As with every trip to Bonaire, there is more and more development on the island. But this year, there were more cruise ships than ever, many days with 2 cruise ships! I don't know how many people from the cruise ships go diving but I hope they know to respect the marine park. That goes for the people staying on the island too. There were definitely more people on the island than I'm used to. They have also been bringing in a lot of staff from Netherlands - we met many waitstaff who had just arrived from Netherlands within the past 2-3 weeks. I know the island was hit hard by the pandemic but I'm sure this is not completely beneficial to the native people who would love those jobs too.
Underwater, in addition to more divers, there was definitely more bleaching of the coral. I noticed a lot fewer angelfish, crabs and starfish. I did see lots of schools of baby fish which is good. There were also a lot more pufferfish and drumfish. Fewer lionfish which is also good. I didn't see so many eagle rays on the east coast, not sure why that happened. In general, the diving was great but very odd in how the fauna changed from past visits.
The roads: the roads aren't any better but there is definitely more traffic. A new addition is the golf carts which greatly slow the flow of traffic.
Restaurants: I noticed the presence of some new placed touting their foodie experience, seems a bit much for the island but maybe they're seeing more of that clientele. We loved the food at Sebastian's but were disappointment they converted the pier table which was a private secluded experience into a section of tables over the water - much less exclusive/romantic. It Rains Fishes was always mediocre in the past but is now under new management and was great! We also tried some Lebanese food from Papa Smurf's - meh. We didn't get a chance to get the lionfish burgers from Cactus Blue as they were not out on our last day when we went.
Flamingos - I don't have pictures of this but twice we saw massive flocks of flamingos flying, over the ocean! and over the salt flats. It was quite a sight in pink!
We stayed in Elegancia for the first time this year. It was a well equipped condo overlooking the water 1 block down from Dive Friends Yellow Submarine. It wasn't bad being across the street from the ocean. There was not much traffic except for weekend nights when the locals drive around in loud motorcycles and cars. It was great to be able to dive right from the condo, super convenient. It was nice to be able to walk to It Rains Fishes also, although we only went once.
I think I still prefer Den Laman however. It's on the water, quieter, and Dive Friends is on site.
Till next time Bonaire!
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