlife...when life gives you lemons, make lemonade! Did you take the above pic at Windsock as well?

No, this one was on the pier at Karpata, but I swear it's the same little sand diver we saw at Windsock!
Next time, after you've scared away the crabs at Karpata, take a close look at the water standing in little pools on the pier: it was full of these little ones. Beautiful.