I'll explain what the "Rincon Athletic Club" is later in the report. But first, let me get some of the specifics out of the way....

We left Chicago O'Hare at 6:15am on November 24th, on Air Jamaica. Security, in my opinion, was almost non-existent. I really couldn't see much difference from any of the other times I had travelled through O'hare. Except for the fact that I was "randomly" wanded and searched.

Our flight was on time and in a spanking new Airbus A320. We were served a breakfast and the food was typical airline quality - palatable and digestable, but not worth fighting over. Some wine, a beer, a crappy movie, and in four hours we were at Montego Bay. Jumped on a brand new Airbus A321, and in two hours were at Flamingo Airport. Arrival was on time, and all of our luggage made it through. The return flight on December 1st was basically the same, except that our connection in Montego bay was delayed roughly twenty minutes. No problem, time for another beer at the Jimmy Buffett bar. This is the second time our group has flow Air Jamaica, and we have no complaints. We have always been on time (or very close) and all of our luggage has arrived with us. We will book our next trip to Bonaire on Air Jamaica.

We stayed at the Saddollar, as we have on our two previous trips. Granted, there is no dock, but we usually only use the condo for sleeping, showering, and having a snack. The Sanddollar, to us, is the perfect combination of resort living at a budget price. We stay at the same unit, a three bedroom that has a beautiful balcony with a wonderful ocean view. The staff is polite, and the folks at the dive shop can not be beat.

We did 19 dives in six days. We dove the following sites, doing some of them more than once: Bari Reef, 1000 Steps, Ole' Blue, Karpata, Nukove Beach, Hilma Hooker, Alice in Wonderland, Windsock, Salt Pier, and Forest.

We saw most of the standard reef inhabitants, but some of the standouts were: octopus, turtle, lobster, huge barracude (6+ feet - I have him on video), and squid. We couldn't find the resident frogfish at Bari, and I have yet to find a stinkin' seahorse!!

A couple of even bigger standouts: On our first visit to Alice in Wonderland, we went out to the drop off on the far side of the second reef. There was about 30 horse-eyed Jacks that had coraled a group of small silver baitfish of some sort (not sure what they were). The jacks kept the baitfish in a large "ball" and were taking turns swimming through the swarm gobling a few up on each pass. The swarm was in constant motion, and actually moved towards us and partially ungulfed us. The jacks weren't too happy about this and actually made a close pass or two at my wife..... We were mesmerized by the whole event and continued to watch it until our computers were literally screamming at us. We returned on a different day, but unfortunately did not encounter the feeding frenzy we had earlier witnessed.

Another first for us was a close encounter with Dolphins. This happened when were were on a boat going to the Hilma Hooker. The dolphins were in very shallow water and were in no hurry to go anywhere. The boat captain slowed and kept us right in the middle of them. We were actually getting spray from their blowholes. That's how close we were. Maybe no big deal to some of you, but it really made my day!

To sum up the diving - fantastic! I have never been disappointed with the diving on Bonaire.

As far as food, we don't rate a dive trip too heavily on the food part. We buy a lot of stuff at Cultimara and mainly eat dinners out. We ate at the Terrace by the Sanddollar. The Saturday night barbeque was really good, but I don't think the burgers are anything to write home about. We ate at the City Cafe and was very pleased. Both times we ate there (once for dinner & once for lunch), the food was really good. Plus, you have such a wonderful view of what's happening on the street that it makes you forget the rather slow service. We also made out customary stop at Compadres.

Now for the part about the Rincon Athletic Club.......
We have adopted the Rose Inn in Rincon as our official hangout joint on Bonaire. We like the fact that it's off the beaten path, and you have a really good chance of running into some very local folks. I don't believe we encountered one other tourist the whole five times were there during this trip. We decided to get bowling shirts printed up with the term Rincon Athletic Club on the back and our nicknames on the front. When we wore them to the Rose Inn, we had to explain a few things, but everyone seemed to get a good laugh out of it. And another thing..... our group of hoodlums are also private pilots and we call ourselves the "Blue Archers", kind of a take off on the Blue Angels (an Archer is a type of Piper aircraft that we fly). We had a picture of all of us at the bar at the Rose Inn from our previous trip. We had it blown up and made into a plaque with a caption on it. We gave it to the owners and they mounted it on the wall. So the next time you are at the Rose Inn (and I highly recommend you vist there), ask to see the picture of the Blue Archers......

In summary, another magnificent trip. I didn't get to meet Jake, but I figure neither him nor Bonaire are going anywhere in the near future (Jake, you missed a nice little get together at Ronald's house). We are already planning our next trip, and I am counting the days.

I'm sure I forgot to mention something, so don't be surprised if I post an "update"...

Take care all,

-dave.

Dave great report will have to try the Rose Inn we have passed it many a time on our round about trips around the island but never ventured in...You have now given us a reason! Im still looking for the frog fish too!

Dave,

I saw Ronald's wife on Sunday at a local event, and she mentioned the nice evening you guys had together. Ah well - next time.

Nice trip report too! I love watching hunting jacks and seeing them with a bait ball is something I've only seen a couple of times. Beautiful!

Jake

Dave, great report. We always stop in the Rose inn after doing ol' blue. In fact, that was the first place I had a Polar. Very nice in the shade there. Will look for the plaque next Thanksgiving. Once again, thanks for the report!

I can't get enough trip reports to keep me sane!

Dean,

It was also the first place I ever had a Polar - and it was the last!!

When we first went there, they didn't have any Amstels so we had a Polar - but it was WARM! I have never been able to choke down another Polar....

Actually, we are hooked on the Amstel Brights. Don't know why, they taste pretty much like Corona's. I guess it's the idea that they are something we can't get here in the States.

See ya,

-dave.

Dave
Good trip report, and there are seahorses on Bonaire - actually if you can't find them in the waters around Bonaire, you will not be able to find them anyplace.. they are all over - they just hide good and are hard to locate.(frogfish are sometimes even harder to spot - but they are there as well).
But - now you have two good reasons to go back.

Have passed by the Rose Inn... will have to stop after a northerly trip next month to check out the place (thanks for the tip).

Dave, nice trip report...made my day a little brigher :-)...we saw three sea horses in September:-)...the jack/bait ball encounter sounds very cool...maybe next time:-)

The Rose Inn is the "place to be" on the weekends from what I understand....at least that's where the real people hang out. Carole

Dave, how nice for you to see Dolphins.. it would appear they are seen/heard more frequently now on BON.. I hope to GOD they don't get hunted down.. Nice trip report too... S

How do we get to Rose Inn? I love local..

Annie
Cape Cod

If you are coming from the main city, drive thru the heart of downtown Rincon, bear to the left at the Church ahead of you. Follow the road a little bit and it will be on your left hand side just before the road bends/winds to the right direction again. It is very small but does have a sign out front along with a board posting foods and things on it, I believe. I am certain someone from the Island can give you better directions than this, however! We "discovered" it while looking for the way into Gotomeer Lake from the Rincon side. Hope you can get specific directions!! Carole

Rose Inn is the place to order iguanna stew or soup, if you can get past the little claw with scales and skin hanging over the edge it tastes just like chicken.....great place to stop after a dive for some"wogga wogga" and great food in the shade...if Priscas ice cream is not to your liking
we'll look for the Blue Archers photo...is'nt life fun ?

Debbi,

Iguana stew??? I don't think so.......

I have to say that the only think we have had to eat from the Rose Inn are packaged peanuts.

I consider myself a rather adverturous person, but I really don't have the courage or the mindset to have iguana soup or goat stew.

When I think about iguana soup/stew the first thing that pops to mind is a book idea. A couple of us in our group have considered writing a book about driving in Bonaire (this is a joke, btw). We were going to call it: "Dead Lizards and Donkey Crap: A Driving Guide to Bonaire".

Anyway, pizza & Brights for me - I'll leave the local food to the locals.....

-dave.

oh come on dave " when in Rome...do as the Romans do "..and beside do you know the myth behind eating iguanna ?

is the myth...I guana forget I ate it!

I believe it has something to do with the charecteristics of the male iguanna, and the suposed effect it will have with the male human who consumes it.

As a recent iguana soup eater, I have to say that iguana soup is THE reason I'm returning to Bonaire! :-) Just kidding...but it does have a nice flavor, and all those little bones (I guess I got a tiny one!) keep you guessing. And it was all worth it to get the appreciative glance from the waiter who brought it...and the looks of disgust from my fellow 4 ladies!
--Jani (4th lady)

Dave, thanks for the great report. Sounds like the trip was a winner! The bait ball experience sounds exciting. Sure wish I could dive! Yes, I loved the Rose Inn. We were driving through Rincon and asked someone where we could get something to eat and they directed us there. What a lovely little place. Loved the birds! We had some kind of kind of barbeque... still not sure what the meat was, but it was very tasty! Had great conversation with the locals while waiting for our meal and got to try that cornmeal dish.. forget the name. Anyway, thanks again for the report. Much enjoyed reading it.

the male iguana has TWO where the human male has one, hence the myth(?) about iguana. Aslo sopi Balado (flying fish soup) and according ot Elivs Martinus, Cadushi soup also have great restorative powers. BTW, Annie, Rose Inn is quite far from the water and you will probably want to wait for a windless day to experience it. Sundays used to be great barbecue. Don't know if it is still happening.

You sure are up late Michael.