Bonaire

Elusien's Trip Report

November 2007

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Fan-tastic
Fan-tastic
Nudibranch
Nudibranch
Iguana
Iguana

Neil and I have just returned from a 10-day scuba-diving holiday on Bonaire. Bonaire is an island in the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. Together with Aruba and Curaçao, it forms the group known as the ABC islands, located less than a hundred miles off the north coast of South America near the western part of Venezuela. Unlike much of the Caribbean region, the ABCs lie outside the hurricane belt. The islands have an arid climate, which helps tourism, as visitors to the islands can reliably expect warm, sunny weather. Bonaire is a popular destination for Scuba diving, and there is relatively easy access from shore to its fringing reefs.

Bonaire's capital is Kralendijk. The island has a permanent population of about 20,000 and an area of 300 km2 (together with nearby uninhabited Klein Bonaire). Bonaire was part of the Netherlands Antilles until the country's dissolution in 2010, when the island became a special municipality within the country of the Netherlands. It is one of the three BES islands in the Caribbean; the other two BES islands are Sint Eustatius and Saba. The place is lovely and the diving was spectacular. Besides the diving, two of our group got married while out there.

We flew east with KLM out of Heathrow to Amsterdam, then had a 1-hour wait at Schipol for another KLM flight going west to Flamingo International Airport, Kralendijk, Bonaire. The bad part was realizing that we were flying directly over our house about six hours after we had left it that morning (six hours to get nowhere!). After about 9 hours we landed in Bonaire where we were met by the coach that took us to the Buddy Dive resort (www.buddydive.com).

Buddy Dive Resort
Tube
Tube
Millipede
Millipede
Kissey-Kissey
Kissey-Kissey

Check-in was a bit chaotic, so Collin, our intrepid leader picked up the room keys and explained to the staff that we would do the paperwork in the morning. We had two three-bedroom apartments. Neil and I, Rob and Frank and (the other) Sue had one, while Kate and Collin, Claire and Max and Sam and Ian shared the other. We did some unpacking then went down to the Lion restaurant for a meal. I think everyone opted for 'burger and fries', to compensate for the fact that the food on the plane was horrible (to put it mildly).

The next day we had breakfast then we had to register for diving. This too was a bit chaotic and took some time to complete. Then we kitted up, did our buddy checks, jumped off the jetty (or went down the steps) and were ready for our first dive. We let the air out of our BCDs and made our way to the house reef, doing the south part of the reef that time and the north part as our second dive. Apart from Frank we were all diving on Nitrox (EANx32). Collin had used his considerable bargaining skills to get us a 33% discount. I think Lourdes, the lady in the dive shop, who called all the men 'me douchie', had taken a shine to him.

It is a strange experience to be on a Caribbean and hear the native population speaking fluent Dutch. I know that it shouldn't be a surprise, since it is the Dutch Antilles, nevertheless, talking to someone in English, who a minute later speaks to one colleague in Papiamento, a Portugese-based Creole dialect with similarities to Spanish, then to another in Dutch is rather weird. It shouldn't come as much of a surprise to hear that many of the other divers were Dutch. there were also some Germans and some Americans.

While the national currency is the Netherlands Antilles Florin (NAFl), everywhere accepts $US and prices are usually quoted in both currencies. There are a few banks, one within walking distance of the Buddy Dive Resort, that have ATMs and give you a choice of NAFls or Dollars. Electrical sockets are of the US (2 flat prong) type and the supply is 120v 50Hz. My cell phone worked fine.

Diving et Al.
Jelly
Jelly
Hilmer Hobker
Hilmer Hobker
Frogfish
Frogfish
Scorpionfish
Scorpionfish
Seahorse
Seahorse
Rhinohead
Rhinohead

The next day was Saturday and poor old Neil, who had picked up a cold on the flight over was in a bad way. There was no diving for him that day, so he stayed in bed till lunchtime and spent a couple of hours moaning around the pool area, while the rest of us went diving.

Shorediving Capital of the World

There are 60 dives on the island,
a further 26 on Klein Bonaire, accessed via boat.

As part of the dive package we had a jeep and a small people carrier. In the morning we would have breakfast then go to the 'fill station' to get two nitrox tanks each and analyze and record the results. Then we'd drive the jeep and van to the drive-thru fill station, load up the tanks and our dive gear and drive to the exit. Then we'd either turn right, to do a couple of dives on the south of the island, or left to go to the sites on the North of the island. We'd drive along the coast road looking for little yellow markers that had the name of the dive site written on them and if one took our fancy we would stop, kit up and dive, as simple as that! We were told to leave the car doors unlocked with the windows down while diving. I had a pouch for money and keys, which worked fine on the first dive, but after that we had to keep drying out the greenbacks after every dive.

We went north that day. After a few miles the coast road changes into a one-way road, so after your dive you then have to drive to Karpata and from there head inland to Rincon, drive a very wide loop around past the windward side of the island and make your way back to Kralendijk, although there is a slight short-cut, which means that, if you don't miss it, you don't have to travel all the way into, then out of Kralendijk itself. Nevertheless it is a pleasant drive through some interesting scenery, with lots of cacti. They even use the cacti as fences.

There is a partially pedestrianized shopping area in Kralendijk and a nice passeo-like walkway that extends from just south of the Buddy Dive Resort (turn right just before the Bistro de Paris restaurant) that runs all the way to Kralendijk. If you walk into Kralendijk, as Frank did on several occasions, I would suggest going this way, rather than using the main road that runs parallel to it about 50 metres inland - it's much more picturesque as it follows the shoreline.

On many dive entries you have to step onto a (usually) short stretch of dead coral. If you are snorkeling don't forget to pack booties, to avoid cutting your feet. I had quite a bit of trouble with my back, but found that by using a 10-litre tank instead of an 11-litre one and putting my BCD and tank on in the water, it was much easier.

Note that dive gloves are strictly prohibited, in fact their use is against the law. If found a diver can have his/her gear and their diving permit confiscated. The Bonaire authorities take the conservation of their reef and national park exceedingly seriously, so don't be tempted to wear gloves, even if like Neil you are prone to having senior moments where you decide to head-butt the dead coral on your exit and end up with a gashed hand. He's been feeding everyone the story that it was the result of a shark attack, but no-one has taken the bait so far.

We had a couple of instances of people leaving at least one item of kit at the hotel and having to improvise. Collin was usually very good at reminding folk not to forget any of their kit, since once you're on the one-way stretch up north, it's a long way back. Claire had to borrow MAX's wetsuit on the trip where she left hers behind. On the only day that one group of us went to the most northern dive sites, past the one-way stretch, into Rincon, then about another hour and a half bouncing over hardly discernible tracks through the Washingtom Slagbaai National Park, Collin found that he had left his kit behind and couldn't dive. By the way, to get into the national park, you need the receipt for your dive permit AND a form of personal photo ID. Also, you must leave the park by 5pm.

The island is one of two halves as regards scenery. To the north you have the scrub with lots and lots of cacti, while the south is made up of salt pans, owned by the Cargill Salt company. Seawater is fed into huge shallow lakes and allowed to evaporate under the heat of the sun. These lakes are pink in color, due to the algae they contain, and are home to thousands of flamingos - the largest colony in the western hemisphere. The salt is piled into large salt mountains that are gleaming white and look like snow covered Alps, though somewhat smaller. They made me hearken back to my skiing days, carving those turns down the black runs into Zermatt - such a vivid imagination.

The Cargill Salt Co. has its own pier, which divers are often allowed to use, under supervision. The company also owns a large proportion of the beaches in the south, but again they allow people to use the beaches, of which Pink Beach is probably the best (sandiest) and is very good for snorkelling, as well as diving.

The Hilmer Hooker is the name of the wreck dive on Bonaire. A 70-metre 1000-tonne Korean freighter, it put into the Town pier for urgent repairs in 1984. Customs officers found tons of marijuana on board and confiscated the ship. It was later sunk deliberately to form an artificial reef, but someone forgot to remove the anti-fouling paint from its keel, so corals have taken a long time to colonize that part of the wreck. The ship lies on its side at depths of between 18 and 30 metres. It is well worth a visit.

Several of our number did a dive called the 1000 steps. There are actually a lot less than 100, but after the dive, it seems like a thousand, carrying your kit back to the road. As I said earlier, shore diving is a rather relaxed affair compared to boat diving, where of necessity everything has to be regimented, because of the usual lack of space on a dive boat. We did do one boat dive, which went from the Buddy Dive resort pier, across the short stretch of water (about 2 kilometres) to the Leonora I dive site just off Klein Bonaire. We saw a cute little sea horse for the first time on this dive.

For our last dive of the holiday we opted for a night dive at the town pier. This was absolutely amazing. It isn't deep and you have to book well in advance, because they only allow guided dives on days when the pier is not being used by the cruise ships that come to Bonaire several times a week. The pier stanchions are covered in coral of all shapes, sizes and colours and lots of small creatures make their homes in the tyres scattered on the seabed. We saw eels and seahorses on the night we dived. You just have to see the colours to believe them.

Besides coming for a diving holiday, Sam and Ian had come to Bonaire to get married. We had the stag and hen parties after the night dive and the next day we had the wedding itself. It was very tastefully done under a palm tree with the ocean lapping at the shore in the background. Sam looked stunning in her wedding dress and the ceremony passed without a hitch. The rest of us formed a guard of honour with our fins before we retired to one of the bars for a post-nuptial drink.

On the last day, Saturday, we packed our cases and checked out, then a small bus took us to the airport. There is only one small duty-free shop there, but the cost of spirits was so good that I bought several bottles. It was only about half an hour later that a problem arose. Collin pointed out that since we would be catching a connecting flight to Heathrow from Schipol the liquor needed to be in sealed bags. The people at the duty-free couldn't do this, so I had to get a refund instead!

Update - Trip in 2009

I went to Bonaire again in 2009 with KLM again out of Heathrow to Amsterdam, then from Schipol to Flamingo International Airport, Kralendijk, Bonaire. Neil couldn't go bacause of a medical condition that prevented him from diving for 6 months.

It is a real shame that hurricane Omar last October caused a lot of damage to some of the dive sites. The night-dive on the Town Pier was arguably one of the 10 best dives in the world. Unfortunately the hurricane caused so much damage that diving is now forbidden, because of the possiblity of injury, due to the wreckage. The port authorities are rebuilding the pier and it is rumoured that it will once again be open to divers some time in 2010. While the shorediving was still very good there has been a lot of development going on since I was last here two years ago and access to some of the dive sites was either restricted or difficult to find.

Summary
Crab
Crab
Puffer
Puffer
Lobster
Lobster

We left Bonaire on a sunny day. It was over 32°C (the water was about 29°C). We got back to a wet Heathrow with the temperature hovering just above freezing. I wanted to turn around and get right back on the return flight. This really had been a fantastic holiday, with a great bunch of dive buddies, some spectacular dives in a fabulous place. I would certainly recommend shore diving in general, and Bonaire in particular, where everything is geared up for it. Many of our group have already signed up to go on next year's expedition with the Divecrew (www.divecrew.co.uk) to the Seychelles and back to Bonaire in 2009. We can't wait! For more (higher-resolution) photos and videos, click on the icons ( & ) at the top.

Summary of Sue's Dives (2007)
Date Depth (m) Time (min) EANx Bonaire Dive
9 Nov 20.4 58 32% Buddy Reef (S)
9 Nov 16.2 56 32% Buddy Reef (N)
10 Nov 28.7 52 32% Witches Hut - Beautiful coral, lots of fish
10 Nov 16.5 54 32% Tula (Ol' Blue) - Easy entry, fish & corals galore
11 Nov 28.0 51 32% Hilmer Hooker - Wreck dive
11 Nov 19.5 64 32% The Invisibles - Easy entry, interesting sponges
11 Nov 14.9 46 32% Buddy Reef (N) - Night dive - lovely
12 Nov 24.4 53 32% Oil Slick Leap - Quite an entry - an adventure!
12 Nov 16.8 62 32% Andrea I - Good entry, a photographer's dream
13 Nov 24.4 56 32% Jeff Davis Memorial - Tough entry
13 Nov 20.4 59 32% Karpata - Lots of steps - my 100th dive - lovely!
14 Nov 26.5 49 32% Angel City - Entry OK, superb dive
14 Nov 19.8 59 32% Pink Beach - Good entry, good dive, saw a ray
14 Nov 14.6 63 32% Buddy Reef (S) - BCD problems, kept inflating
15 Nov 26.5 56 32% Leonora's Reef - Boat dive off Klein Bonaire
15 Nov 20.7 60 32% Tula (Ol' Blue) - Another great dive
15 Nov 7.9 59 32% Town Pier - FANTASTIC night dive, seahorses
Summary of Sue's Dives (2009)
Date Depth (m) Time (min) EANx Maui Dive
17 May 19.2 40 32% Buddy Reef - orientation dive
18 May 14.9 46 32% Buddy Reef - lovely early morning dive
18 May 2.2 52 32% Webber's Joy - uneven entry, some nudibranchs
18 May 18.7 56 32% Andrea II - Tricky entry, beautiful dive
19 May 14.3 57 32% Buddy Reef - sponges, eels and tarpon
19 May 22.3 53 31% White Slave - fabulous drive here, difficult entry
19 May 17.7 56 31% The Invisibles - Fabulous dive, tricky entry/exit
20 May 14.0 53 31% Buddy Reef - early morning dive, octopus
20 May 28.0 41 31% Hilma Hooker, awesome propeller, great photos
20 May 25.3 58 31% Cave Mesa - Beautiful setting, great lobster
20 May 16.8 44 31% Buddy Reef - night dive, fantastic
21 May 26.9 51 32% Karpata - Lovely dive with turtles and rays
21 May 18.0 54 33% Tula (Ol' Blue) - battled waves, but lots to see
22 May 12.2 50 32% Buddy Reef - turtle and loads of squid
22 May 18.6 49 32% Oil Slick Leap - giant stride off rocks, lots to see
22 May 14.3 54 32% Jeff Davies' Monument - tricky entry, lizard fish
23 May 17.4 48 31% Bori Reef - Nice dive, different terrain
23 May 17.3 48 31% The Cliff - Tough entry, squid, turtles, hurricane debris
23 May 14.9 41 - Buddy Reef - Lovely gentle dive
24 May 16.2 42 33% Buddy Reef - Giant parrot fish and tarpon
24 May 18.3 55 33% Joanne Sunchi, Klein Bonaire - Great (150th) dive
24 May 22.5 60 33% Something Special - Fantastic dive, saw a Frogfish
24 May 13.7 39 33% Buddy Reef - Night dive, good coral photos
25 May 16.8 49 33% Buddy Reef - Last dive, saw 2 Seahorses
Slideshow (of a few selected photos)

For the whole photo album click on the "Photo Album" icon ( ) at the top.