Just returned from Bonaire

bullshark wrote:
> Greg Mossman wrote:
>
> > a) You haven't been to Bonaire, have you?
>
> I don't know about Lee, but I've been there twice, most recently in
> March.

Greg's been there. Its been a few years since my last time there. I
find that its just enough of a hassle to get there that combined with
having to keep the "city radar" engaged while visiting doesn't position
it as a particularly relaxing trip that makes it rank high on the
vacation priority list.


> It's a fucking desert; mostly a Salt Desert. It's the most desolate
> dive destination I've ever been too.

Its really arid down south in the salt pans. Up north, there's enough
cactus-types to pass for a semblence of green before you look more
closely.


> I get a kick out of reading the restaurant reports. It translates to
> "Hubby brought me here for vacation and thinks I'm gonna cook and do
> dishes".

Bonaire's hardly unique in this regards, but the "unlimited shore
diving" bug does tend to attract cheapskate divers who think that they
can be happy living on Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwitches for a week.
YMMV.



> > b) Other than mixed comments about petty theft on Bonaire, bullshark's rant
>
> The comments about petty theft are not "mixed", they are uniform, and I
> didn't make them...

I've seen evidence of it on every trip we've gone there on. The last
time I looked into it (a few months ago), there was a new police chief
and comments that it might finally make a significant difference.
However, the general trend over the past half decade seems to be that
there's now more room break-in's these days. Since the "room safes"
are rarely big enough for my UW camera gear, this causes a dilemma.


> > d) Bonaire is a [relatively] safe place to dive.
>
> It all depends. I think the shore diving is deceptive. There are two
> principal dangers:
> 1) navigation - South dives in particular require excellent navigation
> skills.

Particularly when there's any current running. There have been some
instances of diver "disappearances" where they were last seen entering
at Pink Beach, etc.


> 2) Entries - The bottom is hard, uneven , littered with large rocks and
> holes.

And generally more exposed to wave action down south too. OTOH, there
is a dive operator who's running boat dives out on the East side, which
sounds interesting.


> ... If you haven't fallen down diving Bonaire, then I'd have
> to guess that you haven't done any shore diving there.

Greg has previously complained about nasty surge pushing him into a
Bonaire dock piling and its fire coral nailing him, so that would count
as a "minor slip". His elbow was injured at City Cafe

If one restricts yourself to resorts with nice docks or ladders to
simplify entry/exit, its not all that hard to minimize the fall risk
into "minor" slips and stings which will generally be forgotten fairly
quickly. But in doing so, you've restricted your selection of shore
dive sites.


> 3) the slope-to-shelf contour so typical of Bonaire dive sites is an
> invitation to missed safety stops and unintended rapid ascents. Again I
> see this as more of a problem with the Mid-to-South dives, where it's
> compounded by divers bobbing to the surface trying to find out where
> they are, since they inevitably don't know.

Personally, I never really noticed much of any problem with that, but
then again, I generally don't get terribly lost. Especially when doing
a short afternoon solo dip sans camera to cool off...its the old "ounce
of prevention beats a pound of cure" bit.


> > Bonaire is a [relatively] safe place to visit.
>
> It might be the safest place I've ever visited. I'd put it right up
> there with Volin, SD.

Not the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD?


> >I've never had anything stolen there.
>
> Neither have I. I make it my mission to not have anything in the
> vehicle worth stealing. I follow the instructions provided at
> orientation, I follow the instructions printed on the dashboard of the
> rented vehicle. Far from being a myth, petty theft is an institution.

http://www.huntzinger.com/dive/flamingocar11-00.jpg

Supposedly, a new police chief who started earlier this year is
starting to have an impact. Hope he doesn't get burned out.


> > Buddy Dive is supposed to be a great resort.
>
> It is, but it's not for everyone. I would give them an "A+" if I gave
> such things, but I don't. "A+" is an ideal. They get an "A" though.
>
> Their dive masters let you dive as you like.
> Their boats are comfortable.
> Their Nitrox is abundant, inexpensive, and even available in ean36.
> Only the bedrooms are air conditioned.
> The house reef is a reasonably good dive.
> They are well situated for North or South diving.
> Their trucks are roomy, economical and recent vintage with all parts
> working.
> They have plenty of clean safe water. It's all RO, made on site.
> The biggest negative is that they don't know what coffee is.
> The Lions Den finding a restaurant for dinner unnecessary.
>
> I'll probably diver there again before you get there next March. It's
> not my favorite Caribbean destination, but Dec-Mar I don't know
> anywhere else that has warm water.

Each place has its pro's and con's. I've considered using Buddies, as
well as Bruce Bowker's Carib Inn. Maybe in 2007 or 08 if there's
meaningfully good news on the crime front.


-hh

On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 17:01:32 -0700, "Greg Mossman" <mossman@qnet.com>
wrote:
> But four-hour delays leaving LAX are rare

Yeah, today it was only a 90 minute delay for all the flights...

There have been lots of pros and cons about Bonaire.

Bottom line, it is not the same busy, party atmosphere as places like
Cozumel, however, it is clean, safe, and the weather is very constant. We
just came back from a two week June/July trip and the weather was very nice,
85* degrees in the day and not humid at all. The weather was slightly
breezy in the late afternoon, evenings, so the few mosquitos around did not
bite much (i am usually eaten alive by any mosquito within a 100 mile area).

Buddy dive is a little older, however, the rooms are fine. In most hotels
and resorts, only the bedrooms are air conditioned due to the cost. The
trucks are now air conditioned. The only issue of concern is Buddy is they
cater to a lot of large groups, so if you go by yourselves, it can be a
little crowded. Fortunately, the large group of 40 that was there one of
the weeks had their own large boat to use, so the rest of us were not
cramped on the boats. The most ever on any boat dives were12 divers,
usually 8. BelMar's rooms are much nicer, however, there is no on site boat
diving. There are tanks available there, and always plenty of them.

True it is a desert, however, we find that really nice. The cactus are
beautiful.



"Grumman-581" <grumman581@DIE-SPAMMER-SCUM-gmail.com> wrote in message
news:jrlrb29ecg7akpihdjqq7oucg7nfn9oahj@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 17:01:32 -0700, "Greg Mossman" <mossman@qnet.com>
> wrote:
>> But four-hour delays leaving LAX are rare
>
> Yeah, today it was only a 90 minute delay for all the flights...

Greg Mossman wrote:

> The temples are a refuge from all this, which is why they build so many of them.

Did you respect customs? We want to see you in a temple.

What dances did you see?

bullshark

"bullshark" <bullshark@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1153393473.267323.313780@m73g2000cwd.googlegr oups.com...
>
> Greg Mossman wrote:
>
>> The temples are a refuge from all this, which is why they build so many
>> of them.
>
> Did you respect customs? We want to see you in a temple.

I generally try to respect customs. We rented sashes for the one temple
where we actually penetrated the inner courtyard. I tried not to hand
people stuff with my left hand, but realized a couple times too late that I
had screwed up. On the ride back from the boat to the hotel, I crossed my
legs, then realized after noticing the dirty looks I was getting via the
rear-view mirror that I was inadvertently pointing my foot at the driver. A
big no-no. And I likewise inadvertently put my hands on my hips while
waiting for customs to process us on arrival, a sign of rude impatience.
Overall I probably comport myself better than most ugly Americans, though I
almost threw a few of the wood-dragon-vending urchins off the dock at Komodo
Island for crowding and tugging at us so aggressively.

> What dances did you see?

Just the barong. Due to Continental's unforgiveable delay on top of our
11-night liveaboard and the long travel time, we were left with only 1.5
days of land touring (and shopping) for our 17-day trip. In that time, we
managed to see Tanah Lot, Kintamani, Ubud, and more, as well as feed lots of
monkeys. I'd rather play with monkeys than watch a dance any day, though I
do love the sound of the gamelan.

Caribbean Girl wrote:
> Thanks for the info! My husband has been trying to convince me to go for a
> while now and we're trying to figure out if it'll be a good trip for the
> whole family to go on.

No,

Unless your children are old enough to Dive / Snorkle multiple times
per day,
consider staying with relatives for the Week..

a one year old and a six year old at a Dive location is really not a
good plan.

We have a six and a one year old. Is there anything
> for the three of us non-divers to do there?

Nothing..

Hellish travelling with a Six year old And a one year old..

Bonaire is a totally Foreign country..;
(wihch could actually be said for the Maimi Airport too ! )

Is it safe for him to do the
> shore diving alone?

Absolutly Not..

Bonaire has Very challenging shore diving, each entrance over rocky
shores / steep descents ; no accomodations at all.

plus pilfering locals.. Steal your stuff wilst you dive;


> We'll be there for one day in December via cruise ship. We're hoping to
> scope it out then.
>

You Might Try Sandals resort on Turks & Caicos;

They have lots & lots of Kids there.. but One is still a bit young.
MAYBE they have some sort of Baby Sitting ( ??)
Good diving ( if it's not " Blown Out" )

No real town; one shopping mall inland

Golf & Tennis for non-divers.. And a Conch farm..

Consider a trip to Relatives for a week ( Grand Parents around ?? )

On 22 Jul 2006 08:37:30 -0700, barnegatdx@aol.com wrote:

>
>Caribbean Girl wrote:
>> Thanks for the info! My husband has been trying to convince me to go for a
>> while now and we're trying to figure out if it'll be a good trip for the
>> whole family to go on.
>
>No,
>
>Unless your children are old enough to Dive / Snorkle multiple times
>per day,
>consider staying with relatives for the Week..
>
>a one year old and a six year old at a Dive location is really not a
>good plan.
>
>We have a six and a one year old. Is there anything
>> for the three of us non-divers to do there?
>
>Nothing..
>
>Hellish travelling with a Six year old And a one year old..
>
>Bonaire is a totally Foreign country..;
>(wihch could actually be said for the Maimi Airport too ! )
>
> Is it safe for him to do the
>> shore diving alone?
>
>Absolutly Not..
>
>Bonaire has Very challenging shore diving, each entrance over rocky
>shores / steep descents ; no accomodations at all.
>
>plus pilfering locals.. Steal your stuff wilst you dive;
>
>
>> We'll be there for one day in December via cruise ship. We're hoping to
>> scope it out then.
>>
>
> You Might Try Sandals resort on Turks & Caicos;
>
>They have lots & lots of Kids there.. but One is still a bit young.
>MAYBE they have some sort of Baby Sitting ( ??)
>Good diving ( if it's not " Blown Out" )
>
>No real town; one shopping mall inland
>
>Golf & Tennis for non-divers.. And a Conch farm..
>
> Consider a trip to Relatives for a week ( Grand Parents around ?? )
>
Pussy boy, just because you can't figure out how to entertain
yourself, doesn't mean everyone else can't also. There is LAC bay ,
shallow water for wind surfing, snorkeling etc. But never mind, don't
go, I like the empty beach and dive sites.