I thought I was going to cry when I left Bonaire! It's been a week since I've been back, but I felt like it was definitely time to put this trip report up and share with everyone what a wonderful place this island is. My boyfriend and I are students and have traveled all over the world, so our goal was to stay as long as possible and stay within a budget. I decided to stay at the Dive Inn because I was impressed with their website and the way they seemed very friendly and orgainized. I liked being able to see prices and the inside of the rooms right in front of me. Mariette made our reservations over email, booked our dive package and reserved a car. This was the beginning of a long week of super sweet and wonderful people who made our vacation fantastic. The seven studios are clean, bright and large. Because we arrived during Carneval, the Cultimara was closed and so the staff had gone shopping and stocked our fridge with a few things to tide us over. Every morning I stepped out of my room and ate breakfast on the communal patio watching the sun come up over the water. The people who stayed there were from all over the world - Germany, Denmark, Holland, the U.S. I met and dived with many wonderful people. The convenience of having a dive shop next door and a boat across the street is incomparable. The house reef there is even nice and the cha cha cha beach is the gathering place for lots of local families. Marcel, Ante, Anja, and Tilly run a tight ship over at the shop and I looked forward to each and every trip out on the boat. I had my own hook for my gear and the upcoming trips were always listed on a board outside the shop. Someone was always in the shop if I needed sea drops or whatever. The boat never had more than 8 people and usually never more than 3 or 4, so I got to really like and know the people I was diving with. I loved coming off the boat, rinsing off my gear and just sitting in the courtyard drinking my beer and talking to so many different people. I will go back to Bonaire, and I wouldn't stay or dive anywhere else! Did a night dive at the Small Wall - couldn't find the web cam L! My favorite dive was at Eighteen Palms, in front of the Plaza Bonaire - easy entry, great reef, and I had the opportunity to see six HUGE tarpons lurking, swimming, and feeding on great big schools of fish. Saw a turtle on Klein Bonaire and a six foot green moray out of his hole and looking me right in the face! For those who have never shore dived, Pink Beach was also an easy entry, and for those deep divers, hundreds of garden eels at 110 feet. As was Ol' Blue. Harder entries were Alice in Wonderland and Karpata. I would advise driving around the island and doing a visual check of the surf and deciding then where you want to dive. Heard a not so good rumor…upon being unable to find seahorses after being given explicit instructions, I inquired further. Apparantly, one of the larger resorts (who shall go unamed) is guaranteeing photos of seahorses. In order to do this, they are finding them, putting them in plastic baggies and transporting them to their own reef. Without having witnessed it myself, I won't say who, but it is interesting how after reading posts on this site, many seahorses seem to be spotted in the same place… The food was expensive and I was not all that impressed. Well, Richards was really good and the view was so fabulous, as was the service. Grocery shopping at the Cultimara was fine, except because it is an island, the cost of shipping food gets passed on to the consumer. Did find Wherehouse Bonaire, which was a lot cheaper and had more of a selection. Every night we took the short walk into town, got an ice cream at Lover's and watched people go by. Bonaire is one of the nicest islands I have ever had the pleasure of visiting. I entered a wreck for the first time and did my first night dive. I would not have done this or even wanted to except for the incredible trust I had in the instructors at Dive Inn. They are some of the best people I've had the opportunity to dive with. I also loved having the suzuki van because we would take whoever didn't have a car diving with us that day, and I got to meet some really great people from all over the world. If you haven't gone, go. If you've been, don't ever forget what a special place you've had the opportunity to experience. |