Bonaire Trip Report

[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.

[BoomerNJ]

I'm really looking forward to getting to Bonaire one day soon. Thanks for the great report!

[unclepooty]

Thanks TRACI, glad you had a god trip

[Rockhound76]

One of my buddies is headed there this weekend. We're going to the Flower Gardens in a couple of weeks, so I hope to get his dive report then.

Glad you had a good time. We're still debating whether or not to head back there for Spring Break or wait until summer (do Cozumel or Caymans in the spring, since Bonaire is further south off the hurricane belt for summer diving.)

[gthomas]

I was a great trip. I haven't taken the time to do up a trip report but will soon.

[Zenagirl]

Thanks for writing up a report....it's great to know you had such a good time. Do you think you'll go back?

I agree, 2 weeks is really a much better length of time for a Bonaire trip if you can manage it.

[TRACI]

I will definatly go back again, maybe next summer. We are going to try to get in a coz trip in between Bonaire trips.

Going into the trip, I was expecting to pay more $$$ for a Bonaire trip, then what I am used to paying for a trip to Coz, but to my surprise, we saved so much $$$ on diving, since all we did was unlimited shore diving, no boat dives, I think the trip actually was alot less $$. We came home with some extra cash for a winter trip to Coz

[DiveSooner]

Originally Posted by TRACI

I will definatly go back again, maybe next summer. We are going to try to get in a coz trip in between Bonaire trips.

Going into the trip, I was expecting to pay more $$$ for a Bonaire trip, then what I am used to paying for a trip to Coz, but to my surprise, we saved so much $$$ on diving, since all we did was unlimited shore diving, no boat dives, I think the trip actually was alot less $$. We came home with some extra cash for a winter trip to Coz

Glad you and Chica had a good time... See I told you that the cost in the end, it cheaper. I really was hoping for a trip in October, but it looks like I'm postponing it.

Look forward to pics...

[TRACI]

Here are a few pics from Bonaire trip

[TRACI]

A few more pics from Bonaire