I will be returning to Bonaire for the second time this year (went March 20-27 with North Atlantic Scuba) with my wife and two daughters. We will be flying out of Boston on Wednesday AM and staying for a week. What do you think I can expect for visibility by Thursday? Jake stated in a previous post that it was only 40ft with a ripping current on Saturday. How long does it take for the water to clean up? In New England, it's about 2-3days of good weather. Is it the same in Bonaire?

Also, enjoy the following link. Video provided by Nonuk(sp?) and picture from individual members of the group. I'm the fat guy on the Green Flash boat.

http://www.minahan.cc/bonaire

Bill Minahan

Bill, thanks for letting us enjoy your video footage. I am totally mesmerized right now! Just finished watching the Green Flash....so relaxing, to say the least. I will go back and watch the rest when I am done on BT later on.

I hope the vis improves for your trip. Can't wait to see the next footage....if you will share it again with us! Ayo. Carole

Wow, Bill, I just went back and viewed the other videos. Who did the footage? Was it ScubaVision who did it all or did you also do some of the footage? It is superbly done! Just sooooo relaxing and beautiful. The music is perfect with the footage, as well.

I tried to view the still shots but it would not move off the first pic...just kept refreshing the initial photo over and over. I have a feeling that is most likely due to some of my computer settings and firewalls, etc. tho. I did not permit cookies so that might have messed it up. I was really looking forward to viewing the still shots, too.

I will be passing your link on to some diving friends of mine from the West Coast who have not yet been to Bonaire so they can see what they are missing!

Thanks again and have a wonderful trip this week! Ayo. Carole

Bill,

Bonaire's a big enough island that conditions on land or underwater are not universal by any stretch. Even with this recent deluge, we got a fraction of the rainfall here in Belnem that the folks further north got, for example.

Same goes for visibility. The place I dove yesterday was among the closest to where silt from the salina behind the Harbour Village Marina washed into the ocean. The current is a not unusual occurrence there either.

For contrast, divers I spoke to yesterday and the day before commented on having had great dives on Klein Bonaire and along the southern end of Bonaire in the last few days, even during the torrential rain (that's hearsay, of course).

So, the moral is, check with your dive shop to see where they would recommend you dive based on current conditions and viz.

Jake

Bill, thank you so much for the video link. It was amazing! I felt like I was doing the dive with you. I love the turtle, I could have sat and watched that all night. Thanks again and have a great trip back to Bonaire.

Carole, the videos was from Scubavision. We had Nonuk take the videos. She was an amazing diver and her video skills are incredible. These videos were all uncut (except for the intro)! She showed them to us 10 minutes after we got off of the boat. Alot of us bought the $30 video from her, and me and a buddy ripped it into a 4 Gigabyte Windows Media Player file. Then ripped it down to the smaller files on the site you see now. The original 4 Gig file is perfect, but when we made it smaller, the files got a little grainy. Also, the pictures use server side sessions (no cookies). You may have an issue with your browser or spyware protection. Is anyone else having any problems viewing the pics? The best ones I think by far is Bob Stack's. He has a digital camera. The only thing I don't like about that camera is what it does to the blues in the water.

- Bill

Jake,
Thanks. That will make me sleep better tonight. Being from Boston, 40 foot vis and a ripping current is a great day! It was funny reading your post from before.

Everyone,
Also, this will be my 11 year old daughter's first time diving in the tropics (I can't wait to see the expression on her face!). She has done 20 or so local dives (beach and boat) in Cape Cod bay where we typically have vis of 10-20 feet and the bottom temp in the middle of the summer is 52-60 degrees F. She is a very strong swimmer (since 6 mos old - YMCA water baby), loves the water, and got certified 2 weeks after her 10th birthday. The question here is depth. As a divemater, and a PADI nazi, PADI says no deeper than 40 feet until the 12th birthday due to physiological issues. The local store owner says No Worries; go as deep as she feels comfortable. I am in between. 60 feet in Bonaire and 60 feet in New England are 2 way different dives. If she was to go deeper, Bonaire is the place to do it. On the other hand, the physiology studies are so inconclusive on how depth effects a developing body. It makes it a very difficult decision. What do you think?

- Bill

If it was my daughter I would err on the side of caution and heed what PADI says. Even though the research may be inconclusive why take a chance with her growth and development? And although vis and topography between our New England waters and Bonaire waters are different at 60 feet the pressure is the same. Add that to the fact that in Bonaire there is soooo much to see in the shallows she should certainly enjoy being at 40 feet or less. I love the shallows at many of the sights!

My 11-year old daughter was certified in Bonaire in February. There was plenty for her to see at 40', although we had to keep a close eye on depth, as she found it very easy to go deeper while following a fish. My husband & I dove with her, with one of us by her side & the other staying at 50' as our reality check.

The sites that I found best for her were Oil Slick & 1000 Steps, besides 18 Palm at Plaza. She also enjoyed boat trips to Klein. I might avoid some of the southern sites that have harder entries/exits, as an 11-year might not have the strength needed to fight the surge & waves.

Thanks for your help, Bill. I tried to go in again via Explorer but I guess that would be the same browser set up with the AOL as IE is the installed browser on this PC. I'll play around with other browsers later on.

ScubaVision did a fantastic job!! Beautiful work and it comes across so as being effortless...we know it's expertise, however!

I will continue to turn to your site, sit back, watch the videos and chill out and relax....ahhhh...to be back on Bonaire again.....

THANKS A LOT BILL!

Now I've got the even WORSE BP-dive video-D.

Stunning camera work. As a VERY VERY rookie videographer myself, I can appreciate the labor of love that it is.

If anyone asks me how it is for just "average" folks to dive on Bonaire, these would be perfect tutorials, pro and con. I did catch a glimpse of a blue fin solidly planted on a reef, and some diving with the typical "newbie" danglies (ocoto's and gauge consoles and stuff). The different entry styles were educational as well.

But what a terrific display of Bonarian underwater splendor. I just GOTTA get back there.
Why of why wasn't I born rich instead of so good lookin'? LOL

Bill, Our son was certified in Bonaire just after his 10th birthday, and this year will be his 4th Christmas on the island. During the first couple of years we kept him to around th 50ft mark, but as always he would sneak a little deeper if he got the chance. There is an incredible amount to see at the 50' depth and up, with lots of coral and fish. You can even see the Hilma Hooker and the reefs at 50', also ol blue, Karpata, Oil slick.

I am sure she will have an incredible time.
Pete

Randy,
I think with the angle from above (woman Purple Rain boat), I disagree with the level of certainty that her foot was touching. She could have been a foot or two off of it. Even if it was, I am sure it was unintentional (based on her not moving it right away). I agree that many of us need to learn to clip the gear off and avoid dangling. There's nothing like breathing off a sand filled regulator!

Thanks everyone for your comments. We leave in 9.5 hours and will be there for supper tomm. night.

-Bill

Bill,

Careful about the certainty of that statement: 'we will be there...'. Tempting the Gods of Travel' to chastise you!!! :–)

Have a good trip and explore the shallows right up to shore. Look for razorfish over the shallow sandy wastes.

Hi Bill,

I think I might have come across FAR more critical than I meant. As a certified Midwest Quarry muck diver, you don't always pay attention to what you touch. LOL So when I get the rare opportunity to be in Bonarian waters I am always OVER cautious about where my gear is, where my fins are and try to "Look with my eyes, not with my fingers" like my momma drilled into me.

I think the videos really are EXCELLENT advertising and tourist info packs for first timers who always wonder what it's really like, compared to the "brochures".

It was so much just like being there that I'm not kidding about it causing PBD big time.

Have a great and safe trip.

We also have a few videos from Scuba Vision created by Hendricks. I like the videos. Nice smoke ring! We also saw that large school of bocas with a large barracuda following them! Pictures were good. Keep the young shallow due to lung development. Sue

Thanks for sharing the great video and pictures!!!! I just felt like I was in paradise!!