This was our second trip to Bonaire, following a wonderful experience last winter. We had another great vacation. We took Air Jamaica from Baltimore via Montego Bay, had an uneventful flight (the best kind) in both directions. I’d recommend them highly. We stayed again at Happy Holiday Homes, had another wonderful experience (thanks Louise, Kitty, and Mel), I’d also recommend them most highly. HHH has several Toyota twin cab trucks, so we rented from them directly (most painless car rental ever). No crime problems encountered, although the general level of cautions and warnings from everyone seemed more intense than last year. We recommend sandwiches from the Sandwich Factory and ice cream from Lovers (just north of the roundabout) and Prisca’s in Rincon. We liked Beefeaters the best for dinner, but also enjoyed dinner at Liberty (on the other side of the Cultimara parking lot), an inexpensive restaurant run by folks who don’t speak much English, serve true local food, and are very friendly and pleasant. We enjoyed the evening Carnaval parade a lot, and the general air of excitement pervading the island while we were there. We drove through the park one day; the roads were being repaired and were closed past Wayaca (supposedly due to open soon), but the part that we saw was beautiful, much greener than last year. More standing water meant more mosquitoes, but also flamingos on the side of the road between the airport and town.

Snorkeling was dramatically transformed from last year, and for those who have been there before, the shock is profound. We snorkeled at Andrea I and II, Oil Slick Leap, Jeff Davis, Weber’s Joy, Wayaca, Windsock, Margate Bay, and Karpata and a drift on Klein ending up at No Name Beach (now renamed Playa Neme, apparently). There was progressively more healthy coral from Andrea north, with snorkeling OK at all but Karpata. We thought Karpata was excellent; a good deal of coral in the shallows and gardens near the drop off, lots of life, friendly turtles, etc. Windsock and Wayaca looked like forests after a fire. Margate Bay had some damage, but had nice gardens in a number of areas. The drift on Klein Bonaire was very good, but still showed extensive damage; Gerry on the Baka di Laman no longer does guided snorkels to KB like last year (I wish we had gone back to Leonora’s reef again last year…).

Bottom line, especially for those who HAVEN’T been to Bonaire: snorkeling is still wonderful, but the shallow gardens that made it unique won’t be back in our lifetimes. We’ll still go back again.