We (my mother and I) arrived in Bonaire for our second trip on Thursday, July 17th late in the evening. Benny (of Bonaire Town Homes) was at the airport to help us with our luggage and rental truck. I will post a report on the accomodations and getting around also. We dropped off our luggage at our town home and took a quick trip into town. Everything seemed to be just as we had left it a little over two years ago.

We are snorkelers only but for our first day out, Friday, we decided to take the boat to Bon Adventure on Klein Bonaire from Capt. Don's. The water was crystal clear with amazing visibility. We saw a sea turtle with a beautiful shell that was not tarnished with algae. The divers and dive master saw a hammer head shark! They were all quite excited over that.

Later on that first day, when we were on our own, we tried a drift snorkel from La Dania's Leap to Karpata. This turned out to be our favorite snorkel. Saw a couple more turtles and a large variety of corals and fish. We parked at Karpata for this snorkel and walked back to the cairns that mark La Dania's Leap since the yellow rock for this beach is still missing. At the cairns, you follow the path to the ocean and then head to the right a little ways. Watch for a spot where the rock dips a little closer to the water and jump off (leap) there. Also, you might want to make sure the current is flowing towards Karpata as usual. We did this by throwing in a small stick and watching which direction it drifted. The road is one way only from about Rappel to Karpata and if you want to skip the long drive back to Kralendjik through Rincon, watch for a small dirt road to the right marked by a rock with a motorcycle.

On Sunday, we stopped by Karel's Bar the pier downtown and hired Captain Mike to take us to Klein Bonaire. Most businesses have limited hours on Saturday and very limited hours on Sunday so we felt lucky to find Captain Mike to take us over to Klein. He dropped us and our gear at a small deserted beach and gave us directions to what he called turtle beach. We followed his directions and walked south to the tires before entering the water to drift back to the beach where we had dropped our gear. What a wonderful drift snorkel! In that very short distance, I saw 8 sea turtles and a myriad of other sea life. When Captain Mike returned to take us back to Bonaire, he gave us the scenic tour, slowing to point out the iguanas on the sea wall and the beautiful blue of the water. Captain Mike was a wonderful character full of worldly information.

On Monday, we took a trip to Washington Slagbaai National Park. I recommend stopping at Suplado to see the blowhole, Boka Kokolishi to see the algae shelves and Pos Mangel to see the wildlife. Wayaka III is supposed to have some of the best snorkeling on Bonaire although we did not get there in time to find out if this was actually true. We saw several flamingos at Salina Slagbaai. The road is unpaved and very bumpy and it takes a good hour to drive from Wayaka to the park exit. On the return trip to Kralendjik, we stopped in Rincon at Priscas to try some of her world-renowned ice cream. It was very rich, but very good.

Tuesday, we decided to do the drift snorkel from La Dania to Karpata again. Shortly after jumping into the water, we spotted a black fin shark! Although he did not bother us, it was a little disconcerting to have a shark in the water somewhere behind us and not be able to get out of the water until we reached Karpata. When we mentioned this to the locals and regulars, they all told us how lucky we were to see something this unusual. I have to say, we did not feel lucky at all.

For our last 2 days on the island, we did drift snorkels from Oil Slick Leap to Weber's Joy, Jeff Davis to 1000 Steps and some easy snorkeling at Andrea I and II. Also we enjoyed seeing all the millions of juveniles at Tori's Reef. Margate Bay was a gentle snorkel and Windsock had many juveniles. We also took another trip with Captain Mike to Klein Bonaire for a guided turtle snorkel. Although we only saw 2 turtles, Captain Mike was able to point out many things to us that we would have otherwise missed. There were several squid, a scorpion fish tucked in some coral and many juveniles that would have been easily overlooked due to their small size. On the way back, he showed us the general area near the fruit and fish market where a sea horse has been hanging out for the past few years. How exciting to see an actual sea horse in the wild!

Be sure to take lots of sunblock and use it if you are at all prone to sunburn. Although it was a little sad leaving Bonaire, our trip was packed with fun. It makes it much easier to leave when you know you will be back within a year.

you guys sound like you kniw what you were doing;)

(and you saw a ton of turtles, a shark, and no telling what else)

maybe you did know;)

congratulations!

We did have a pretty good idea of what we were doing this time out. I have to admit, on our first trip to Bonaire (May 2001), we felt a little lost for the first couple of days. The final count on the turtles was 17 this trip. I thought that was a lot compared to the 5 I saw on the first trip in 2001.

Wow a shark! That would be neat to see, but I am sure my heart would be pounding loud!

Debi, great report! I think this one should be read by all snorkelers! Definitely the way to see the island. Did you see a black fin shark or black tip shark? I know that black tips are spotted on the windward side of the island. Most sharks are more afraid of you or just curious...they are beautiful creatures and once you realize the type, and their behaviour, it can be a great experience (note: not talking about great whites, makos, bull, tiger here!)

Captain Mike sounds like he knows his stuff. Our first time on Bonaire we took a Fish Behavior Snorkel course with Sand$ on our no dive day, and she showed us stuff we had been looking at all week bud didn't see! Oh, and 17 turtles! WOW! I saw 2 and felt lucky this last time

Cynde, it probably was black tip shark. Just a bit of a typo there. I don't know my sharks that well and never expected I would need to know them. We did however look it up in one of my mother's reef fish books and it definitely matched the description in the book.

Awesome Report!!! With the exception of the sharks, it brought back many wonderful memories!!I also have seen a seahorse while snorkeling and feel very lucky to have had the privlidge. I am happy to say that I have never had a shark experience with the exception of a nurse shark, and never want to! I have also been very lucky to spot many turtles while snorkeling over at Kline. It is not unusual to spot a couple of Green turtles when ever we do a drift at No Name and one time we saw six in one snorkel!!!
Thanks for sharing!!!!

Yes seeing the shark was not an experience that I would like to go through again anytime soon. In fact, that is why we stayed away from LaDania's Leap for the last 2 days of the trip even though it was our favorite snorkel. Hopefully I'll be able to do the drift from LaDania to Karpata again next trip when the shark is not so fresh in my mind.