Finally, I blog about Bonaire. This tiny island is a second home.
With so-very many visits to this paradise. Time stops here.
I’m currently on a 6-week visit. Often extending my stays. It’s hard to say goodbye to Bonaire. Once a year is never enough!!
This Bonaire visit is the longest I’ve been in any country this year.
I love saying that!! 😊
Bonaire is about Scuba Diving. But this beautiful island offers much more when you give it the chance.
Thanks for reading my Bonaire Blog !!
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Today: August 2022
I wake to the Sun. Time to prep for the day. Pack my dive gear; regulator, mask, BCD, fins … camera!! No rush, its island time. Just one dive planned today. A long, shallow dive along the fringe reef. Shore diving in Bonaire is the best in the world!! Warm tropical waters, with vibrant reefs – packed with marine life. Let's get at it !!
Scuba Tanks are already loaded on the truck,,, having stopped at the dive shop and picked up two Nitrox tanks last night.
With my dive equipment loaded on the flat-bed truck, I drive 2-minutes to Luciano’s Coffee Shop.
Nothing happens until expresso!! Part of my love with Bonaire, includes expresso at Luciano’s. I become a local here. Greeting the staff by name, sharing stories about dive sites with Local Dive Masters, getting advice about Windsurfing from an expert – this feels like home.
I get my loyalty card stamped…. only two-more expresso’s until a free-one 😊
I’ve already eaten breakfast at my ocean-side condo, so this morning at Luciano’s is about expresso and friends. Relax a-bit, write in my journal,,,maybe read a few pages from one of my kindle books. Molecular Biology this morning….Science Fiction tonight !
Ok, I’ve had my expresso …. its Dive time!!!
I jump back in my truck and head south along the coast. Looking over the turquoise water and studying the wind conditions … I pick todays dive site….Blue Vista. The conditions are ideal. Clear sky, light winds out of the East. Viz should be 25m+. Kit up!!
Independent diving here requires a sense of navigation and timing. Watch the currents, search for seahorses, take a ton of pictures, and relax.
When my family or friends are here, I dive with them. But today, it’s a solo adventure. I’m at home on the reefs, searching for the perfect photograph!
Diving is like medicine for me. The world can’t text. The world can’t be manipulated by evil. The world has been frozen. For 90 minutes and sometimes as long as 120 minutes,, I am embraced by the ocean. It’s like meditation; with fish and coral as my teachers. In case you aren’t a diver… 90 minutes is a long long dive!! Definitely cool.
Today’s dive time flies by. I meet a Rainbow Parrot fish – gigantic and colorful beyond compare!! But not to be out-done, an Octopus has shown itself… and I quickly take his picture… He has so much to teach me yet.
105 minutes! I love every second below the surface, lost in a coral garden.
With my dive over for today. I break-down my gear, getting it ready for cleaning later. I’m refreshed, born again. The shoreline views are 100 shades of blue, glistening in the sun, its mesmerizing. Ahh.. I’ll be back tomorrow to talk to that teacher. I still have questions!! How does he know all the secrets ??
No-matter how the morning started. No-matter if I feel sluggish and worn … A Bonaire reef dive is the antidote! I feel energized after the dive, my brain is focused, I’m back to the best me.
Energized, I decide to add an extra adventure today .…. I loop the Southern tip of the island, stopping at Sorobon for Windsurfing. I have an open account with Jibe City – a surf shop. So, I just ask for a board and I’m on the water in minutes. Watching the wind conditions, I chose a 5.7m sail… about as much as I can handle in todays winds. Harness up, and rip across Lac Bay. Just 1m of water in this huge play-ground Bay, a giant sand-bottomed pool. Perfect for windsurfing. After an hour on the board ..…I’m spent!!! Enough for one day.
Lunch and a beer at one of the beach bars is required. I chose Sabastian’s today. Watching the other windsurfers; being overtaken by the beauty of this setting. Wow. If you’re not here, your nowhere.
Yeah, not a day of excitement. No Whale Sharks, No Manta Ray… No a big party. Instead, a day of absolute peace and beauty.
A quick stop at the dive shop for more tanks, then back to my condo. My condo-home is seaside; on the Lee-ward side of Bonaire, facing Klein Bonaire. Stunning sunsets with picturesque sailboats every night. A dozen fantastic restaurants within a 10 minute walk. Slow and easy is the vibe.
Wash up my gear and get it ready for diving again tomorrow. Jump in the pool to cool down and get the salt off … Then decide on dinner plans. Tonight I’m eating at Bobbejan’s BBQ. Street food from around the corner. I get to-go Ribs and eat on my porch. Overlooking the sailboats, watching another Orange sunset. Yeah, not a bad day in Paradise. I like this part of the Grid.
One last thing to do today.Upload dive photo’s to my PC.See what gold I’ve ‘captured’.I pick out 10 of the best from today and stage them to Post on IG tomorrow morning. On my IG Posts, I share the names of all my marine friends….. It becomes another hobby – fish identification.
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For me, Windsurfing is a big plus for Bonaire. But there are tons other activities to do here. Hiking Brandaris Peak in the Washington-Slagbaai Park (the highest point on Bonaire), or kayaking the Mango Forrest of Lac Bay … or exploring remote corners of this desert island. Every adventure offers stunning views and a big welcome!! Bird watching (Flamingos everywhere!) or watching sunsets…make this a perfect miniature eco-system.
Watchout for Donkey’s on the streets, thousands must roam the island. And Goats… who knows how many .. they seem everywhere. And of-course, Flamingos and Iguanas and Parakeets. This isn’t your normal island !! Its Bonaire.
Learn a few words of Papiamento … Greet people with Bon Dia! Bonaire is a Dutch protectorate, but everyone knows English. The American Dollar is the official currency. It feels like a cross of Europe and the US in the Caribbean.
If you Kite-surf, or Sail, or Deep-sea fish, or Free-dive, or just Snorkel….you’ll find the ideal set-ups here too!! They even have 2 small Casino’s if you just absolutely need to drop a few dollars.
Unlike many small islands I’ve traveled…Bonaire has fantastic food selections. A dozen 4* restaurants, and numerous excellent every-day restaurants provide perfect dinners each evening.
I have stayed at several of the resort style hotels here – Like Buddy Dive ….. and they are convenient - With boats available for dive trips to Klein Bonaire. But I moved away from that type of accommodation after my first few visits here ……. now preferring to book condo’s and houses with AirBnB. I stay in the Downtown district, within walking distance to ‘my’ Coffee shop and the many restaurants there. …… and don’t forget Gio’s – the gelato shop, an after dinner treat --- another required tradition of every Bonaire holiday!
Another bonus of Bonaire are the first-rate Grocery store(s) – Van den Tweel and others have everything!! I usually stop by a couple of times a week after diving. Load up on basics and a few meals I’ll cook at my condo. On trips to the Washington Slagbaai National Park – I pack a cooler of sandwiches and cold beer. Few things are more enjoyable than a cold beer after a day of diving,,,siting under a cactus .. hiding from the sun for a few minutes. .. don’t forget the passion fruit!!
…. When in Bonaire,,,,Never never miss the trip to the Slagbaai National Park. Try the Cliff jumping – it will make you feel Alive!!! Add a visit to the Boca’s and Blow Holes of the far North coast.
Day-in day-out,, the vibe here is heavenly. It’s hard to go home from Bonaire…. And NO-ONE comes only once.
Stopping in Rincon at ‘Kos Bon So’ for beers when diving North is a favorite to-do of mine in Bonaire.After diving NuCove, or Karpata .. stop in Rincon. Live like a local.
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An easy day of diving like today becomes normal. But on a few occasions – I search out the specialty adventure dives Bonaire offers.
Diving the wild East Coast is definitely one of those specialty adventures. Take a zodiac out the Lac Bay pass. Back-roll to a hundred Green Sea Turtles and a spectacular high-energy dive. The East-Coast dives are NOTHING like the easy Blue Vista shore dive I described earlier…..this is the wild Windward side. I love the change of pace!!
Another favorite high energy adventure is diving the far corners of Washington Slagbaai. Boca Bartol is epic!!! … or jump off at an unmarked dive site… I always have a dive buddy along for the more aggressive dive sites….sometimes shoreline entries and exits can be a challenge, and holding someone’s hand is the smart way to dive these sites. …. And don’t forget to have a pair of thick-soled dive booties, the rocky coral can be impossible with typical thin dive booties.
And another Specialty dive not to be forgotten…. A night dive with the Ostracods. A light show!! They come from the depths after a full moon, just after sunset. Be at the edge of the reef, in just 7-8m of water and relax… the show will begin shortly 😊 Millions of Ostracods put on a phosphorescent light show, floating all around you, like fireflies – insane. Impossible to describe properly… only seeing it first hand can do it justice. Pictures are impossible!!
With a hundred marked dive sites and countless unmarked sites, the adventures keep coming. Each with a unique story and memory. I collect 50 dives on this visit…its not enough!
Time stops here. Diving is the cure.
Bonaire a second home!
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