Bonaire is a beautiful yet desolate island. The official language on the island is Dutch and Papiamentu. English was spoken too, where we stayed. In town, beware of the roaming donkeys. There’s even a Donkey Sanctuary on the island.
We dove with a dive group from Sugar Land Dive Center. They all were fun to be around and full of life. I could definitely see us going on another dive trip with them in the future.
The diving in Bonaire is exquisite. The shore diving will wear you out faster than boat diving. So, for this trip we didn’t get in as many dives as we normally do. That is not to say that we didn’t like it. We are just out of shape.
We stayed at the lovely Delfins Beach Resort. The ceviche here is beyond yummy. I ate it three times while we were there.
Every morning for breakfast, this was our view:
Trey and I each had one of the Eggs Benedict. There was also fruit, breads, yummy jams, lunch meat and cheese offered. There was good coffee, juices and water to drink.
Adam ate a waffle every morning in addition to fruit or a pastry. There was plenty of delicious food to choose from.
This is what happens when the bread basket was left unattended:
June 24
Dive Site: Delfin’s Reef – Deepest Depth Reached ___ft. Nitrox for Trey and me. Regular air for Adam.
Delfin’s Reef was at the resort and right by where we ate breakfast each morning. This was our check-out dive. Trey (DH) is an instructor and Adam (youngest son) did terrific! I was panicking beyond belief! It wasn’t the water or the gear. I was perfectly safe. I was freaking out in my mind that my little boy who is now 13 was breathing under water. It probably took a full 5-8 minutes before I calmed down. Once I calmed down, everything else went swimmingly.
More dive photos can be found at Blue Water Scuba Adventures.
Trey is the underwater photographer. I have issues with clearing my ears, so I don’t want to deal with any extra gear. For my ears, I visit a local ENT two weeks before our intended dive trip. And, I also use Doc’s ProPlugs. Both make a huge difference in my dive experiences. In Roatan, Honduras, I nearly busted my ear drums because I could NOT clear my ears properly.
June 25
Dive Site: <<Name Here>> <<pic of yellow marker>>. Fantastic diving!
Instead of sand, in most places there are tons and tons of broken coral.
While we were waiting during a surface interval, we drove back towards town and found the infamous Lionfish Food Truck. You must try the Lionfish Sandwich. It was scrumptious! We must endeavor to eat and/or kill all lionfish. While we were eating lunch and taking in the beautiful view, these tiny lizards began darting out. They are turquoise only on the tips of their lizard toes. It looks like it’s painted on them. They were too fast to capture a great photo.
June 26
Adam and I stayed out of the water on this day. He was tired and I didn’t mind staying behind.
Trey dove by the pink salt mines <<pic here>>
Later for lunch, Trey and Adam each ate a yummy hamburger and I was eating another bowl of ceviche. Have I mentioned how great the ceviche is?
Later that day, we went into town and captured more sights.
June 27
This little guy greeted us for breakfast:
Dive Site: Jeff Davis
<<Add more description and photos here>>
Dive Site: Cliff
June 28
Great shot of Lisa and Tyler. Tyler was trying to get the coconut:
Dive Site: Hilma Hooker
This was Adam’s first wreck dive. The amount of fish is incredible.
<<pic of wreck here>>
After diving Hilma Hooker, we visited White Slave
According to Tourism Bonaire, these huts were constructed in 1850 during the slavery time, and served as camping facilities for slaves working in the salt ponds to collect and ship the salt, one of Bonaire’s most important export products. These huts were used as sleeping quarters and a place to put away personal belongings of the working team. Each Friday afternoon, the slaves walked seven hours to Rincon to weekend with their families, returning each Sunday. Four Obelisks on Bonaire were used as navigational shore markers to guide ships coming in to load. The obelisks were painted red, white, blue and orange (the colours of the Dutch flag).
3rd Dive Site: 1000 Steps
1000 Steps was a beautiful dive. Going down the steps with full gear on was tricky. But, walking back up the 72 steps with your full gear on after diving was quite an endurance test. Everyone made it safe and sound.
June 29
We toured the island on this morning. We caravanned to the Bonaire National Marine Park and then to Boka Kokolishi. According to Tourism Bonaire, Boka Kokolishi is a black sand beach, so named after the tiny black snails whose crushed shell skeletons give the sand its dark hue. It is a beach where pulpit-like structures provide protection from the strong waves and make spectacular splashes.
Dive Site: Weber’s Joy
This is the whole gang minus the photographer, Trey Trosclair.
June 30
Touring the other end of the island
July 01
Even here, on Bonaire, a beautiful island to experience, I’m looking for hummingbirds. And what do my wondering eyes see? Hummingbirds munching on the local Porterweed for all to see.
On our last evening on the island we gathered all our left over food and hosted a Pot Luck with the rest of the group. We laughed, ate, and drank wine. We laughed some more and drank more wine. At one point, the gang was eating dill pickles and dipping them in peanut butter. Not I. It was a fun evening had by all.
Until next time, be safe and blessed my friends.
I’m ready for out next trip. Let’s go diving . . .
Belize, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Fiji, Thailand . . .
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