Bonaire 5th Time, First Report
November 19, 2006

Well, we are just returning from our 5th trip to Bonaire, and our first trip report. We felt it was time to finally give back to the website that has helped us so much in the past, as well as talk about the island we love so much. For ease of reading, we will divide this up into four sections: accommodations, diving, dining and other. Before I begin, though, I should mention that we are primarily shore divers for a variety of reasons. First, quite simply my wife has severe motion sickness, to the point where she actually has to take Triptone to control sickness from the motion caused by mild surge. Second, we are not much for schedules on a vacation. Granted, there are some things that must be scheduled, but when I think of a dive vacation I think of diving when I want, for as long/short as I want and at which site I choose. As a side note, we have always flown American Airlines and have good luck overall with baggage, schedules, etc.. The only downsides are that you arrive quite late, after most of the restaurants are close, and the departure time is quite early in the morning. However, I have heard bad reports on all airlines servicing Bonaire from time to time, so I don't know that there is a best way to get there. In any case

Accommodations
Four out of the five times we have stayed at Buddy Dive Resort, including this trip. We have come back to Buddy over and over for several reasons. First, they have the most convenient set-up for shore diving, with a fantastic drive through tank pick up including rinse tanks and Nitrox. Second, they provide vehicles for your stay and transportation to and from the airport. Third, they have a great beach and pool bar. (Hey, we have our priorities! BTW, there are not many real sand beaches in Bonaire, thus the quotations on beach bar.) And overall the staff has been very friendly overall. Both the staff and guests have also been a good international mix of people, which certainly makes for a great opportunity to meet people from other cultures, diving backgrounds, etc.

A couple recommendations would be to first pay attention to the type of room you are staying in. Buddy recently bought the dive resort next store (formerly Lion Dive), and there is a good variety of room types now. That will also affect your proximity to the amenities listed above. They also appear to be in the process off renovating many of the rooms. We have only stayed in the older rooms, but the new ones do appear nicer. Again, we have only stayed in the apartment style rooms with kitchen, etc. We don't actually cook on our vacations, but we do need the fridge for beer and we make our own lunches. One note, though, only the bedrooms are air-conditioned. We don't spend much time in our rooms, but if you do you should be aware of this. You could leave the windows open, but the mosquitoes in Bonaire are pretty nasty. (Make sure you bring your bug spray, pump style of course, as you will need it every night.) Buddy provide breakfast which includes several cold and hot options as well as custom omelettes and waffles. They have three pools, two in the old Buddy area and one in the old Lion Dive area.

Their drive through tank pick up is fantastic. The rinse tanks seemed to always be clean, they have separate tanks for cameras, regulators and the rest. There were always plenty of tanks, both air and nitrox. In the past we had some problems with o-rings, but overall o-rings on the tanks were in good shape. While we didn't do any boat dives this trip, they have four dive boats available and make it easy to sign up for the boat dives, know where and when to meet, etc.

A couple issues with Buddy. We did have a friend who stayed in Buddy a couple years ago and had a bad experience. Now, based on the experience we just had, I think that this experience may have had a lot to do with them having just purchased Lion Dive. We did, however, have a car problem. The tailgate was broken and rusted, and didn't catch, therefore we couldnt easily use the truck to don our equipment. Then, when we finished with one of our dives the vehicle would not start due to a dead battery. Unfortunately we were at a remote part of the island, but were very lucky to find a Dutch national who was nice enough to pick us up and let us use his phone. He happened to live on a different part of the island, but lucky for us it was two houses down from a great little beach bar. Buddy had their maintenance person by the name of Freek pick us up in short order. He was prepared with a back up system to jump the truck and get it running. He followed us back to Buddy. As luck would have it, Buddy was full at the time and didn't have any spare vehicles. We were worried about what we were going to do then next day since we don't boat dive and the truck needed repairs. However, Freek was nice enough to call while we were on our way and Buddy arranged for a rental car for us from the airport. The rental company came and picked us up and we were set. Buddy also politely credited us for the fuel we had put in the Buddy truck since we didn't have it the rest of our stay.

We also had some confusion on charges for Nitrox. My wife and I wanted to dive nitrox on some of our deeper dives, but not all of them. When the bill showed up, though, we were charged for the whole week upgrade. I was fairly certain that this was definitely more expensive than a per tank basis. When I brought this to the dive shop, they went through and counted all of the times we took a nitrox tank. I was right on the charges and they gladly charged us the lesser of the two amounts. All in all we were pleased with how Buddy reacted to the issues we encountered. I don't ever expect things to be perfect, but the key is how an organization reacts to those issues and Buddy was quite good.

The Diving
As I mentioned earlier, we only did shore dives, so I will refrain from any comments on the boat diving sites. As far as shore diving goes, almost all of the diving on Bonaire is on the west, leeward, side of the island. There are a couple sites on the East Side, but these are really only accessible on the rare occasion that there is no wind or the wind is out of the west. This is a very rare occurrence on Bonaire, so if it happens while you are there you MUST take advantage of it. On the east side you will see much larger coral, animals, etc. As an aside, if you have your heart set on diving on the east side and don't mind waves, there is a dive operation called Larry's Wild Side Diving which strictly does boat dives on the east side. Back to the story, for the most part what you will find on the west side is a fringing reef that is relatively close to shore. There are yellow rocks all along the coast that mark most of the accessible sites. However, a very big recommendation I have is that the first day you are there you pick up a paperback book called Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy by Susan Porter. Susan lives on Bonaire and give directions for getting in and out of the water at the dive sites. She mentions sites that arent marked sites and what to look for. She is now on the fourth addition. We have used her books religiously for our last three visits with great success.

Following some of the sites where we had good luck and enjoyed our dives.

Buddy's Reef
This is the house reef at Buddy Dive. While we have never seen anything big here. We always seem to see multiple eels and good fish life. It is a very convenient dive site with the amenities right there. It is a very good option for a night dive as well. At night you will see tarpon, free swimming eels and the occasional octopus.

Karpata
This is one of our favorite sites on the island. It is in the northern part and we very often see turtles there. We also almost always see barracuda as well as very healthy coral. The entry and exit can be a bit tricky, so be sure to read Susan's book mentioned above. The one downside could be the fact that you have to drive a ways around the island to get back to town because the isolated road is one way at this point. However, it takes you near some good spots for watching flamingos and will also take you through the neat little town of Rincon, where many of the locals live. Finally on the way back you drive along the east side of the island for a while which allows you to see a totally different aspect of Bonaire above water.

1000 Steps
It's not really 1000 steps, but can seem like quite a few after your dive. Again, this is a very nice dive with good healthy coral. It is a good place to see some neat animals including again turtles and barracuda.

Jeff Davis Memorial and Webers Joy/Witches Hut
These are actually two different dive sites, but very similar in what you can see. The reef is very close to shore and in the deep you will see abundant fish and coral life. The shallow areas are great for some unique encounters. In around 8 - 15 feet of water we have seen a very large (4 5 feet long) barracuda at a cleaning station. A couple years ago we saw three reef sharks and a manta ray! The shallow areas also have a reasonable chance of hosting turtles and friendly squid.

Oil Slick Leap
This is the closest dive site that starts what I consider north diving. It has a great ladder to get out of the water (and to get in if you choose). Animal encounters are very similar to those listed above.

Town Pier
Only allowed as a guided night dive, this is one of the most unique dives you will ever do. The pier itself with the encrusting orange cup coral and sponges is amazing, but the macro life is fantastic too. On this one dive we saw a frogfish, pipefish, two seahorses, multiple spider crabs, arrow crabs, multiple juvenile drums, multiple eels including a green moray, scorpionship and even a tarpon. However, make sure you are very careful of your surroundings and that you have good buoyancy. This is a shallow dive and the posts are quite close together. If you don't have good body control you could damage the coral, animals and dive site, which would be very unfortunate indeed.

Double Reef Dives
This is actually a series of dive sites including sites like Angel City and The Lake. These dives are composed of two reefs, the first reef which is similar to many other dives on Bonaire, but then there is a sand channel followed by a second reef. This second reef gets quite deep, so keep an eye on your air and decompression levels. (I have actually heard that if you continued further out there is even a third and fourth reef that are well beyond recreational diving limits, but have not confirmed this.) Most of the dives in the double reef system have great life including angels, eels, chance turtle encounters, rays and the like. The coral on the second reef is in especially good shape.

Hilma Hooker
Bonaire's signature wreck dive, it actually sits in the double reef system between the two reefs. It sunk unexpectedly so there is not a lot of marine growth on it yet due to the anti-fouling but it is great for animal encounters. We have seen schools of tarpon here. I also have been told, but have no firsthand experience, that if you dive this at night during a full moon and don't use your dive light you have a good chance of seeing nurse sharks and the like.

Salt Pier
We didn't actually do this dive site this year because it is now restricted due to port security regulations. However, you can do it with a divemaster and harbormaster approval, and it is great during the day and at night. We have often seen octopus, squid, tarpon, eels etc.

Jeanies Glory
This was our signature dive for this trip. We saw all the usual suspects on this dive, but some of the ones you won't see often, and we saw them all on the same dive. First we saw a turtle swimming in the shallows. We then saw a school of large barracuda that swam within two feet of us as well as passing school of tarpon. As we were getting to the end of our dive, a large spotted eagle ray passed right in front of us from the shallows heading out to the deep. It couldn't have been more than 6 or 8 feet from us. The proximity and angle was fantastic. This was on our last day of diving. You couldn't ask for better way to end a week.

White Slave
This begins the dive sites which are at the southern end of the island. One of the locals we talked with said he felt that the dives from White Slave to Red Slave were the best on the island. The one thing to note about White Slave is that it is a bit of a swim to the reef. However, reef here is in very good shape. The visibility we had on this dive was the best all week. The highlight of this dive was a free swimming green moray that swam right underneath us in the middle of the day. Well worth the swim.

Hidden Beach and Soft Coral Garden
These are two sites in the southern area I mentioned above. Both are very nice dives with great fish life, etc. Soft Coral Garden is actually the dive that we were on the when the battery in our truck died.

Red Slave
We did this as our last dive of the week. We have done it in the past and have had mixed reviews. The same would hold true for this trip. One key issue with this dive is that it is situated at the far south of the island and has very strong, changing currents. The currents were actually going in different directions depending on your depth and the direction you went. Due to this, the visibility was also not very good. However, the coral here is much bigger than on other dives, with huge gorgonians and many sea fans. I would say this dive has the chance to be spectacular depending on chance encounters with pelagic creatues from the other side of the island.

Dining
My wife and I have a rule that on a vacation like this, we don't cook. We also tend to get off of our resort to try different things. To get a full list of restaurants on the island you Google search the Bonaire Dining Guide. Frommers also has rated several that they recommend. Below are some of our favorites:

Cappricios
This is the restaurant my wife looks forward to all year. The owner travels to Italy several times a year for finding unique and excellent wines. If you like wines, I would say this restaurant has one of the best wine lists in the Carribbean. The owner and staff are very gracious and helpful and we have never had a disappointing meal yet. Depending on the night you go and the time of year, I recommend a reservation to sit outside. There is also a 4 course option in the back of the menu where the chef will bring out specialty items. If you cant decide what to eat, this is a great way to go.

Pasa Bon Pizza
We almost always do this after a night dive. They are open Wednesday to Sunday, but are open until 11:00 pm (which is rare on the island). The pizzas are New York Style and are very good!

Cactus Blue
The owners of the restaurant used to run Buddy Dive's dive shop and activities center. For that reason we went there on this trip and have a very good meal. I had the yellowfin tuna and my wife ate the wahoo. Both meals were excellent and we will add this to our list to visit on our upcoming trips.

Le Flamboyant
We found this restaurant to be a delight. It is situated on the street in downtown just off the waterfront. It is actually in the back of a unique little gift shop. The restaurant owner's wife runs the shop and he runs the restaurant. The shop is not like what you normally see from a tourist area. She travels all over the world to find the items in her shop. The restaurant is fantastic as well. We had a superb meal and sat at the bar afterwards for a beer and talked at length with the owner. He takes great pride in the quality of his food and drink. This restaurant is a must.

La Guernica
Sitting right on the waterfront we were a little concerned that you paid more for the view than the food here. However, we were very pleased to find that wasn't the case. You can choose to dine in two ways, either off the traditional menu or off the tapas menu. We chose the tapas menu and had a sampling of 6 very good dishes. We have also heard great reviews of their seafood.

The Old Inn
Our visit here was only the second time we have been there. We chose to sample native Bonairian dishes this time. My wife had the grilled chicken and I had the beef stew. Of the two I preferred the chicken, but that is more a matter of preference as opposed to quality of food. The only downside to The Old Inn was that service was very slow. I don't thing they were expecting much of a crowd the night we were there and therefore werent prepared for the number of tables that were actually seated that night. A couple other restaurants of note that we didn't go to on this trip, but are worth considering are Mona Lisa, Richards and Casablanca.

Other
I will lump my other thoughts and recommendations into this section:

Mosquitoes
I mentioned it earlier, but make sure to bring your insect repellent. We used it quite a bit and managed to do okay. For some reason I think they don't bother the locals as much as they do us northerners. We saw some other people, though that were just completely eaten alive. One piece of advice as well it to keep your windows closed as much as possible, especially during dawn and dusk. The mosquitoes will also swarm around your gear as you leave it to dry, so be forewarned. Our ritual, the first night when we arrive is to go around our bedroom and swat every mosquito we can find. While a little disgusting, it is well worth the effort as you will not wake up with quite as many mosquito bites. Overall, though, a little planning and forethought will make this not an issue at all.

Lac Bay
While I have not windsurfed there yet, this is a beautiful beach and mangrove area. It is a great getaway for a non-diving diversion.

Flamingos
There is a reason the airport is Flamingo Airport. You can watch the flamingoes up north or down south. In the south you will see them in the salt pans and up north in Lake Gottomeer. These are both great places to see and unique in their own way. Caves Bonaire has 201 known caves, some with water and some without. If you would like to see these, I would strongly suggest you take a cave snorkel tour with Henk Sanders (he works for Sand Dollar and Buddy both to conduct these) and is the most knowledgeable man on the island when it comes to the caves.

Donkeys and Goats
Donkeys and goats roam freely on parts of the island, so be very careful when you are driving, especially at night. The donkeys are left over from early work on Bonaire by Europeans and were left to roam free many years ago. They have established a very strong wild community on the island. If you want to ensure you see them, take the time to tour the Donkey Sanctuary.

Stars
Take an evening and drive to the southern end of the island where there are no lights. Park your car on the beach and look at the stars. It is amazing how many you can see when you get away from the light pollution most of us experience where we live. The night we did this we saw several meteorites (falling stars) crossing the sky. It was a very romantic way to spend an evening after dinner.

Shopping
Bonaire is a not a shoppers mecca, so there aren't a whole lot of choices, so don't expect a lot. There are some very good local artists, that have some neat paintings, etc.

Grocery Stores
There are two large stores, one in town and the other closer to the airport. I can't remember the name of the one closer to the airport, but overall it seems to have better selection. For fruits and vegetables you can also go the market on the waterfront where every day (except maybe Sunday) farmers come from Venezuela to see their fresh items.

Hours of operation
Most restaurants close at 10:00, so be sure to check schedules ahead of time. They are also not all open every day so check that as well. Your local hotel staff should be able to give you guidance on when everything in town is open for shopping. Keep in mind, though, that almost all gift shops are closed on Sundays.

Overall, we absolutely love Bonaire. You can go all out and dive 4 or 5 times a day, or you can relax and dive while taking time to see the sites, look at the stars and enjoy some very nice restaurants. If you have never been it is well worth the trip. Take advantage of the opportunity to see places like this before global warming takes them from us. I will post pictures at a later date.