Greetings everyone, we're hooked!

We're novice snorkelers, thus do not have the expereince with the various species of fish.... even with 3 fish books.. we had a few doubts as to what we saw (but we sure liked what we saw)!

We flew Canada 3000 nonstop from Toronto to Bonaire... fight was great (5 hours). Stopped in Curacao briefly on the return fight to pick up passengers.

Stayed at the Divi Flamingo - sprung for a waterfront room (thanks to this site and info from Darlene) the view was spectacular! It was nice to stand on the balcony and see various fish swimming below. We missed the infamous 'green flash' ..as there always seemed to be clouds on the horizon. But there's always next time! Right?

Divi's beach had a small patch of sand.. that was adequate for getting in and out of the water without too much difficulty. Saw an older woman who arrived every morning and diligently picked up all the stones and dead coral, put it on the other side of the tannnig pier... then went for a swim to the pier (where cruise ships docked) and back (a fair distance). On the last day, we met the lady's sister (visiting from Toronto) who told us that her sister (resident of Bonaire) learned that the sand on beaches could be preserved if stones/dead coral were removed.. as it was the stones/coral that caused the sand to roll back into the sea. It was very touching to see someone demonstrate such love for the island.

The renovations at the Divi were quite nice.... rooms were clean.....grounds very pretty.... various tropical plants that were imported from Miami were taking hold and in full bloom. The old dock was quite an eye sore - our first room over-looking the water had the view to the south obscured by a rusty old gate that was falling off its hinges, but the management kept their promise and allowed up to move to the second floor once a room became available.

Snorkeling... wow! Our first experience in the water took our breath away... from the French Angel who swam up for a closer look (later discovered that she was actually checking us out to see if we had any food!)... to the 2 squid that seemed quite curious as they slowly floated by....they probably heard me gasp and call my husband to quickly look at the octopus's (?) swimming by ... he kept saying where? where? ...I knew what I meant!

We went out to No Name Beach with Renee & Barney... it was nice to experience a drift snorkel.... but our best snorkel was in front of the Dive Inn and near the pier where the cruise ship docks. We were thrilled to see the "big" and "little" Hawksbill turtles. Renee had mentioned that some turtles ascend for air ~ every 20 hours or so and that it's important not to frighten them during their ascent.. as this could cause them to have a heart attack. We were thrilled to see them swim up for air... go back down to the bottom and swim around chasing each other!! We recorded our sightings.

Another thrill was watching a huge baracuda suspended near the surface of the water.. intently watching us....when we snorkeled before, we were told that we would see them moslty around the coral .... waiting for their prey (we later learned that they are very curious about snorkelers and will tend to follow them - is this true)?

We also saw this huge... VERY BIG tarpon!! We later found out that he was probably responsible for the 'flying' fish we saw the evening before... boy did he scatter them...kept them very busy until the divers got into the water for a night dive.. then it was quiet....we learned that the reason why it was so quiet was because the tarpon would hang out by the divers and gobble the unsuspecting fish who were attracted to the light - was that you diving Robert Deal? Sorry we missed meeting you!

We also got to see a Blue-spotted cornet fish for the first time (definitely different from the trumpetfish).... this guy had to be 5 feet long...was he ever huge! Actually we noticed that the all fish near the pier seemed quite big.

Once last observation about the sea life ... the coral... people on various lists complained that the beach was destroyed by Lenny... we cannot imagine what it would have looked like before Lenny.. because in our minds..it was a spectacular sight.

Thank you to those who offered suggestions re: where to eat.. we tried most suggestions (Richards, Capriccio,ZeeZichts etc) and now we have to go on a diet :-)! The food was the best we have ever tasted (far superior to what we have had in Aruba & Curacao). We tried a restaurant that we had not heard about... Le Wok ... we enjoyed a great Thai meal and the gardens were beautiful.

As you can see, this was a very educational experience for us, we learned alot...needless to say.. we can hardly wait to go back to school!!

Thanks everyone.. you've been a wealth of info for us and this was indeed the best vacation we have ever had!! Cheryl & Aubrey Ferguson

It sounds as though you had a wonderful trip. We are leaving on February 17th, and staying at the Divi as well. We stayed here before the rennovations, and really didn't care about amenities. We are just so into Bonaire; we could have probably stayed in a tent. However, I am real happy to hear they have done a metamorphosis, as it was kind of falling apart. We are both divers, but love to snorkle as well. Thanks for the input regarding different places.

Thanks Cheryl,
We'll be there on Feb. 18 (also at Divi).

I was happy to hear your good review of LeWok as we saw it in Sept. but didn't try it, although it always smelled good, this time we'll give it a try!

Cheryl, I really appreciate your enthusiastic report! You saw some of the neat creatures and their activities. You're right: it's so educational and fun! See why we wait all year to be there! :-)

James, have a great time! At first I was a bit hesitant about staying at the Divi, but I would certainly go back. We checked out the Plaza resort while we were there .. it seemed a wee bit too big for us and the shore entry did not look as 'easy' to navigate (acute back injury prior to the trip - groan!)

Thomas, I hope that you will enjoy Le Wok, prices were comparable to Richards. I must admit, I was a bit hesitant because I had not heard anything about it.

Thanks Niki .. yes, I certainly understand 'the wait'! We hope to go back again next year - we're torn because we have a 16 year old who does not like to snorkel - she had a bad experience in Aruba when she was younger!