ok...let's do the report...
AA/AA Eagle again, thru chicago and san juan - reasonable flight times/lengths but the layovers make for a 13 hour trip down...no other problems...picked the right days - missed storms by a day coming and going ;)
Coco Palm Gardens/Casa Oleandar Apartments...we had discovered the apartments on our first trip to bonaire, when i decided to change from two weeks in curacao to the second week in bonaire (what a break!!!) - Marion from Casa Oleandar was the only person we could get a hold of from the airport when we arrived on that fateful sunday morning...Marion picked me up at the airport and directed me to my pickup truck which was waiting in the parking lot - that process simplified - i just had to leave the truck in the parking lot when i departed (no rental check in/out)  anyway, i have stayed at these apartments on prior visits and i guess i would just assume continue to do so...i haved also stayed at the Belmar once and the divi flamingo once...i guess i'm gonna say it's all about the same (like the dive sites) - how can you go wrong;)
a little about dining/groceries before i get to the good stuff (the diving)...groceries - one should consider shopping for breakfast and lunch -mostly a matter of convenience...there are now a few choices in grocery stores, i use cultimari (which certainly DOES NOT have everything under one roof) - i have a soft spot for them;) ...there are two other grocery stores east of the airport lisa gas station that look like they offer competitive shopping and in some cases better looking product...but how hard is it really to shop for breakfast and lunch? i used the sand dollar grocery a couple of mornings (on the way to karpata) for some of those cheese and meat turnovers...and cigarettes  ...well, you will see a few other groceries coming back from karpata, thru rincon...so there are convenient places to get it done.
i had dinner out four nights...i'd like to compare the catch of the day that i had at three of the dinners...It Rains Fishes, Mona Lisa, and RumRunners...well, three excellent meals - the fresh fish is always wonderful - it was rainbow runner at mona lisa and it was prepared just right and came with a wonderful potatoe au gratin and some wonderful homemade bread with both a dry tomatoe and a garlic butter spread - yummy...at it rain fishes, it was dorado or wahoo (i forget) in a mustard sauce, an interesting olive spread for the bread, a couple of tasty veggie sides...at rumrunners again it was dorado or wahoo with a really nice rice pilaf...well, even though they served me my red wine chilled i'm gonna give the gold to mona lisa, the silver to it rains fishes and the bronze to rumrunners...as far as any other dining advice, if it does not appear to be a busy place then there maybe IS a reason;)
so anyway, the purpose of the trip became to break in my new underwater camera stuff and get as comfortable as i could as quickly as i could. i used photo divers at caribbean courts for weights and air fills...they were so understanding - all they did was point out that PADI was gonna offer a solo diving course;)...so it was off to north belnem for 5 dives (over two days) to get used to the gear at a reasonable, convenient dive site. north belnem is actually quite a nice dive, certainly beginner level. there was a little current running to the south this week which made picture taking easy swimming against the current but not so easy on the drift dive return leg...anyway, saw the eagle ray at this site (no picture - the ray was paralleling the shore as i was heading out and i wasn't ready to chase it)...fifth dive here was a night dive...good start at taking pictures, got a few really good ones and learned a little about night framing feature of the camera which i think makes it easier to frame a subject in low light...not sure at this point how much better night framing works...need more dives.
ok...day three - out to ol' blue for a couple of dives - wanted to try out better vis but still dive an "easy" site...ol' blue fits the bill. easy access, great feature at 40' or less...great vis...not karpata but very nice...good place to picnic and bring family, there is a little sandy beach and returning from the dive site one gets to take the scenic route thru rincon back home. came home and went out for a night dive at the dive inn pier, forgot how far out the reef is at that location, got disorientated, ended up surfacing south of the divi pier;) oh well, i had night dived calabos reef before so i thought i would be ok again but i think maybe a refresher day time dive might be a good idea before night diving any site, especially when diving alone;)
by this time i was starting to deal with issues related to flash and red filter. both the red filter and the flash would enhance pictures but one could really screw up pictures with the flash - initially i was forcing flash all the time - i did over expose stuff and when using the red filter ruined a lot of shots because of too much red. they say don't use the flash and filter together but i think i have a couple of examples where i got away with it. the camera does provide means for reviewing and correcting things under water but i was not comfortable doing so and i would come back with a whole bunch of bad shots...well we need more dives;)
day 4 - two tank dive at karpata...there was a little surge to deal with entering/exiting but what a great dive site. came home and did an afternooner at north belnem - still not having great luck with the flash photography...no problems with regular, red filtered stuff though...
day 5 - two tank dive at hilma hooker...i was surprised at how easy a shore dive this is. drop at the first buoy and you are there in a minute...
got a picture of the ship's name (not hilma hooker)...other good shots with flash, no filter...we won't mention what our tissue saturation was after two 30 min dives at 90'
i did eventually de-gas and did another afternooner at north belnem...
day 6 - last dive day - two tanker back at karpata...this time to take some movie clips...just with red filter - i got some good ones...was surprised to hear my breathing during the clip playback...well, i know where all my air goes...i sounded like a toilet that was running;)
some sense of relief getting out of the water the last time...16 dives and all that camera evaluation...i think i'd had just about enough for now;)
anyway, i'll post some more pics or clips as i can find a place to upload to...i did get some quality stuff.
certainly, my best trip to date...but then in a good healthy relationship - this stuff happens;) ...so why can't i find a girlfriend like bonaire;)
thank you all!!!
spongebob |
By bob neer on Friday, December 13, 2002 - 12:07 pm: 
