Just got house last night thought I would try to put something together while it was still fresh in my mind.

Airline: American, Chicago to San Juan to Bonaire. No problems. Long layover at San Juan made for some interesting people watching.

Where we stayed: Carib Inn, First time for us at this place. Pretty good. As advertised, friendly helpful staff. Clean rooms and grounds. Omar removed the dock and made boat dive not as easy but still okay. they hope to have their new dock in by Christmas.

Food: This a long subject. We had breakfast in our room and sometimes lunch. We really liked the Sunset Grill for lunch, they have really really good Hamburgers. the Blues burger is my favorite. Sunset is at it's best when Juan is you waiter, he is very friendly and attentive.
For diner we tried to eat at a new place most nights but had to have seconds a few times. Stand outs were Mona Lisa, Papya Moon, Casablanca, Unbelievable, Rains Fishes, Pasa Bon Pizza and some others that escape me right now.

Weather: The first 10 days it was HOT HOT HOT which was good good good. Low 90's during the day and 80 at night. Winds were light the whole trip with nearly flat seas and very little surf. The water temps were very warm and ranged from 86 for the first few days to 82 for the last couple. The last 3 days it rained and rained and rained some more. Could have done without that but as I look out the window here in Michigan at the Blizzard going on outside I guess the 82 degree rain really wasn't all that bad.

Diving: We had 36 dives each for the trip. We dove 26 different sites Our favorites were Taylor Made, Hidden Beach and Flat Rock. Our least favorites were Witches hut , Oil Slick and Tory's Reef For different reasons. All of the sites you can find damage from Omar, mainly above 30 feet. Some sites like Witches Hut, Oil Slick, Calabas reef really took a beating. The hard corals with the small bases and top heavy bodies got it the worst while sea fans and other brushy types didn't get much damage unless a big hunk of hard coral landed on them. Below 30 feet the only place I saw damage was on Klein where some of the bigger hard corals went tumbling down the wall and landed on something. I was very pleased to see that Karpata and Taylor Made didn't get much damage. Small Wall looked the same as last year, very good. I only had 2 dives on Klein and they were on the south side which got hit harder by Omar then the north. What I saw wasn't to bad compared to the mainland sites. My wife and I spend a portion of every dive turning corals right side up and repairing sponges but the last week we were there was 4 weeks after the storm and a lot of the corals were snow white already. I don't want this to sound like gloom and doom because it is not. We had a very good time diving and there is a lot that escaped damage.

We have pictures at http:gallery.me.com/paulchase#gallery

I did it again

http://gallery.me.com/paulchase#gallery

first one is from last year the second from the last two weeks.

AP..I believe some of the white corals were from bleaching. The waters were very warm this year

I am talking coral that was upside down with the living part against the sand being pure white. Guess I should have taken a picture. I did see the white you are talking about though on the top side of the still standing coral. I did wonder if it was from the warm waters or from all the stuff banging up against them. How warm is to warm?

I was told that the waters were "record warm" this year and that most of the white coral was from this. I also saw the toppled over coral you mentioned.

I wonder how quickly the death of the coral from impact becomes visible??

ANd How warm is too warm? I do not know. I believe the waters are the warmest right now as they have been all year but I do not know what "record warm" is compared to. Someone else may know...

Nice pictures

I have to agree nice pictures!! Cant wait to get there in April

Paul, wonderful report and pictures, thanks for sharing.

I agree 82 degree rain sure beats cold wind and snow. In fact, given the right circumstances and company, it can be a joy.

According to ReefBase:

"reef corals tolerate a maximum sea water temperature of 29°C; any increase above this for a long period will stress corals and induce bleaching. The severity of bleaching is linked to the magnitude of the temperature increase and its duration."

29°C = 84.2°(f)

My dive computer indicated water temperatures as high as 86°(f) in September.

It was more then 84 at least part of the time we were there. Last year we were here during the same time except only one week. The temp was 78 to 81 and vis was a lot better last year. There is an awful lot of particulate in the water too. Some sites worse then others. I wonder if the two are related. What heats more dirty water of clear?

Hey Major T..thanks!! I knew someone would know the answer to "How warm Is Warm"
hehe

Krisp, I honestly didn't know the answer when Paul posed the question which is why I searched at ReefBase. ReefBase is a free and easy tool to use. Did I mention it is free? Check it out at: http://www.reefbase.org/main.aspx

dirty water heats up more. Particulates absorb solar radiation and warm the surrounding water

Luckily the temperature has come down again to about 82F (28C).