November 14 - Island Time
“Bonaire, where’s that?”
That’s the reaction of most non-divers when I mention that I as heading there. When I mention that it is part of the chain of ABC-islands…Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, I usually get to Aruba when the person says, “Sure”. So why is Bonaire so unknown amongst non-divers and such a dream for divers? Well, it may have to do with the fact that the entire economy of Bonaire is based on SCUBA and salt. There is not even a source of fresh water on the island. They desalinize sea water to make fresh water, resulting in, yet more salt! There are no significant stretches of beach on which to lounge, leaving much less attraction than the sister island of Aruba for non-diving visitors.
Bonaire is part of the Netherlands Antilles group of islands. But, the languages spoken here include not only Dutch, but also Papiamento (a Creole dialect), Spanish, and English. I have trouble with all of these languages, even English.
Shore diving is the poor-man’s form of SCUBA, if you can consider any type of diving to be for the poor man. I’m very close to taking out a second mortgage to pay for these last two diving trips. But, it is good exercise. You throw a bunch of tanks and your gear into the back of a pickup truck, drive around the island to one of dozens of sites, and plunk in. The crux is finding your away around the island. If you manage to stay on the main roads, all things go well. Find your way onto a side “kaya” and you may be doomed. Street signs are in short supply and no turn is a right angle. And remember, at traffic circles, those entering have the right of way.
We landed 2 days ago and we’ve done a good bit of diving so far. Yesterday was spent diving the reef right off of our home for the week, the Dive Buddy Resort. The beauty of Bonaire lies in the detail. The critters are small but live amongst the vibrant colors of the coral-encrusted reef. It stands in stark contrast to my trip to Cocos Island where the allure is co-existing with very large creatures (with shark teeth). And it seems that most of these reefs’ inhabitants work the night shift, including one of the few exceptions to that small rule, very large Tarpin.
Tonight, we are taking our first boat dive over to Klein Bonaire, a small island half a mile away. Again, this is very different from Cocos Island where we lived on a boat for a week. I’m on a search for a sea horse and hopefully someone will leave the gate open at the seahorse corral tonight!
Another major difference between Bonaire and Cocos is that of choice. On the live-aboard, there was one choice, go on a dive or not. Here, the island is open to us. Where, when and how much are constant variables and with five people in our group with varying experience, things can get pretty complicated. We’ve done okay so far. We’ve made it to a few dives and have found dinner each night (including ice cream). I think good nature has prevailed so far but I can see how things can go bad very quickly given different individuals. We are in essence at the beginning of our journey together, an exciting time.
That’s the reaction of most non-divers when I mention that I as heading there. When I mention that it is part of the chain of ABC-islands…Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, I usually get to Aruba when the person says, “Sure”. So why is Bonaire so unknown amongst non-divers and such a dream for divers? Well, it may have to do with the fact that the entire economy of Bonaire is based on SCUBA and salt. There is not even a source of fresh water on the island. They desalinize sea water to make fresh water, resulting in, yet more salt! There are no significant stretches of beach on which to lounge, leaving much less attraction than the sister island of Aruba for non-diving visitors.
Bonaire is part of the Netherlands Antilles group of islands. But, the languages spoken here include not only Dutch, but also Papiamento (a Creole dialect), Spanish, and English. I have trouble with all of these languages, even English.
Shore diving is the poor-man’s form of SCUBA, if you can consider any type of diving to be for the poor man. I’m very close to taking out a second mortgage to pay for these last two diving trips. But, it is good exercise. You throw a bunch of tanks and your gear into the back of a pickup truck, drive around the island to one of dozens of sites, and plunk in. The crux is finding your away around the island. If you manage to stay on the main roads, all things go well. Find your way onto a side “kaya” and you may be doomed. Street signs are in short supply and no turn is a right angle. And remember, at traffic circles, those entering have the right of way.
We landed 2 days ago and we’ve done a good bit of diving so far. Yesterday was spent diving the reef right off of our home for the week, the Dive Buddy Resort. The beauty of Bonaire lies in the detail. The critters are small but live amongst the vibrant colors of the coral-encrusted reef. It stands in stark contrast to my trip to Cocos Island where the allure is co-existing with very large creatures (with shark teeth). And it seems that most of these reefs’ inhabitants work the night shift, including one of the few exceptions to that small rule, very large Tarpin.
Tonight, we are taking our first boat dive over to Klein Bonaire, a small island half a mile away. Again, this is very different from Cocos Island where we lived on a boat for a week. I’m on a search for a sea horse and hopefully someone will leave the gate open at the seahorse corral tonight!
Another major difference between Bonaire and Cocos is that of choice. On the live-aboard, there was one choice, go on a dive or not. Here, the island is open to us. Where, when and how much are constant variables and with five people in our group with varying experience, things can get pretty complicated. We’ve done okay so far. We’ve made it to a few dives and have found dinner each night (including ice cream). I think good nature has prevailed so far but I can see how things can go bad very quickly given different individuals. We are in essence at the beginning of our journey together, an exciting time.
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