Our 15th visit to Bonaire (Aug 9 to 23) was a wonderful way to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. We have been very lucky on our last two trips to Bonaire. On this one we missed the blackout back home. In February we missed the snowstorm that shut down the northeast. Great timing!

We flew Air Jamaica from NYC’s JFK airport with on time flights and luggage arriving with us. When we left Bonaire, we enjoyed the new departure terminal. It is really nice and makes waiting for your flight a whole lot easier.

Staying at our two-bedroom unit at Sand Dollar Condo Resort is like returning home. Having a complete kitchen is really a great way to save money on food. We have found Cultimara and Bonaire Warehouse to have almost everything you need in terms of food items. The Sand Dollar grocery store on the grounds is also well stocked except for meat and produce. We still enjoy eating out as well because there are so many great restaurants.

Diving from the new pier at Sand Dollar could not be easier. Tanks are on the dock. Just grab one and jump in. Bari Reef, the house reef, is still where we do most of our diving. The fish life is plentiful and provides many great photo opportunities. This trip was great for shooting moray eels. We saw them on every dive!

Again, high praise for Tim Peters at Fish Eye Photo, the photo pro on site. He pressure tested my Nikonos V before my first dive and found a small leak. One o-ring later, I was out diving and taking great photos. I would suggest this test if your camera has been sitting around for a while. Also, get at least one or two rolls processed with him so that you can check out your settings. He also offers great photo tips.

After more than 200 dives, Joan decided to give up her Tusa Liberator fins and try the Tusa X-pert split fins. She loves them and no longer comes back tired from a dive. She gives these fins high marks for performance and not putting stress on her legs. This is also good for me because when Joan would get tired she would hook her finger into one of the loops on my BC. I would then tow her around the reef and back, often not realizing why I was getting so tired.

Alan also dove with Jake to help him clean the reef cam. Actually Jake cleaned the reef cam and Alan took photos (see other thread for photos).

We also ventured up to Andrea 1 for snorkeling with our friend Tom who had joined us for a few days. We think it is one of the best snorkeling spots on the island.

We had our annual dinner with Jake and Linda which is always a great time. On our first night we had dinner with Debbie, Rick, and Erica Sperling at our favorite place Bobby Jan’s Take away. We went back two more times! It’s one of the best places for ribs and chicken with the most reasonable prices. Another fine restaurant we tried for the first time was Casablanca Argentinean Grill.

Michael Gaynor’s Chat & Browse is convenient for internet service with reasonable rates. He also has sells film, rents cell phones and has an excellent collection of local art.

It was another wonderful trip. We already have our tickets for February!

Below is our official 20th wedding anniversary photo:

Big time agreement on Bobby Jan's (or whatever way you're supposed to spell it). We found ourselves driving by during the week just to see if it might be open on a weeknight when we were there in March. To my thinking maybe one of the best dining values on Bonaire

counting down (not in days yet) till January

Happy 20th, and congratulations! Our 25th is in a couple of weeks. We're going to Ireland to celebrate, so no Bonaire trip this year. But, as soon as possible we'll be back.

Great report and congratulations on 20 years! We celebrate our 10th in a year and 7 months and I just KNOW we will be celebrating it on Bonaire!

Congratulations on your 20th anniversary! And the best place to spend it!

I'm glad we went in August one year and met you!

Cheers, Niki and Bob, (always in May-June)

Niki & Bob,

Thanks for good wishes. It was great meeting you guys too. Can you belive it has been three years? Did you see our other posting on how the web cams are cleaned?

Alan and Joan, congratulations on 20 years! It sounds like you had a much needed relaxing and wonderful vacation at your "home away from home!" I agree about the dock at Sand$. We ended up doing 2 dives from it in July. Saw a hawksbill turtle on the last twighlight dive we did there. We kept our eye out for the frogfish nazi but never saw him! LOL! Maybe one of these times our trips will coordinate and we can meet in person!

Thanks for the good wishes. We're just getting tired of everybody telling us about the turtles they have seen on Bari Reef. When we would come back from a dive and people would say, "Did you see the turtle we just saw?" No, they must hide when we enter the water is our only thoughts.

LOL Alan...Kelly wanted to do Oil Slick that late afternoon and I talked her into going back to Bari, it was her first turtle...I kept telling her that if we had done Oil Slick she wouldn't have seen the turtle...I think that you just don't dive ENOUGH at Bari to increase your odds;-)