Bonaire 2006
 

This was our first dive trip in 2 years due to the cost of travel last year.  We were excited because there is now a direct flight from Houston International airport & Bonaire.  Always before we have had to change planes in Miami or San Juan which is an issue with luggage, both for theft and just being assured it would show up.  We drove to Houston in the afternoon to catch a Friday night 11:30PM flight which lands at 5:15AM on Saturday. 

10/05/2008

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Bonaire 2006
August 2006
Dad's 85th
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Pomona trip 2006
Trip to Quartzsite 2006
September 2005 Trip
Fiji Islands 2003
Bonaire June 2010
Bonaire 2011
Jekyll Island 2011
The Travelers
Don & I went with his sister Nancy & Dave, her husband.  This is our 5th or 6th trip to Bonaire, so you know we like it.  Instead of staying at the Divi timeshares or hotel as we have done in the past, we elected to find affordable lodging outside of a resort hotel.  We found a great solution and will definitely go back.

New camera to play with this year.  We sold our underwater film cameras last year and bought an underwater housing and one strobe for our Canon Digital Rebel SLR camera.  We still have to work on techniques with this camera, but the pictures come out much sharper.

Where we stayed

This is a 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment that is one side of a duplex.  There were always people in the next side too, but we could never hear them.  It was very private.  All floors inside are all tiled and the kitchen & bath walls are too.  This is great for divers as the cleanup is easy after tracking in all that sand and ocean.  The entry is an 8 ft. deep, 30 ft. wide gallery/veranda/porch that goes across the entire front.  There is a yard with nice landscaping, a charcoal grill and hanging space in the back with a tub that can be used for rinsing gear. 

I should also mention that only the bedrooms were air conditioned and there is no maid service.  I'm sure that is part of what keeps it affordable. We spent most of our waking time while at the apartment on the front veranda.  It also came with a pair of resident birds starting their family in one of the ceiling lights on the veranda. 

Eating / diving

If you know Bonaire, you know it is mostly shore diving.  We did 3 dives a day for most of the 2 weeks and one day we contracted for a 2 tank boat dive over to Klein Bonaire.  Our apartment came with a car, which was actually a 4 passenger pickup.  This let us take out 12 tanks at a time so that we could stay out until we had finished our 3 dives. 

We ate breakfast at the apartment (cereal, toast or fruit) and ate dinner out.  Bonaire has some of the best restaurants we have been to anywhere.  Our favorites were LeFlamboyant, It Rains Fishes and Croccotinos. 

Here are some shots of us eating at a couple of restaurants

One night after diving we went to Pink Beach for a cookout.  Other than the wind was blowing hard, it was a fun evening.

Don & Dave have to work hard to get the charcoal going

The wind sure is blowing, but a great place

Cheers

We called him Bert

Isn't the sunset worth it though?

Here are some shots of the divers.....

All of us together....Nancy, Dave, Don & Donna

Nancy & Dave

Donna & Don, can you see me breathing on Don's octo? Low air tank.

You find all kinds of things underwater some days.

 

Fishes

We have so many shots of fishes.  A few big, mostly little and some very tiny.

Balloon Fish

Great Barracuda

Barred Hamlet

Blue Chromis

Blue Tang

Cow Fish

The Peacock Flounder is sure funny looking

Isn't she beautiful, the Queen Angel

Scrawled File Fish

Soap Fish

Spotted Butterfly

Spotted Trunk Fish

The Stone Fish has a face only a mother could love

Up close to a White Spotted File Fish

Yellow Tail Snapper

Adult French Angel Fish

Juvenile French Angel

Juvenile French head on

He didn't think we would find him in here.

We got some great shots of the Parrot Fish Family....

Blue Parrot

Midnight Parrotfish

Parrot

Queen Parrot

Rainbow Parrot

Stoplight Parrot

Stoplight Parrot Supermale

Trunk Fish

These guys are so cute. 

These guys are so cute, blowing the sand up for food

Looking at them always makes me laugh

We saw this really small one

And this one is just too tiny to imagine

Different fish shots....

These Cleaner Goby are SO tiny

Fairy Basslet

Fairy Basslet

Frog Fish. What a cute little face

Open wide for cleaning. This Grouper knows how to take a bath

This is the best shot I've ever seen of a Red Lipped Blenny

Another Red Lip

Slender File Fish. Some of the best camoflage ever

This Trumpet Fish thinks you can't see him now.

Trumpet hanging with the eel.

Other Creatures

Anemone & Shrimp

Banded Coral Shrimp

This old engine sprouted a whole crop of Christmas Tree Worms

Crab crawling in the daytime

This Spotted Eagle Ray spotted us

...and he was outta here.

One of the bigger FireWorms you have seen

This Flamingo Tongue snail loves coral

Iguana. This guy loved grapes and anything else we would feed him.

Does he look like a Lettuce Leaf to you?

This Anemone has color!

Purple Mouth Moray

Seahorse

Same one, different day

This Sharp Tailed Eel was running quick

This one came up close.

This Spotted Moray was out swimming in the open

Look here's Mom, Dad & the kids in the background

She just came up so close. Now aren't squid pretty?

Turtle headed straight toward Don

Isn't this one pretty.

 

Corals and Sponges

If I only had a Brain Coral

Beautiful garden

Rope Sponge

Scattered Pore Rope Sponge

Sea Fan

Spiny Flower Coral

Yellow Sponge

 

 
   

 

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