Contined from Part 1--
EATING:
Oh, we were lazy on this trip! We ended up spending more time in the water than we expected, which was great. But all our plans to eat at various restaurants again went by the wayside, since we were usually wiped out at dinnertime.
The best news about eating at the Plaza Resort is the improvement in the Tipsy Seagull. This is the nicest location there for any meal, but it had been going downhill over each of our prior visits, both in terms of food and service. Now the Plaza is making a concerted effort to bring the Tipsy up to par, and also has expanded the offerings to breakfast, lunch and dinner. Ben, the new manager of the Tipsy, is incredible. He's a natural in the restaurant business, seems to work 24/7, and is a real asset. We found the food and service much better than it had ever been in the past.
Breakfast was usually courtesy of the Plaza Mini Market. We stocked up there on our first day and would eat cereal or granola bars early in the morning. We ate at the Caribbean Point breakfast buffet once - it's pretty good, but definitely get an omelette fresh-made at the station rather than wonder if those are scrambled eggs or oatmeal in that steam tray! On the day we left for home, we had a leisurely breakfast at the Tipsy Seagull (choosing from a huge, a la carte menu.)
Lunches were split between the Coconut Crash beach bar and the Tipsy Seagull, depending on how much time we had and how hungry we were. Again, the lunch menu at the Tipsy is extensive, and everything we tried was really good (large portions for lunch… maybe too large.)
As I said, we were wiped out by dinnertime. So, we ate dinner at the Tipsy or at Richard's, just up the street. And once we ate junk and cookies in the room, washed down with a couple of Amstels. There are about double the dinner offerings at the Tipsy than before; what we tried was good and very nicely presented. The dinner portions weren't too large, which usually left room for dessert. The cheesecake we had one night was among the best I've ever tasted. Dinner prices for two at the Tipsy, including a couple of Amstels and desserts, averaged $50 (U.S.) About what we pay at our neighborhood rib joint.
Richard's was great, as usual - we like the menu (especially the steak peppercorn, and whatever fish the chef's doing as the daily special), the setting is fine, the people are nice. There we went for salads or appetizers rather than desserts, and prices for two averaged $70 (U.S.) That's somewhat less than the nicer restaurants here at home would cost. Oh… and listening to Ottmar Liebert's music at Richard's, while watching the evening stars and the sea, is my idea of ambience!
DIVING & SNORKELING:
Prior to this trip, I would snorkel while Mike (and the kids, when they've been with us) went diving each day. They've all been certified for a few years now, but I had to pass because of pending jaw surgery that finally, after nearly 5 years of preparation and fighting with insurance companies, happened last summer. So, this past June I did the classroom work and confined water dives locally. It wasn't the best experience. While the instructor was quite skilled, the pool used by the dive center is a very crowded public facility. There were seven of us (plus the instructor) confined to half of two lap lanes in the deep end. We were really on top of each other, which was frustrating and made doing some of the skills very difficult. Also, at the age of 48, I was by far the oldest in our group, which was a bit intimidating.
Happily, I got my referral, and scheduled the open water dive training with Toucan Diving at the Plaza. No matter how nervous I was, this had to be better than going to a murky, freezing quarry in Pennsylvania, where sunfish (fondly known as "quarry sharks") repeatedly bite the divers' ears, right? We checked in with Toucan the afternoon we arrived, and verified that I would start with an instructor the next morning. Mike was all set for boat diving for the next two days, and then (yikes!) we'd be diving together for the rest of the trip.
I was really fortunate to have Luciano as my instructor; doubly so, since the other two people scheduled for the open water dives didn't show up! Luciano is very professional, very patient, and has a great sense of humor - all of which I appreciated. He stressed developing good buoyancy control with the least amount of weight, had lots of tips and good information to share, and I found I was completely at ease. By Monday afternoon, I had my temporary open water diver certification card! Luciano suggested that I might want to go for the Advanced certification later in the week - he assured me that after a couple of days of diving, I'd be ready. I convinced Mike to join me, since it would have felt really weird to go to Bonaire as a non-diver, and return certified a level above him. We were able to re-work our previously scheduled boat dives without any trouble - the folks at Toucan Diving are top-notch.
For the next two days, Mike and I went on boat dives in the morning, and did shore dives in the afternoon. On Klein Bonaire, we went to Rockpile and Forest. The waves and current were a bit strong at Forest, but I managed okay. Luis, Erika and Erwin were terrific on the boats. Luciano had already given us the PADI Adventure Dives textbook, so we did our reading and knowledge reviews on the beach - if you have to study, you really can't beat that setting!
On Thursday, we started the Advanced dives, joined by John and Jen from Virginia (thanks to them for making it so much fun!) We began with the Peak Performance Buoyancy dive, followed by the Underwater Navigation dive in the afternoon. I'm sure we served as entertainment for the folks relaxing on the Plaza's beach as we each clumsily navigated squares on the sand, with a towel completely covering our head. That night, we did a night dive at "Cliff." Luciano wanted us to go to "Small Wall" but some other divers on the boat had been there earlier in the day, so we deferred. Maybe John and Jen got to the reef cam eventually (they mentioned they visited the street cam.) Several huge snappers (mutton snappers, maybe?) came over to hunt for their dinner using our lights. The parrotfish were tucked in for the night, and some lobsters and morays were out and about.
On Friday morning we did the Deep dive. But first, it was time to entertain the beach crowd again, as Luciano timed us each doing a child's puzzle… fitting plastic blocks of various shapes into the corresponding holes in the back of a big plastic ladybug. Then we went off the Plaza's beach and descended to 100 feet. Kneeling in the sand, we each did the puzzle again, while Luciano timed us. Mike and I were faster than we'd been on the beach… go figure. Friday afternoon we did the Wreck dive, on the Hilma Hooker. Luciano kept a close rein on us, but we did more than I expected. Swimming in and out of the cargo hold and peering into the engine room was interesting, but the highlight had to be scooting into a small compartment and sitting on a ledge, with our heads and shoulders out of the water in a smelly air pocket - 80 feet down! Oh, and Luciano made a point to show us where the "ghost diver" was, too.
It was bittersweet, getting those temporary advanced certification cards, since Mike and I were leaving for home the next afternoon (and yes, we were out of the water on Friday with more than 24 hours to spare before our flight.) Lucky John and Jen had another week to go in Bonaire, and we were really jealous.
Oh - on Friday evening, there was a fun happy hour at the Coconut Crash. Toucan Diving brought out a video taken during various dives during the week, and it was fun to see many of the people who'd been on our boat dives. Everyone was sharing their experiences of the past several days, the Toucan staff was out in force, and the sunset was gorgeous.
I managed to fit in some snorkeling amid all the instruction and diving, and as usual, it was excellent right off the Plaza's beach - especially as you head south toward the Tipsy Seagull and the channel that leads into the Plaza's little marina. Having spent hours and hours snorkeling in this area on past trips, I'm no longer surprised when I see "old friends." There's a huge rainbow parrotfish around many afternoons (saw him down at Windsock once, too), 18th Palm's resident barracuda (which is HUGE), several scorpion fish, curious French angels, luminous squid, a large school of glassy sweepers under the steps at the Tipsy's pier… this trip, I even saw a small yellowhead jawfish poking out of his hole in the sand! I think the key is going very slowly, investigating very thoroughly, and being very patient. While there was more staghorn coral prior to the surge from Lenny, it seems to me that there are more fish (especially juveniles) than ever. I've taken lots of photographs snorkeling here, and can't wait until I take the camera diving… next time.
"Next time" will be December 26 - January 2, with the kids (ages 17 and 20.) Not to be outdone by us, they've already scheduled their Advanced dives with Luciano.
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Again, thanks to everyone on BonaireTalk for all the information and trip reports that have been such a great help to us! --Deborah Campbell |
By Deborah Campbell on Friday, August 17, 2001 - 5:15 pm: 
