BONAIRE

I visited Bonaire because the write ups were good and, due to the early establishment of a marine park, the undersea world is the Caribbean as it was before tourism spoilt it elsewhere.

There was also the attraction of mass coral spawning at the end of September and the beginning of October. Unfortunately the annual sailing regatta took place at the time I was there and the diving skippers were more interested in partying downtown than taking out boats. I did a night dive but only on the house reef which is not that good.

There are a couple of permanent webcams underwater which can be accessed through the island's website which has a very informative bulletin board. This set my mind at rest because I got a daily blow by blow account of the progress of hurricane Ivan and the comparatively minor damage it caused.

All my booking was done over the internet and I was able to save £300 against the agents' prices for the same holiday. This also gave me contact with the staff at the resort before I went which was useful.

Although Bonaire is part of the kingdom of the Netherlands it is very close to the U.S.A. and so very popular with American divers (it has the same importance for them as the Red Sea has for European divers). The staff therefore gave that excellent service that you expect from a customer orientated culture.

The Buddy Dive Resort was very good value for money, the apartments large and well cleaned and the staff helpful, friendly and knowledgeable.

When the lower edge of the sun's disc hits the horizon and the sky is clear of clouds a green flash appears momentarily. I saw this but did not manage to get a picture if it.

As mentioned above the underwater scenery is the Caribbean as it used to be with a typically gorgonian biotope.

The shore diving is excellent with access to all dive sites indicated by prominent posts on the shore. All the resorts operate a drive through system for collecting air so if you want to be independent you just hire a car, drive to the air tank area to collect a cylinder at any time of the day or night, and go to your planned dive site. It is possible to dive alone and many of the more experienced American divers do just that. I opted mainly for boat diving so that I could go to the small island of Kleine Bonaire just off the coast.

Unfortunately I only managed one night dive and that was on the not very exciting house reef. I never did see the squid the other divers were viewing but I had a very close encounter with the very poisonous Box Jellyfish. A whole swarm of them came ashore as some divers were returning. Most of the divers got stung and a couple had to go to hospital.

During the close encounter with the Octopus it reached up a tentacle and touched my camera.

About half way through the holiday I spent a day snorkelling in the mangrove swamps at the other end of the island. It was shallow, obviousy, peaceful and full of life.

The Mangrove swamp.

All in all an excellent trip and I thoroughly recommend both Bonaire and the Buddy Dive resort. I made several American friends and even dived with an English couple.

Forward to Thailand

Back to Keith's Diving Holidays