C2 Photo Concepts: Bonaire Fun in the Sun! First Class Style!

Bonaire = Paradise! Enough said!

When I would her other fellow Gypsy Divers talk up Bonaire and say they have been back 3 and 4 times, I figured there was a lot of hype to the talk. A reef is a reef, marine life is marine life. I was wrong, and I discovered this after only 1 dive straight off the Buddy Dive Resort, where we were welcomed into 83 degrees water (a major plus for me) and immediately surrounded by marine life and an abundance of coral reef I have never seen before. We did pick an amazing time to visit Bonaire, coral spawning was in full swing, so I think we did get to see an extra special abundance of marine life. One particular dive, we dropped into the water around 4:30pm at the Buddy Reef dive site and about 5 mins into our dive, we are all looking at each other with wide eyes... it looked like we were dropped into an overstuffed aquarium. For another 15-20 mins of the dive, we were enveloped by fish... some of what we saw were... at least 5 eels free swimming, the largest swarm of Blue Tangs in a feeding frenzy, 30+ midnight parrot fish single file swimming across the reef, enormous tarpon, 5+ squid just hanging out.... I could go on for days. Louis, a dive master from Buddy Dive Resort, lead us on an unforgettable dive where he found the largest green sea turtle I think anyone had ever seen. Don't be fooled either, sea turtles are not slow like their land siblings... one flick of his paddles and all we saw was turtle tail.

We ventured off of Buddy Dive Resort several of the days for some shore diving. One of the benefits to diving in Bonaire is that just about every resort provides a truck with each room. So you can load up the tanks and head to just about anywhere on the island for some shore diving. The only downside to taking the car shore diving is that you just about have to go in your birthday suit because nothing can be left behind in the truck, expect of course the $300.00 tanks. We were warned at least 5 times that you must leave your windows rolled down, your doors unlocked, and leave nothing in the car. Of course, you can leave the very expensive tanks in the back of the truck bed.... Don't leave your dirty underwear in the car because it could be stolen, but don't worry about those $300 tanks in the back! ;-) We have devised a plan for next year, though, we are going to head to Goodwill before the trip and pick up some t-shirts and shorts so that if we leave them behind in the truck and they go missing, we are just donating to the local community! Other than the theft problem, the shore dives are just as spectacular! The entries and exits are a little tricky... there is not much sandy entrances, more rocky coral reef that can be slippery. So bring your hard bottom boots if you can. During a couple of our shore dives, we encountered eagle rays and more green sea turtles than I have ever seen! My hubby was able to get both on video!

On the very last day of diving, I decided to snorkel above my hubby, Randy, and Ted, a Gypsy Diver, while they were finishing up their last dive of the trip. All of a sudden, Randy is trying to signal me that he has found something awesome. I try to get down, but was not wearing my fins, so it was difficult to push myself down through the saturated waters. Randy decided to come up and get me with the secondary reg (we were only in 15 ft of water - so it was safe) and he brought me down to see what all the fuss was about. It was a sweet Octopus (I think it was a Caribbean reef Octopus) hanging out in his little safe haven. It was my first Octopus sighting and how awesome to see it on my last day!

After an exciting morning, Adam, another Gypsy Diver, and I went off to explore the island of Bonaire. I had so much fun! I don't know if Adam did because we had to keep stopping every so many miles to step out into the scorching heat to take another picture of another flamingo! ;-) I don't think I mentioned that even though the landscape is more desert like, the humidity feels like 150%. I though North Carolina was bad for it's humidity... WOW I was wrong. Back to the land adventure, we took just about every road along the island and almost made it to the state park before closing... we were 8 mins late and we were not allowed into the park. That's all right because we ended up traveling the entire island instead. Below are some photos from the land adventure!

The plane ride home was a little more interesting than I like, about 30 mins into our flight from Bonaire to Miami, we were informed by the captain that we would not be landing in Miami. We are being diverted to Curacao instead due to a generator problem. I fly quite often, but I am not a comfortable flyer so I did not have good feelings about this. On top of the fact that we decided to go a little cheap on the flights and were on a third party airline, where the plane looked to be from the 70's with lime green leather seats, wooden pegs taking the place of runway lights, and open holes where the cigarette ash trays used to be. We come into Curacao and the pilot informs us that we have to do a couple of loops to burn off some fuel and my neighbor, Adam, says "Oh S$%#, does that mean they need to get rid of fuel in case of an explosion during landing". Yeah, that made me feel even better. So I am looking out the window to see if there are fire trucks lining up, gripping the arms of the seats for dear life, and listening for the engine failure, when the pilot comes back on the intercom and says, "Not to worry, we will be descending in a few minutes for a normal landing". Thankfully, we did have a "normal landing" and were only on the ground for an hour before we safely took off towards Miami, again. On our second leg from Miami to RDU, we were back on our trusty American Airlines, and I was treated by Adam with an upgrade to first class! I was sooooo excited, like a kid in a candy store. It was my very first time in first class and I felt like a star! We cozy down in our enormous and cushy seats and the captain comes on, "We will have a slight delay due to a small mechanical problem". We had two other Gypsy Divers right behind us in first class and I think we all said in unison, "Bailey's on the rocks please!". I think we deserved a bit of the Irish after two planes with mechanical problems! It was so lovely, we were served warm mixed nuts (not just the salted peanuts) and a warm oatmeal and cranberry cookie, while I sipped on my Cabernet.

Life is good!

and if you are a diver, you must put Bonaire on the top of the "Where to dive next" list!

We had the pleasure of traveling with the Gypsy Divers again! This is great dive shop that organizes trip throughout the year, so whether you are a new diver or experienced diver, it gives you an opportunity to experience a new or old place with a fun and energetic group! http://www.gypsydivers.com/Travel/index.htm

Buddy Dive Resort - Buddy Reef was like an overstuffed aquarium... the most sea life I have ever seen in one spot.