Hi Everyone! I've been reading BT for many years and thought it was time that I joined in. I live in Ontario, Canada and just returned from my 11th trip to Bonaire. My husband & I have been visiting Bonaire since 1994 and usually escort groups (28 of us there last November). This time it was just the 2 of us and we had a wonderful trip as usual. It's definitely a lot hotter and windier in May than Nov. (but I'm not complaining!!) We'll be going back again this November with a smaller group.

Our flights from Toronto to Newark to Bonaire were interesting in that the plane from EWR-BON & return were almost empty (less than 40 passengers). So for an extra $59 we upgraded to first class on the way home!

We've stayed at many places over the years(old Sunset Beach, DIVI, Buddy) and have now stayed at Sanddollar for the last 5-6 trips and love it there (studio A11 is awesome!).

We finally made it to the Donkey Sanctuary and Animal Shelter with donations this trip (what took me so long!). Both are great facilities with very passionate & dedicated volunteers and I'll now be making regular visits every time I'm there.

The diving was fantastic as always. No frogfish or seahorses this trip, but we did see a total of 5 eagle rays at Invisibles, a baitball at Margate Bay, several turtles and a Mottled Red Seastar on a night dive on BARI Reef (has anyone else ever seen one in Bonaire?).

We usually make our own meals but we did venture out to Will's and Cactus Blue and both were fantastic. I think we only missed one night of ice cream from Lover's (it's sooo convenient in front of Sanddollar)!

Here are a few underwater photos:






Can't wait to return!
Dixie

Dixie, welcome!! So glad you decided to join and share your stunning photographs! Happy to read your trip was great! Please share more photo's if you have them!! And thank you so much for the donations to the animal shelter and donkey sanctuary, it so appreciated by the volunteers and the inhabitants!

Wow! Glad you had a great time. Those pictures FLOORED me! They're absolutely beautiful!

hi dixie,

i'm a newbie to bt (as evidenced by my oft-repeated but unknownst-to-me fopah post on thefts) & just got back from our trip as well. your shots were GREAT. i never knew that red-lipped blennies had "teeth"/fringed lips! strong work!

cheers, hillary

Thanks and greetings from Vancouver Island . Off to Nootka Sound sunday for some rugged west coast diving , your pictures stoke me one more notch .

Thanks Guys! I can't imagine anyone not having a great time in Bonaire. It's certainly my favourite place to dive and I've visited a lot of places! All our trips to Bonaire have been only 1 week long but this November we'll be staying for 2 weeks (with the plan to stay 3-4 weeks in the future).

Here's a few more pics:

Hi Lloyd - nice to see there are other Canadians on BT! I was in Vancouver for the Olympics (AWESOME!!) but I've been spoiled in Bonaire and now hate coldwater diving. I do jump into Lake Erie later in July when the temperature gets up to 70 F (pretty lame for an instructor, eh!!)

Hillary...some of us bark loud, I don't know anyone who bites! Please stick around, we actually have fun most of the times!

Dixie...all I can say is WOW!!!

(Message edited by caligirl on June 2, 2010)

Excellent photos..thanks for sharing..can't wait to see what you can do in two weeks stay

thanks, caligirl. appreciate the kind words.

seriously, dixie, you poached those from a magazine! :0) amazing.

this is one of my better pics, town pier night dive 2004

Absolutely love your photos! Thanks for sharing.

Your pictures are unbelievable.
Thank you for sharing

Awesome photography!! thanks
The Ray looks like he is in a nose dive, and the turtle...what can I say? The pictures are great.

Dixie..Welcome and kudos on your UW photography skills! Most folks start with weekly visits to the island and then over time it gets longer and longer.

Very nice report and beautiful Photos Dixie.. may I ask what your set up is camera wise..

(Message edited by scubahb on June 3, 2010)

Thanks Everyone (I take a lot of really bad photos too but I don't show those ones!!).

Hi Freddie - I use a Nikon D70s in a Subal housing with a Sea&Sea YS110 strobe.

Very nice photos!

Some of the most beautiful photos I have seen!!! WOW...My favorite is the very first one. Can you tell me the name of it??? Soooo beautiful thanks so much for posting!!

Hi Sue - I looked it up in Paul Humann's reef creature book. It's called an Orange Ball Corallimorph.

Awesome pictures! I love the spotted eagle ray. Only saw one when we were there (same time you were) but he was way far away.

Hi Dixie,greetings from Nova Scotia,now CdN BT'ers from coast to coast.Great pics.We had our first trip to Bonaire this past February and loved it.Already booked to return next year.And I know what you mean about getting spoiled with warm water diving.Unfortunately we hardly dive at home anymore here on the east coast.

Welcome to Bonaire Talk Dixie. You just set the pole a bit higher for us. Just outstanding

Absolutely fantastic pics. I'm stunned by the clarity of the diver at that distance. Are you using a Magic Filter on your setup? Was the water just amazingly clear or do you think the strobes took care of it for you?

e.

Hi Dixie! Glad you had a wonderful time, and those are some stunning photos!!
The blenny is my fav so far, but all the rest are a close second.

Dixie, all I can say is WOW!!!! I'm loving looking at those pictures!

Welcome to BT...glad you stopped lurking and posted! Can't wait to see what you bring back in November!

No filters Eric - the water was pretty clear that morning at Margate Bay (7:30am or so). Jim & I spent about 20 minutes with the baitball so I was able to get a few good shots (although the majority aren't great). Wide-angle photography and I don't get along too well so I usually stick with macro and fish portraits. The eagle ray was really neat - it was feeding and just kept coming at me so I stayed still and hoped for the best. It came within about 2 feet of me before it turned away.

I like the blenny too Linda - the litter critters are my favourites!

Very nice. You honestly should submit some of those, especially the ones showing the water clarity, to some dive magazines in case they are doing any stories on Bonaire. They really are publication worthy.

e.

OMG! I agree with Eric...it's gonna be either a really bad day or a really good one, I'm hoping for the latter!
Seriously Dixie, your photo's are better than many I have seen in some top notch magazines!

Thanks so much for the great comments everyone (you're making my head swell!!). You've now created a monster & I'll be forever posting photos (a few more coming later this evening....!!)

Dix.

We're waiting, Dixie....

dixie
keep on posting wowwwwwwwwwww
es

Dixie--your photos are FABULOUS! You are very talented. Keep them coming!

Hey Dixie, so glad you guys had a good time. Carol and I are booked for Denlaman Nov 1-12. in the GROUPER ROOM (SECOND FLOOR).I believe you said you and Jim will be there on the 5th. It will be great to see you again. Haven't seen you in such a long time. We'll all do dinner together while we are there. Bud just got back from diving in CUBA around the same time we arrived home from PUERTO RICO.We had a 5.8 mag earthquake wake us up 2 nights before our trip home. Carol thought it was a bad thunder storm, but thunder doesn't shake an entire building.Hope to see you in the fall.Keep in touch

Nestor

Wow, great trip report and the pictures are out of this world. Great job. I love the blenny. They never sit still enough for me, however. What a great job. I am really jealous. By the way, did you get the e-mail in regards to the Tumblers? Glad you enjoyed A-11.

Thanks Sandy! We've requested & stayed in your studio unit twice now (I'm the jealous one!!!). No I didn't get your email about the tumblers. Can you email me again as I'd still like to try and find them.

Hey Nestor (more Canadians on BT!!). I'll confirm our trip details with you ASAP so we can get together.

More pictures on the way.......

Awesome shots!!!

Great photos !

Nice Pictures!

great pics