[TRACI]

Just got back from Bonaire this past Sunday, after 7 days of great diving. This was my first trip, and I loved not having to be on time schedule to go diving.

We stayed at the Carib Inn, and would highly recommend it. Bruce, the owner, is great.

Day 1 - we started out diving the house reef at the Carib, Calabas. It was incredible, we ended up diving it 3 times the first day.

Day 2 - Bari Reef and Windsock. Bari was ok, not as great as I thought it would be after reading several other reports. Windsock was awesome. 2 turtles were the highlight of the dive.

Day 3 - Hilma Hooker, Angel City , and two dives at Calabas, one which was my first night dive which I loved. The tarpon that hunted off our lights was pretty entertaining.

Day 4 - Vista Blue and Invisibles. Invisibles was one of my top dives of the trip.

Day 5 - Red Slave and Oil Slick Leap.

Day 6 - Karparta, Andrea 1, and a night dive at Oil Slick Leap. I must say, Karparta was my favorite dive of the entire trip. Entry was a little tricky, but the dive made it worth it.

So I only got in 16 dives, wish I could have got in more. Now I see why people go to Bonaire for two weeks, so many dive sites, so little time. I really would have liked to have time to get some diving in at Klein Bonaire.

We rented a three bedroom house at the Carib Inn which worked out great. It is really convenient having a kitchen. I packed one suitcase of dry goods from home, which saved us alot of money on dining out, and it was quick and easy to grab some food in between dives, and we also cooked dinner in the house several nights. It was nice to be able just to chill out at the house and talk about our dives over dinner.

We ate a City Cafe on the waterfront 2 times, which was great food and very reasonably priced, Pasa Bon Pizza 2 times, which I loved. Richards was a little pricey for the food quality, would not eat there again. Bobby Jans barbecue was ok, I guess Texas barbecue has me spoiled.

We rented a truck from Poppy at Telerin Rental. Poppy is great, she workes at the airport, so it is convenient just to pickup and drop off the truck there. When we dropped off the truck, she even bumped our group up in line to get our boarding passes, considering there was a long line when we arrived at the airport. She also let our luggage go through at no additonal charge for being overweight.

It was a really a great trip. I have only been to Cozumel for diving, so it was fun to try out a different place.