The Trip to Bonaire
My main goal this year was to dive every month. I started the year with a dive trip to Grand Cayman at the end of January through the first few days of February. I had to be a little creative. After all, I don't get 12 weeks of vacation time so I had to do some long weekends that spanned two months when I could. I am not good at long range planning (anything more that a couple of hours into the future) unless there is a good reason to do so. Some of my trips were planned less than a week before I was in the water. A few times, I called Delta or US Airways (where I have built up frequent flyer points that I can exchange for free tickets) and started asking where, in the Caribbean I could get a free ticket the next weekend. Usually I could find something. That helped keep the money I spent on diving last year under $15,000.00. Any way, back in February of '02 I decided that I wanted to top off the year of monthly diving with a really great trip. I figured I would go to Bonaire on Thanksgiving (fourth Thursday in November for those outside the US) for a week. With the holiday schedule at my company, I could get in a week of diving while taking only 3 days of vacation time.

Neither Delta nor US Airways fly to Bonaire. I was able to get a free awards round trip ticket on Delta to Aruba on the days I wanted. GREAT! I mean Aruba is right there. It is less than an inch away from Bonaire on most maps. I figured it would be easy to get a cheap ticket from Aruba to Bonaire. In May (after dives in Cancun, Cozumel and Nassau added to my list) my travel agent told me that I should look into booking that leg from Aruba to Bonaire. She did a quick search and told me that there were no direct flights. My first response was, "There is no place to stop except Curacao." She informed me that all the flights she could pull up had layovers or plane changes in Curacao. So I booked one that got me into Bonaire 7 hours after I landed in Aruba. I went back to the map. It is less than an inch. I think I could swim it with three tanks in less than 7 hours. In October while I was diving in Key West (after trips to Roatan and Key Largo that each spanned 2 months) my travel agent called with bad news. The flights on DCA from Aruba to Bonaire had been moved up to leave Aruba 5 hours earlier. I figured that was a good thing. Later that day, I checked my flight schedule to find out that the flight was now leaving Aruba 4 minutes after my Delta flight arrived. Aruba is a small airport, but I was afraid that I would not be able to clear customs and immigration, claim and recheck my luggage and make the flight. Now I was beginning to worry. My agent was saying things like, "Why don't you just stay in Aruba and dive there?" I have been diving in both places. Aruba is not Bonaire, above or below the water. It still amazes me that two islands less than an inch apart can be so different.

A week later, I was able to get a different travel agent to find another airline, AVIA Air, that had a direct flight later that day. Things were looking better. The only problem was that you have to be at the counter in person with cash to buy a ticket on AVIA Air. But she assured me that I had a reservation, just not a ticket. When I arrived in Aruba, I cleared immigration, claimed my bag, got through customs and found the AVIA Ticket office. That is when I am told that they decided to cancel my flight to Bonaire that day because they only have a few planes and they needed that one for another route. I asked if there were any other flights to Bonaire that day. I was told that there was one leaving in 30 minutes. "Great, can you get me on it?" No, that flight was already closed. (So why did you even bother telling me that, just to add to my frustration?) I asked if any other airlines might be flying to Bonaire that day. She told me to check with DCA. I knew that their flight had already left because I was originally booked with DCA (re-read this section if you had forgotten that point already). I decided there was nothing to loose so I checked with their office and found out that the original flight that I had been booked on was back. I was told that the flight had been dropped but they decided to bring it back. So after a long layover in Aruba and short one in Curacao, I made it to Bonaire 13 hours after I left home. The money I saved on the ticket was not looking like the best deal at this point. I did make it to Bonaire for only $65.00 but the grief and worry may have offset the savings. But, as they say, all's well that ends well. And since I (along with my luggage) made it to Bonaire, all was well. After checking in at Capt. Don's I met up with Wally who had arrived from Chicago earlier that evening and we headed to the Deco Stop for a few Brights.

The Diving
On Friday Wally and I went to the orientation class and got another medallion to dive in the marine park. We did our check out dive off the dock into LaMachaca. We turned north when we got to the wall and found the frame of a wreck on the floor at about 110 feet. My first thought was that the tug wreck had finally slipped over wall and fallen to the floor. A closer look told me that it was too small to be the tug.

We cut the dive a little short so we could meet Netty back at the office to get our rental truck. She drove us back to the airport and gave us some good updates and tips on places to eat on the island. We headed back to Capt. Don's had a PBJ for lunch, and loaded up the truck with our gear and some tanks. We delivered Jake's Krispey Kremes on our way to the first dive site. I was able fit 18 donuts, some napkins, a hat and T-shirt from Krispey Kreme into my luggage. We had a quick visit and told him that clementines would arrive the next day with another dive buddy.

We headed up to Petries Pillar for our first shore dive, then drove down to Bachelor's Beach. I found a clam that become part of the coral reef. The only way I was able to notice him was the fact that he was open and slammed shut. Once he was shut, he looked like part of the coral head that had grown around him. We also saw a couple of squid. One got too close to a coral head and was head butted by a damselfish. It squirted ink and shot out about 2 feet in front of the other squid.



We did two more dives off the dock. The first was a dusk dive. We went north to the divers memorial between Reef Scientifico and Cliff. We then went back in for a night dive. I took my video camera with me and got some good shots of two octopi and the orange coral on the bottom of the tug wreck that blooms at night. Dinner at Croccatino was great. Day 1: 5 dives.

On Saturday we did a couple of boat dives in the morning. We first headed to La Diana's Leap and then to Mi Dushi. Wally found another octopus and we saw a big red seahorse. I had my camera set up for close up macro photography and with all the coral around them I could not get close enough to either one to get a picture, but they were neat to watch. After a couple of PBJ's we headed out to Alice in Wonderland. We swam out to the second reef and got see some really beautiful coral. We then dove Windsock. The coral here was really nice and we saw tons of fish. We did a dusk dive off the dock. Wally found a scorpionfish under the tug and I got some good close up video and video of him eating. We skipped the night dive on Saturday so we cold grab an early dinner at Raining Fishes. After a great meal we headed to the airport to pick up Beth who was arriving on a late flight. She checked in to Capt. Don's and we all headed to the Deco Stop where Beth experienced her first Bright. She was liking Bonaire already. Day 2: 5 dives.

On Sunday morning December 1, I completed my goal for the year of diving every month by making a dive at Weber's Joy. A great morning dive. Wally and I then returned to Capt. Don's to find Beth had just finished her orientation and was ready for her check out dive. We took her off the dock and showed her the tug wreck. Beth had been certified earlier in the year at Crystal River and Devil's Den. This was her first ocean dive. She was having a little trouble getting down so I gave her 2 pounds out of my weight belt. I usually carry a little extra, because I feel it helps some times when I have my camera or video.

Once we got her checked out, we jumped on the boat to take her out to Forest. I was the first one in the water. The visibility was like a bad day in the Keys. I could not see 10 feet. I had to stay very close to the boat to see divers as they entered the water so that I could find Wally and Beth. I was feeling really bad because we had been telling Beth about the crystal clear water. Once we buddied up and got down over the wall, the visibility improved to over 80 feet. The coral was beautiful and there were lots of fish. Wally and I were keeping an eye on Beth since she was a new diver. She did well, but was having a little trouble with her buoyancy and going through air a little fast. Things you expect with new divers. We broke for lunch (PBJ's in case you haven't figured out the pattern by now). If you are counting, that is 3 dives before lunch.

After lunch I realized that I had lost my room key. Retracing my steps in my mind, I figured it might be Weber's Joy where Wally and dove that morning. After dropping off Jake's Clementines, we headed up to Weber's Joy and found my room key in the parking area right beside where we had parked the truck. It must have fallen out of my pocket when I was getting the truck key out. We then introduced Beth to shore diving at Andrea II. The new road and parking lot make this dive a nice one for a new diver. Beth found an octopus on the sand. She was really excited. I think I dove for over a year before I saw my first octopus. She sees one on her first day in the ocean. We returned to the resort and did a dusk dive off the docks. There were lots of fish out and the Blue Tangs were schooling along feeding in the coral. At Capt. Don's you are facing west as you come up the stairs from the water to the dock. As I walked up the stairs and my head popped out of the water after a great dive (5th of the day), I find that I am looking directly into a big red sun in the sky over Klein Bonaire and I hear a lively steel band playing on shore just behind me. It just doesn't get any better. Beth still had some energy so we decided that her first day of diving should end with a night dive. Wally and I were able to show her a Spanish lobster under the tug, some big arrow crabs and the blooming coral under the bow of the tug. She did 5 dives her first day in the ocean. Not bad. Wally and I had 6 dives since we made that early morning dive while Beth was going through orientation. A meal at Restaurant Amadeus finished off a great day in paradise.

Monday we decided to take it easy. We started with a boat dive at Sharon's Serenity. Beth was doing much better with her buoyancy. We went down to Lake for our next dive. Beth could not find her dive computer. She figured she must have left it in her locker. I told her that it would not be safe to dive without it with as many dives as we were doing. I told her that she could sit out this dive or dive off tables the rest of the day, which would shorten her other dives. She decided to sit out this dive. As soon as Wally and I descended out of site, she found the computer in her fin. Bummer. But better safe than sorry. Wally and I enjoyed the dive but felt a little guilty about Beth sitting on the shore so we cut the dive a little short (50 minutes).

By this time we were a little tired of PBJ's so we decided to have lunch in town. We ate at the Seahorse Cyber Café. It was a very good lunch. Then we cashed in on our bribes (donuts and clementines) to Jake. We made a shore dive off his back yard at Small Wall. I spent about 20 minutes hovering in front of the camera holding up all the sings I brought. Charlotte (the damselfish that lives at the reefcam) sat right beside the camera watching me as if she was waiting to see what the next sign was going to say. After a nice dive, we had a nice visit with Jake and Linda. Our truck would not start and we had to call for a mechanic to come out t to fix it. We returned to Capt. Don's and made a dusk dive. Since we were not rushing to make a lot of dives and we had the car trouble, we only made 4 dives today and we went to an early dinner so we could get up early the next morning. We finished the day with a great dinner at Mona Lisa Bar and Restaurant. The location of the restaurant had changed since I last ate there, but the food and service was better than ever.

Tuesday morning we got into the water at about 5:30 so we could wake up the fish. I like dawn dives, but I am not a morning person so I usually only make one of these on each trip to Bonaire. I love to see the reef change from night to day. Beth stayed down for an hour on one tank and that dive gave me a total of 240 hours bottom time. 10 days of my life underwater. After breakfast we hopped on the boat for a trip to Nearest Point. As soon as we left the dock, the captain saw that the dive site was taken so he changed course to Small Wall. We had just made that dive yesterday, but since I had spent much of the dive in front of the camera, I didn't mind at all. I got some good video of a seahorse free swimming from one branch to another on the soft coral.

After the boat dive we had to take the rental car to garage so the mechanic that made the road side repairs at Jake's yesterday could replace a wire. They got us back on the road in less than half an hour. We went to Angel City for a double reef dive. We took Beth out to the second reef where we saw some big barracudas.

After the three morning dives, we had some PBJ's in the room and loaded the truck for a couple of afternoon shore dives. We made one dive at Cliff and moved up to Andrea I. Wally had made his 100th dive last year when we were in Bonaire and he wanted to make his 200th dive at the same site. So we went to Andrea I and got some pictures of him on this dive.



We headed back to the resort for a night dive off the dock. Beth got to see Charlie the Tarpon. I have never seen anyone swim sideways so fast. That gave us another 6 dive day. We got in at 5:30am and got out at 6:30 pm. A nice dinner at Zeezicht ended another great day of diving.

Wednesday, we went on the morning boat dive to Jerry's Reef on Klein. I got some great video of the coral and fond two scorpion fish. Wally stopped diving after that because he had an early flight the next morning. My flight was not until 2:00 pm so I made two more dives with Beth. We went out the Hooker so Beth could say she had seen it. We went down to the propeller at 68 feet and then swam across the top. We returned over the reef. There is a lot to see on the wall at this site. The wreck is not the only thing to see here. For my last dive of this trip, I took Beth to Alice in Wonderland. We went out to the first wall and had some fun in the weightless environment. After that we returned to rinse and dry the equipment before my return flights the next day. We went downtown to the bar on the dock to watch the sunset.

Thursday, I packed and headed to the Donkey Sanctuary for a quick visit on the way to the airport. I returned the car and headed t the ticket counter to check in for my flights home. I was a little worried about the trip back. If my flights on DCA from Bonaire to Aruba via Curacao were not on time, I might miss my Delta flight back to Atlanta. But everything went on time. I went through US Immigration and Customs in Aruba so once I got to Atlanta I headed to the gate for my connecting flight to Greensboro. The last of my flights was delayed due to ice storms in North Carolina. I arrived in Greensboro after midnight. My car was covered in 2 inches of ice. I had to break the ice off the car and drive home. I got home at 2:00 AM. That gave me 2 hours to unpack, throw the scuba gear in the tub, repack for a business trip, shower dress and head to the airport to catch a 6:00 AM flight to Orlando. It was worth it, though. Another great dive trip to paradise.

Mike

Thanks for a great report, I enjoyed reading it.

Mike,

Excellent report!! It is nice to hear other people who go to Bonaire to dive 5-6 times a day relive their trip. One of my Bonaire Buddies would call you a "Dive Criminal". He always jokes that divers like us "cost" him money on air fills.

I agree with you that the best part of the Hilma Hooker is the reef. Every time I dive that site I notice people racing from shore to the wreck, then again, racing back to shore, missing the natural beauty of that site.

Congratulations to Wally and yourself on your total dives completed so far. Just watch out your toes do not become webbed. If they did, you would not need fins anymore. Then again, that would be alright too - less gear to pack.;-{)}

Mike...great report...5 dives a day huh! I thought Steve was bad doing 4 a day! Must have been hard scrapping all that ice off your car minutes after getting off the plane from Bonaire....

Mike,
Great report. Better late than never....
Ida

Oh, this is just great. I have to listen to these stories all the time and watch the videos and now I have to read it again on here. I pretend to be deaf in hopes that he will stop boring me with these stories, but he still talks to me all the time anyway. I like hearing about the trip but, once is enough! When is his next trip? I need some private time.

Trip summary:
Bonaire trip:
29 dives in 6 days
Day 1: 5 dives
Day 2: 5 dives
Day 3: 6 dives
Day 4: 4 dives (Car trouble and took time to eat a leisurely lunch. Meals do cut into dive time.)
Day 5: 6 dives
Day 6: 3 dives (Quit before lunch because flying next day)
One dawn dive
3 night dives
6 boat dives
Wally made his 200th dive
Beth made her first ocean dives
7 great meals
One lost room key
One jar of peanut butter
Two jars of jelly
??? number of Brights consumed?
No flat tires
One road-side breakdown
No break-ins (first trip to Bonaire when we did have the car broken into, but we did some better planning this time)
More fun than one should be allowed to have in one week

For the year 2002:
Dove every month of the year
108 dives total

$65 to BON and back?!!!

I thought I had done well getting my wife and I to Bonaire and back on AA for about $240 in miscellaneous taxes and fees (including a fee to extend an expiration date) using a pair of incentive flight certificates that AA passes out to companies who buy enough business travel. Getting there and back on just $65 seems hard to believe; was your itinerary to Aruba totally free - as in no taxes or security fees? And was your $65 total or before taxes and fees?

Perhaps we need to have a write-in survey/contest to see who has incurred the lowest cost per mile getting from home to Bonaire and back... Jake and the others who live there are disqualified because stepping out of your front or back door doesn't count as a trip!

Let's see, (from your profile hometown...) Greenville NC to Bonaire is about 1710 miles - we'll assume geodetic distance for simplicity. Taking that "great circle" distance times two for the round trip, then dividing into your reported $65 cost = $.0190 per person per mile! Unless, of course, you paid some extra fees you didn't mention...

My travel for 2 from Dallas to Bonaire (via SJ PR), 2295 miles one way as the crow flies, for a total mileage of 9180 (2 people times 2 round trips) worked out to $.0261 per person per mile. You beat me!

Also, I am going to use your trip report as proof to my buddy that anyone can make 5 or 6 dives a day. On our last trip we only managed 3 on average, but we were pretty relaxed and mostly on an "island time" pace.

-LS

and
Great report Dr. Donkey Diver.. by the way where is your next trip??

(Message edited by scubahb on January 29, 2003)

Oops, miscalculated...

"Greensboro", not Greenville, NC...
So, 1797 miles one-way = $.0181 per person per round trip.

-LS

Mike, great report. I'm happy you made the time to visit the Sanctuary.

Sarah

Woody, How did Mike get his ears to stay inside of that panama hat???

Leif,

You did very well. When I add everything up, I paid $10.00 for the "free" tickets on Delta, $65.00 from Aruba to Bonaire, $60.00 from Bonaire to Aruba, $4.00 departure tax (since I was only going to Aruba and not USA from Bonaire) so I paid $139.00 total for travel. I should have paid another $7.00 fee each way because DCA only allows 40 pounds for checked bags and mine was 68 pounds but the ladies at the ticket counter waved that each time. I guess my smile and good looks helped me out there

If I am doing the math correctly that makes me come in at $0.0387 per mile so you beat me by over a penny.

Fantastic report, Mike. I wanna go diving with you!! Hard to find a buddy who wants to do that many times in one day!! Not that I'm "goal oriented" or into the numbers......but as soon as I'm out of the water, I'm ready to get back in. I could snorkle during off-gassing between dives....but one must return to dry land at some point. margarite

Mike ... great report! Thanks for sharing! What an awesome goal -- diving in all 12 months.

Great report, Mike!

Margarite,

I'm like you. I don't get up thinking I need to do a certain number of dives. I just start diving and keep it up until I feel a need for food or a nap.

Susan,

I needed a goal last year to keep me going, so I figured I should try to dive evey month. I did it. Actually, I have 15 months in a row right now (Nov 2001 through Jan 2003).

Freddie,

Nothing planned until May 3 when we are going on a live-aboard down through the Bahamas to Cay Lobos (I think) just off the northeast shore of Cuba. I probably won't last that long on dry land. I will have to make a quick trip somewhere before then.

Mike

Dive evry month. It is inspired, and has inspired me. Well Done!

dr. doolittle, fantastic trip report and pics...you are an animal (but will you please give poor woody a break? i am sure he can't wait for you to get gone in march!) it certainly gave me a nice relaxing read and visual after a long day at work (still have 20 more minutes)...

Mike, Thanks for the great trip report. I could just about close my eyes and feel like I was in Bonaire again, than the phone rang.

You're an inspiration and I think I'll have to try a goal like yours, who wouldn't want to dive every month of the year.

Thanks again, Debbie

What a great trip report! I'm LONGING for Bonaire again.

Awesome report Mike!
Thanks 4 sharing with us (and make my PBD worse )

Wow, pretty impressive diving #s...thanks for sharing, I felt like I was there! Only 15 days left on my countdown sheet; your report made my pre-Bonaire anticipation all the greater!

Thanks for a great trip report!! We leave for Bonaire in 33 days and the excitement is building. Your report just makes me more excited! Great pics too!