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Trip Reports: Brian & Sue Christmas 2004 Trip Report
Bonaire Talk: Trip Reports: Archives: Archives 2000 to 2005: Archives - 2004-08-02 to 2005-05-08: Brian & Sue Christmas 2004 Trip Report
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Brian (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #814) on Sunday, January 9, 2005 - 2:23 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Sue & Brian’s Trip Report Christmas 2004

We had an early flight out of London Heathrow to Amsterdam leaving at 6:30am, so we stayed over night at the Renaissance Hotel at the airport (we got a very good deal which included 15 nights free parking on site). Surprisingly a lot of the passengers on the flight out to Amsterdam were also on the Bonaire/Lima flight. Our flight with KLM was on time and one of the movies was ‘A Shark’s Tale’ which we enjoyed. We arrived at Captain Don’s Habitat just before 5:00pm, with all luggage intact.

We have never seen such a beautiful and green Bonaire due to the previous months’ rainfall, this did however have one draw back – Mosquitoes, we had to spray with repellent during the day as well as evenings. We also nuked the room with fly spray before heading out for dinner to avoid getting bitten during the night.

The diving freedom was great as always and we did two boat dives most days supplemented with shore dive on the House Reef – La Machaca – we just missed our 600th dive. 0 We also hired a truck for a week over the Christmas holidays so we could do some more shore dives. We saw Frog Fish and Sea Horses at several sites.
1 2 3
Unusual sights were a Shark speeding along the bottom at La Machaca and a Manta again moving along the bottom at Small Wall. Another memorable experience was a 20 minute encounter with a cornet fish on the rope at Habitat – it was very curious and seemed very interested in us and our cameras.
4 5 6
We also saw so many juvenile fish, French and Queen Angels, morays, spotted drums and Rock Beauties and many more species.
7 8 9 10
We also saw two Soap Fish, two Honeycomb Cowfish, two Blue Headed Wrasse Spawning.
11 Strangely we also witnessed the courtship of two Golden Tail Morays - kissing too.
12 13 14
One highlight was seven Dolphins riding and jumping in our wake.
15

We had numerous Turtle encounters (Hawksbills and Green) with one lasting thirty minutes swimming gently a few feet from the Turtle.
16 17 18 19

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Brian (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #815) on Sunday, January 9, 2005 - 2:40 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

The Habitat boat crew - Sherman, Netto, Wilco, Jenny, Karen, Rob, Christina, Max and Chris - were excellent as ever. The Bonaire Diver has been refitted with powerful new engines and I don’t think Netto will let it out of his sight.

Our accommodation at Cap’n Don’s was in a Junior Suite which has two queen sized beds, fridge, TV and alarm clock and plenty of storage space. It also had a nice big balcony with wicker chairs, settee and table. The view was superb with the outlook across the ocean to Klein Bonaire. Our room lady Noris did a brilliant job and asked what time was most convenient for our room to be serviced each day. Habitat now has wireless service to the Bar, Restaurant and pool area and adjacent rooms (including the junior suites); shortly this will cover the whole property. It was really cool being able to surf the net, contact friends and even check in with KLM for our return trip home to the UK.

Habitat have also recently introduced a day spa facility, and the massages (Sue had a neck and shoulder massage and also a full body massage – superb) in the cabana overlooking the ocean are wonderfully relaxing – and highly recommended. One of the cottages is being converted to provide more spa facilities and we thought the spa and wireless internet access were very innovative ideas that complemented our stay at Habitat tremendously.
20 The Spa Cabana is the white building at the edge of the pool.

Dining was fantastic. Floris and Nannie (the new Restaurant management team) have really improved the menu and food quality and the service at Rum Runners is excellent. We bought a meal package that covered all of our breakfasts and 12 evening meals. This must now be one of the don’t miss restaurants with great food and direct sea views across to Klein. We ate at Rum Runners on Christmas Day and on New Years Day for the special meals which were superb. Dining out away from Habitat we ate at Gibi’s on the first Tuesday evening for the Bonaire Talkers dinner, were we met Seb and Mary and Renee and a group of American, Dutch and British tourists. We also had nice meals at Mona Lisa’s and Lion’s Den. We also ate several lunches at the City Café which were excellent.

On 27th December the Queen Mary 2 made a return visit to Bonaire, and we got up at 5:00am to go and see her arrive. The ship really is enormous and seeing her do a 180 degree turn in the channel between Klein and Bonaire was very memorable. We returned to see her depart later on that evening and have posted lots of pictures on another thread.

Before our holiday Brian was very worried about Amstel’s threat to close the brewery in Curacao – the thought of no more Brights was almost more than he could bear! Thankfully it seems that the crisis has been averted and there was certainly no shortage of Brights during our stay although the next guests may struggle while Island stocks are replenished.

New Year’s Eve was spent at the Deco Stop and Rum Runners and we had an invite to go out watch the fireworks from the Bonaire Diver. We cruised off shore to watch all the Hotels and local firework displays – it was a fantastic experience complemented by ice-cold champagne. Our last day was New Years day and we were picked up from the hotel on the 2nd Jan at 01:20 to go to the airport. The flights with KLM to Amsterdam and then London were smooth and on time and luckily we grabbed some sleep. Finally we arrived home at 23:30 (with our entire luggage) on the 2nd.

We hope you enjoy the pictures – we were both using new cameras for the first time on this trip. Thanks to Ernst for his patience and his guidance and tips on our new gear.
21 22
23 24
25 26
27 28
29 30
31 32


Thanks to Dot and Dan Doll and Chip and Cookie Cooper for their friendship, it was great to meet back up with you again.
0

All in all an absolutely wonderful holiday – thanks to Jack and everyone at Habitat for making our stay so enjoyable and memorable. We’ve already booked to go back for the coral spawning in September/October.

All the best for 2005 to everybody.
33 34
35 36
37 38
39


Till next time
40

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Brian (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #825) on Sunday, January 9, 2005 - 3:07 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

The Habitat boat crew - Sherman, Netto, Wilco, Jenny, Karen, Rob, Christina, Max and Chris - were excellent as ever. The Bonaire Diver has been refitted with powerful new engines and I don’t think Netto will let it out of his sight.

Our accommodation at Cap’n Don’s was in a Junior Suite which has two queen sized beds, fridge, TV and alarm clock and plenty of storage space. It also had a nice big balcony with wicker chairs, settee and table. The view was superb with the outlook across the ocean to Klein Bonaire. Our room lady Noris did a brilliant job and asked what time was most convenient for our room to be serviced each day. Habitat now has wireless service to the Bar, Restaurant and pool area and adjacent rooms (including the junior suites); shortly this will cover the whole property. It was really cool being able to surf the net, contact friends and even check in with KLM for our return trip home to the UK.

Habitat have also recently introduced a day spa facility, and the massages (Sue had a neck and shoulder massage and also a full body massage – superb) in the cabana overlooking the ocean are wonderfully relaxing – and highly recommended. One of the cottages is being converted to provide more spa facilities and we thought the spa and wireless internet access were very innovative ideas that complemented our stay at Habitat tremendously.
20 The Spa Cabana is the white building at the edge of the pool.

Dining was fantastic. Floris and Nannie (the new Restaurant management team) have really improved the menu and food quality and the service at Rum Runners is excellent. We bought a meal package that covered all of our breakfasts and 12 evening meals. This must now be one of the don’t miss restaurants with great food and direct sea views across to Klein. We ate at Rum Runners on Christmas Day and on New Years Day for the special meals which were superb. Dining out away from Habitat we ate at Gibi’s on the first Tuesday evening for the Bonaire Talkers dinner, were we met Seb and Mary and Renee and a group of American, Dutch and British tourists. We also had nice meals at Mona Lisa’s and Lion’s Den. We also ate several lunches at the City Café which were excellent.

On 27th December the Queen Mary 2 made a return visit to Bonaire, and we got up at 5:00am to go and see her arrive. The ship really is enormous and seeing her do a 180 degree turn in the channel between Klein and Bonaire was very memorable. We returned to see her depart later on that evening and have posted lots of pictures on another thread.

Before our holiday Brian was very worried about Amstel’s threat to close the brewery in Curacao – the thought of no more Brights was almost more than he could bear! Thankfully it seems that the crisis has been averted and there was certainly no shortage of Brights during our stay although the next guests may struggle while Island stocks are replenished.

New Year’s Eve was spent at the Deco Stop and Rum Runners and we had an invite to go out watch the fireworks from the Bonaire Diver. We cruised off shore to watch all the Hotels and local firework displays – it was a fantastic experience complemented by ice-cold champagne. Our last day was New Years day and we were picked up from the hotel on the 2nd Jan at 01:20 to go to the airport. The flights with KLM to Amsterdam and then London were smooth and on time and luckily we grabbed some sleep. Finally we arrived home at 23:30 (with our entire luggage) on the 2nd.

We hope you enjoy the pictures – we were both using new cameras for the first time on this trip. Thanks to Ernst for his patience and his guidance and tips on our new gear.
21 22
23 24
25 26
27 28
29 30


Thanks to Dot and Dan Doll and Chip and Cookie Cooper for their friendship, it was great to meet back up with you again.
0

All in all an absolutely wonderful holiday – thanks to Jack and everyone at Habitat for making our stay so enjoyable and memorable. We’ve already booked to go back for the coral spawning in September/October.

All the best for 2005 to everybody.
31 32
33 34
35 36
37


Till next time
38

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By DARLENE ELLIS (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1309) on Sunday, January 9, 2005 - 3:30 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks for the awesome trip report and pictures. You really did get a lot of special treats while you were there!!!! Dolphins, Mantas, sharks, seahorses, frogfish!!!! WOW!!!! Nice trip! :-)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By The Ginocchio's @ Golden Reef Inn (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #553) on Sunday, January 9, 2005 - 5:37 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Absolutely stunning pictures! What camera did you use?

Thanks

Liz

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By DIVER DEBBI (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #418) on Sunday, January 9, 2005 - 7:20 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

great photos...thanks for sharing !

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Sue Steiner (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #8) on Sunday, January 9, 2005 - 7:29 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Absolutely amazing photos Brian and Sue!! Seeing the photo of the dolphin brought back the excitement of watching them glide with the Habitat dive boat and then suddenly seeing them breaching. At least one person had the presence of mind to get a camera - the rest of us were still in shock and awe! I'm happy you saved such a wonderful memory. Sue

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Eileen Kimmett (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #7194) on Sunday, January 9, 2005 - 8:14 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Awesome report and the photos are absolutely beautiful!:-):-)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Annette Roswell - The Last Bite Bakery (BonaireTalker - Post #89) on Sunday, January 9, 2005 - 10:25 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Creatures seem to gravitate to certain people....I think you can probably include yourselves in that group.

I really enjoyed the photos and dolphin shot especially.

Annette

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Brian (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #828) on Monday, January 10, 2005 - 5:27 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks for the comments - I will post more shots.

Liz

I bet you can't wait to get back to Bonaire and get back in the water. Come to think of it neither can I. I hope your trip is not to far away now. The camera is Digital a Nikon D70 SLR. We have plenty more pictures especially when I start scanning in Sue's slides.

Sue it was good to meet you at Habitat - I took about 50 shots of the dolphins - here a few more of the dolphin leaping.

0
1
2

Here is one of Max who is now full time at the Dive Operation and is now a Dive Master. How does he get the bubbles to come out of his snorkel?
3

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Debbie Babcock (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #852) on Monday, January 10, 2005 - 8:39 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Brian,

Great trip report and loved the pictures. I showed the dolphins to my son, Brandon, age 10 who is looking forward to going Bonaire with us in February. This proves that there are dolphins that he can see. :-)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mary Mueller (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3575) on Monday, January 10, 2005 - 10:50 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Brian - Awesome trip report and pics!! Thanks for sharing with us!!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By T-Shirt Divers John and Sue (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #169) on Monday, January 10, 2005 - 11:36 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Loved the pictures. Good to see the dolphins are back.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Lisa Barclay (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #421) on Monday, January 10, 2005 - 1:21 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I loved the trip report and your pictures are fantastic. I think the dolphin pics are just awesome. The sunset pic is amazing too. Thanks for taking the time to post your pictures and report!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Greg Zeneski (BonaireTalker - Post #56) on Monday, January 10, 2005 - 2:25 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

all I can say about the pics is...wow! I just got a D70 myself and I'll be in Bonaire very soon. I hope I get a few good shots myself. ABout the dolphin pics- same camera? did you still have it in the housing?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Brian (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #829) on Monday, January 10, 2005 - 4:21 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

The Dolphins stayed with us for 15 to 20 minutes, I really want to meet these guys underwater.

Greg the Dolphins were taken in the Sea&Sea Housing with the 105mm Macro lense. I had a 2GB card in the camera so I could just shoot until I got the Dolphins leaping. 600 pictures on JPG on the finest setting 0r 200 RAW. No way was I taking the camera out of the housing on the boat.

Good luck with your camera, no shutterlag it's great. Which Strobe and housing do you have?

(Message edited by Brianl on January 10, 2005)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Meryl Virga (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #4369) on Tuesday, January 11, 2005 - 1:33 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Great shots...Dolphins so close to shore! Love the Blenny! Thanks for sharing!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Chris Tubbs (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #6) on Tuesday, January 11, 2005 - 7:34 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Fab photos Brian. Only 1 week and 2 days to go till we are back in Bonaire. I cannot wait. I have also just got a Nikon D70 which will be with me, but I'll use my Sea & Sea MM11 Ex underwater as I have no housing for the Nikon. I hope that I can get some photos like yours. Jo

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Brian (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #830) on Tuesday, January 11, 2005 - 8:49 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Chris the MMII is a good camera especially with the ability to swap lenses underwater. You may be able to rent a housing for the D70 from one of the Photo Shops. I know Exposures at Habitat has a D100 housing. Have a great trip.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Sally Belknap (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #356) on Tuesday, January 11, 2005 - 11:02 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Brian:

What incredible photos you have taken! Absolutely AWESOME!

Sally

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Diane M Howard (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #1) on Tuesday, January 11, 2005 - 9:26 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Your photos are incredible! Me and my friend are coming out in mid February and can't wait to dive and take pictures!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By BEVERLY A FILLIO (BonaireTalker - Post #55) on Tuesday, January 11, 2005 - 10:30 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

the best pictures !!! and to have the dolphins back ----Heaven and then higher. We can not wait to get there --- talk about experiencing thru others eyes....... wonderful I just love Bonaire

 


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