Hi there, you will find below many pictures of our great stay in Bonaire (March 09), sorted according to diving locations. We are now back in France, but this trip is still in our minds, and should remain there for a long time...

All the pictures :
http://www.mes-photos.us/Bonaire/index.html

99,9% of these pics have been taken while I was snorkeling... By the way, scuba could be absolutely useless on this island if you are a good snorkeler (i.e. you can easily go to a 30/45 feet depth and stay at least 30 seconds there). I only used scuba gear to take picture at ''something special''.

Some good pics :
http://www.mes-photos.us/Bonaire/KB_bonaventure/016.jpg
http://www.mes-photos.us/Bonaire/KB_just_a_nice_dive/003.jpg
http://www.mes-photos.us/Bonaire/KB_just_a_nice_dive/005.jpg
http://www.mes-photos.us/Bonaire/KB_just_a_nice_dive/016.jpg
http://www.mes-photos.us/Bonaire/KB_just_a_nice_dive/007.jpg
http://www.mes-photos.us/Bonaire/KB_keepsake/001.jpg
http://www.mes-photos.us/Bonaire/KB_keepsake/026.jpg
http://www.mes-photos.us/Bonaire/KB_keepsake/028.jpg
http://www.mes-photos.us/Bonaire/something_special/004.jpg
http://www.mes-photos.us/Bonaire/something_special/047.jpg
http://www.mes-photos.us/Bonaire/something_special/059.jpg
http://www.mes-photos.us/Bonaire/KB_nearest_point/027.jpg
http://www.mes-photos.us/Bonaire/webers_joy/009.jpg
http://www.mes-photos.us/Bonaire/KB_sampler/021.jpg
http://www.mes-photos.us/Bonaire/KB_sampler/003.jpg

Whish you the best,

j.

Wonderful photos Jean, thank you for sharing.
Welcome to Bonaire Talk

Welcome to BT Jean. Wonderful pictures, very enjoyable. I liked them all but some were really great. Great shot of a Caracara in the park, and a great over/under shot in the mangroves. You sure did see a lot of turtles.

A couple of suggestions, force on the flash (the seahorse would have been great with a flash) and lick your lens to prevent droplets on the lens. I know that sounds weird but you get droplets on the lens when you leave the water. There's something in salvia that stops the droplets from forming.

Thank you for your comments and advice. I do not have any flash, I use a canon G10, with its built-in flash... and a customized 'color' setting (less blue, more red, more contrast). Shooting at -30feet without any breathing apparatus is really hard, because of the current, of the required adjustments, of the desired framing etc. Snorkeling is the best underwater-photography school !


(Message edited by flamingo13260 on April 10, 2009)

Jean, can I ask where you stayed? It looks Great!!!

Jean, Love your pictures. I have to start snorkeling!
Do you use lenses other than what came with your G10? It looked like maybe a wide angle or fish eye attachment with some shots.
I have the G10 also and want to take great shots on our upcoming trip in May. This trip will probably be the last trip we take in that area so it's a special trip.
Many thanks!

Wow! I'll be arriving in just over two weeks for my first trip, and you're lovely pictures have gotten me even more excited to be there snorkeling!

Very well done Jean. Thanks for taking the time to post.

Nice pics. Glad you had a fun time. Bonaire is a great place for those who spend their time underwater in 60 second or 60 minute sessions.

Nice pics! Where did you find the nurse shark?

Never mind! I got it!

Yes nice pics but where was the nurse shark?????

Not seen one yet on Bonaire. They are ubiquitous around Roatan.

Jeans,
Enjoyed your pics. We are going to Bonaire in May. Where did you see the turtles? Anyone else have any suggestions on turtle sightings?
Thanks

I saw a few at Red Beryl last week...

Your photos are beautiful! Love the turtles. We had some luck seeing turtles at Something Special (thanks Sherman @ Toucan)

Hello ! I'll try to answer all the questions...

1. The camera and lens ?
- underwater pics : canon G10... and nothing else
- regular pics (I mean not underwater) : canon 400D, sigma 10-20mm, sigma 10mm fullframe fisheye, tamron 18-250mm.

2. Where are the turtles ?
Everywhere, best location and time are : 6pm on klein bonaire just in front of the harbor village.

3. Where is the nurse shark ?
Same place ! see above.

4. You won't be able to follow a turtle with a scuba... the snorkeling is the solution !

5. We stayed at the Bellafonte, it was perfect ! Go there !

Wonderful pictures, Jean.

As a snorkeler going to Bonaire for the first time this fall, I was relieved to read your comment about snorkeling. I was a bit nervous that all of the fantastic underwater scenes were for divers only. My fears have been allayed! Now, if only it were November .....

WT

Anyone could advice me another good snorkling spot in the caribbean ???? There is too many information on the net....

Jean, the next best would probably be Curacao. It is very similar to Bonaire but has a longer coast. There are plenty of other great spots but they are here and there. I would be pretty safe in saying most Caribean islands have great snorkel spots somewhere on that island, just not the whole coast like Bonaire.

Jean, Your photos are amazing! It's so cool that you took most of them while snorkeling. When we were in Bonaire (March) the visibility wasn't so good. Our pictures have been better on other trips to the island. Keep up the good work and I hope to see more postings by you in the future.

Nice pics, the caracara brought back memories of my trip a couple of years ago.....

Oh, yeah, heading back in June. Now that I know how to post pics, will add them with my trip report

Debbie, if you want to get up close and personal with turtles give the Seaturtle Conservation folks a call, they take you with them on their tagging rounds. www.bonaireturtles.org They also have weekly talks at different resorts