BONAIRE
Hiya! Welcome back! You’ve stumbled upon the second part of my blog regarding my dad & my trip to Bonaire! If you haven’t read Part One you can find it linked below! I would advise reading the original before venturing into this here sequel, simply for continuity’s sake. Once you’re done you’re more than welcome to join the rest of us here on our second & final part!
PART TWO:
Day Three
We were officially free to roam about to cabin, or in this case, the island. No longer were we contained to Calabas Reef or training dives, it was time to go out & have some leisurely fun. I’d planned out our dive sites the evening prior & basically gave my dad the “trust me” when it came to choosing them, which he did.
One of the main reasons that divers flock to Bonaire is the sheer freedom of it. The vast majority of Bonaire is shore diving, boat dives are few & far between & if they are involved it’s usually at Klein Bonaire or the National Park, both of which are currently closed because of the spreading coral disease. Resorts rent out tanks & vehicles & people load them up to go off to one of the many sites around the island & walk right into the ocean.
I’d planned four dives for us on the Friday in question, loading up the truck with three tanks each before heading off. The first dive site in question was to be at the Southern tip of the island at a spot called Red Slave.
Not a great name, I know, & it detoured me from buying a few shirts later on that has the dive sites all listed on them, but the site gets its name from the historical site adjacent to it. Red Slave is so named because it features a red obelisk & a number of red huts which were former slave dwellings during the days of the slave driven salt trade in Bonaire. There are several obelisks along the west coast of the island, each bearing a color of the dutch flag (including one for the monarchy), & each representing a different grade of salt that was sold at that specific site.
History aside, Red Slave is a well sought after dive site that is typically skipped over because of the swells & the current, but we’d been tipped off by Jack the night before that the current forecast was calling for lower than normal currents at the site in the morning. So we set our sights on Red Slave & made it the site of our first dive of the day. After parking & suiting up we made our way into the water.
The site at Red Slave has a long expanse of sand before the reef drop off. The sloped is rather aggressive, though no where near a sheer wall like the dives up north are. The majority of the coral life here are different varieties of whips & gorgonians, things that like to flow in the current. Apparently this site is also an almost guaranteed turtle sighting, of which we saw none. What we did see were lots of little Pederson Shrimp, a Flamingo Tongue, & as is common in the Caribbean, a plethora of Royal Grammas.
Once we were out of the water it was time to lightly dry & head up the road to our next site, The Lake.
The Lake is so named because of its double reef structure, a common trait among many of the dive sites on the southwestern side of the island. A double reef structure means that you have your normal shore reef, then you have a sand flat, & then you have yet another reef farther off into the ocean. Another thing worth noting about diving is that you always want to start your dive at the maximum depth that you plan to go in your dive. With all of that in mind we made a beeline for the outer reef once we entered the water.
The top of the outer reef at the lakes sits just above the 60 foot mark, which for a new diver like my father, is as deep as he is certified to go. My max depth is double that & some change at 130 feet or 40 meters but being the stand in guide for the two of us, I limited our dives to his max depth. As we were crossing the sand bed, which sits at around 80-90 feet in depth I noticed a massive Queen Conch scooting across the sea floor. It had to be at least a foot across.
On top of the reef we were greeted by the usual suspects; Parrotfish, Trumpetfish, more Grammas, but as we were cruising along we began to hear a faint grinding sound, indicative of a motor boat. Sure enough, right above us on the surface rocketed a motorboat. It always surprises me just how load boats are underwater, it makes me feel bad for anything down there with ears.
We doubled back across “the lake” & investigated the coral colonies along the shoreline reef. My father made the joke at some point to someone that I’m really good at finding the little things in the ocean; the tiny crustaceans, the interesting mollusks, the tiny fish. I think that Lembeh trained me on that front, but on this dive I managed to find a little group of Neon Gobies who had set up a cleaning station amongst the stony corals. They were cleaning the dead skin & parasites off of a couple of Bicolor Angelfish when we rolled up.
When we got back to shore we were met by two Pelicans who were fishing for baitfish in the shallows. We also met a couple from Southern California who had moved to Bonaire when they retired to dive every day. We asked them where we should grab lunch, as we were both damn near starving, & hadn’t eaten breakfast. Despite being a leisurely sport, diving can really take it out of you. They recommended the Ocean Oasis Beach Club just down the road, so that’s where we went!
The Ocean Oasis Beach Club is exactly what the name says, a beach club! It has a rather large restaurant with a full service bar & an assortment of different cabanas all along the beach front. The cabanas can be rented for different time periods throughout the day & are full service with cabana attendants. As I stated, we were starving as well as parched so I got an Awa Di Lamunchi (Curaçao Limeade) & a Salted Caramel Espresso Frappé. Both were to die for, my dad also ended up ordering the limeade after trying mine & the frapp was nothing short of a milkshake. For lunch I got the Ocean Club Sandwich which was a mix between an egg salad sandwich & a grilled chicken sandwich with a side of Yucca Fries. The fries were topped with Sambal which is an Indonesian sweet chili sauce that I hadn’t seen since my time in the South Pacific! My dad got the Crab Roll which was served Maine Style with a Japanese twist! It smacked too!
After lunch we made our way back to the resort to trade out the four empty tanks & add another two to our truck bed. The garage at the shop that serves as a self serve tank depot closes at 5 PM so you have to have all of the tanks that you wanted out before then. Once they’re closed they have a separate bin with a lock to drop your empties after your evening/night dives. With one tank left a piece from the morning & a newly acquired one for the night we headed back down south.
The salt trade in Bonaire is still very much alive, in fact, the majority of the south end of the island is devoted to the harvesting of sea salt. There’s a spot about halfway through the salt flats that Cargill uses to process & load the salt onto ships to send out all over the world, it also features one of the most famous dive sites in Bonaire, the aptly named Salt Pier. I was advised by Rob at Island Hopper here in Nashville to hit Salt Pier in the evening one, because there are far less people diving there, & two, because there are occasionally dolphins there in the late afternoon/early evening.
We didn’t run into any dolphins, but that’s not to say that Salt Pier wasn’t still full of wonders. There’s something eerily awe inspiring when you find yourself forty feet below the surface, under a man made structure, surrounded by aquatic life just going about their business. It has a bizarre unnaturalness to it, almost like when you come across an abandoned building in the woods or an old car that’s just a pile of rust, enrobed in plants. Diving under the salt pier had that time of dissonance to it. The columns also emerge at you from out of the mirk & stand before you in an almost intimidating stature. It’s also entirely easy to forget how massive these structures are until you’re literally right up underneath them, from the shore they don’t seem as daunting.
At Salt Pier we found huge colonies of Sergeant Majors brooding on the discarded building structures the dotted the surroundings of the pier with their purple clutches of eggs. We found a few Purplemouth Moray Eels, tons of Fire Coral, & a school of Yellowtail Snapper.
After our dive we once again went back to Tropical Divers to retrieve all of our night dive gear (lights, locators, etc.) & ditch the wasted tank.
I’d been doing a bit of research & found that a lot of people recommended night diving at a site called Something Special, which was actually a fairly urban spot. Located at the top of Kralendijk’s downtown area, Something Special is half a muck dive, half a reef wall. The site serves as a mooring camp for a lot of smaller boats & the bottom is doted with mooring sites & just a little bit of trash such as tires & even a typewriter. The appeal of Something Special is two fold. The first perk of it is the Tarpon. Tarpon are large, prehistoric sporting fish whose whole bodies are covered in flashy silver scales. They look for the lights of divers at night & come out of the dark to use the light to help them hunt smaller fish. The second appeal is the muck species such as frogfish, seahorses, & the like.
Once again we missed out on the intended fauna of the dive with the exception of the Tarpon. We got in the water right about sundown & made our way through the dusky shallows until evening hit, that’s when the Tarpon began to show up.
The first glimpse of one that I caught was through the edge of the beam of my flashlight. The large fish cruised slowly by wary at first of us. As I continued to follow the Tarpon into the darkness with my flashlight my torch ran smack, dab, right into another one, only this one was staring straight at us, its eyes reflecting its own beams into the night. It wasn’t long until the Tarpon found their courage & were right up next to us, waiting for us to find fish in the muck for them to try & consume. When they’d spot one in the light they would head towards it, slowly turning sideways to try & get the fish in their mouths. The only one that I managed to help catch a fish gulped down a toxic Sharpnose Pufferfish, which is swiftly regurgitated.
Tarpon aside, the dive also gave us many fun saltwater critters; a Slipper Lobster, an Arrow Crab, & more Moray Eels.
As we were wrapping up our dive we ran into a school of Needlefish pressed right up against the water’s surface. If you got close to them or put your light on them they would go so far as to jump completely out of the water. As we were walking back up the bank to the car my dad said to me “I kept waiting for the Jaws music to start playing” when I asked him how he enjoyed his first ever night dive.
After we’d driven back to the resort, dropped our tanks, & dried off, the hunt for dinner began. I’d been recommended Joe’s Restaurant many times from people all over the states & in Bonaire & it just happened to be next door to Tropical Divers, so we thought we’d give it a shot.
Joe’s menu is an interesting assortment of food but the area in which it truly shines is its tasting menu. You get the option of either four or five courses of whatever the owner, Bart, has decided to make for that week. We chose to go five courses & it did not disappoint! The first course was a Goat Cheese dish complete with Langoustines, Microgreens, Mango, Brandy Poached Onions, & some form of Apricot Sauce. It was outstanding! Second was a fish course topped with a different varietal of Poached Brandy Onion, Sun-dried Tomatoes, Garlic Croutons, & an Herb Emulsion. Again, out of this world. The main course was Duck Breast served with a Carrot Puree & a Morel Mushroom Au Jus. Bangin! Then came the cheese course which was an assortment of Dutch Cheeses with different jams & preserves. The Rhubarb was exceptionally good. Finally, the dessert course, A Flourless Chocolate Cake made with Prunes, Apricot Puree, & some form of Sweet Dutch Ambrosia-esque Salad. Dinner was topped off with a house made Liquor that tasted of Vanilla & Caramel.
Perfectly full, exhausted, & a wee bit tipsy, we walked back next door, I popped into the shower to wash the day off & then it was once again off to bed.
End Of Day Three
Day Four
The rule of diving where flying is concerned is 18-24 hours, you’re not supposed to dive within 18-24 hours of a flight. With that in mind we limited our day to two tanks during the morning load-up, though in hindsight we probably could have done a third. That’s okay though.
Since we’d exclusively dove the southern sites on the island we decided to make our last two dives northern. I’d picked out two dive sites for the day: Tolo or Ole Blue & Karpata. Both sites came recommended from both folks in the states & those on Bonaire.
The dive up to Tolo took about thirty minutes. We stopped on the way at a dive shop for a couple of Cokes & a new writing pad for me as my pencil had decided that it had had enough of saltwater & was going to break away a la Kelly Clarkson. When we arrived at the site there were already about a dozen other cars parked with divers &/or snorkelers getting in &/or out of the water. We too had soon parked & were readying our gear for entry.
The shore on the north side of Kralendijk is far rockier than that to the south. It often features sheer cliffs & the dives are much more in line with a wall dive where you need to monitor your depth since the bottom isn’t always visible & your depth in the moment isn’t always as apparent. It’s very easy to find yourself sinking lower & lower without even realizing it, something that my dad didn’t believe until we were in it.
Both sites, Tolo & Karpata are wall dives, both also feature a top reef at around 15-20 feet in depth which makes for a nice, active safety stop. You can cruise around looking at things while you’re breathing off some of the nitrogen that has entered into your bloodstream.
We made our way into the water, through a large rock beach that required a bit of fancy footwork to navigate on your way down. Really fun to do while lugging a scuba tank on your back & fins the lower length of your legs in your hands. We cruised along the top before spilling over down the wall.
The northern shore had its fair share of Creole/Ruby Anthias, something I actually used to have in my tank at home until they got too big & started eating the other fish on my reef. Additionally it has a large quantity of Grammas, French Angelfish, Parrotfish, Bicolor Angelfish, & assorted corals.
When we reached the top of the reef we found a pair of Caribbean Reef Squid hovering just above the whip corals. We followed them for a few minutes but it was very clear they wanted nothing to do with us. Occasionally you’ll get squid who want to interact with humans, not today though apparently.
We finished the dive, got out, went ahead & switched over tanks while making small talk with the groups of people readying or tearing down around us then piled back into the car to head up shore to Karpata.
I mentioned Lewis in part one, the geologist who came to Bonaire with the student group & stayed longer to go out dive on his own. Well he’d been diving with a man named Mario from Rio De Janeiro whom he’d met at Tropical Divers. Lewis had departed a day earlier but Mario & his wife Bene were still going around the island to dive sites. Mario spoke minimal English & I speak little to no Portuguese but Bene spoke a bit of English & a bit of Spanish & so do I, so she & I would basically mediate the conversations between the four of us.
Anyway, as we’re pulling out of Tolo we almost ran smack into them in their car arriving. We continued up the road to Karpata & were starting to gear up when up rolls Mario & Bene.
I, up until this moment, was under the impression that Bene & Mario had been diving together but she explained to me that she doesn’t dive, just Mario, so I extended an invite to him asking if he wanted to dive with us & also wanted me to lead said dive, which he did.
The climb down to Karpata is about twenty steps. At the bottom of the steps is a bouldery beach covered in foot in diameter cobbles that shift relentlessly & are covered in algae. Needless to say, it was tricky getting into the water. Apparently a lot of people start at the previous site, cliff jump with their gear, & drift dive to Karpata. Ya boy is afraid of heights, so the jump wasn’t happening.
The drop off of Karpata is a lot more abrupt than that of Tolo. As we started down the wall my dad & I leveled out right around 60 feet, his max depth. Mario just kept going. I watched him descend further & further until I think he hit around 100-120 feet in depth. I indicated to my father to stay at his 60 foot depth & I went down to about 80 to be the middle space between the two since I was leading the dive. Mario stayed at that depth pretty much the whole time until we looped around to come back. Just before we looped around though he motioned for me to come down to around 90 feet where he’d found a massive Lionfish hiding in the reef wall.
Lionfish are invasive to the Caribbean, usually only being found in the South Pacific. They began to populate the Caribbean because fish tank owners decided to release them into the ocean instead of trying to sell them or turn them into a local fish store. Now there are many countries in the Caribbean that actually have bounties out for Lionfish, paying for people to kill them & turn them in to help to stop the spread of them as they have no natural predators in the Caribbean.
Back on the top reef of Karpata we found even more squid, this time a whole school of them, I’m talking at least 8-10! I found another Flamingo’s Tongue Snail & there was also a massive school of Atlantic Blue Tangs that swam by, picking algae off the rocks as they went.
For lunch we had planned to head inland & visit the town or Rincón. Rincón was built in a valley away from the ocean to hid it from the frequent pirate raids that used to occur around the time Bonaire was being colonized. We went to visit Posada Para Mira, a local Bonaire cuisine restaurant that, as the name suggests, has quite the view!
As I mentioned, Posada Para Mira is a restaurant that serves local cuisine. This includes everything from conch to goat or iguana stew in addition to plantains, beans, corncakes, croquettes, etc. For lunch I ordered a cup of Goat Stew, Fried Conch, & a fresh pressed Passionfruit Juice. The goat stew & the juice were bomb as were the sides, but to be honest, I was expecting the conch to be breaded & fried, not just pan fried, but I guess that’s my own error.
After lunch we decided we were going to go up to Washington Slagbaai National Park & drive around. Diving in the park is currently prohibited, but there’s still a lot of wildlife to see & the park makes up about a third of the island’s total area. Unfortunately we arrived about forty minutes too late because they stop drive arounds at a certain point. That’s not to say that we didn’t still get to enjoy parts of the park. There’s an educational center there with several different areas set up to demonstrate the former goings on of the area, which at one point was a plantation.
After exhausting the limits of what we could do at the park entrance we decided to take a loop around the island to see the East Coast.
Certain parts of the eastern side of Bonaire are mangrove forest, others are coves, at any rate the eastern side has much higher tidal activity & while people do dive it, it’s not advised as a beginner because of its often unpredictable nature. So, leading a trip with a novice diver, the eastern side of the island was off limits, at least where submersible pursuits are concerned. We did manage to stumble upon a plethora of the island’s invasive Donkeys & a large flock of Flamingos hanging out in the salt flats.
We made our way back to Tropical Divers where we returned our tanks, washed our gear, & began packing up for our flight the next day.
At around seven we started to get hungry again & decided that we wanted to go back to Joe’s, this time to try some of the items on their regular menu! We split the Goat Cheese appetizer since the goat cheese app the night before had been so bomb. It was different, but still smacked! I got a Joe’s Salad which was decadently light & refreshing & ended up with the pot roast-esque Veal Cheek for dinner. For dessert we had a Three Musketeers which was a Dark Chocolate Lava Cake with Milk Chocolate Ice Cream & White Chocolate Sauce & a Red Fruit Cobbler. Both were exquisite!
I can’t recall much of the rest of our evening other than planning for the next day, getting timings down, & showering before bed.
End Of Day Four
Day Five
We had a few things to get done on our final morning. First, we needed to check in with Prisca & make sure we had everything in order & finalized for out Stress & Rescue certification. Second, we needed to check out. Third, we needed to collect our (hopefully) dried out dive gear & pack it. Fourth, we needed to go get breakfast & Fifth, we needed to go get souvenirs.
We got everything squared away with Tropical Divers & were able to keep our key until eleven. We then set off to town in the rental truck.
We parked in the town square & went in search of a few trinkets for my dad to take home to Kansas. Most of the souvenir shops were still closed but we happened upon one t-shirt shop & loaded up. One for my dad, one for my mom, one for my sister & brother-in-law, one for my niece, one for my nephew, etc.
Shirts acquired we went back over to Rumba Cafe for breakfast. I once again got a Smoothie & I think an Egg Sandwich. To be honest, I was a little distracted by my dad’s order of Tuna Salad at 9:30 AM to remember what exactly it was that I’d ordered.
After breakfast we stopped at one more shop so that I could get a tank top, then we headed back to Tropical Divers one last time so that I could try to cram my shirts into my already overstuffed lack of luggage.
Our flight was at three-ish but our rental car had to be back at noon, so we were early. Everything from there went fairly smoothly! The flight back to the states was smooth, though Miami International makes you walk six & a half miles just to get through immigration, recheck your bags, & go through security.
All & all it was a good trip, a lot more work than I think either of us were honestly anticipating it being, but in the end I feel confident in my abilities as a Stress & Rescue diver & now as a Master Diver! I can’t wait to see where the next adventure lies & I can’t wait to tell you all about it!
-C
End Of Day Five
END OF PART TWO & END OF BLOG SERIES!!!
