Stayed at the Divi and we would return to this resort. It is clean and all the staff are very friendly. Some people were not impressed with the Divi, it is not a super fancy place but it was good enought for us. The food they served was good and the dive staff was nice to us, so what if you have to hang your BC on a nail in a shack. They lock up your gear at night and no one messes with your stuff. They are doing some renovations on the timeshare part and the casino is being built. Stevo is the manager at the Divi and he is doing a great job of fixing the place up, if you have a problem he will take care of all your needs. We meet some local people that were very friendly to us and they told us the best dive and snorkle sites on the island. I have been a lurker on this board for about 6 months and I meet a bonaire talker named Darlene who my wife and I became close with. She is a wonerfull person to spend time with. She has gills on the side of her neck from being in the water so much. I would like to thank everyone from this board that gave suggestions on how to spend your time on Bonaire, this is what made our trip great. Thanks to Renee from the Woodwind for showing us so many things underwater and treating us so nice also to Jake for letting us use his back yard to get to the reef cam on small wall reef. Jake is a very nice guy and I wish we could have meet Linda his wife. All in all we would return to Bonaire again to dive its beautiful reefs again someday but never will we connect with ALM in Curecao again those people suck big time. They left us stranded Sunday afternoon on our return trip in Curecao after being so late leaving Bonaire. Thanks to American Airlines for putting us in the Shareton and paying all our expenses for us, they were great. ALM says they were not late that they just reschuled without telling anyone. The reps. for ALM were rude and would not help us. It will be AA to San Juan and AA to Bonaire next trip.

Hi Carl (and everyone else)

I'm new to the newsgroup, though not to Bonaire. I was in Bonaire the same week as Carl, and roomed with Darlene. We spent time with Jake as well, and had a fabulous time, in between strong reactions to the tragic happenings back home. We chose to extend our trip to wednesday, being afraid of stranding, and had good luck with American Airlines too.

I found the Divi fine, though I would have liked individual dive lockers so that I could dive any old time without having to grab my gear the night before. The shed was locked 10 pm until 8 am, and I occasionally awoke early, wanting to dive.

I will definately return to Bonaire, and am traveling to nearby Curacao next month, so it'll be interesting to compare.

I'm glad you got back safely ... you've probably heard already that Darlene fell monday night and broke her kneecap. We got special treatment by AA on our flights home and other than some pain she made it safely home.

Take care,
Karen.

Sorry to hear about Darlene (webowouble) falling Monday, I have sent a couple of e-mails but she has not responded yet. Be careful in Curaco next month I hear it is a dangerous place to travel around. We found the people their quite friendly to us but I guess you just have to watch were you go. It was fun meeting you and Irene and diving with you guys. Good luck and have fun.

Finsup

Several Bonairean friends have also told me CUR is not a safe place to travel. Exactly what are the issues. They mentioned high levels of crime?

Annie
Cape Cod

Yes the crime is high and from what we saw there are crowds of underisables hanging around. Just like any city in the US has. Just us your better judgment when venturing out at night, don't go in a dark alley.

I wonder if the crime is mostly in the city? I'll be staying at Habitat Curacao with a bunch of photographers, and I understand it's quite far away from the main city area. Perhaps I'll just stick to the resort!

Karen.

Karen,

Habitat Curacao is far removed from Willemsted - and is a very relaxed and safe resort. The more populated areas, especially Otrabanda (the east side of Willemsted), are places that crime is a problem. I would agree with Carl about walking around Willemsted at night.

At Habitat Curacao, on the other hand, you can walk around by yourself at any time of day or night. Naked even (I would think). And not have a problem.

Jake

Great news! Thanks, Jake! I couldn't imagine that any Habitat would be unsafe. I wonder where the Underwater Photo-Tech shop is ... but if I go there I'll be with the owner, so shouldn't have a problem.

Cheers,
Karen.

Karen, if you decide to follow up Jake's "walking naked" at Habitat suggestion ---- will you let us know when it's going to happen, please?

Sure, but don't hold your breath! I'm one of those folks who would choose to wear a swimsuit in a "swimsuit optional" hot tub!

:-)

Karen.

Hi Everyone this is Tom, Darlene had her surgery Thursday afternoon they put her knee back together with two screws and wire, she is still in alot of pain and will be spending at least one more night in the hospital, so her trip reports will be delayed for a little while, she says hi to all. Tom

Thanks for the update, Tom! It's hard to think of all Darlene's bubbling enthusiasm stuck in a hospital bed!

Best wishes for a swift recovery!!!

Karen.

OWWWWWW!

Tom, tell Darlene that Susan and Geoffrey send their best, and wish her a speedy recovery!

What it is about knees lately??

tom, be sure to tell darlene, hello and hope she heals quickly. sherry baker

Just thought I would let everyone know that I spoke wiht Darlene Ellis tonight. She is still in the hospital and maybe will be coming home sometime Saturday. She is in allot of discomfort( and maybe a little green around the gills) but the medication is surely helping. She had the hospital save the cast the doctors put on her leg in Bonaire. She said that with all the great
get- well wishes and beautiful drawings that people put on it she just couldn't part with it. I surely expect to see it hanging somewhere in her house when I visit her early next week. Thank you all for supporting her -- she is a special person and friend.

Hey, Darlene....hope you are mending quickly. So sorry to hear about your mishap and hope that you are up and about soon. Remember...water heals....time to return to Bonaire for the therapy aspect of your recovery! Feel better. Carole

Darlene....hope you are feeling better
now you will always remember Bonaire in more ways than one....may your heart and knee heal

Thanks for all the well wishes!!!!! I got out of the hospital last Sunday and it looks like it is going to be a long haul. I just got a wheel chair and a hospital bed so now I am a little more comfortable and mobile. The wheel chair means that I can access the computer for short periods of time. I hope to start reading and posting by the weekend. I have Bonaire withdrawels!!!! Thanks again for the get well wishes!!! Darlene

Darlene:
Glad to see that you are up and about...so to speak. I know that the recovery period can be long and uncomfortable, so I wish you the best.
Looking forward to your trip report and news about all our friends at Divi.
Y'all take care now, y'hear!

darlene, so sorry to hear about your injury. we miss your happy input on the discussion group and i miss your emails too.

take care and get well. sherry

Get well soon Darlene....time to put all your Bonaire photos in an album ? Study the dive magazines ? at least there is'nt any snow yet...must be hard to get around as a novice in a wheelchair in the snow.....

TRIP REPORT 9/8/01 - 9/15/01 EXTENDED TO 9/19/01-PART ONE
Hi everyone!!! I am finally going to post my delayed trip report.
Airlines: AMERICAN ROCKS!!!! I traveled Boston to San Juan and San Juan to Bonaire and every connection went fine and without a hitch. We even arrived a few minutes early! You may loose a day on each end of travel because of the departure times, but all connections went great and with a smile! On the way home it was even better! With all the turmoil going on we still departed on time and made our connections with out a hitch, infact we made them in style! Due to an unfortunate accident on Monday, The 17th... I fell and broke my knee cap. The hospital in Bonaire said I needed surgery as soon as I got home from Bonaire and they set the broken knee in a cast for traveling. I was wheeled around by an American attendant at every location. When we got to San Juan my room mates and I got a golf cart ride through the huge airport and even through customs.The attendant stayed with me right till we boarded our flight. American made the connection a pleasurable experience.
I was very worried about my travel day as my leg was suppose to be elevated to keep the swelling down. The plane was not full so I was avle to keep my leg elevated across two seats on the American Eagle and across three seats on the regular plane. I was totally unable to apply any pressure so I couldn't even take baby steps! Thanks to Stevo, my room mates and my husband all making arrangements, American had wheel chairs waiting for me everywhere. The scariest part of the trip was boarding the small plane while still in Bonaire.They put me in a small wheel chair and had to pull me up the stairs backwards. When I got off in San Juan, they had a special rig like an elevator ramp that they cranked up to get me and then loewred me down from the plane. That was much nicer!
my experience on American could not get any better and I would reccommend them to anyone!!!

Restaurants: I ams sorry to say that I don't have a lot to report on restaurants. This was an economy trip for sanity. I mostly ate in my room or with friends on island. I did eat at the Chibbi, Chibbi a couple of times and the meals were very good. The Coconut shrimp is to die for! I did discover that there are weo great pizza places on the island. One is in the Harbour Mall and the other is between Jake's house and town. I don't know the names of the places but the pizza was delicious! The rest of my meals were sandwich stuff purchased from the cultmare market. And for the record, Richard's was closed for the month of September.

Hotel: Divi Flamingo Resort... It just keeps getting better and better! Stevo is doing an incredible job and the place looks great! I had my usual ocean front deluxe room. The veiw is awesome from my balcony! I don't have any scoop on the time shares and they are still working on the Casino. Stevo said the casino should be done with in a month. A beautiful gift shop and little food store opened up in the resort. The gift shop is full of great stuff. There is now a very nice managers cocktail party with rum punch and apitizers at the Eagle's Nest Bar and Janice Huckaby sells her art there too. On Tuesday nights they have a slide show at the Eagle's Nest.The activities center is still not opened and Stevo and I had a long discussion about that. I shared my concerns for safty and peacefulness and he shared his visions excitedly with me of all the plans and he assured me that we will both be happy. It sounded more like a place to book excursions but they didn't necessarily go from the Divi. I am still not sure if we are on the same page on that one but at least we communicated our feelings and we see each others points. At this point I would like to publicly thank Stevo for all his help during my accident. He was there for my every need. I actuall had room service when I got back from the hospital! I couldn't fit in taxis so he personally drove me to the hospital the next day. He even offered to pick up my prescription for me. The day we were leaving, he woke up at 4 am and brought my room mates and I all to the airport and he didn't leave till I was all settled in a wheelchair. He is continuing to help me via e-mail for getting all kinds of forms and stuff. Stevo, thank you with all my heart! You shure made an unfortunate accident a lot easier!!!! I also would like you to thank Myrna who paid a special visit to me to make sure everything was alright and Luis for visiting me with that great smile and letting all my Bonaire friends know what had happened.
I have always liked the Divi and it just got better! It's that Bonairian heart of the people. Thanks everyone!

Woodwind Sailing, Snorkeling and Friends: PART TWO

Well guys, I am famous!!!! My second day on the island I went for a 6:30 am snorkel and when I was on my way back to my room, this guy, who was with his wife, says aren't you Darlene? I couldn't beleive it! I knew he was from Bonaire Talk right away and I asked him his name and I didn't recognise it. He was a lurker for about six months and he reconized me from my picture!! I thought that was so-oo-oo cool!!!! It turns out that he dives and his wife snorkels so she hooked up with me and the Woodwind for the week and he dove with my roomates and others. His name is Carl Viator and I am happy to see that he has posted since he has been back and I hope to see more postings. We all went to the Street cam and the Small Wall Dive Site that afternoon.We were at the street cam at 2.45 pm on Monday, Sept 10th and Carl was cleaning the lense at 3:15 pm at small wall. Did anyone capture us? I still haven't read bonaire talk yet. (it is my next goal)Anyway it was great to meet such nice friends so early in the trip!
I saw my first green flash this trip and it was incredible!!!! Infact, I saw it two nights!!!!! It was during my extended stay time so it was really a bonus!
I spent most of my time in the water. Now that's a surprise! Everyone kept checking my neck for gills! I would start my days off with an early morning snorkel, then I would sail on the Woodwind for another two snorkel stops, then I would go in for a long afternoon snorkel and some times a night or early evening snorkel. The snorkeling around the divi is incredible! The cement pier is now full of life! I can't beleive the difference since last February! The size of some of the inhabitants are huge! There is a lot more coral growth too. Of course I still love hanging above the little boat that they have sunk to the right of the cement pier with all kinds of life on and in it. One of my big thrills was right at the Divi. Two mornings in a row I got to swim with a beautiful, graceful spotted eagle ray right beneath me for at least five minutes!!
My other great thrill was when I was out on the Woodwind and we went to No Name Beach at Kline. We all got to swim with a four foot Loggerhead turtle just beneath us for about 15 minutes. I was holding my chest in such awe of the beauty!! I actually got a great picture of it and when I get organized I will see if Jake will post it for me. My third biggest highlight was very small. I actually got to see two frog fish. They were so neat. One as yellow and too deep to really enjoy and the other was pointed out to me by a friend and he was orange and I saw him up close and personal!
Obviously I snorkeled at the Calabas a lot and then with the Woodwind I went to No Name at Kline, Andrea I and Andrea II and one time we snorkeled between Andrea I and II. I also went to Small Wall, Bon Bini, Coral Gardens and Garden City. All were great snorkels. The Small Wall has the biggest French Angel that I have ever seen!
Some of the fish that I have seen for the first time were: the longlure frogfish, scorpion fish, a huge 6 foot cornet fish, high hat,black shrimp,tiger grouper, puddingwife,glass eye snapper and of course the huge Loggerhead turtle and the spotted eagle ray.
here's a list of most of the other fish:harliquin bass, greater soapfish, midnight blue parrot, queen parrot with green teeth and all other parrots,spanish hog fish, puddingwife, yellowhead wrasse, bluehead wrasse, squirrel fish, soldier fish, glass eye snapper, cardinal fish, lot's of peacock flounders,scorpion fish, sandivers, trumpet fish, burr fish, balloon fish, porcupine puffer, honeycomb and scrawled cow fish , smooth and spotted trunk fish, scrawled file fish.orand and white spotted file fish, spotted and yellow goat fish, spotted drums,glassy sweepers, high hat, green morray, spotted eagle ray, lots of big redlip blennies, gobies, bristel worms, sea cucumbers, flamingo tounges, squid, arrow crab, fire worms, golden tail morray, and a slipper lobster. I think that is most of them and I would like to give special thanks to Renee for pointing out most of the smaller critters and some of the big ones too! That's way I love to go out on the Woodwind so much, she knows where everything lives and she has a real nack for spotting things. I also bought Jan Huckaby's video of one of the snorkel trips on the Woodwind and it is incredible!!!! I have probably watched it twenty times since I have been back and I just never get tired of it.Of course I hammed it up while the camera was running and Barney the captain helped with a few funny scenes..yea I know, I have nothing else to do while I lie there in bed!But it really is awewome!!!!!
I want to end this post by thanking my Woodwind friends, Janice, Larry, Renee and Barney for all the good times and good friendship that I have taken with me this trip.I want to thank Jake for letting us be a part of his family for a day. I want to thank Stevo, Myrna, and Luis from the Divi. I want to thank my wonderful room mates whom when we started we were strangers and now we are more like sisters. You guys are all my Bonarian Paradise and I have a very unique treasure with all your names on it!! I saved the beautiful green cast with all your signatures and great art work on it. We got a french angel, a turtle, a stingray, the woodwind and a snorkel stick person plus all your autographs. How lucky can I be to have so many friends when I was away from home in Paradise!!!!!

Darlene... WOW... I loved your trip report.
So sorry to hear about your accident, but sounds like you are on the mend and had the royal treatment.
We were scheduled to leave for Bonaire on the 12th of Sept., but of course had to reschedule. We are leaving now on the 11th of Oct. I wasn't going to get excited about going, so if something happens to prevent the trip again, the disappointment wouldn't be so bad. However, who could read your post and not get feverish for Bonaire!!! I didn't know about the Woodwind until I read some of the recent posts. I want to book some time. Do I need to make reservations prior to arriving on the 11th? I only snorkel and your descriptions make my head spin. I had no idea of the wealth of marine life that could be seen snorkeling. Thanks for the wonderful report. I can't wait to get there!
Best wishes and Speedy recovery!
Nan

2Nancys, Sorry to hear that your trip was delayed but Oct. 11th will be here in a blink of an eye. Renee has a sign up board at the Divi Flamingo or pick up a flyer when you are at the airport and it gives all the times of her sails and the prices. The phone number is listed on that flyer. The bbq day is Wednesday and it is a really good time with an awesome spread of food!!! Her captain Barney make the best ribs that I have ever had! I like to do the sails that have two different snorkel spots so I get a variety. Hell, I like sailing on the Woodwind everyday!!! That is my choice of transportation while in Bonaire and I can use my legs (when I don't have a broken knee, Tthat is) to walk to town and a lot of restaurants. Have a great time in Bonaire. I have to wait til January 5th to go back again with my husband.

darlene, loved you report. heal soon. sherry

Darlene, great report, and to think this great adventure started in Bow, NH at the Lansdown's house. I also happen to be at the meeting when Jake told Rene about your dilemma.

Darlene - what a great trip, and what a great story! How many people can say they've been hauled up the stairs BACKWARDS! Hope you are on the mend. Thanks for the report.

Darlene..Lee and I were wondering how you handled the cast and the restricted seating. Glad it worked out okay. Some time back, I sent you a "Get Well" Email to your work addy. Couldn't find your personal one.