Hello! This newsgroup was a tremedous service while I was planning our trip to Bonaire. I thought I'd post a few words about our experience on Bonaire to serve other Bonaire vacationers.

We went diving for six days with the wonderful staff of Toucan Diving at the Plaza Resort. Our first dive was our check out dive of course, in front of the Plaza Resort. I had never dove south of the Florida Keys and my wife had just done her certification dives a month ago in a Virginia quarry, so you can imagine our excitement. The most interesting creatures at this dive site had to be the lurking tarpon (look like sharks from a distance) and the flounder we saw in the shallows.
Here's a few notes about our other dives.
Angel City - boat dive, huge green moray, plenty of queen angel fish, go figure!

Joanne's Sunchi - boat dive to Klein Bonaire, juvenile spotted moray, Black Durgons, and our first turtle. My wife and I were the only two guests on the boat. Silvia from Toucan was a great divemaster.

Ol' Blue - Shore dive, semi-tough entry with waves bigger than usual. What was found under the waves made it well worth the effort. Nothing unusual here, but visibility was excellent.

Hand's Off - Boat dive, Klein Bonaire. Our divemaster, Jackson, pointed out a good size lobster which I got a couple of good pictures of.

18th Palm - Shore dive in front of the Plaza. See comments above.

The Forest - Boat dive, Klein Bonaire. Another founder, but nothing else out the ordinary. Probably my least favorite dive. Our divemaster had found a spool of fishing line and tried to gather it up. I'm guessing that her effort took her down to at least 140 feet. She finally had to cut the line.

1,000 Steps - Shore dive, Yes, shore dive! I made a deal with my wife that I'd carry her equipment up and down the steps. She was actually tough enough to carry her own gear back up even though I offered. Got a couple of shots of a cool lizard fish here, but nothing else out of the ordinary. As with Ol' Blue, the reef was very healthy and visibility was endless.

1,000 Steps - boat dive. Hah! I thought that our one tank boat would never make the long trip up to the north. That's why we went shore diving at 1,000 Steps. Much to my surprise, our boat took us to 1,000 Steps the next day. Saw our one and only sea horse that our divemaster pointed out. Also spotted some squid and another baby spotted moray.

Rock Pile - Night boat dive, Klein Bonaire. This was our first night dive anywhere. Saw two huge crabs with gigantic claws. One diver pointed out an arrow crab (almost like a spider).

Angel City - boat dive. Got this one on video thanks to Irene at Toucan Diving. She did a great editing job and even set it to music! Saw our 2nd turtle. The dive master spotted a sting ray in the blue water which we all missed. The biggest thrill of this dive was above the surface. As we returned from Angel City, a pod of 40 to 50 dolphins swam along side our boat and in the wake. What a thrill. Irene got this on video too!

That's it. We had a wonderful time and hope to return sometime soon. I will probably post some of my pictures somewhere on the 'net. Feel free to send me an e-mail if you have any questions.