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Trip Reports: Trip Report - Christmas 2000
Bonaire Talk: Trip Reports: Archives: Archives 2000 to 2005: Archives - 2000-07-13 to 2001-05-18: Trip Report - Christmas 2000
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Bender on Monday, January 1, 2001 - 11:28 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Returned on Saturday from 7 wonderful days on Bonaire. Our group of 11 stayed at the Lions Dive. Accommodations were fine and those of us that stayed at Lions Dive before Lenny were pleased with the improvements. The Bon Bini Dive operations rebuilt into a more spacious gear room and retail shop. The new sand beach area where the restaurant/bar used to be got a lot of use from our group. The view from the pool area is now more open to the water. And Gibi’s Restaurant and Bar now open above the dive shop is a great place to watch the sun set while having a cocktail before dinner. Kudos to the management of the Lions Dive for getting these improvements underway in a timely manner (relatively speaking).

We flew Air Jamaica for the first time from Atlanta via Montego Bay. Each flight was at least 30 minutes late. The advantage of AJ over ALM was the time of day the flights are scheduled; we arrived by 4:30pm in the afternoon and departed Bonaire at 4:00pm which basically gave us another day on the island. Other than the delays, everything else went smoothly. Caribbean Dive Tours did a great job with all the travel arrangements which included the rooms, flights, rental car, and dive packages.

Our group of 11 included 5 divers (which included my 2 teenage sons and myself). I got in 15 dives in 6 days, and the diving was terrific! We did one boat dive to Klein (Forest) and the rest were shore dives. The shore dives included Andrea 1 and 2, Ol’ Blue, Something Special, Windsock, Hilma Hooker, and of course directly in front of Lions Dive (Reef Scientifico). As others have reported, the shallow areas at many of the dive sites were devastated. But the snorkelers in our group found shallows still intact at Windsock, Andrea 1 and 2, Something Special and Ol’ Blue. Visibility was 60-80 feet, lower that previous visits. Water temperature between 80-82 degrees. Our group had multiple sightings of Hawksbill Turtles right in front of Lions Dive. We also saw a large Green Moray in front of Buddy Dive, which I found out later, is named Ralph. We heard of other divers who saw spotted eagle rays, but none of our group was that lucky. Of course there was the usual Tarpon and Barracuda. Our favorite dive of the week was Ol’ Blue. The staff of Bon Bini Divers did an excellent job, helping us out with equipment repairs and providing information on dive site conditions. The drive through tank pick up was very convenient!

We signed up our two youngest (girls 7 and 9) for the Sea Lab Adventure program that I read about on the Bon Bini Divers web site. The girls had a great time! The program is conducted by a marine biologist, Karen, and includes lab time and snorkeling time. The kids learn all about the underwater ecosystem and creature identification. I had originally signed them up for 3 mornings, but they had so much fun that they went a forth day! Next trip, my wife wants to attend! I highly recommend this to anyone traveling with youngsters.

As far as eating went, we had some great experiences thanks to the comments from posters on this discussion board. We had great meals at Zee Zeicht, It Rains Fishes, Den Lamen, Rum Runners, Dock of the Bay and of course Gibi’s. Our whole group was impressed with the quality of food and the atmosphere at these establishments. Mosquitoes were plentiful and we made sure to apply the OFF before going to dinner.

Drove by Jake and Linda’s on our way to diving and saw the famous front porch web cam, but did not get a chance to drop by and say hello. Maybe next time.

Once again, another relaxing vacation on Bonaire. I have got to figure out a way to afford visiting more often! I can’t wait another 2 years!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By joe chandler on Tuesday, January 2, 2001 - 7:56 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

"sand beach" ????-joe

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dara Walter on Tuesday, January 2, 2001 - 9:17 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Nice report, Steve...I suspect your kids spent their days with Karen Eckrich of Sea & Discover. She is a great asset for divers, too, regardless of your current knowledge level. It's great to hear about people bringing their kids along and introducing them to the wonders of the sea.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By peter c garchinsky on Tuesday, January 2, 2001 - 9:31 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Going to Bonaire in 9 days, thank you for the update. Looking forward to finding that green moray for myself. Some have commented that Ralph is over 8'. I think he once lived under a wreck in front of the defunct Sunset Beach property.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By michael gaynor on Tuesday, January 2, 2001 - 9:48 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

No, that was his ex wife who lived in the tug. I met her alomost 15 years ago when she was 6 feet and still single.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Niki Harris on Tuesday, January 2, 2001 - 4:03 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Enjoyed your report, Steve. Especially the reinforcement of my plan to go Air Jamaica this next time. I like the arrival and departure times too. Thanks for letting us live vicariously.

Michael, I had to chuckle!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Lorraine Meadows on Tuesday, January 2, 2001 - 8:47 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Michael sense of humor:) :) I loved your report Steve, Masha Danki!!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By James T. McPeak on Saturday, January 6, 2001 - 10:03 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Steve,
Thank you for your great report. As a teacher, I am so happy to hear kids getting an exposure to the "World Beneath."
We will be leaving on February 17th, and I can't wait.

 


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