Last night and final day in Bonaire

It's always so sad to have to leave. 

We stayed at Den Laman as we have in the past but this time booked the Tuna apartment which is on the north side and over the restaurant. I didn't realize it wouldn't get as much crosscurrent and so it was stiflingly hot and humid initially. But after a week of being here, we got used to the weather and spent more time on the beautiful terrace. 

We made dinner in the apartment and it was great. I love being able to have home cooking even when away. 

In the morning we took a swim/snorkel - it was amazingly freeing and easy to swim without diving gear! We even saw a porcupine fish. In general this year there were tons of porcupine fish and trunk fish, which I love. Not as many eels though. And not too many turtles on the West side. There were also not too many flamingos - maybe they're in the north (national Park) where they are not allowing diving.

I was happily surprised that the coral was in good shape despite at the bleaching events and the local SCTLD coral virus. There were so many schools of baby fish. Hopefully they will all survive the upcoming bleaching event predicted for this summer. 

I ❤️ Bonaire. 

Parrots love the tree next to Den Laman. 

Bonaire - dive photos coming soon

Dive Day 1 - Bari's reef and Something Special

Dive Day 2 - Angel City and the Cliff 

Dive Day 3 - East Coast Diving!! - Funchi and Turtle City + Fingers

So many turtles today!

And eagle rays too!

On our first dive we saw 20+ turtles, 5 eagle rays, 4 lionfish, moray eel, lobsters, and of course awesome fish. The current was super strong today but we still made it for 2 dives. It's was fantastic. 

Lots more turtles on the second dive, sleeping turtles. 

Oh and apparently the dive master never saw this before, but on the first dive, a turtle bumped into me twice! At first I thought maybe I kicked a turtle but it turns out he was bumping me! 

We had lunch on the East side at the Caribe food truck which was pretty good. 

Then we did a 3rd dive at salt pier which is always great because of the streaking afternoon sun and huge schools of fish. We also saw a huge moray eel. 

Sunset

Bonaire - arrival and day 1

We headed out for Bonaire bright and early for our 2 leg United flight. Our first flight had a maintenance issue and was delayed. Our connection was 1h19 which should have been ample but we ended up with a 35min delay. During this time, I searched for alternatives to Bonaire. The only thing I found was a 3 leg 52 hour trip through 2 other countries before getting to Bonaire. Fortunately, we made up some time and made our flight to Bonaire - which was also delayed. What is going on with United these days? So many issues lately! 

Apparently May to August is the Windy season in Bonaire. December to April is the high season. 

We paid our entry tax ahead of time so getting through customs was a breeze. Even our luggage arrived in record time. We booked it to Avis and got in before the crowd and we on the road within 20min of landing. We stopped at Van Den Tweel for a short list of groceries - water, milk, breakfast, kielbasa and ciabatta - the standard diving fare. 

We checked into Den Laman - favorite place on the island - now under management of Sunwise Bonaire. We booked Tuna - a 2 bedroom corner apartment facing the Northwest, amazing views. 

Dinner at Sebastian's which is always delicious but getting a good seat on the pier table is a drag now that it's no longer just one table. 

octopus carpaccio, tuna 3 ways, homemade bread with dips

local fish trio - crovina, snapper, barracuda. 

Morning views 

2 dives today :

Bari's reef - a great start with easy entry

Something special - always special - scorpionfish, drumfish, so many shrimp including banded coral shrimp, pederson cleaner shrimp and spotted cleaner shrimp, brittle worms, frogfish, and wonderful schools of fish. 

Dinner at Doner Station

really good actually!