Man it's tough to get back in the groove after two weeks on Bonaire.

1) Air Jamaica:
We were pre-warned about a potential problem with a one carry-on rule and called Air Jamaica twice to verify whether or not a camera case or briefcase counted as a carry-on. We were told (twice) that if it fit under the seat in front of you, that it did not count.
Well, they forgot to tell the Delta people who handle check-in in Boston's Logan about that, because we had a major hassle getting our legal size carry-ons and a camera case each on board. We basicly acted like A**holes and walked on board with them telling us we couldn't. I kept looking back expecting security to come get us. I had cameras that I really did not want to check. We would have packed diferently had we not been told that the camera bags would not count as a carry-on.
Coming back, we did pack so that we only had one carry-on each. Of course our dive gear was checked which would not be a problem if it didn't arrive at the same time we did when we got home.

Our friends that boarded an Air Jamaica in Chicago said the one carry-on rule was being enforced by some check-in personel and not by others. They had no problem taking two on-board.

Because we want to carry-on our dive gear and cameras, we probably will not use Air Jamaica again. I think we will investigate the new American Express flight from Puerto Rico .

Other than the carry-on hassle, things went pretty well. There were the typical one to two hour delays on all flights - not unusual with any airline these days - and we walked off the plane from Bonaire in Jamaica and right on the Boston bound flight that was held for us. We did not expect to get our luggage when we arrived in Boston but were very pleasantly surprised to see it on the carousel.

2) Diving:
Great as usual.
For the first time ever we were able to dive the other side of the island because of the unusual wind shift that occured the first week we were there.
Saw a lot of frogfish this trip and seahorses at several locations. Our friend Mike found a frogfish at Invisibles that the divemasters didn't know about.

3) Restaurants:
Tried the Chibi-Chibi at the Divi. Results were mixed. One couple was not impressed and one couple thought it was fine.
We were all impressed with the De Tuin restaurant - same block as Cultamaras - on the corner.
They have a daily "Barhap" - seems to be pronounced "barhop" and appears to mean "special" that was very good and priced lower than we expected. We paid $27 USD total for two barhaps with one desert and a couple of beers each.

Ate at Richards once. Pricy as ever, but the food was very good. I had the Dorado and contrary to the other trip report that mentioned dry fish, mine was just right.

We have already made our room reservations at the Carib Inn for two weeks next May and we are already primed to go back

Thanks for that Air Jam report Clay.

I'm trying them for the first time to Bonaire in September. We've used ALM in the past with mixed results.

My wife and I used Air Jam to Cayman in March, and they allowed us two carry-ons without question. We were first class then and will be in Sept. also. I wonder if that makes any difference?

You mentioned your friends from Chi-Town had no prob. What was your departure city? We're out of Atlanta.

Clay,

I'm bummed we didn't get to meet you. Guess we'll have to catch up in NH in early August (Linda and I will be guest speakers at the United Divers of New Hampshire meeting in Manchester on August 6th - see http://www.udnh.org for location info).

As far as the one carry on thing goes, I've flown AJ out of: JFK, Newark, LAX, Baltimore, Montego Bay, and Bonaire. In none of those airports did I have any problems with taking 2 carry-ons on board (which I typically always do) nor did I see anyone else being hassled about this. I suspect you just got a rather overzealous gate agent. I also find that if you don't ask them questions about carry ons, they don't scrutinize what I have :-)

Jake

Welcom back Clay. It is so hard to get back to reality after Bonaire. Any more info on diving on the East side? Can't wait for the NH crew to get together this summer.

Great report - brings back good memories - seems like forever since we were in Bonaire - and it's only been a couple of weeks. We were going to take advantage of the wind shift and dive on the other side also but never got around to it. With so many to choose from....

Philip, I suspect that first class will make a difference.
We left from Boston.
Note that although my friends did not have a problem with a second carry-on in Chicago, other people on the same flight did. Enforcement appears to be somewhat uneven.

Jake,
It would have been nice to see you guys, but we didn't rent a car, so we stayed pretty close to the Carib Inn. Never get get to dive at Small Wall this trip either.
We should be able to get together in August even if we can't make the club meeting. I may be able to get to the meeting, but it really depends on whether or not I am traveling. Even if I am, I will be home Friday night and all weekend, so we can get together with you and Linda and Corney and her husband and Cecil Berry for a barbecue at my place if you all want.

Corney, the backside was pretty neat. The sponges were very large and often very distorted by the currents/surge/wave action that must prevail most of the time. We only got to make the one dive, so I really didn't get enough exposure to get a really good feel for the differences other than the obvious - like sponge shapes and sizes.
We also got to dive Red Slave Huts for the first time because it was so calm.
As August gets a little closer we will have to do a little planning on when to get together with everybody.
By the way we used a limo - not the one you guys used though - their price was up right at $200 if you include a tip. We used someone else - don't recall the name right now. (My excuse for forgetting is that Lee made the reservation). In any case it worked out great. It was sure nice not to have to mess with parking at Logan. It's worse now than it usually is.
Massport bought the big commercial lot right outside Logan and - I was told - closed it down for some reason. The satellite lots are filled on weekends according to the lot attendants and you often get shunted to a new offsite lot out in Chelsea somewhere. Just what I want to do at 5:30am - wander around Chelsea trying to find a parking lot - N O T !!!

Gail, if you get another chance to dive the backside, you probably ought to go for it. It's apparently uncommon for the winds to come from the West at this time of year, so you might not have too many repeat chances.
As you say though, there are an awful lot of great sites on the lee side..

The parking situation at Logan sounds desperate, I've got to deal with that in a few weeks, time to suck up to somebody for a ride to and from the airport. Hey Clay, what are you doing the weekend of June 16 and 23, want to ride to Boston, you can choose which car you want to keep for the week.

Cecil, Hey I am easy, but not that easy!! Besides I have to rearrange my sock drawer those weekends.
I really think the limo is a pretty good option. Also the Concord Trailways bus out of Manchester or Nashua is good if you don't leave too early or arrive too late. They have a web site where you can check their schedules and prices.

Have you guys ever used the option of getting a room at motel that includes unlimited parking included with rate ? we use the Raddisson in Enfield, Ct and for the $99.00 rate we can park for a whole month or more, plus stay the night before and get shuttled over to the airport in the morning ..arrive rested and not have to get up at 3am just to reach airport , worry about weather etc.....there must be somewhere near Boston that has that option...chech under Sherlock and go Logan airport hotels...I hate to fly out of Boston.. prefer Manchester or Hartford as I live in Vermont...looking at ALM and the new hook-up for my flight for next year already for the best deal to Bonaire in Feb...always a lot of homework.. wish I was going sooner than Feb...but we get to stay 5 weeks when we do go..did 47 dives this year and still did'nt wanna get out of the water !!!

There use to be a airport shuttle bus from Southern NH to Logan. Jake took it a lot when we lived in Londonderry and Derry. Wish I could remember the name.

Tried both those methods, I don't know my flight times yet. I just know that's it's Logan, every other trip I always go in and out of Manchester (15 minutes from the house). We've used the Howard Johnson in Revere, same deal $99/night free parking and ride to and from airport. I think I've just made a command level decision (depending on if "she who must be obeyed" lets me), Satellite Parking, $9-12/day.

Flightline in an inexpensive way in southern NH. It covers from Salem up through Hooksett. Our problelm is that we are 4 miles over the Hooksett line and they won't take us. It is a shared ride that picks up at all hours. We have used them a had someone pick us up in Manchester.

Flightline was the one I was thinking of.

Yep. Flight Line is who I used. Also, from Derry, you could get a stretch Limo to Logan or Boston for about $90 each way (became more economical when more than two people were involved - I recall Flight Line was about $35-40/person).

Anyhow, in terms of possible NH dates for a BonaireTalk gathering (with us present, of course :-) ), Linda and I will be in NH (and available) August 2-5. Maybe Saturday the 4th? (Sunday the 5th will probably be busy with Linda's family).

Jake

Saturday the 4th of Aug sounds good to me. I will check with Lee (wife)
Clay

Cecil.. There is a remote lot in Woburn that has 24 hour Massport bus service to Logan. it's right off the new exit in Wilmington. You might want to check with www.massport.com for particulars. If you are leaving on a weekend, the satellite lots might be a problem according to the lot attendant I talked to.

I tried last night to tell me Flightline story but I keep hitting the back key (right next to the curser key) on my home computer and losing what I wrote. Try, try, again.

About 14 years ago, Sue and I went to the Bahamas for vacation. On the return trip we saw several multi-chicken third world airports followed by a tour of every major airport on the Eastern seaboard. We arrived at Logan at 2:00 AM, only to be told that Flightline limos start running again at 7:00 AM. For that night in Logan we saved $7.00 vs. parking in Central parking. More recently on the Tahiti trip the limo didn't show up at all for my dive buddy. For those reasons I not very happy with the limos, I do use then on busness trip but only because the company pays for them.

Clay, I just checked with Massport, the Woburn parking lot is $7.00/day and $14.00 round trip. It's cheaper to park at Logan satellite lot?!!!

Cecil ..yes it's cheaper and my preference has always been to use satellite parking. It's just that all the stuff Massport is doing with buying up the big commercial lot just outside Logan and then closing it thus putting a lot of pressure on central and satellite parking made me very nervous about finding weekend parking at Logan.

If your flight time will allow you to get there early enough so you can find the Chelsea lot if you have to, I would go for satellite parking. I was getting up at 3:30am as it was and didn't want to get up any earlier to make sure I could park, so I opted for the limo.
I looked into using the Holliday Inn just outside Logan on Rt 3 and their charge for parking was higher than satellite parking even before the room charge was added in. I don't think they are really interested in being a parking lot. I know hotels in other places are interested and offer a pretty good deal.