There and Back:
I booked tickets with Delta and flew Delta out of Chattanooga, Tennessee, connecting with Air Jamaica flights out of Atlanta, Georgia. The trip down was great, only a slight delay out of Montego Bay. Our flight arrived on Bonaire about twenty minutes late. The trip back was a different story. Delta, after I had already arrived in Bonaire, notified my wife back at home that they were rebooking two of our tickets on a different return flight - American through San Juan. I guess this wouldn’t have been too much of an inconvenience except for two things: 1) Two of our group missed out on a full day of activities on Bonaire because we had to spend most of one afternoon and evening trying to get tickets reissued at the Bonaire airport, and 2) the other two friends staying with us had booked their tickets directly with Air Jamaica and were not reticketed. This really screwed up return of the rental truck, use of the truck while I was trying to get tickets reissued, etc. I wrote a long complaint letter to Delta; I’ll see how customer focused they are shortly. The trip back to Chattanooga was on schedule, but was much longer than the Air Jamaica route due to long lay overs in San Juan and Atlanta and an overall longer route mileage-wise. Unfortunately, I have to echo the comments of many posters at this site. Bonaire is a wonderful dive destination, but the airlines seem to be doing everything they can to make the travel portion of the trip miserable. Alas, it’s too bad that an otherwise wonderful vacation has to be tarnished by the airlines, but the trip is worth it. The best advice is to plan on airline problems ahead of time and just try to remain flexible and DON'T let it ruin the vacation. I apologize if I spent too much time on this negative aspect of our vacation. It really was only a SMALL price to pay for a trip to such a wonderful dive location.

Lodging:
This was my second trip to Bonaire and I stayed at Happy Holiday Homes both times. I can’t say enough good things about this operation. Louise is a wonderful host, the prices are low, the bungalows are spotlessly clean, and the facilities are set up perfect for divers. The bungalow is not ocean side, nor does it have an on site pool, but these are non issues for a group of guys who are here just for the diving. They also just recently installed phones in the units that can be used to make international calls at reasonable rates – only 50 cents per minute to the U.S.

Diving:
That’s what this trip was all about. I was so addicted by my first trip to Bonaire back in September of last year that I made it back in just eight months. This time, there were four of us guys who were fortunate enough to get a kitchen pass from the wives. I won’t go into what it cost us to get that kitchen pass, but I’ll just say that it was well worth the cost. The diving was super, as usual; thirty-six dives in ten days and over thirty-three hours of bottom time. All dives were shore dives. We booked one east coast shore dive with Bas of Photo Tours and explored the area around Lac Bay, Cai. Saw a large school of tarpon, several eagle rays, a large green moray, and all of the usual critters. Our dives on the west coast were disappointingly lacking of turtles and eagle rays . . . did see a few turtles but got no photo opportunities. Saw my first seahorse at Oil Slick Leap, but the famous frog fish are still eluding me. Next trip I guess I will have to try a few guided or boat dives so one of the dive masters can point out a frog fish for me. Did more of the north side this year as I focused mainly on the South coast last Fall. To me, both North and South are equally good, just different . . . more dense soft corals South, more unusual hard coral formations North. I highly recommend trying some of the unmarked sites listed in Jesse Armacost's book "Bonaire Diving Made Easy". Some of my favorite sites this time, North to South, were Karpata, Ol’ blue, 1000 Steps, Witches Hut, Jeff Davis, Oil Slick Leap, The Lake, Margate Bay, Fish Hut, Soft Coral Garden, Hidden Beach. Did the Hilma Hooker; it was interesting but not comparable to other wrecks I have had the opportunity to dive, e.g. Panama City, Fl. and the Florida Keys. I guess it’s a must see while on Bonaire, as it’s pretty much the only significant sized wreck available to the recreational diver.

Photography:
This was my first trip as an underwater photographer. Here's a link to some of my pictures.

http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=38542

Overall, I was pleased with the results, but I do have some lessons learned that I plan to implement on my next trip. My equipment is pretty basic, a Canon A85 camera, Canon housing, and NO external strobe.

Dining Out:
What can I say; our priority was diving and eating out was something that consumed a lot of time. We did enjoy several meals out including Bongo’s, Lost Penguin, Rib Factory, and a great Italian place just north of town (can’t recall the name). One of our best meals was at a beach barbeque hosted by some of the guys from Photo Tours who host this event on a fairly regular basis for some for their clients and friends. My compliments to Bas and Eddie; you guys are great hosts. The food was delicious and the company the best. Enjoyed grilled chicken, ribs, and steak, as well as all the fixings. I also highly recommend the Lost Penguin. Unfortunately, the Penguin was closed for vacation most of our trip, but they did get back in time for us to enjoy one lunch. Try their fish sandwich with the fresh catch of the day; you won’t be disappointed.

Sightseeing:
Again, our number one priority was to dive until we dropped, but we did enjoy one day in the Park. This was definitely worth a day of our the time, but the diving is no longer as good as the rest of the west side, thanks to a close brush last year with Hurricane Ivan. Tried one dive at Playa Funji this trip but ended up aborting it due to strong surge and a moderate current; just wasn’t worth the long swim out fighting the less than desirable conditions. Made a couple of dives in the park last Fall and can’t recommend any of the sites . . . sorry, I understand there are some that still enjoy diving in the park but to me it doesn’t compare to the rest of the west coast.

That's about all the highlights I can think of at the moment, but I'll be glad to address any other questions that come my way.

Thanks to all of you for the wonderful information obtained from this site over the past year; my Bonaire trips have been greatly enhanced by what you have shared.

Great trip report! We, too, REALLY enjoyed Photo Tours. Bas was on vacation (we met him on a previous trip) but Eddie and G took care of us.

I'm so glad to hear someone else speak of the northern sites in the park. We tried Playa Fungi. After a pretty difficult swim out, we descended, only to find a RIPPING current. I found it no fun to be working like crazy just not to drift too far, so I called the dive. It was just too hard for me-a fairly new diver (50 dives).

Sorry about the flight stuff-but it's reality you need to share. Your attitude is great-I think it would be hard for those only going for a week. I wouldn't do that-it's just too hard and cumbersome to get down there!!

Richard -

Thanks for taking the time to post such a detailed report. And the pictures are a great bonus.

You have completed the circle on BT by paying back with an informative report all those from whom you have learned. We look forward to having our own new trip report someday to follow your example.

Charles Poteet
Dallas

Great pictures...what is IMG 1411-1? Rog & Karen

Great pictures...what is IMG 1411-1? Rog & Karen

I didn't know either, but got some help from Mare.

This creature is a sleeping basket star. I'm going to do a little research and see what else I can find out about this interesting animal.

Great Trip Report, Richard! Enjoyed seeing your pictures. Thanks for posting them! Debbie

Hi Richard, and Rog and Karen,

image 1411-1 is indeed a sleeping basket star.

You can find pictures of this nocturnal critter -- google basket star and select images.

Basket stars open at night with their 'arms' open towards the current. They catch food drifting past them.

They are photo sensitive and will 'curl up' to their 'sleeping' position if you shine your bright underwater light on them.