My wife Lise and I just returned from our annual month long visit to our second home at least while we still have to toil in the traces, Bonaire. As usual the diving was relaxed, laid back and easy as pie. This year was marred at the beginning when on our second dive Lise underwater video unit flooded, which totally destroyed her camera and for the first time in years reduced her to a diver looking through a mask not the viewfinder of a camera. Because of her increased field of vision she spotted what turned out to be the friendliest little hawksbill turtle we have ever met at Andrea 2. This little guy did'nt even mind when I stroked his flippers as he continued eating algae on the bottom. Gotta love those turtles! The most amazing event occured later on a dive at Alice and wonderland. Being used to looking for and seeing all the small blennies, gobies and other little fish that Bonaire is so famous for imagine our delight and surprise to find the largest green moray eel that we have ever seen. Not only was he full grown ( 6ft.) but he was free swimming at least 12 feet above the reef. The colour, and amazing girth were what blew us away. The eel swam past us at about 8 feet, gave us a curious look and continued on his way. The feeling was that he was the biggest thing on the reef and he knew it. We have seen lots of eels in Bonaire,as well as other places but never free swimming and never, never one this massive. So the next time you are watching some tiny frogfish look around at what might be watching you! Frank

Frank saw that same green moray at Alice on a solo dive two weeks ago. He was coming straight for me at 40 feet so I floated up to 30 and let him have the right of way. Would like to know what he eats to get that big, any ideas?

barry and i saw a huge free swimming moray a year ago on a dive out past the helma hooker.. it was totally awesome... so graceful. and yes, big!!

one more great thing to remember!!!!! i miss bonaire so much... we were there in november and it seems so long ago already!

bubbles

Jerry an eel as thick through the middle as that green, could eat anything he feels like and probably does. I would love to know where on the reef he calls home . Will have to leave that discovery till next year. Frank

We saw that same eel at the invisibles last year. The only dive that week on which I didn’t take my camera!!!

I think i got video of the same eel at either Alice or Invisibles. Big sucker and he seems to like to cruise around and show his size. Tres cool
Now I just got to edit all this video into a dvd

el queso

first time I saw a huge green moray free swimming was at Bonaire in February, 1989. Looked like he could swallow the large Nikon stobe my dive buddy was using. We turned him toward the reef and he holed up in a small cave but kept his head out to see what we were doing which was mostly hyperventalating. As I recall, the dive was at Klein Bonaire.

There is a nice large moray at the Salt Pier and he will get out and about sometimes. Saw him in September, 2003.

Good to hear the big guys are still putting on a show for the divers!

Plan to dive Bonaire in mid-September this year.