Captain Don's Habitat: "Bonaire in November 2014", Nov, 2014,by Patricia A. Sinclair, LA, US (![]() |
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Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best): |
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Accommodations | ![]() |
Food | ![]() |
Service and Attitude | ![]() |
Environmental Sensitivity | ![]() |
Dive Operation | ![]() |
Shore Diving | ![]() |
Snorkeling | N/A | ||
Overall Rating |
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Value for $$ | ![]() |
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Beginners | ![]() |
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Advanced | ![]() |
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Comments |
Bonaire Trip – November 2014 I arrived after a lovely flight via Delta Airlines in Bonaire on November 8th. I got unpacked and put together the camera gear (including greasing the o-rings and so on.) I then went down to BonPhoto to arrange a couple of classes, but they were closed. So, off to the dive shop and posted the dives I wanted for the next day, knowing I could not do the 9AM dive due to the 9AM required orientation. The weather was really nice, except for a couple of cold driving rain showers, but they passed quickly. One shower hit really hard while we were trying to get into the water and it was much warmer in the water than on the boat. By the time the dive was over, the rain had cleared out and the sun was brightly shining. The diving was typical Bonaire diving. Not many large creatures, like sharks, but many turtles and lots of the usual Caribbean tropical fishes in abundance. I got in 16 dives while there and averaged 64.875 minutes per dive. I would have had more than the 1038 minutes of bottom time, except for the Hilma Hooker dive. With the dive operator I was with, you cannot do more than 30 minutes on Nitrox (or 20 minutes on air) on the wreck and you are not allowed to add the nearby reef to the dive. Therefore, I will never do that wreck again. Not just because of that, but even more, I do not really care for that wreck. There is some sponge growth and only a couple of large fish (grouper) in the wreck and otherwise it is naked steel on the bottom and it was not worth the dive. A lot of the diving was done over at Klein Bonaire and we got to do 1000 Steps twice. I don’t mind doing dive sites more than once, since I never see the same things from dive to dive. Heck, I could do a whole day on one dive site and come back the next day and see totally different things. I got in a lot of good photo dives and while you are supposed to have a dive buddy (I always pointed to the DM as my buddy) they did not have a problem with me tagging behind everyone and shooting to my heart’s desire. Also, since I tend to use less air than most of the people, I was usually the last one up and the DM, in the last 10 or so minutes, would point out interesting stuff for me to shoot. Twice he pointed out squid, but shy as they are, I could not get them in close enough to see themselves in my dome port. I was also able to do some macro photography on this trip with wonderful subjects, like Christmas Tree worms, Seahorses, Frogfish, Secretary blennies and greysby’s that were willing to pose for a couple of shots before leaving me. I had a wonderful time and learned a lot about underwater photography on this trip and intend to go back to the same resort and dive operator. I really loved all the DMs, save one, and the boat Captains were extremely helpful as well. I ended my trip with a wonderful massage on the last afternoon after I had completed my diving, it was heavenly. |
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Websites | Captain Don's Habitat | ||
Reporter and Travel |
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Dive Experience | 251-500 dives | ||
Where else diving | Philippines, Florida Keys, Florida, Jamaica, Bahamas (Bimini and Grand Bahamas), St Eustatius, Curacao, Roatan, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Cayman Brac | ||
Closest Airport | Bonaire | Getting There | Delta Airlines |
Dive Conditions |
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Weather | sunny, rainy, cloudy | Seas | calm, choppy |
Water Temp | 82-84°F / 28-29°C | Wetsuit Thickness | |
Water Visibility | 50-75 Ft/ 15-23 M | ||
Dive Policy |
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Dive own profile | no | ||
Enforced diving restrictions | dive with a buddy and try to get back with 500 psi | ||
Liveaboard? | no | Nitrox Available? | yes |
What I Saw |
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Sharks | None | Mantas | None |
Dolphins | None | Whale Sharks | None |
Turtles | > 2 | Whales | None |
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best): |
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Corals | ![]() |
Tropical Fish | ![]() |
Small Critters | ![]() |
Large Fish | N/A |
Large Pelagics | N/A | ||
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best): |
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Subject Matter | ![]() |
Boat Facilities | ![]() |
Overall rating for UWP's | ![]() |
Shore Facilities | ![]() |
UW Photo Comments | lovely subjects to shoot, however, the best place to soak your camera system was in your room, since there were so many photogs there. |
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