Category Archives: Bonaire

Visits to the island of Bonaire

Caribbean cool

February 19, 2015 Maurice Leave a comment

We’ve got our engines down to Caribbean speed (slow and easy and relaxed) and we’re really enjoying the sunny weather. There have been lots and lots of cruise ships in the harbour, but we’ve not really noticed terrible crowds or anything, which is strange, considering how small the communities are here.

Anyway – we’ve been visiting beaches we’ve not been to yet – I think the official word is that Bonaire has thirty nine beaches, and nearly double the number of dive sites, so we’ve got a few to go, even though this is our third trip here. Today we went to a popular site right near the airport. In a lot of ways, it’s reminiscent of Arashi Beach in Aruba, with a nice wide sandy beach, and lots of coral just off shore.

Naturally, there were tons of fish, but also lots of really interesting and different things to see. One of the coolest things we’ve seen in the ocean was this “fish opera” in Aruba (coincidentally on Arashi Beach too) and we saw something similar, but on a much smaller scale. The fish is called a mullet, and they are about two feet in size and in the size of the school they were in, it was a little intimidating! Check out the movie, but give it a few seconds to stabilize – the camera has a tough time picking out completely silver fish.

I don’t know if you can see this picture all that clearly, since the colors make the little shrimp (or crab?) blend in with the coral, but it was tricky getting this shot. It was under a rock, and every time I dove down and got too close, this little damselfish kept biting! The first time he got me i was so surprised I laughed out loud, and trust me that’s not the thing to be doing in 10 feet of water! haha And here is a picture that Pam took of me contorting around trying to get this picture!

While driving around the island, you must beware of goats and donkeys. There are a LOT of goats around, and they dart into the traffic a lot, so you really need to be aware. Today we saw them having lunch – look closely at the picture here – there are TWO goats in that bush having a snack!

Bonaire, Vacations

Bonding with Bonaire

February 17, 2015 Maurice 1 Comment

Pam and I have felt an affinity with Bonaire since the minute we stepped off the plane a couple of years ago. Today while getting ready to dive in at Captain Don’s we met a couple from Malta. He reminded me so much of a friend of ours, a bon vivant named Jorge. He and his wife felt about Bonaire exactly as we did!

It’s just a wonderfully laid back place, with a very small population, in a rugged landscape, with amazing oceans teeming with fish. And fish we saw today, of course. Captain Don’s is a great place to snorkel, with an easy entrance and a sort of “dual reef” to the place.

You swim out to the drop off – not far, perhaps 150 meters – and watch all the action as the fish cavort on the edge of the wall. Huge schools of margates, bonefish, surgeonfish, chubbs, and others cruise slowly along. Then suddenly the hyper-active barjacks come looking for lunch and the little fish scatter.

This trip we’ve noticed some fish being kinda frisky – who knows? Maybe the release of Fifty Shades of Gray has got them worked up too, We saw a couple of porcupine fish seeming engaging in kissing and frisky behaviour, then Pam captured this movie of filefish doing the mating dance. (Well, it looks like they are doing the same mating dance that the gouramies we used to breed did.)

This picture of the face of a queen angel was tough to get. She hid down about twenty feet under a shelf of rocks. I dove down a couple times to get her, but they came out dark, so I turned on the forced flash. I think it turned out kinda cool. (and it was a LOT of work getting this sucker!)

One other thing we saw today that was unique. There were some jellyfish in the water, not a lot, but noticeable. While watching a scrawled filefish move effortlessly along, he suddenly started chowing down on one of them! Remarkable!

No restaurant reviews since we’ve eaten in every night so far. Food seems a bit pricier than I remember, but then food is more expensive at home too.

Bonaire, Vacations

South for the winter

February 15, 2015 Maurice 2 Comments

Pam and I have taken off for Bonaire for a quick two week visit. In the first week we are staying in the Divi Resort, the place we’ve stayed on Bonaire twice previously. In week two, Mike is showing up and we’re going to rent a house right on the ocean.

But today Pam and I were able to experience Carnaval! It’s very much like Mardi Gras in New Orleans, except on much more modest scale, befitting a population of only 14,000 people. The streets are closed to traffic, and they come alive! People are everywhere. Costumes are the order of the day. We see people dressed up, dressed down, dressed crazy!

We see people dressed as angels, pirates, princesses, frogs, Spiderman, Batman, Superman, gypsies, – everything you can think of, and a whole bunch you can’t! One of the floats was called ZeleoGlamour which seemed to be outfits inspired with zebra, tiger and other animal prints.

There were magnificent dancers and singers galore. Bands played music L O U D and people danced and laughed and jumped into the parade, walking with the groups. Then you grab a costumed participant to take photos!

Here’s a movie where Pam jumps into the parade and gets her photo taken with one of the magnificently costumed dancers. Frankly, this is a dance party, on a BIG scale!

It was tons of fun! Here Pam jumps into the parade (once again!) and gets her picture taken with the Queen of the Carnival!

Bonaire, Vacations

Thursday at the Divi

August 15, 2014 Maurice Leave a comment

Not much done today. We had a lazy day around the resort. Dove in the ocean and paddled around out front of our room. That is a great thing about the resort – the walk to the beach is about fifteen seconds, and the only traffic you need to avoid is the stampede of people rushing to pet the cat!

We decided to eat out for dinner and decided on the Ribs Factory. On Curacao, the Ribs Factory is one of our favorite places to go. The one here on Bonaire is not connected with it, but we had to give it a go. It’s right on the downtown Boardwalk, up on the second floor. It’s a rickety walk up those steep steps, but the food was worth it!

The ribs were very good, served with salad, fries or a baked potato. And the view was tremendous. The sun set as we dined. It’s not a glamorous place, kind of reminds you of a Senor Frog’s type of place. Prices were ok, about twenty dollars for a full rack, (Pam’s choice) and the same for a half rack/chicken combo (my choice).

Service was good, although the waitress was a little shy. Total bill was 49 bucks, with a beer and a pop. Pretty cheap deal.

While driving downtown we saw this sandwich board sign up… if you can figure out what is not open, please let us know!

Here is a short video of a couple of birds of Bonaire. A Lora Parrot and a warbler, much like you’d see in North American cities.

Bonaire

Back to the Captain’s

August 14, 2014 Maurice Leave a comment

Nice relaxing day today – a long sleep, then a late lunch. We really enjoyed being in the ocean around Captain Don’s so we figured, why mess with a good thing? It’s easy to get in there, and the water is wonderfully clear.

And it didn’t disappoint, with a terrific snorkel. We saw a couple of snooks cruising the shallow water. We saw another couple of tarpons, large mostly slow moving behemoths.

Pam spotted a big crab, certainly enough for a couple of sandwiches! There were lots of coneys and hinds and parrotfish. Just a great swim.

And of course, there were turtles, turtles, rah, rah. This picture is of an unusual coral formation we saw. The circular shaped coral is called brain coral, and it’s growing on top of a type of “stove pipe” coral… kinda neat shot I thought.

We had dinner at home, watched the sunset, and spent a couple hours in the casino. And guess what? Pam won a big (biggish?) jackpot. Nice.

Here are a few clips strung together to give you an idea of what we saw today. Enjoy.

Bonaire, Vacations

Back to the Captain's

August 14, 2014 Maurice Leave a comment

And it didn’t disappoint, with a terrific snorkel. We saw a couple of snooks cruising the shallow water. We saw another couple of tarpons, large mostly slow moving behemoths.

Pam spotted a big crab, certainly enough for a couple of sandwiches! There were lots of coneys and hinds and parrotfish. Just a great swim.

We had dinner at home, watched the sunset, and spent a couple hours in the casino. And guess what? Pam won a big (biggish?) jackpot. Nice.

Here are a few clips strung together to give you an idea of what we saw today. Enjoy.

Bonaire

Our anniversary

August 13, 2014 Maurice 1 Comment

Today (August 12) is our 36th wedding anniversary so we had a nice relaxing day. We slept in, had a late lunch then headed to place called Black Durgon Beach, but the owner of the inn would not let us use his dock. That’s the first cranky Bonairian we’ve encountered. (Beaches are all public in Bonaire, but using someone’s dock requires permission.)

Not to be deterred we went down a few doors to Captain Don’s place, and they welcomed us with open arms. The water was super clear and we saw just tons of stuff. Highlights included several large tarpons, a couple of turtles, various eels, and some ginormous rainbow parrotfish which were well over four feet long.

We had dinner at the Patagonia, an Argentinian steakhouse. To say it was fantastic is to understate the experience. The restaurant itself is impeccable, clean crisp and welcoming. There was light jazz playing at a quiet level, quite nice. The waiter was impeccable. The food was divine. The experience was wonderful. We could not have planned a better dinner!

We had a three course, dinner special. Soup or salad, steak with caremelized onions, fresh veggies, superb mashed potatoes, and a tiramisu Pam said was the best she ever had. Total price was 79 dollars, including two beer and pop. When the owner discovered it was our anniversary, he treated us to a complimentary after dinner aperitif. Very cool.