Bonaire Trip Report

On Nov 20, 8:13 pm, George Cathcart <george.cathc...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Well, you're gonna hate this, but we ate mostly at Buddy's. Breakfast
> was part of the package, and we had 50 percent off all meals at
> Buddy's up to $75. We ate lunch there so we could get back in the
> water quickly, and dinner so we could get out and do our night dives.
> Diving is always my first priority. That's what the older group of us
> did, anyway. The younger group, in the other suite (all are under 50,
> buncha kids), got groceries and cooked dinner every night and ate
> leftovers for lunch.

Your loss. Good grub on Bonaire, and I find the prices quite
reasonable with the exchange rate (especially since the dollar is such
a lousy deal everywhere else nowadays). You can't beat the two-minute
drive into town. The fact that most of the island lodgings tend to be
condos with full kitchens keeps the restaurants from being too
crowded. Of course the kitchen is wasted on us, but I do find the
full fridge handy for storing lots of cold beer (and Janna's Diet
Cokes), and the microwave is handy for leftover Pasa Bon pizza.

> Actually, we didn't eat at Buddy's every night. We ate at the other
> restaurant on the premises twice, and we went to a pizza place on
> Wednesday and Thursday (Pasa Bon Pizza, just down the road from
> Buddy's and Sand Dollar, past the roundabout -- good pizza). And on
> the last night, we all went to It Rains Fishes, on the waterfront in
> Kralendijk, not far from Town Pier. It was excellent.

Yep, Pasa Bon is decent, though I haven't had the courage to sample
their fish pizza yet. I've heard mixed reviews about It Rains Fishes,
but they supposedly came under new management just the last month or
so that hopefully worked out all the bugs.

Tops on my list for our trip would be a repeat trip to Cactus Blue,
and I've heard almost nothing but good things about Donna & Giorgio's
and Mona Lisa. I've already reserved a table at Patagonia in their A/
C'd dining room for the day we fly in, figuring we won't yet be
acclimated enough to want to dine outside.

We ate all our lunches at Buddy too on our last trip. They did some
amazing things with chicken breast.

> That would depend who you asked. One of us complained ad nauseum about
> them and slathered herself in repellent. I hardly noticed them, but
> did find welts later. So far I haven't died. Take DEET. It can't hurt,
> though it may melt the lining of your wetsuit.

Our condo at Den Laman is fully A/Cd, so at least we won't have to let
them in like we did at Buddy whenever we aired out the place. We have
lots of DEET, but I'm worried enough to want to bring something on the
plane that can get past TSA, since we land at dawn. The worst I got
bitten on our last trip was pre-dawn on our departure date, when we
sat around Buddy's outdoor "lobby" waiting for the bus to take us to
the airport and I was too lazy to clip off the tie wraps to get to the
spray that I had forgotten to apply before we set out. I was itching
the entire ride home.

> Have a great trip Greg. One of these days we'll find ourselves in the
> same place at the same time. We'll probably end up talking about
> guns...

Not if I shoot you first!

I've already got the important stuff packed, i.e. my camera gear.
This is the first time I've been proactive enough to get it together
so far in advance. I can pack the scuba gear blind since I've done it
so many times before that it's automatic, but the camera bag takes
some thought. We finally got Janna's BC back today after the new dive
shop that I decided to try ended up sending it on a two-month voyage
to ScubaPro, claiming that it wasn't holding air (even though it was
when we had originally brought it in for a different reason). In any
case, it's working perfectly now, old and new issues addressed, and
the guy only charged me $20 and invited me to his X-Mas party, so I
guess can't complain. I'll just have to make sure to drink and eat at
least $20 worth at the party.

If only I could find the 5T filter that I bought on eBay, since I was
planning on doing some supermacro while tooling around Bari Reef (no
camera on shore dives for me). I have a 6T as well, but I'm not sure
if the images will be as sharp. They allegedly have some pike
blennies in the shallows that I'm going to hunt after I've found all
five froggies.

Now off to bed for me, and then it will only be 10 more days!

On Nov 20, 8:13 pm, George Cathcart <george.cathc...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Well, you're gonna hate this, but we ate mostly at Buddy's. Breakfast
> was part of the package, and we had 50 percent off all meals at
> Buddy's up to $75. We ate lunch there so we could get back in the
> water quickly, and dinner so we could get out and do our night dives.
> Diving is always my first priority. That's what the older group of us
> did, anyway. The younger group, in the other suite (all are under 50,
> buncha kids), got groceries and cooked dinner every night and ate
> leftovers for lunch.

Your loss. Good grub on Bonaire, and I find the prices quite
reasonable with the exchange rate (especially since the dollar is such
a lousy deal everywhere else nowadays). You can't beat the two-minute
drive into town. The fact that most of the island lodgings tend to be
condos with full kitchens keeps the restaurants from being too
crowded. Of course the kitchen is wasted on us, but I do find the
full fridge handy for storing lots of cold beer (and Janna's Diet
Cokes), and the microwave is handy for leftover Pasa Bon pizza.

> Actually, we didn't eat at Buddy's every night. We ate at the other
> restaurant on the premises twice, and we went to a pizza place on
> Wednesday and Thursday (Pasa Bon Pizza, just down the road from
> Buddy's and Sand Dollar, past the roundabout -- good pizza). And on
> the last night, we all went to It Rains Fishes, on the waterfront in
> Kralendijk, not far from Town Pier. It was excellent.

Yep, Pasa Bon is decent, though I haven't had the courage to sample
their fish pizza yet. I've heard mixed reviews about It Rains Fishes,
but they supposedly came under new management just the last month or
so that hopefully worked out all the bugs.

Tops on my list for our trip would be a repeat trip to Cactus Blue,
and I've heard almost nothing but good things about Donna & Giorgio's
and Mona Lisa. I've already reserved a table at Patagonia in their A/
C'd dining room for the day we fly in, figuring we won't yet be
acclimated enough to want to dine outside.

We ate all our lunches at Buddy too on our last trip. They did some
amazing things with chicken breast.

> That would depend who you asked. One of us complained ad nauseum about
> them and slathered herself in repellent. I hardly noticed them, but
> did find welts later. So far I haven't died. Take DEET. It can't hurt,
> though it may melt the lining of your wetsuit.

Our condo at Den Laman is fully A/Cd, so at least we won't have to let
them in like we did at Buddy whenever we aired out the place. We have
lots of DEET, but I'm worried enough to want to bring something on the
plane that can get past TSA, since we land at dawn. The worst I got
bitten on our last trip was pre-dawn on our departure date, when we
sat around Buddy's outdoor "lobby" waiting for the bus to take us to
the airport and I was too lazy to clip off the tie wraps to get to the
spray that I had forgotten to apply before we set out. I was itching
the entire ride home.

> Have a great trip Greg. One of these days we'll find ourselves in the
> same place at the same time. We'll probably end up talking about
> guns...

Not if I shoot you first!

I've already got the important stuff packed, i.e. my camera gear.
This is the first time I've been proactive enough to get it together
so far in advance. I can pack the scuba gear blind since I've done it
so many times before that it's automatic, but the camera bag takes
some thought. We finally got Janna's BC back today after the new dive
shop that I decided to try ended up sending it on a two-month voyage
to ScubaPro, claiming that it wasn't holding air (even though it was
when we had originally brought it in for a different reason). In any
case, it's working perfectly now, old and new issues addressed, and
the guy only charged me $20 and invited me to his X-Mas party, so I
guess can't complain. I'll just have to make sure to drink and eat at
least $20 worth at the party.

If only I could find the 5T filter that I bought on eBay, since I was
planning on doing some supermacro while tooling around Bari Reef (no
camera on shore dives for me). I have a 6T as well, but I'm not sure
if the images will be as sharp. They allegedly have some pike
blennies in the shallows that I'm going to hunt after I've found all
five froggies.

Now off to bed for me, and then it will only be 10 more days!

On Nov 20, 8:13 pm, George Cathcart <george.cathc...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Well, you're gonna hate this, but we ate mostly at Buddy's. Breakfast
> was part of the package, and we had 50 percent off all meals at
> Buddy's up to $75. We ate lunch there so we could get back in the
> water quickly, and dinner so we could get out and do our night dives.
> Diving is always my first priority. That's what the older group of us
> did, anyway. The younger group, in the other suite (all are under 50,
> buncha kids), got groceries and cooked dinner every night and ate
> leftovers for lunch.

Your loss. Good grub on Bonaire, and I find the prices quite
reasonable with the exchange rate (especially since the dollar is such
a lousy deal everywhere else nowadays). You can't beat the two-minute
drive into town. The fact that most of the island lodgings tend to be
condos with full kitchens keeps the restaurants from being too
crowded. Of course the kitchen is wasted on us, but I do find the
full fridge handy for storing lots of cold beer (and Janna's Diet
Cokes), and the microwave is handy for leftover Pasa Bon pizza.

> Actually, we didn't eat at Buddy's every night. We ate at the other
> restaurant on the premises twice, and we went to a pizza place on
> Wednesday and Thursday (Pasa Bon Pizza, just down the road from
> Buddy's and Sand Dollar, past the roundabout -- good pizza). And on
> the last night, we all went to It Rains Fishes, on the waterfront in
> Kralendijk, not far from Town Pier. It was excellent.

Yep, Pasa Bon is decent, though I haven't had the courage to sample
their fish pizza yet. I've heard mixed reviews about It Rains Fishes,
but they supposedly came under new management just the last month or
so that hopefully worked out all the bugs.

Tops on my list for our trip would be a repeat trip to Cactus Blue,
and I've heard almost nothing but good things about Donna & Giorgio's
and Mona Lisa. I've already reserved a table at Patagonia in their A/
C'd dining room for the day we fly in, figuring we won't yet be
acclimated enough to want to dine outside.

We ate all our lunches at Buddy too on our last trip. They did some
amazing things with chicken breast.

> That would depend who you asked. One of us complained ad nauseum about
> them and slathered herself in repellent. I hardly noticed them, but
> did find welts later. So far I haven't died. Take DEET. It can't hurt,
> though it may melt the lining of your wetsuit.

Our condo at Den Laman is fully A/Cd, so at least we won't have to let
them in like we did at Buddy whenever we aired out the place. We have
lots of DEET, but I'm worried enough to want to bring something on the
plane that can get past TSA, since we land at dawn. The worst I got
bitten on our last trip was pre-dawn on our departure date, when we
sat around Buddy's outdoor "lobby" waiting for the bus to take us to
the airport and I was too lazy to clip off the tie wraps to get to the
spray that I had forgotten to apply before we set out. I was itching
the entire ride home.

> Have a great trip Greg. One of these days we'll find ourselves in the
> same place at the same time. We'll probably end up talking about
> guns...

Not if I shoot you first!

I've already got the important stuff packed, i.e. my camera gear.
This is the first time I've been proactive enough to get it together
so far in advance. I can pack the scuba gear blind since I've done it
so many times before that it's automatic, but the camera bag takes
some thought. We finally got Janna's BC back today after the new dive
shop that I decided to try ended up sending it on a two-month voyage
to ScubaPro, claiming that it wasn't holding air (even though it was
when we had originally brought it in for a different reason). In any
case, it's working perfectly now, old and new issues addressed, and
the guy only charged me $20 and invited me to his X-Mas party, so I
guess can't complain. I'll just have to make sure to drink and eat at
least $20 worth at the party.

If only I could find the 5T filter that I bought on eBay, since I was
planning on doing some supermacro while tooling around Bari Reef (no
camera on shore dives for me). I have a 6T as well, but I'm not sure
if the images will be as sharp. They allegedly have some pike
blennies in the shallows that I'm going to hunt after I've found all
five froggies.

Now off to bed for me, and then it will only be 10 more days!

On Nov 20, 8:13 pm, George Cathcart <george.cathc...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Well, you're gonna hate this, but we ate mostly at Buddy's. Breakfast
> was part of the package, and we had 50 percent off all meals at
> Buddy's up to $75. We ate lunch there so we could get back in the
> water quickly, and dinner so we could get out and do our night dives.
> Diving is always my first priority. That's what the older group of us
> did, anyway. The younger group, in the other suite (all are under 50,
> buncha kids), got groceries and cooked dinner every night and ate
> leftovers for lunch.

Your loss. Good grub on Bonaire, and I find the prices quite
reasonable with the exchange rate (especially since the dollar is such
a lousy deal everywhere else nowadays). You can't beat the two-minute
drive into town. The fact that most of the island lodgings tend to be
condos with full kitchens keeps the restaurants from being too
crowded. Of course the kitchen is wasted on us, but I do find the
full fridge handy for storing lots of cold beer (and Janna's Diet
Cokes), and the microwave is handy for leftover Pasa Bon pizza.

> Actually, we didn't eat at Buddy's every night. We ate at the other
> restaurant on the premises twice, and we went to a pizza place on
> Wednesday and Thursday (Pasa Bon Pizza, just down the road from
> Buddy's and Sand Dollar, past the roundabout -- good pizza). And on
> the last night, we all went to It Rains Fishes, on the waterfront in
> Kralendijk, not far from Town Pier. It was excellent.

Yep, Pasa Bon is decent, though I haven't had the courage to sample
their fish pizza yet. I've heard mixed reviews about It Rains Fishes,
but they supposedly came under new management just the last month or
so that hopefully worked out all the bugs.

Tops on my list for our trip would be a repeat trip to Cactus Blue,
and I've heard almost nothing but good things about Donna & Giorgio's
and Mona Lisa. I've already reserved a table at Patagonia in their A/
C'd dining room for the day we fly in, figuring we won't yet be
acclimated enough to want to dine outside.

We ate all our lunches at Buddy too on our last trip. They did some
amazing things with chicken breast.

> That would depend who you asked. One of us complained ad nauseum about
> them and slathered herself in repellent. I hardly noticed them, but
> did find welts later. So far I haven't died. Take DEET. It can't hurt,
> though it may melt the lining of your wetsuit.

Our condo at Den Laman is fully A/Cd, so at least we won't have to let
them in like we did at Buddy whenever we aired out the place. We have
lots of DEET, but I'm worried enough to want to bring something on the
plane that can get past TSA, since we land at dawn. The worst I got
bitten on our last trip was pre-dawn on our departure date, when we
sat around Buddy's outdoor "lobby" waiting for the bus to take us to
the airport and I was too lazy to clip off the tie wraps to get to the
spray that I had forgotten to apply before we set out. I was itching
the entire ride home.

> Have a great trip Greg. One of these days we'll find ourselves in the
> same place at the same time. We'll probably end up talking about
> guns...

Not if I shoot you first!

I've already got the important stuff packed, i.e. my camera gear.
This is the first time I've been proactive enough to get it together
so far in advance. I can pack the scuba gear blind since I've done it
so many times before that it's automatic, but the camera bag takes
some thought. We finally got Janna's BC back today after the new dive
shop that I decided to try ended up sending it on a two-month voyage
to ScubaPro, claiming that it wasn't holding air (even though it was
when we had originally brought it in for a different reason). In any
case, it's working perfectly now, old and new issues addressed, and
the guy only charged me $20 and invited me to his X-Mas party, so I
guess can't complain. I'll just have to make sure to drink and eat at
least $20 worth at the party.

If only I could find the 5T filter that I bought on eBay, since I was
planning on doing some supermacro while tooling around Bari Reef (no
camera on shore dives for me). I have a 6T as well, but I'm not sure
if the images will be as sharp. They allegedly have some pike
blennies in the shallows that I'm going to hunt after I've found all
five froggies.

Now off to bed for me, and then it will only be 10 more days!

In article <32accec5-7ef0-4950-b475-071fbda01ab2
@f13g2000hsa.googlegroups.com>, george.cathcart@gmail.com says...

> The pre-dawn dives were very special.
<snip>

Great report, thanks George. The pre-dawn dives are my favorite.

In article <32accec5-7ef0-4950-b475-071fbda01ab2
@f13g2000hsa.googlegroups.com>, george.cathcart@gmail.com says...

> The pre-dawn dives were very special.
<snip>

Great report, thanks George. The pre-dawn dives are my favorite.

In article <32accec5-7ef0-4950-b475-071fbda01ab2
@f13g2000hsa.googlegroups.com>, george.cathcart@gmail.com says...

> The pre-dawn dives were very special.
<snip>

Great report, thanks George. The pre-dawn dives are my favorite.

In article <32accec5-7ef0-4950-b475-071fbda01ab2
@f13g2000hsa.googlegroups.com>, george.cathcart@gmail.com says...

> The pre-dawn dives were very special.
<snip>

Great report, thanks George. The pre-dawn dives are my favorite.

In article <32accec5-7ef0-4950-b475-071fbda01ab2
@f13g2000hsa.googlegroups.com>, george.cathcart@gmail.com says...

> The pre-dawn dives were very special.
<snip>

Great report, thanks George. The pre-dawn dives are my favorite.

In article <32accec5-7ef0-4950-b475-071fbda01ab2
@f13g2000hsa.googlegroups.com>, george.cathcart@gmail.com says...

> The pre-dawn dives were very special.
<snip>

Great report, thanks George. The pre-dawn dives are my favorite.