Our family has taken a diving vacation to Bonaire for five consecutive years and we have always had a fabulous time. This year was no exception, although there were a couple of big bumps in the road. Four us us flew AA via Atlanta, Miami, and San Juan, while my daughter Jen flew AA out of Charlotte, connecting with BonairExpress in Curacao. The group traveling through San Juan had a very difficult trip, finally arrivng 2 days late (anyone interested in the ugly details can read my report in the "Getting To Bonaire" section). Jen arrived on time Friday afternoon, and checked in at BelMar. Unfortunately, we were stranded in San Juan and had no way to contact her, so she went to bed wondering where the heck we were. I managed to send an e-mail to BelMar overnight, so the staff let her know our situation the next morning.
Since Jen had no food and no vehicle (the rental truck was in my name), Erika from Buddy Dive at BelMar offered to drive her in to Cultimara on Saturday to get some provisions. She got back to BelMar with her groceries when disaster struck. As Jen was putting beer (Amstel Bright, of course) into the refrigerator, the shelf collapsed and dropped five beer bottles on her bare foot. Some bottles broke on the way down and one impaled the top of her foot. Jen recognized arterial bleeding ("Spurting, just like in the movies!"), applied direct pressure and phoned the office for help. The wonderful ladies in the BelMar office (Henriette, Maureen, and Manon - bless them forever!) immediately came to her aid. They helped her hold pressure on the wound and called for an ambulance, but the ambulance decided that they didn't want to come! So the staff helped Jen to a truck and Henriette drove her to the hospital. Henriette stayed with her for the entire Emergency Room visit, translating for the Dutch doctors and nurses. The ER staff stopped the bleeding, cleaned and closed her wound, then presented Jen with the bill - $37.00! You can't get a Tylenol for $37 in a U.S. ER! Henriette drove her back to BelMar and settled her in. All of the BelMar staff, and Henriette in particular, earned our unending gratitude. Jen was desperately hoping to see us at BelMar, but no such luck - we were still deep in travel hell. I did manage to get my oldest son Andrew on a BonairExpress flight to Bonaire late on Saturday night - Jen was overjoyed to see him! Unfortunately, because of her foot laceration, Jen was unable to dive this trip and spent her time camped out on the BelMar dock.
On Sunday, Andrew was trying hard to figure out where Helen, Matthew, and I were and when we might make it to Bonaire. Everyone, including the BelMar staff, was trying to help. The person who put out perhaps the most effort was, unexpectedly, the rental car agent. Poppy, the manager for Telerin Rentals, is an absolute jewel. She delivered the truck to Andrew on Saturday (even though it wasn't in his name). She seems to know everybody and called all over to track our travel progress. Poppy was the first to find out when we finally got on a flight to Bonaire (I have no idea how she knew) and called Andrew to tell him to go to the airport to meet us. We will certainly rent trucks from Poppy and Telerin Rental (telerin@bonairelive.com; 599-717-4108) on all our future trips. She and her assistant Sidney provided service that went way beyond our expectations. When we finally flew in on Divi Divi on Sunday afternoon, we were pleased and surprised to find Andrew waiting to drive us "home" to BelMar.
We did about 20 shore dives, visiting some favorite sites as well as a couple that were new to us. Water temperature was 80 - 81F. Visibility didn't seem quite as as good as I remember it from years past, but was plenty good enough. I'll comment on a few sites:
1. Red Slave - Never dove there before because the surf or current always seemed too challenging. But we scouted it out one calm morning, decided it looked safe, and had a great dive. The entry is a little tricky because of all the trash and debris on the beach that you have to step through. The drop-off at the top of the reef is a little deeper than other sites - about 45 feet. I called it the "Land of the Giant Parrotfish" because of the terminal phase blue, midnight, and rainbow parrotfish we saw - big guys, 3-4 feet long.
2. White Slave - Different story here, although the wind was calm and the sea flat. It is long (LONG!) swim out over the flats to the drop-off, and the further out we got, the stronger the south-to-north current became. If you look at a map, you will see that White Slave sits on a part of the island that juts way out, exposing it to strong ocean currents. When we got down to depth, the current eased up a little and we swam slowly south into the current. It was pretty, with patches of white sand between the coral heads. At the mid-point of the dive, we didn't back-track but instead turned in directly for the beach. When we got back over the coral flats, the current was really ripping and we fought our way across the current toward shore. I strongly considered giving up and turing it into a drift dive to Pink Beach (which would have probably been a smart decision). Instead, we gutted it out and made it back in exhausted. That was enough diving for us that day. I don't think that I'll dive White Slave again.
3. Oil Slick Leap - Despite the slightly intimidating name, this is one of the easiet shore entries on Bonaire. You park near the ladder, giant-stride off a small cliff (only about 4 feet), and your dive starts right there. No swim-out at all! If you aren't inclined to leap, you can enter on a very sturdy ladder securely attached to a wooden platform. And the ladder makes the exit very easy. A great dive.
4. Karpata - With its "spur-and-groove" underwater topography, Karpata looks different than most other sites. I saw divers trying to enter and exit by climbing on the old concrete platform We have always found that it works much better to enter by walking in the water along the right (as you face out) side of the platform, steadying yourself with a hand on the platform (and reverse for exit). We saw tarpon, 2 turtles, big cubera snappers, and several spotted drum. I think this is the best of the northern dive sites.
5. East side diving - Matthew, Andrew, and I did a boat diving trip with "Larry's Wildside Diving" (Larry@bonairelive.com or lwb99@hotmail.com; 599-717-5246) and really enjoyed it. Larry leaves from the fishing dock at Lac Bay and his custom-built Zodiac with twin 225s is smooth and fast. Larry, an ex-military diver, is a character and a great talker, but runs a tight and safe operation. Martin, the dive master, delivers briefings that are very detailed and informative. We dove at 2 sites, Turtle Town and Blue Hole (which also seems to be known as White Hole). We saw several turtles, stingrays, many tarpon, free-swimming green morays, squid, and eagle rays. Now, I have seen all of those before on the West side, but never all in one morning! The animals, sea fans, and soft corals all seem bigger on the East side. Larry's trip is a little pricey ($100 for a 2 tank morning trip), but it was very cool and I highly recommend it (www.larryswildsidediving.com).
Since Jen was only semi-ambulatory, we ate in our apartment for many meals, but did go out a few times. Casablanca was, as usual, very good and a tremendous value. Service was fast and friendly and we ate leftovers from the famous "Mixed Grill for Two" for days. We set out one night try try Wil's Tropical Grill, but it was closed and we ended up at Croccatino's (which we had never visited before). The patio is a very nice dining area, and the Italian food and service were both superior. We enjoyed it very much. It was pretty expensive, but worth it. Another night we went to Chibi-Chibi, which has a very nice ocean-view setting. While the food was pretty good, I thought it was over-priced and the service was painfully slow (even by island standards). We will certainly return to Casablanca and Croccatino's, but probably not to Chibi-Chibi.
I made multiple efforts to contact American Eagle on Bonaire to confirm our return reservations. I was pretty sure that AA/AE had no idea whether we ever made it to Bonaire or not and I was afraid that they would cancel our return tickets. Nobody ever answered the published telephone number and I couldn't find a live AE employee even by going to the airport. When the sad departure date arrived, we got to the airport at 5:30 am (the AE check-in opens at 6:00am) and were third in line. The early hour was painful, but proved to be a good idea. The machine that prints boarding passes malfunctioned and things got bogged down. But by 6:30 am, we had cleared security and were enjoying cappuchinos and croissants in the air-conditioned departure lounge, while the AE check-in line stretched out to the curb. The AA ground staff in San Juan and Charlotte were very solicitous and took good care of Jen with motorized carts and wheelchairs. However, in Miami there was no wheelchair to meet her. The ground crew claimed her request was "not in the system" (which was BS, as we had specifically confirmed the need for a wheelchair with a flight attendant when we boarded the aircraft), and said it would be a least 30 minutes before they could get her a wheelchair. No apology, no nothing, and Jennifer was forced to hobble what seemed like a mile to her departure gate. Despite stiff competition, Miami remains (in my opinion) the worst major airport in the U.S. But, all things considered, our return trip was blessedly uneventful. We all arrived home on the scheduled day with all luggage accounted for, so that goes in the "plus" column.
In summary, the BelMar remains the best place to stay in Bonaire. The shore diving is easy and beautiful. The weather was hot, but always breezy and we had no significant rain. The people we met were friendly and helpful and we experienced no crime-related issues. Yes, it is paradise - but why, oh why, does it have to be such a PITA to get there!
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By John Gnann (BonaireTalker - Post #36) on Tuesday, August 23, 2005 - 12:19 am: 
