This was our fourth trip to Bonaire in as many years. As always the freedom of shore diving versus boat diving is second to none. This year we rented a house in the Perla Boneriano gated complex. We did shore dives that we had looked at in the past and said...uh to old for that entry.

Thanks to the wind shift we were able to shore dive the east side. We went with some new found friends renting the house in the same complex who knew some locals. The site was Boka Spelonk. I will admit I was glad they took the lead because I would not have found this place. The entry was into a small inlet which had the beautiful fans and soft coral which is now missing from The Lake. We went north and had a very nice wall dive.

During the course of two weeks we managed to dive; Red Slave, Red Beryl, The Lake, Something Special, Karpata, OilSlick, The Tug Boat and Sailboat by Edin Beach, The Rock, Larry Lair, 1000 Steps, Tolo, Hilma Hooker, Torie's Reef, Jeff Davis, Atlantis, Punt Vierkant, Boka Bartol, Plata Funchi, Bari Reef Night Dive, Invisibles, Windsock, Angle City, Vista Blue and 18 Palms.

We dove the wild side with Bonaire East Coast Diving. The white hole was nice and the swim across the top of the reef with the surge was a very different dive than I am use to.

Punt Vierkant and Vista Blue were our favorite dives.

We spotted four Lion Fish, tagged the site and let the dive shop know.

Due to the wind shifting the visibility was down. Friends of ours dove the last week of May and said the visibility was great until Thursday. Of course as luck would have it we arrived the following Saturday.

We ran into Susan Porter several times. I had met her last year but did not realize she was the Author of Diving Bonaire Made Easy. I ask her to re-think some of the entries as easy and since she now has a bum knee she will take that in to account.

The number of sea critters seemed to be down from our previous visits.

And now that I am home and the rental truck is turned in I can say it....Four trips and not one time did we have anything stolen from our truck nor was our rental property invaded by unwelcome guest.

Here are a couple of pictures to go along with the trip report.



What Luck. The Eagle Ray acted as though we did not exist.





This is the largest fishball I have ever saw.


Large Grouper


We disturbed him and I must admit, I ruined a perfectly good skin.


And of course the infamous Lion Fish

Nice report Ron and glad you had another amazing trip. I've noticed the crime issues tend to really get magnified and blown out of proportion in the internet chat rooms vis-a-vis the experiences of "the average visitor".
Nice grouper! Glad to see it. We do need more of them on the reef and less of them in the restaurants.

Great pictures and report. Glad you had a good time. Hopefully I will be back in March!

Great pictures and report.

We recently made our 4th trip and I'm looking forward to #5!!!

Great report - love the pics! Thanks for sharing with us! Can't wait for our 4th trip.

Great pics Ron. Question? Were the pics of the grouper and the ray taken on the east side? I've only dove it about 3 times, but I find more over there most of the time.

The Grouper was.Karpata and thr Ray was at Torie's Reef in the shallows.

Ron, under two weeks now for our arrival in Bonaire. We'll be staying at Perla Boneriano and wondered if you have any comments on the accommodations?

Also wondering which dive shop you used and if Roy coordinated for you?

We stayed in Chikitu. The house was very nice and comfortable. Full kitchen, TV and wireless network.

We used Dive Friends and went directly to them as we did not get the dive package from the owner.

Are you dealing with Roy or the owner of the house?

Staying in Chikitu too and rented directly from owner but she's having Roy meet us there and suggested we let him set up dive package which we did.

you guys must have a great eye for the lionfish. We were there the same time and didnt see the first one but did notice several floats probably yours. I have almost the same pics as your above minus the Goliath grouper. The light winds were nice. We dove the lighthouse past red slave and had a cool dive. ONly about 2-3 foot seas.

Jason