Ol Blue to Karpata - Average Depth 51 ft., Bottom time 110 minutes, gas used 18 cu. ft. of 50% Nitrox, FiO2 43%, using Drager Dolphin Rebreathers.

We entered at Ol blue at 11:15 descended, check for leaks and headed off in the direction of Karpata. We did not know how long it would take to get there or if we had enough gas to make it. We guessed that it would take about 2 hours if the current was not against us. This turned out to be a good guess we made it in 1 hour and 50 minutes. At the drop off at Ol Blue there was a large school of Bermuda chub hanging just above the drop off. After swimming through the school we dropped down to 50 ft. +/- and started swimming slowly toward Karpata.

Between Ol blue and Bloodlet we cruised with several 2 ½ to 3 ft. Barracudas for a while as they escorted us through their territory then passed us off to the next Cuda so it could escort us on our way. 30 minutes later I looked up and saw the mooring for Bloodlet. OK so far so good 30 minutes from Ol Blue to Bloodlet I think we are on schedule to make it in 2 hours+/-.

On the way to Rappel from Bloodlet nothing really special was observed. Nice coral formations, and a couple of large Schools of Bogas swirled around us. Horse-eyed Jacks and Bar Jacks were circling the Bogas trying to cut some loose from the school for a tasty lunch. 55 minutes into the dive we looked up and saw the mooring for Rappel. Now I am sure we are going to make to Karpata in 2 hours.

A couple of minutes after seeing the mooring for Rappel we see our first Turtle. A 2 foot long Green Turtle that has been tagged. We were lucky and swam with it for over 5 minutes before it slowly turned around and headed back towards Rappel. La Dania’s leap is one of my favorite dives up north. Actually the whole area between Ol Blue and Karpata is one of my favorite areas up North. At this point we split up a little, Matt and Ryan going shallower along the top of the drop off and myself & Fran going deeper out over the deep wall in the La Dania’s area. We cruised along at about 60 ft. above the deep drop wishing we could go down and do some deep exploring. About this time the shallow team started squeaking and squawking trying to get our attention, they had spotted the Mooring at La Dania’s Leap. We continued to follow the deep drop until it turned back to a slope. Then made our way back up to 45 to 50 ft as the other 2 made their way back down to 45 to 50 ft.

Between La Diana’s Leap and Karpata the real fun began. We ran in to 3 more Turtles - a 2 ft Hawksbill and a smaller Hawksbill and a 10-inch Green. We got to swim with all of them for a while. Matt had his video camera and has some great Turtle footage. They let us get within a foot or 2 for some great shots and observations. They didn’t seem bothered by us at all. I looked out in the blue water as I often do to see what maybe coming in to the reef to check us out and saw a large 3 to 4 foot long Wahoo? No, as I get closer it’s not a Wahoo - no stripes. It has a white body with 2 dark areas one forward and one aft. Looks to be possibly some kind of Mackerel. After looking through all the books I have here at home I think maybe it was a King Mackerel I’m still not sure. We are now 100 minutes in to our adventure and it’s time for me to start paying attention to where we are so we don’t swim by Karpata. I move up to the 35 to 40 ft depth range and start looking for the 2 shallow anchors at Karpata. At about 105 minutes into the dive there they are and we start ascending to 15 to 20 ft for our safety stop/swim to the exit. At 108 minutes I see the old anchor blocks for the water intake at Karpata and we ascend and make our exit next to the old cement pier.

After much talk about how great it was and how we guessed just about right on the time ”no one broke their arm patting themselves on the back”. We headed up the stairs to the waiting truck.

I will defiantly be repeating this adventure again!

Walt, great story but if you want 5 stars we need pictures. Only kidding. Sounds like a wonderful dive. We did Ole Blue and Karpata as two dives I can't imagine swimming between them but would that be cool or what.

It was a pleasure finally meeting you recently, I wish I had more time to get aquainted, maybe next time.

Walt, thank you for the dive report, sounds like a great dive!.

"mortals" are limited to drift diving from la dania's to karpata...

must have been a heck of a dive;)

Walt, most exellent report dude...Cecil, I don't need no stinkin' pics...I could visual virtually along with Walt's pen at writing

Hi Walt,
that sounds like a splendid dive you had. Were you using all the gear that is in the photo of you or just the stuff they have been discussing on the wreck diving dialogue?
Kerpata, Old Blue are nice locations. While there last month we also saw some sharks at Witch's hut, not the great white mind you. Nice to hear you saw a turtle in that part of the island.
Tell us more about the rebreather. I could see that as advantageous to approach the turtle.
Keep on divin..

Louie, to save Walt the effort (he is owner/operator of RecTek Scuba, NV) I suggest you use the "Key Word Search" and enter with "rebreather". You will come up with 3 pages and almost 40 threads dealing with rebreather diving.

Walt and C Kritagent,
Thanks for the insight. I look forward to following up and reading more about this aspect of diving on Bonaire. I will rebreathe the previous threads and surface when I need more clarification.

LOL Lou. Rebreathe indeed.

Lou, I hardly recognized Walt when I met him in person without his 6 bottles...oh, and rebreathe on dude! (sorry, couldn't resist)

Walt,

Sounds like fun .... we did this on 80's about 6 years ago. We stayed right around 30' (40'max) or so the whole way. Made it in 1:45 and had about 500psi left and no stinkin' scooters <g> We kept moving and figured at worst we would have had a relaxing float into Karpata. However, seeing the anchor gave us all a quiet sense of accomplishment.

Bob

We did it without Scooters. With Scooters it would be a 45 min. trip or less.

We just did a dive from the Marina to Capt. Don's. 5 Wrecks in 1 1/2 hours. What a kick.

Okay,..the "Our Confidence Gibraltar", Tug "Empire State", the deep wreck in front of Don's and the old cabin cruiser on the edge of Reef Scientifico... what did I miss ???

The Sailboat in front of Eden Beach.

Opps, I forgot that one...Thanks Walt.