We spent two weeks on Bonaire (June 28-July 12) and had an absolutely fabulous time! It was our first trip to Bonaire, and considering we've already booked the same condo for next summer, I can honestly say it won't be our last trip.

We arrived early in the morning on the Continental flight (through Houston), and quickly retrieved our luggage and got a shuttle to the rental car place. The rental took about 20 minutes, and before we knew it we were on the road in our new Mazda pickup truck. We stayed at the Den Laman Condos, which is situated on Bari Reef, next to the Sand Dollar Resort. I had booked our condo for an extra night and it was very nice to be able to get into our room at 6:30 in the morning and hit the hay.

After a nap, we went downstairs to register, buy our marine park tags, and listen to a 60 minute dive briefing with Bonaire Dive and Adventure (BDA). Probably the most valuable part of the briefing was to understand how the traffic circle in front of the condos worked....definitely NOT like they do in the United States.

We then headed to the grocery store to stock up on things (beer and Coke) since we planned on eating breakfast and lunch in our condo, which worked out great for us. After shopping and unpacking a bit, we headed out to do our check-out dive on Bari Reef, which was a great way to start 2 fabulous weeks of diving on Bonaire.

During our 2 weeks, we did 2 specialties to complete our Master Scuba Diver certifications, and I would recommend both courses to anyone interested. We did the UW Digital Photography with Tim Peters at Fish Eye Photography, and I can't even begin to describe how much we learned. My husband's photographs definitely reflect the training that Tim gave him. We also did our UW Naturalist course with Jerry Ligon of BDA. Jerry's knowledge of fish behavior and habitat is absolutely amazing and we found ourselves applying what he taught us on every dive.

Dive sites:

Bari Reef-we did this site daily as our last dive of the day typically. We found new critters each and every time we did the dive, so it really only got better as the trip went along.

1000 Steps-one of our favorite sites. The steps really aren't that big of a deal and the entry is super easy. Great wall dive with easy navigation.

Witches Hut-another favorite. Super easy entry with a very nice wall.

Oil Slick Leap-fun entry if you were able to jump. Nice dive, though getting up the ladder is a challenge if you aren't strong enough to pull yourself up on the first rung. One lady in front of us couldn't do it and her friend had to come down the ladder to grab her gear so she could get out.

Andrea II-another favorite. Easy entry and really nice dive site.

Andrea I-weren't able to access due to construction.

Buddy Dive-nice site, basically the same as Bari as it's right next door.

Town Pier-we did this with Tim of Fish Eye Photography as a day dive and spent 90 minutes enjoying everything. There were only 3 of us under the pier and it was easy to see what a nightmare this dive could be at night with a large number of divers.

Windsock, Invisibles, Tori's Reef, Alice in Wonderland, Angel City-all easy entries and great sites. These are double reef sites with longer swims over sand to reach the first reef. Different than the northern sites and very nice dives.

Hilma Hooker-we did this from the shore and found it to be a super easy entry and site to get to. The wreck is a lot of fun to drop in on, and it's huge with large openings so you look around the internal structures a bit. We did not penetrate the wreck but there were some folks inside while we were diving the outside, so it's definitely doable if you're trained and have the right equipment. There isn't much life on the wreck, so after about 15 minutes, we were ready to go explore the nearby reef.

Klein-did one boat dive with BDA and were totally unimpressed. I had asked to go somewhere with a known seahorse, and not only was I ignored (though they acknowledged my request), the DM who led our dive simply swam out in front of us, told us when to turn around, and led us back the boat. It was basically a 60 minute underwater swim with very little time to poke around and look at stuff. This was the only negative experience we had with BDA.

Food:

Papagayo-good food, though my burger tasted strange.

Papaya Moon-one of our favorites. Great food, reasonable prices. 2 for 1 drinks during happy hour

Cactus Blue-good food, small portions, a little expensive for what you get

Bobbejan's-great BBQ take-away, we always ordered extra

Pasa Bon Pizza-very good pizza, always ordered a large for left overs

Buddy's Bar-got there at 5:00 to get an early dinner (they stop serving food at 5:30), excellent prices, good food, good drinks

Rum Runners-great food, reasonable prices, right on the ocean, reasonable prices

The Reef-closed 2 days after we arrived (will reopen under new management Aug. 1), but decent for the one meal we ate there.

Middle Eastern place at the Sand Dollar Grocery-great schorma which we had for lunch quite a few times

Lover's Ice Cream-some of the best ice cream we've eaten

Bottom line was that there were quite a few dive sites and restaurants we didn't go to on this trip, so we'll definitely have some new adventures next year when we return. We thought the diving was some of the best we've done in the Caribbean, and when you add the whole diving freedom thing, it really bumps it up a notch.

It couldn't have been easier to grab gear, analyze tanks, load the back of the truck, drive to a site, dive, move to another site, have a nice SI for an hour, dive again, and repeat as much as desired.

Here's a link to a few of the (hundreds) of pictures my husband took. It's a pretty fair representation of what we saw and enjoyed on Bonaire, though definitely not everything.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...i3YsIo&notag=1

DW..Nice report & enjoyed reading it. Start planning your return trip for all the other sites which you missed

When we dove Oil Slick in May I believe the bottom rung on the ladder was broken or missing. Does anyone on island have any info if or when it's to be repaired?

DW: my wife and me are flying out to Bonaire tomorrow and your report is already printed out and on my folder with material to read on the airplane.

Thanks!

Great report - couldn't get to the album though - said the session had timed out. Oh well. So glad you enjoyed Bonaire - another one hooked!

DW,
Great report, thanks for sharing.
I got the same message trying to view the photos as Yo MO about the session timed out.
Thanks, Skip

So sorry about the expired link. I used Shutterfly to create our own little webpage, so hopefully this URL will work better.

http://divetraveladventures.site.shutterfly.com/?role=-1

WOW! Those are phenomenal photos. I definitely have to look up this Fish Eye Photography guy. Going again Aug 9 through Aug 16 and already I know it is too short of a trip, I am gonna be sick the day I have to leave and I cant wait to go back.
THANK YOU FOR SHARING THOSE PHOTOS.

WOW!!! Amazing photos. I guess we are going to have to take that photo class on our next trip. You have a special talent capturing the underwater life in such a beautiful way.

Very nice photos.

Vince, my wife took a class from Tim @ Fish Eye the last time we were on Bonaire. Her pictures were definitely better after the class. Well worth the money.....

In 38 days, she'll get to take some more :-)

Those really ARE wonderful photos. Can you tell us what type of camera and lighting you used? Now I can show my non-divers friends and family why Bonaire is so amazing. Thanks for posting.

Awesome photos, Hilary! I can see you and your hubby are now hooked on Bonaire just like the rest of us. Thanks for the report and letting us enjoy the photos, too. Ayo. Carole

wow, spectacular photos, thanks for sharing.

Thank you everyone for your kind words about the photographs. My husband is the photographer in the family and the one with the talent. I'm just the one who spends hours on the computer labeling and editing with Photoshop. ;)

My husband has been using a Sea&Sea DX8000 point and shoot digital camera (discontinued) for the past year, and after taking the photo course with Tim at Fisheye, we bought a strobe and wide angle lens from him. The strobe made a huge difference in lighting, and Tim taught my husband how to use the camera to its fullest.

Thanks again, the photos are such a labor of love for both of us.

WOW - no really - WOW!!!! How amazing and awesome. IF you take me with you I promise to relieve your workload and I'll download, edit and label for you...FREE!!!!

Thanks for the report and awesome pictures.

Thank you! the photos are beautiful!!

just got a new Olympus 1010 and will look up Tim to take his class in Sept.

If you take a class from Tim, please let him know that Hilary and Lars recommended him to you. He's a great guy and time with him is worth it for an UW photographer of ANY level.

Thanks again for the kind words, they mean a lot.

Wow amazing photos! Hats off to you and your hubby

Nell, please lets us know how that camera works out. I have been looking at the Olympus 1010, my one big worry is the lack of manual control.

My husband and I will be heading to Bonaire in just 12 more days for our first visit and we loved your trip report and photos! Thanks so much for sharing!

We are getting SO excited and hearing your response to the freedom of diving when and where one wants is just what we're hoping for!

Aly and Art

Vince-
As of last week, the bottom rung on the ladder at Oil Slick was still missing.

Thanks John for responding to my question.
Unfortunately I suspect it'll be some time before it gets fixed.

I hope the bottom rung is fixed by the time we return next summer. ;) We enjoyed diving Oil Slick, but that first hoist up at the end was bad enough that I wasn't interested in repeating it.