In the week that we were on Bonaire we did 16 dives-----and yes we stayed within the no decompression limits and had 24 hours surface time before flying. We did the two tank boat dives with Toucan Diving and then did an afternoon or night shore dive on most days. I saw many things I hadn't ever seen before and totally enjoyed every dive.

Visibility was 60-80 feet each dive. That is a far cry better than we are used to, but I wouldn't classify it as "the crystal clear water of the Carribbean" that you often hear about in advertisements. I heard it was spawning time for a number of species so that impacted the visibility. Still, it was wonderful.

Water temp registered 79-81 degrees on our computers. Although my husband and I have done nearly all of our diving in T-shirts and shorts, we had gotten wetsuits for this trip. They are the thin titanium kind with the protection of 2 mm. We were glad that we had them. Even the third dives of a day were comfortable.

For most of you, it probably goes without saying that we were also glad to have computers for each of us. The buddy system was loosely implemented which meant that no two of us had exactly the same dive profiles. As it turned out, the best pairing during a dive was my son--me, my daughter--my husband. But, it was my son and husband who ran out of air fastest and were always out of the water before my daughter and me. My son even skipped a dive due to a headache.

The two tank boat dives worked extremely well for us. For one thing, the kids were much more willing to get up to meet a boat than they usually are just because Mom and Dad are ready to get on with the day. We also found that once we make the effort to get to a boat, you might as well stay for two tanks. Toucan provided snacks and drinks between dives. I admit that the sandwiches were nothing I would ever make for myself or order at a restaurant and the bread was always a little stale. But----they sure tasted good after a dive!!! The watermelon slices and pineapple juice also cleared out our regulator mouths.

The only problem with diving everyday like that is getting to all the dive sites you want to. There is a certain amount of compromise that goes on as the specific people on a boat changes each day. Everyone has been to different places already, so finding two acceptable and new sites for the whole boat takes a little work sometime. That meant we never got to Hilma Hooker and couldn't swing a return trip to small wall for another shot at the reef cam. Still had great diving!!!

The crews from Toucan were efficient, competent, and friendly. I highly recommend following dive masters around. They know where to look for the "special" creatures and often see past the "ordinary" and "common" to see the unusual. We found sea horses on several dives because of our dive masters.

One of the things that surprised me was how each dive site had its own special character. On each of our dives we saw a slightly different set of creatures and crossed slightly different terrain. It was wonderful and made each dive a special experience.

We never made it to our shore dives in time to take advantage of the Pink Bus services. However, it is easy to spot and so are the pink signs that announce the location of the day. I think it is a good idea and hope it works well for those doing it.
Here are the dive sites we visited and anything special we noted:

Bel Mar Reef:
Accessible to Bel Mar guests; rope laid on the bottom from the steps/deck out to the bouy; rinse tanks and fresh water shower on the deck; lots of post-Lenny rubble in the shallows; our orientation dive so everything was special

Karpata:
Boat dive
Noticed lots of different corals and parrot fish

1000 Steps:
Boat dive; don't image climbing up those steps after a shore dive would be much fun; anemones and small eels

Light House
Shore dive
My children both have Advanced Open Water certification; my daughter dives for a marine research group. Neither of them has ever done a shore dive, so we had to give them the experience. Lots of schools of fish here.

Reppel
Boat dive
Our first sea horse!!

Small wall
Boat dive
More seahorses; nice little wall to float up and down; made a visit to the reef cam

Captain Don's Reef--Klein Bonaire
Boat dive
And yet another seahorse!! (see what I mean about dive masters and their eyes?)

Mi Dushi--Klein Bonaire
Boat dive
Lots of eels of many varieties

Forest--Klein Bonaire
Boat dive
Lots of fish

Divi Tree--Klein Bonaire
Boat dive
Shallows very interesting; saw file clams

Margate Bay
Shore dive
Larger sponge/coral specimens; seemed very colorful

Repell
Boat dive
Two porcupine fish "dancing"---she kept saying, "not yet"

Cliff
Boat dive
Large, black basket star; lots of eels

Bel Mar Reef
Shore dive; night dive
This dive was organized by Toucan Diving for the full moon night. It was beautiful and there were drinks and cheese/sausage afterwards.

Oil Slick Leap
Our one and only turtle!!! Also, a whole group (4) of seahorses.

Bonaventure
Our last dive of the trip; just enjoyed the wonderful scenery.

Rosemary, sounds like you all had a wonderful trip.. so glad you were happy with Toucan Diving.. my partner dives with them every year.. I also enjoyed your restaurant reviews.. I agree on the Richards's comments.. definitly not one to be missed. Great trip report..thanks