Bonaire dive day 6 - last day of diving

Today the wind was down so we were able to do our scheduled east coast dives! It was the most calm day of the week. They had to cancel the Wednesday east coast trip in addition to our Tuesday one. 

Our first dive was at Funchi - the sloping reef on the outer barrier. We started out by seeing a bunch of turtles swim towards us. One of the first things we saw was a sleeping nurse shark. I think it was green tinged. I saw a small eel swimming between rocks but later we saw a huge green moray under a ledge. There were a couple lionfish. There was a huge sleeping Southern ray. At the end after the dive master called the end of the dive, a little eagle ray swam straight at me. So cute. And then it promptly reconsidered and turned away. Unfortunately I had already turned off my camera so didn't get that approaching shot. 

The second dive was in turtle City where we saw 30+ turtles. Almost too many ;)

We didn't want to end on that so we did our last dive at Something Special. It was amazing. There was a huge group of silver fish - many thousands! They way they moved was so cool and organic. I saw more than 4 balloonfish!! And even had a porcupine fish follow me around for a bit. It was such a great dive to end on!

Bonaire Dive Day 5

We headed out to Oil Slick for our first dive because it's a ladder entry and we figured that would be easier on my foot. My dive buddy brought my tank with BCD+reg to the ladder area and I got buckled in. However, when we turned on the air, the regulator house burst! It was super loud, right in my ear. We initially thought it was an O ring issue, but a hose rupture is just not recoverable. We we had to drive back to the drive shop to get another one. 

So we ended up doing our first dive at Bari's reef instead. It was beautiful and easy. We saw lion fish and a peacock flounder but still didn't find that octopus. 

We headed off to Oil Slick again for our second dive. This time, no equipment failures. They have a special art exhibit going on with a metal tuna that has traveled the Netherlands and now is in the water at oil slick for 2 weeks. You see the tuna right away as you descend but we decided to save it for the end. It was a pleasant dive with a sloping coral. Navigation was easy as you end with the tuna which was pretty fun to look at. It's tethered by a couple ropes but does move a little with the waves and looks like it's smiling at you.

Beautiful sunset

Dinner on our deck watching the sun set. 

Bonaire dive day 4

It's a windy day like yesterday. We asked the recommendation at the dive shop for whether we should head north or south with the winds and they recommended north for less winds. We headed to Oil Slick and Jeff Davis Memorial. We decided on Jeff Davis first because it's a little deeper. The entry looked a little challenging as there were some steps down to the beach on some makeshift coral steps. But the entry looked ok with a sandy channel. We debated skipping it but decided to give it a go. Jeff Davis Memorial We were the only divers there. We decided not to swim to the buoy as it was far and just descend in front of the entry point. There was a pretty strong current but nothing we couldn't handle. We saw lots of schools of fish and there were little crops of coral to poke around. Nothing super special though. Just beautiful schools of fish. I wonder if this is just the reef coming back from bleaching events and the coral virus - though it's still around. Or maybe it's just baby fish season. We found our way to the buoy so backtracked to where we entered. All was well, we found our entry point. However, there were some unexpected rocks hidden in the sandy exit and we took a stumble. I also had some fin issue - it didn't want to come loose from my boot. This caused all this confusion. Ultimately, I took a wrong step and ended up twisting my ankle. I thought it was ok but when realized it was definitely a sprain. This ended our dives for the day. So, uncharacteristically, I have edited some of my underwater pictures already - due to propping my foot up. Enjoy!

I'm a queen (anglefish), I'm so regal.

spotted Moray - what's for lunch?

cute little guy

soapfish, not playing dead for once

Parrotfish shenanigans 

Matching fish

Tarpon

just resting

I can fly!

Hey little guy, do you know where the other fish went?

Captain Don's flag

Flamingo tongue

(hiding its spots)

trunking along (trunkfish)

tang

drumfish

here I come!

baby turtle!

butterfly

scorpionfish

juvenile French anglefish

Such an adorable balloonfish

lizarding here

porcupine fish

Bonaire dive days 2-3

Day 2

Despite not having to do all the paperwork to check into Dive Friends today, we still didn't get to our first dive until 11am. But being lazy and sleeping in is the beauty of shore diving! Knowing that wind is in the forecast in the next few days, we took the opportunity of lower winds to go to Karpata. Why is karpata always so special? I know people say it's the topography, or healthy coral, or abundant Sea life, or maybe just the difficult entry and exit, but there's just something special about Karpata. Entry today was super easy - a surprise. Initially, the sun was behind clouds and visibility was not optimal, but in a bit the sun came out and Karpata was shone in all it's splendor. We saw so many fish. We saw a baby turtle! 

Our next dive was at Angel City. We saw French angelfish this time! Mom and juvi! We saw a couple morays, lionfish, scorpionfish, shrimp and again, lots of beautiful schools of fish. I think we overshot and ended up a bit in Alice in wonderland. 

Dinner was at Doner station - just as good as we remembered it. 

beautiful sunset while waiting for kebabs 

Day 3

We got up early for diving on the east coast, got on the boat, went out to the channel between the lac and the open ocean, then had to turn back because of weather - bummer. But ultimately a good thing. The wind and rains were stirring and would make conditions very dangerous. The ride out would be even more nausea provoking than normal. 

So we turned back and did another dive at Bari's reef, this time going north. The dive was great - tons of beautiful color, lots of schools of fish, almost a drift dive back.

We had a relaxed lunch in the condo and then headed out to Something Special - which has next failed us as a dependable something special. Today was no exception and in fact probably our best day at Something Special. So many surprised around every corner/rock/coral head. Lionsfish, so many baby eels, drumfish, too many trunkfish to count, an albino moray eel?, many porcupine fish, a carpet of garden eels, just so much fun. Only negative was the other divers constantly banging their tanks because they were so excited. 

Dinner at Sebastian's. It's never been the same since they changed the pier table. It's been years and I keep trying to book earlier and earlier but I only get seated on the walkway. Today I complained and they moved us, but still not to the far side. They said something about the table being reserved for a proposal. Is that what I need to say when reserving? But still, great appetizers. Good entrees. 

Cool line where sun set behind the clouds.

Bonaire - first dive day

Dive Friends - we're back. I think Dive Friends is the best outfit on Bonaire for shore diving. Granted, I haven't tried many but it has 7 locations for tank pick up and they don't charge extra for nitrox. 

We registered and wanted to get the DAN diving insurance but were 1 minute too late so it won't start until tomorrow. Sticklers for rules!

We did our orientation dive at Bari's reef and second dive at Hamlet Oasis/the Cliff . Both are Dive Friends locations so easy for gear and tanks. It was so great to be back in the water again. I was surprised at the abundance of fish. Either the reef is recovering or it's just the right season but there were just so many schools of beautiful fish. We even saw a little hawksbill turtle poking around. 

One of the coolest things today was meeting a couple on the dock at Bari's reef which is shared by Den Laman and Sand Dollar who owns the apartment in Sand Dollar where I stayed in 2013. They had a photo album of their story of when the woman retired, the man dressed in scuba gear and met her where she worked in NYC because they were going to retire to their place in Bonaire. I remembered the great pictures they had in the apartment and apparently he used to take pictures for New York Times. Such a great story. He has an awesome camera. I can now follow him.

Sunset

Bonaire: we're back!

This is my 8th trip to Bonaire. It's like coming home. 

Our flight out was particularly smooth. On both legs of the flight we had a whole row for the 2 of us. Score! No delays - what a change! 

I got to see Bonaire from a new angle - views from the north and then the west. 

We took a snorkel as soon as we checked in. The water was perfect as usual - 83 degrees, clear, with beautiful fish. 

We got some nice take out from Pizza Mare and went to bed early (after a 3:30am start). 

Getting ready to dive the next day.