Our cruise ship docked in Bonaire about 8:00 am and was due to depart about 5:00 pm. Having discussed beach snorkeling sites on Bonaire Talk, our plan was to follow the advice of Charles Poteet and try snorkeling at the Plaza Resort (18 Palms). After breakfast on the ship we made up a lunch of sandwiches, snacks, and drinks from the breakfast buffet and headed out around 9:30. We picked up a map from the tourist bureau and headed south along the main waterfront road until we reached the Divi resort. Following the road around the Divi Resort we came to the Plaza Resort entrance. It is actually possible to enter the resort beach through the parking lot but there are no signs indicating that this is the resort parking area. It took us about 15 - 20 minutes to walk to the Plaza Resort from the cruise dock. Following the signs to the beach, we came upon the rock formations that Charles had indicated in his e-mailed photos and we put on our snorkeling gear and entered the water. We always cruise with our own snorkels, masks, and beach shoes. The shoes were recommended for Bonaire. There seems to be a resident adult French angel fish which greets most snorkelers as they enter the water, somewhat scary when seen from above the surface as it is large and black. But absolutely beautiful when seen from below. Among the more unusual fish that we saw during the 3 hours that we spent in the water was a spotted snake-eel, a turtle heading out to sea, various file fishes and trumpet fishes, lizard fishes, and box fishes. Around the dock were some large porcupine fishes and a peacock flounder. There was even a Yellow Tail Snapper trying unsuccessfully to feed on a school of herring. While we have seen all of these fish before, we have never seen such a variety of families and species in one location.This, of course, along with the clarity of the water is what makes Bonaire such a wonderful place to snorkel. On our walk back to the ship we noticed several people swimming and snorkeling on a small beach next to the ship dock. Since we can never get enough snorkeling and it was only 3:00 we decided to give it a go. Around the rocks were a large number of terminal male parrot fish, mainly Stop Lights and Queens; Blue tangs, and Sergeant Majors. Under the dock itself were some beautiful coral formations and lots of Trumpet fish. We swam out towards the bow of the ship and found more coral formations and a pair of large porcupine fishes. All in all a fun way to spend our last hour in Bonaire. We have cruised to many of the Caribbean Islands and, using beach entry, have snorkeled on most of them. If anyone needs more information about cruising and snorkeling on the other Caribbean Islands please contact me. |