Our 7th trip to Bonaire in 5 years, this time we did everything differently and had still another fabulous trip - I don't think you can have a bad time there.

We stayed at the Bellafonte Chateau de la Mer. Loved the space, the kitchen, the view, the pier, the hot tub, the dive gear storage, the fresh water showers, the diving right off the pier.... all of it was outstanding.

We did our diving with Photo Tours which I was told by one of the employees is owned by a different group than before. We liked the small groups, the boat and the dive guides were excellent.

There seems to be a bit of confusion on policy with employees at the Caribbean Court PT location regarding deals made with Bellafonte. Upon checking in at the shop we were told guests of the Bellafonte got a 10% discount. Upon checking out we were told by a different person that is not true. It would also have been nice to know in advance that if you pay for your diving by credit card there is a 5% surcharge. Not that big a deal but at the end of the week we didn't have a ton of cash left over so said, "Oh well" and paid the extra.

The diving was as spectacular as always. We saw a lot of juvenile fish this trip as well as some very interesting fish/critter behavior. Water was the warmest I can remember at 83 degrees for the most part.

It was nice to have the option to make our own food. Great selection at the local supermarkets! We ate at a few of our usual favorites, Capriccio and Richard's and tried Den Leman, too. That was particularly nice and our waiter suggested a great wine that I was unfortunately too "overserved" after drinking it to remember what it was.

We rented a pickup truck and made a trip to Washington park this time. Next time we will take tanks and go diving there.

This trip we spent some extra time finding art to bring back - tempted by those great sculptures in the airport display case near the middle of the terminal. We visited that artist at her studio up near Santa Barbara and bought one of her treasures. The Cinnamon Gallery in town was also a source of another great find - a paper lantern that was an absolute nightmare to carry home by hand but worth it.

Weather- hottest and the least breeze I ever remember but who cares, it's not winter and we weren't at work.

We'll be back. What a great place. We have some more months to see how the airline thing finally shakes out.

Thanks everyone on Bonaire for another great time!

Welcome to BT Doc! Did we see you on the webcams?

Glad you had a great trip and thanks for the report!

Doc, Thanks for the report and if you have any pics, please post some for us!

Doc, Thanks for the post.

Doc2 -

Thank you for returning the favor of all those who provided you (and me) such excellent information over the years. We all know it takes a bit of time to prepare and post a detailed trip report and we appreciate your effort.

We can identify with the light breeze and consequent heat. The first time we went to Bonaire was in late September and there was almost no breeze at all and goodness was it hot and was really uncomfortable when out of the water. That initial exposure to Bonaire was so harrowing that we've been back every chance we can and are trying to figure out a way to get back in 2005.

It sounds as if y'all may have the same dilemma.

Charles Poteet

P.S. When we were at OSU in the late 60s, we always laughed at the beer advertised for those with a "sincere and monumental thirst." Do you know which it was?