By Anonymous on Wednesday, July 11, 2001 - 1:30 pm: |
We made our first trip to Bonaire about 10 years ag. Feel in love with the underwater life as well as the quiet,no-fuss atmosphere of the island. We traveled there again about 6-7 years ago.
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By Linnea Wimberly on Wednesday, July 11, 2001 - 3:41 pm: |
More houses/condos and the addition of the Plaza Resort are really the only major changes. If you remember the partially built building near the airport - that became the Plaza. I started going to Bonaire in '87 and not much of anything else has changed. The people are still wonderful and the island still has a laid back (but on-time) feel.
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By Linnea Wimberly on Wednesday, July 11, 2001 - 3:44 pm: |
More - the damage to the reefs was limited to the north end of the island, parts of Klein, and to the area around the Sand$. There is still plenty of great dive spots left. I was there for two weeks the end of May and there was no shortage of places to dive.
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By ajg on Wednesday, July 11, 2001 - 3:57 pm: |
How about the coral at Captain Dons or the National Park?
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By Linnea Wimberly on Wednesday, July 11, 2001 - 4:48 pm: |
Captain Don's was hit in the shallows, but I have seen posting from people who feel that the area has recovered fairly well. Cliff and Small Wall are still being dove. The Park got hit rather hard and has a long way to go before complete recovery. There were some pics showing the damage to the buildings at Slaagbai on one of the threads discussing "Lenny". Browse around and you should be able to find most of the 'Lenny' or 'damage' threads.
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By mary pequinot on Wednesday, July 11, 2001 - 6:01 pm: |
I don't know what it was like 10 years ago, but we were there the year before Lenny, and went again this year. There is definite damage at Bari Reef which affects snorkelers, but you can see the life coming back, which is interesting in itself. Maybe 2 years isn't enough to judge growth, but it looked just about the same to us. Still sleepy, laid back, very nice. We loved it.
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By Glen Reem on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 10:32 am: |
My first trip to Bonaire was in '83, to Cap'n Don's. The reefs have changed over the years, generally less grown-up elkhorn and staghorn coral on the sand in the shallows north of the marina. But that has been declining at least since Don startwed Habitat-he talks of being unable to find a way from shore to deep water because of the density of standing coral. Several different storms have each taken there toll. BUT...the key is 'the reef has changed', it has not been destroyed. 'Old-timers' with favorite spots will see the difference, as in front of Sand Dollar where immense amounts of sand were moved, but a 'newbie' will just see reef and fish. Places like one of my favorites, Invisibles, have more fish in the shallows now than before Lenny. I did my last dive there last month--90 minutes of fascination watching lots of fish. The sort of dive that rekindles the thrill of diving.
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By Glen Reem on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 10:36 am: |
I see this from a diver's perspective--there are still literally miles of snorkelling shoreline and I suspect my 'newbie just sees fish and reef' comment above applies to snorkelling also.
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By ajg on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 10:55 am: |
Thanks for the info, I'll look around for some of the Lennie stuff.
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By Dave Krause on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 4:39 pm: |
I was a "newbie" until last month, but went even after reading comments on this board regarding Lenny.
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