Bonaire - just returned - bad news
Bob Servis
days after hurricane Lenny's back surge basically destroyed nearly ALL
the shore diving reefs. The destruction is immense.
Both Klein Bonaire and Bonaire itself have have lost nearly all of the
reef (hard and soft coral, fish, invertebrates, etc.) from shore to
about 40-45 ft. In addition, the visibility was not good. Beyond a
depth of 50 ft, visibility was only 40-50 ft . At shallower depths, it
was much, much less. Visibility was in the 10-20 foot range from 20 ft
of depth to shore.
Only 2-3 dive sites on Klein Bonaire (near 'The Forest') would still be
considered 'adequate' dives as most are totally trashed with 2-3 inches
of white sand and silt covering what living coral remains.
On Bonaire, itself, the only 'adequate' dives are from Jeff Davis,
North. All else, are trashed and what living coral is left is covered
with 1-2 inches of white sand and silt - and much of that will probably
die from suffocation. We did not go to the South (Red Slave, Hilma
Hooker) as we were told by divers who did go there that the visibility
was very poor and there was massive destruction of reef with a lot of
sand and silt covering the remaining reef and sunken freighter.
We stayed at the Sand Dollar. From shore to about 40 ft, the bottom is
just debris from crushed coral, broken glass, destroyed equipment etc.
Their huge metal stairway is intact, but under about 20 ft of water.
The Sand Dollar had NO restaurant, very few guests and lots of excuses
as to why we were not notified about this deplorable condition, before
we arrived.
The Carib Inn was in visibly good shape with an operational pier.
Buddy Dive lost its pier and restaurant (actually it was still there,
but apparently had been condemned because of structural damage), and
they have improvised a temporary eating area. Capt. Don's Habitat has
lost their piers but the restaurant was functional - good food, too.
Very sad, it will take many years - 100 to 400 - before the reefs are
back to good condition. That is without any additional damage, and I am
certain we are all aware of the tragedy that is currently happening in
Venezuela only 50 miles away. Storms, rain, mudslides and lots and lots
of silt.
Dive safely,
Bob
mjbl...@my-deja.com
worth looking at. Thanks Bob.
In article <38603ACA...@mediaone.net>,
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
bja...@my-deja.com
this. We just got back about two weeks before Lenny, and it was of the
most enjoyable diving experiences of my life.
The folks at Buddy's were so nice, and I wish them and everyone on the
island the best of luck.
Nature has a way of taking care of itself, so maybe we can all hope for
speedy recovery.
Jake Richter
>x-no-archive:yes
>bja...@my-deja.com wrote in message <83rg76$8gn$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>...
>
>>This is absoultely an incredible post.
>
>Yes, I agree and because of this I question the it's veracity. We have
>knowledgable friends on the island whose descriptions of the undersea
>condition are almost polar to these comments. I get the sense that there is
>an oversimplification and overstatement of the facts.
>
>From a more practical perspective, there simply wasn't enough topside
>shoreline damage to indicate that underwater should have suffered so
>immensely.
As another person living on Bonaire, I have to concur with your
conclusion.
A far more objective and realistic report is the one that rhallstrom
just posted (looks like it's a three parter - the third part describes
reef conditions) here, and had previously posted on Rodale's
www.scubadiving.com forum as well.
Jake
+------------------------------------+
Jake Richter, Publisher/Editor - Bonaire E-News - http://www.BonaireENews.com
Kaya Rotterdam 2, Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles
Phone: +599-717-6773 FAX: +599-717-7854 E-mail: ja...@BonaireENews.com
Also visit: http://www.InfoBonaire.com - "The Official Bonaire Web Site"(tm)
Trace Malinowski
was contemplating teaching my girlfriend to dive here, but I guess the near
future is out.
Trace Malinowski
PDIC Instructor #2075
Mask... $60.00
Long blade fins... $150.00
Wetsuit... $200
Weight belt... $25.00
Expression on a SCUBA diver's face as you wave to him at 120 feet without a
tank... PRICELESS!
Jake Richter
wrote:
>Yes, I agree that this was a terrific post, Bob. I love diving in Bonaire and
>was contemplating teaching my girlfriend to dive here, but I guess the near
>future is out.
Trace,
I was actually stating that Bob's post about Bonaire's reefs is way
off base (i.e. not at all accurate) and that I was agreeing with
Mound's post disputing Bob's.
Take a look at the three part post by rhallstrom about his recent
Bonaire trip. He went through quite a bit of effort to dive all around
Bonaire and Klein Bonaire, and there are drastic differences between
the damage some dive sites took (a lot for a small percentage) and
what others took (none).
Ernie
landed on the island on Saturday Nov 20. Sunday wasn't a particularly
nice day for diving due to some left over wave action but the rest of
the week was wonderfull.
Not to underestimate the damage.. there certainly was lots of that.
Many resorts, including Captain Don's where we stayed, had signifigant
damage and will take some time to get back to where they were
pre-surge. But they still are getting divers out to dive.
I wish I could have seen the reef before the underwater damage occured.
It would be easier to comment now on the change. I don't doubt that, as
stated in an earlier message in this thread, it will take a very long
time for thr reef to fully recover. However, the reef still is a wonder
to see. There were lots of fish, ample healthy reef to explore and
visibility was good.
We would not hesitate for a moment to recomend going to Bonaire.
* Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet's Discussion Network *
The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet - Free!
Bob Servis
Jake Richter wrote:
> On Thu, 23 Dec 1999 12:45:27 -0700, "Mound" <t...@dair.group> wrote:
>
> >x-no-archive:yes
> >bja...@my-deja.com wrote in message <83rg76$8gn$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>...
> >
> >>This is absoultely an incredible post.
> >
> >Yes, I agree and because of this I question the it's veracity. We have
> >knowledgable friends on the island whose descriptions of the undersea
> >condition are almost polar to these comments. I get the sense that there is
> >an oversimplification and overstatement of the facts.
> >
> >From a more practical perspective, there simply wasn't enough topside
> >shoreline damage to indicate that underwater should have suffered so
> >immensely.
>
> As another person living on Bonaire, I have to concur with your
> conclusion.
>
> A far more objective and realistic report is the one that rhallstrom
> just posted (looks like it's a three parter - the third part describes
> reef conditions) here, and had previously posted on Rodale's
> www.scubadiving.com forum as well.
>
> Jake
> +------------------------------------+
> Jake Richter, Publisher/Editor - Bonaire E-News - http://www.BonaireENews.com
> Kaya Rotterdam 2, Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles
> Phone: +599-717-6773 FAX: +599-717-7854 E-mail: ja...@BonaireENews.com
> Also visit: http://www.InfoBonaire.com - "The Official Bonaire Web Site"(tm)
Objective - and you live on Bonaire and are the publisher/Editor of the
BonaireENews. Your post is more 'damage control' than objective.
I am objective. I have no personal or economic stake in Bonaire's present or
future condition. I just want to share my observations with others who might not
be aware of the loss of shore diving and extensive reefs that are reachable via
boat.
Hallstrom's reports are extensive and reflect exactly what I am saying. Which is
that only a few of the sites are untouched and that the vast majority have
significant
or major damage, and that it is BOAT DIVING not SHORE DIVING that in now Bonaire
diving. When I was there, visibility was only 40-50 - at the best sites and
significantly worse at others. He is just coming to different conclusion as to
whether Bonaire is still at the top of pile of dive destinations and worth a trip
for the next few years.
Smoke and mirrors won't make the damage disappear, and everyone that spends a
thousand dollars or more getting there only to discover the extent of the damage
will NOT be grateful to you.
I certainly wished I would have known of the damage BEFORE the 5 of us went. We
didn't find out until a fellow passenger on the air shuttle from Curacao told us.
We didn't believe them. Now, we do.
I think there is some confusion as to extent of the damage and what caused the
damage.
It was not wind and rain from hurricane Lenny, it was surges coming from the NW
off the back-side 'tail' of Lenny. Huge waves/surge pounded the shallows, and
in-water build-outs such as piers, docks and restaurants.
There was little or no top side damage except for areas of Bonaire that are
opposite Klein Bonaire and even there, only right IN the water or overhanging the
water
was there structural damage.
The reefs - obviously - are IN the water.
The angle from which the waves originated allowed for a rebound (or resonance)
effect off Klein Bonaire. The entire channel between Klein Bonaire and Bonaire
is
shallow (about 700 ft). Thus, the wave energy can rebound off Bonaire, then back
to Klein Bonaire, then back to Bonaire, etc.
Wave damage results from periodic blows as the waves arrive, while wind damage is
a much steadier force. If the frequency of the waves are timed just right, then
they will be additive and the amplitude of the resulting combined wave will
increase. Similar to filling a bucket with water, then kicking it. The water
splashes back
and forth..
Don't underestimate the damage from the silt that covers a good portion of the
reef infrastructure. Silt kills coral, sponges, etc.
Except for the dive sites North of and including Jeff Davis, there is major reef
damage in water shallower than about 40-45 ft. In addition, even beyond 50 ft,
there
are 1-3 inches of a fine white silt/sand that covers much of the viable coral,
sponges, etc.
I have seen it first hand. I have been there. I don't know about anyone's
ideas, beliefs or hearsay as to what the condition of the reefs and diving are
now in
Bonaire.
I only know the reality of what I saw.
I have extensive video of the reefs, and will post parts of them to
alt.binaries.images.underwater in a couple of weeks, when I have a chance to sort
through the
videos and make labeled stills, so y'all know at what you are looking.
The point here, is that Bonaire was unique, special, wonderful, etc. as a SHORE
DIVE DESTINATION. It was like a very large live-aboard. Now, it is pretty
much a BOAT DIVE DESTINATION with a very limited amount of diveable sites.
There is a major expense and hassle (ALM) to get to Bonaire. For me, the
principal advantage (shore diving) of going to Bonaire is no longer valid.
Of course, there still are a few good sites there, but now, it is closer to 20
(versus 80+ before).
In the meantime, if you don't believe me, fine. That's your option. What you
believe, feel or have heard from others is not my kind of reality. My reality is
what I
have seen or heard either myself or from objective observers.
It is the difference between fact and belief.
Dive safely,
Bob Servis, M.D, Ph.D.
Jake Richter
wrote:
>> A far more objective and realistic report is the one that rhallstrom
>> just posted (looks like it's a three parter - the third part describes
>> reef conditions) here, and had previously posted on Rodale's
>> www.scubadiving.com forum as well.
>
>Objective - and you live on Bonaire and are the publisher/Editor of the
>BonaireENews.
And I guess as someone here on Bonaire, able, at my leisure, to
explore the situation first hand, my opinion and observations are less
objective than yours, even though you only spent a handful of days
here? Bob, I respect divergent view points, but will not sign off on a
statement of fact based on observation if I disagree with it based on
my personal observations.
> Your post is more 'damage control' than objective.
My publication, the Bonaire E-News, is free - both in terms of
subscription fees as well as encumberances - the latter much to the
dismay of the local tourism agencies, which are not always happy with
what we publish. However, we feel we have an obligation, as an
independent publication, to publish accurate news about what goes on
on Bonaire for our audience. Please do a little research into these
things before you go and besmirch our editorial integrity. Our cover
page on our Web site at http://www.BonaireENews.com explains this.
>I am objective. I have no personal or economic stake in Bonaire's present or
>future condition. I just want to share my observations with others who might not
>be aware of the loss of shore diving and extensive reefs that are reachable via
>boat.
However, you did not make your post as an observation. You made it a
statement of fact, one that is sharply at odds with observations
posted publicly by many other recent visitors, as well as my own. And,
by having no interest in Bonaire's future, you therefore also have no
obligation to ensure accuracy of your information. Had you, you would
have found that most of the northern dive sites, between BOPEC and
Barcadera, were untouched by the wave system that passed through (and
many of these are _shore diving_ sites). Same goes for the whole
southern/eastern side of Klein Bonaire. That's a lot of dive sites in
pre-wave condition. Additionally, many sites along the margin were
only damaged (to varying degrees) in the shallows, and are otherwise
fine from about 30' down (same condition as pre-waves). If your first
hand observations at these locations indicate that they are not
suitable for diving now, they obviously were not suitable for you
before the waves hit parts of the island, hence your standards must be
higher than those Bonaire has catered to for years. There's nothing
wrong with that, as long as one realizes that personal expectations
and experience might be flavoring the situation.
>
>Hallstrom's reports are extensive and reflect exactly what I am saying.
They certainly don't read the same. Yours says, in effect, that
"Bonaire sucks, everything's been destroyed - don't bother going".
Hallstrom's says, in effect, "there's definitely been damage in a
number of areas, in varying proportions based on location, but the
diving is still good, and we're coming back in 2000". This does not
appear to be the same sort of opinion/observation to me.
>[snip]Smoke and mirrors won't make the damage disappear, and everyone that spends a
>thousand dollars or more getting there only to discover the extent of the damage
>will NOT be grateful to you.
Were you right then we'd be getting lots of hate mail at the E-News
right now. However quite the converse is true, with people who read
the E-News thanking us both before and after their recent trips for
providing an accurate overview of the situation (with our and their
observations meshing a lot more closely with Hallstrom's than yours).
And, we've dined and had drinks with a number of our readers in recent
weeks, generally towards the end of their trips, and the reports from
them are reasonably consistent with what we've seen first hand.
>I certainly wished I would have known of the damage BEFORE the 5 of us went. We
>didn't find out until a fellow passenger on the air shuttle from Curacao told us.
>We didn't believe them. Now, we do.
Not to sound snide (although it'll probably sound that way anyway),
but had you been subscribing to the Bonaire E-News you would have
known, and been able to do more research about your trip.
>I think there is some confusion as to extent of the damage and what caused the
>damage.[snip]
Not to us (we live on the coast and saw our beach and backyard dive
site transformed).
I'm not trying start a bitching contest here Bob, but I also don't
like having my integrity questioned, privately or publicly. And before
you charge that your integrity was being questioned, please reread the
above as well as your original post, and keep in mind that-
observations stated as such are one thing; statements made as fact
that everyone is expected to automatically accept are another. Your
original post read like the latter to me and to others who have
commented on your post.
Each person's experiences and observations of a particular situation
vary based on that person's expectations and previous experiences in
similar situation (but possibly different geographic regions), hence
the disparity in reports and "factual" postings. In terms of Caribbean
destinations I've dived, Bonaire post-wave is still among the best, if
not the best, but, for example, having limited experience in the
Indo-Pacific, I couldn't begin to compare the two adequately. However,
if someone was a big Indo-Pacific fan and found the diving there to be
better than diving in the Caribbean, might it be safe to assume that
their expectation levels would be different than someone who always
dives the Caribbean and Atlantic. Just some food for thought...
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Bonaire!
mjbl...@my-deja.com
recommended it to some friends who are coming your way soon. And
now here's my Epinion about Bonaire: the most overrated dive site
in the Caribbean, which no doubt has gotten worse thanks to Lenny.
You also have possibly the worst airline in the Western hemisphere,
ALM. Curacao is better, but still served by ALM. Bonaire is one
of the few places in the Caribbean I don't intend to return to.
Mike Black
In article <Hq9nODc2DT9A9b...@4ax.com>,
Le Belgo
>>BonaireENews.
>
>And I guess as someone here on Bonaire, able, at my leisure, to
>explore the situation first hand, my opinion and observations are less
>objective than yours, even though you only spent a handful of days
>here? Bob, I respect divergent view points, but will not sign off on a
>statement of fact based on observation if I disagree with it based on
>my personal observations.
Jake--
I have no opinion as to the state of the reefs and diving in Bonaire.
However, it is very clear that your opinions are not objective. You live on an
island with essentially one main industry: dive tourism (well, I'm not
counting the thievery of the tourists as an industry). Your economic
well-being is obviously closely tied to a healthy dive tourist industry on
Bonaire.
In the past, I have seen you white-wash rather than fess up to some
serious problems in Bonaire, such as the thievery and ALM-related problems.
You may be entirely right that the diving in Bonaire is still world-class.
However, past experience on this newsgroup and others have led me to doubt any
pretense you have in objectivity regarding Bonaire. I'm sorry, but for me, as
well as probably for others who have visited Bonaire, you're looking at Bonaire
through rose-colored diving masks!
GHorn82707
promoter of Bonaire, but he has never denied that the crime didn't exist, just
that it was not as rampant as the poster made it sound. He asked people to use
common sense, "leave nothing of value in the vehicle when shore diving", makes
sense to me. Crime exists all over the world, we are the ones that must take
precautions, thats why I always use the safe when available. As for ALM he
has admitted it has problems but so do most of the airlines. He can't make the
changes at ALM, that will come when enough people write the airline or stop
using it.
George R Horn
Owner Scuba Divine
Brooklyn, NY
(718) 647 1089
www.scubadivine.com
Jason O'Rourke
>This sounds more objective to me than a report from someone who claims that
>"their reality" is smothered in their experiences, and then tells us that of
>the 80+ sites on Bonaire only 20 are worth diving any more. You really think
>this guy made it to 80+ dive sites so his "reality" could be explored?
As a passive observer that will probably go many places before Bonaire, I
was struck by the notion that someone could dive an entire island 15 days
after a hurricane and conclusively state that it would take years to
decades to recover. Were this possible, I can't imagine any place in the
Caribbean would be worth visiting. We get a mild (in comparison) storm in
california or just a few days of swells and it can take a week to recover.
It would seem that you'd need to wait a little longer to see how it makes
out.
--
Jason O'Rourke j...@best.com www.jor.com
We need more snow!
Le Belgo
>"their reality" is smothered in their experiences, and then tells us that of
>the 80+ sites on Bonaire only 20 are worth diving any more. You really think
>this guy made it to 80+ dive sites so his "reality" could be explored?
I imagine the truth is somewhere between the two reports. I find it
hard to believe that most dive sites in Bonaire are trashed for our lifetime.
On the other hand, my experience has shown me that Jake often minimizes
problems on Bonaire, for understandable reasons. I look forward to hearing
truly objective reports--although I'm not sure which dive magazines can be
trusted, since many depend on certain islands' advertising.
Bob Servis
BONAIRE WAS NOTED FOR THE BEST (in the Western Hemisphere) SHORE
DIVING on living reefs with an incredible variety of fishes AND MACROS,
like sea horses, that thrive in stable marine conditions.
The point is: Not anymore.
If you are going to Bonaire for nearly unlimited, easy, park your
car, walk in the water, best in the world, shore diving and snorkeling,
you will probably be disappointed. Only the other hand, if you are
thrilled by just seeing goat fish or a spotlight Parrot, you will love
it.
If you are going to Bonaire for one-tank boat diving, there are
still places you can go. However, if you stay longer than a week, and
go more than once a day, you will - most likely - dive the few
'unchanged' sites more than once.
1. From shore to about 40 ft, shore diving at Bonaire and Klein Bonaire
has been markedly altered at the majority of 80+ dive sites. The
alteration consists of frank destruction of habitat and structural
base. There are still fish, but the variety is gone with the habitat
destruction.
2. From 40 ft out there is are still a few reefs that are virtually
untouched. You can dive each of them 5 times a day if you want, but the
majority of reefs are damaged. Some significantly, some little. Some
with coral destruction, some with just a sand/silt covering, some with
both.
My information is based on direct observation and verbal reports from a
marine biologist working at one of the hotels and DMs and other
recreational divers working at several different hotels.
If you are going to Bonaire for lush shore diving and/or snorkeling, we
it ain't like it used to be, folks. Those days are gone.
If you are going to Bonaire for macros, like sea horses, you will be
disappointed.
If you are going to see large stuff, e.g. large grouper or barracuda,
you will be disappointed as they are very rare on the reefs, since
people eat them. We had fishermen fishing with lines all along the
coast. Including right in front of the Capt. Don's to the Marina area.
Dive boats would even stop and buy fish from the fisherman.
In fact, I have not even heard the 'spin-doctors' discuss snorkeling,
shore diving, sea horses, etc. Sometimes silence carries great
information.
Is the glass half full?? rhallstrom's excellent report states
(elegantly) the same information that mine does, but he draws a
different conclusion. He had a positive experience. Even ALM canceling
a flight causing them to miss their connections was ok.
Is the glass half empty?? my hastily written reports state (essentially)
the same information as rhallstrom's does, but I draw a different
conclusion. We had a negative experience. Bonaire is now a different
Bonaire. Our divers were disappointed, our snorkelers were very
disappointed. We, even took the same ALM flight as rhallstrom, only 3
days later. Ours also was canceled with the same lame reason. We also
missed our connecting flights causing us to arrive back home 6 hours
later than planned. We felt they canceled our flight which was only
partly filled to wait for more people to arrive on the plane from
Venezuela. Our travel plans were trashed, but ALM had a full passenger
load. It was not ok with us.
However, not a bag was lost.
As for Jake, I seemed to hit a sore spot. Just because Jake is the
editor/publisher of a newsletter for the people and businesses of
Bonaire is not sufficient reason for me to imply that he would see
negative comments regarding any aspect of Bonaire as a threat. In
addition, I had no reason to impute that he would be seeing
environmental destruction of Bonaire's reefs with 'rose colored
glasses.'
I would suggest that everyone check out, for themselves, the
newsletters, email links relating to Lenny and collection of photographs
from Lenny linked to Jake's publication and see for yourself.
My original intent was merely to share my experiences observations and
information with others who might or might not benefit. I will return
to that purpose. This will be my last post in this thread. Frankly, I
have more to do than try to convince a few people that I really DID NOT
see what I did.
Nevertheless, guys and gals, the bottom line is: the glass isn't nearly
full anymore.
Dive safely,
Bob
mjbl...@my-deja.com
leb...@aol.comKeinspam (Le Belgo) wrote:
> I look forward to hearing
> truly objective reports--although I'm not sure which dive magazines
> can be
> trusted, since many depend on certain islands' advertising.
Exactly! Firsthand reporting like Bob Servis' is what I'm looking
for. Dive magazines can not always be trusted. After Hurricane
Mitch last year, Dive Training Magazine reported that the damage
to Guanaja and its dive resorts was minimal; completely contrary
to a friend's firsthand experience at Posada del Sol. Keep up the
firsthand reporting folks.
GHorn82707
through the 26th staying at Buddy Dive. I will give a full detailed report of
what I find, regardless of wether it hurts the island or not. My take on the
matter is, yes, there is damage and will take some time to recover, but it is
natural and not out of line to think most of the island is in fine shape.
GHorn82707
reported that there was not that much damage done to many of the islands. St.
Martin experienced tremendous damage as did Saba. They did not even mention
Saba, I personally watched the helicopters ferrying all sorts of aid to the
island.>In article <19991229020550...@ng-cd1.aol.com>,
jsch...@my-deja.com
I was there the day after the damage occurred, and
1) yes, there is SIGNIFICANT damage to many sites, period.
2) yes, there are MANY undamaged sites, period.
without diving all of the designated sites, I can't tell you how many
were and how many were not damaged. I can report on the dives I made.
Sites along the "mid-island, west shore" got hit hard, really hard.
And yes, the damage will take a long time to recover, naturally caused
or not.
The south side of Klein was not hit as hard but there was a lot of
sedimentation at the time. That was almost two months ago now.
Perhaps the sedimentation will not cause long term damage. I heard
from park rangers that the north side of Klein was hit hard too.
Sites I dove on the northern end of the island, ie., 1000 steps,
Karpata, ol' blue, etc, were undamaged. Life there continues as
usual. Lots of great diving to be had.
So, to put it briefly, I would say that there is damage that we won't
see recovery from in our lifetimes. BUT, there are still enough
fantastic and undamaged dives to make a trip to Bonaire well
worthwile. Given the great diving that remains, the people, the food,
and the above the water fun, I'll go again. I mean, if you take away a
part of Eden, there is still the rest of Eden to see.
mjm...@my-deja.com
I am not a pro diver, I get maybe one week a year in.
I flew down on Air Jamaica out of Newark, and, in spite of delays in
takeoff, made all connections, to and from.
(In 95, ALM lost my luggage -2days; charged me a $100 fee to re-issue my
tickets after they moved - without telling us - our flights up two
hours [they changed the schedule 6 months earlier, but issued our
tickets - incorrectly, it seems - one month earlier!], and basically
made the return trip a royal pain. To their credit, I wrote them a
letter, and they fessed up two days lodging, the $100, and some
incidentals. So, while they made bad, they also made good.)
Back to this year. We had a great time diving! That sums it up!
Negatives? yes, of course - most of the dive shops had their sea level
operations destroyed by Hurricane Lenny. We stayed at Captain Don's in a
free upgrade from hotel room to really nice cottage. The major problem
was walk in diving without the dock. It was a chore to walk along the
shore, climb over the dead coral, get into the water, float out through
the "channel" in the rocks - without getting bashed by the surf into the
rocks - so we could put on our fins (don't put your fins on at the
shore!). By the second walk-in here, we had it down pat.
Captain Don should put in a temporary floating dock of some sort to
handle this (you listening, Captain Don?). I could imagine a lot of
people getting pretty banged up here, or, at the least, coming away with
a poor opinion of diving here...
What about underwater Hurricane damage? Yep, silt, sand, some knocked
over coral heads, broken sponges, perhaps (perhaps!) even a bit less
fish life than I remember. But, it was NOT like the Chicago Fire or the
last big California Earthquake where everything was leveled and burning.
Serious damage? I am sure the individual damaged coral heads believed
so, but, I think the overall eco system is still thriving!
Theft? In three trips, I've had no personal experience with that. I did
the same thing I do at home - don't leave anything in the car. Don't do
stupid things like stand on the street corner and count my money. Credit
cards are very widely accepted, so you can probably leave most of your
cash at home (take enough for tips...).
This was my girlfriend's first open water "post-class" dive. I took her
to Bonaire because, unlike the Virgin Islands, Belize, Turks and Caicos,
etc., I KNEW she would be hooked on diving after this experience. And,
she is!
We had wonderful visibility at almost all times, in temperatures in the
83+ deg F range. Even only a few weeks after Lenny, the silt was rapidly
clearing off the bottom. The fish life was THERE. You name it, we
probably saw it (or someone on our boat did - sea turtles, spanish
lobster, barracuda, morays, every type of fish. Though someone was right
- I saw no sea horses. Oh well... I don't figure on seeing everything
every time. We took both boat and shore dives. I am not mentioning
specific sites here because we enjoyed ourselves at all of them, even
the walkins in back of Captain Don's.
I also did not get any night dives in - oh well... girlfriend was a
little freaked by not being able to see, but, she'll try again next
time...
Recommendation: If you don't have a dive computer get or rent one.
Diving tables will probably get you about half as much diving as you can
do with a computer, and computers aren't so expensive, anymore. If you
look at it as twice as much diving for your vacation dollar (or trip),
you will see it pays for itself.
What else - photographers got [what they claimed were] great shots.
We rented some underwater cameras [a first for me - my girlfriend wanted
to try it]. I suspect we got two, maybe three "magazine quality shots"
(ok, maybe "almost" magazine quality shots :-), about 30 shots which
were really good (we thought) - definitely hang on the wall or make into
Christmas cards - and the rest were pretty mediocre (out of a couple of
rolls). She was major gung ho hooked on this. We had a great time
getting some really excellent shots.
<<< Two notes on this score : One - pay attention to your guages. My GF
was pretty bad about this because she was so fascinated by the picture
taking.
two: if you are taking slides, make sure you know what you want to do
with the slides (we found out in time that you want them to put the
slides on CD DURING the processing, at $10, total, rather than after the
fact ($1.20/slide). >>>
This was a lot longer than intended... sorry...
It all comes down to: Would we go again?
Yes. Absolutely, Positively, Today, right now, if we could...
Happy New Year, Happy Diving.
rod henderson
was expecting the worst. We dived several northern and southern sites on
shore dives from Dec 26'th until New Year's Day and were pleasantly
surprised to find the damage not as pronounced as several postings suggest.
In fact, Karpata is so healthy and the visibility so good that we made three
photography dives there.
Fortunately, Bonaire's reefs are alive and doing reasonably well despite the
damage to the shelves at several dive sites. I recommend the summary at
http://www.buddydive.com/News.html
as a reasonable summary. Hopefully, someone from Bonaire will post a
site-by-site summary soon.
Apparently, the swells that caused so much damage to shore facilities and to
the hard and soft corals above 30 to 40 feet were from the northwest.
Consequently, those sites not directly exposed to the oncoming swells
received little if any damage. Those sites exposed to the northwest swells
received extensive damage above about 30 to 40 feet. We did not dive Nukove
since the narrow channel we used to use to get past the shallow coral was
apparently filled in by the storm and we didn't want to risk cameras, and
possibly skin, crossing elsewhere at that site. We also cannot report on
the Washington_Slagbai dive sites since we didn't go there on this trip and
no one we talked to seemed to have reliable information on them.
We did no boat diving on this trip, preferring to stay on our own schedule
and dive where we wanted. So we have no first hand knowledge of conditions
on Klein Bonaire other than dive shop reports and reports from other divers
who dived there. From them, much of Klein's reef on the exposed northwest
side is "destroyed" above 30 to 40 feet. The rest received little or no
damage and Klein still offers excellent diving, including the shallows,
where the reef was "sheltered".
Similarly, those southern sites which were apparently sheltered from the
northwest swells by Klein Bonaire, while showing some damage are far from
destroyed. Alice in Wonderland is still an excellent dive. Red Slave is
excellent to fantastic. The reef, including the shelf, at Hilma Hooker is
still terrific with healthy stands of soft corals although there is some
damage there.
Even in the areas which sustained severe damage to the reef above 30 to 40
feet, the diving is still good to excellent. From Buddy Reef to La Machaca,
the reef below 30 feet is still great. It is a shock to see that the
magnificent stands of elkhorn and staghorn corals have been nearly totally
destroyed, but once on the drop off, the wonder of diving Bonaire quickly
returns. The corals are healthy and the marine life is more abundant than
we remembered from our previous trips. Instead of an escort of one or two
tarpon on night dives, we had as many as six plus two or three snook and
mahogany snappers. Eels were everywhere, day and night. The parrot fish
were abundant and not shy at all -- they almost posed for photographs. We
sighted turtles, small ones, on several dives. We saw no rays, but divers
at Buddy's reported Mantas at two northern sites.
Visibility on the dives varied -- but in no case below 40 feet was the
visibility less than 60 to 80 feet and in some cases approached 150+. Above
40 feet, depending on current, which was never strong except at Red Slave,
it dropped to 30 to 50 feet at times at those sites that took the most
damage. With wave action, etc, above 15 feet at Buddy and Bon Bini, it was
less than ten feet at times.
Visibility at Karpata and Ol' Blue to the north and at Alice in Wonderland
was easily 100 feet or more and at Red Slave at 40 feet and below 150+. I
would expect the vis to vary significantly for a time with currents and
swells until Ma Nature resolves the silting her way.
From the dive operators we talked with, the week after Christmas was the
first week with reliably good visibility at most of the sites and even then
it could drop with a change in current. Except for the shallows, it was
good to excellent all week.
In summary, Bonaire is still a first class dive location. It's hurt, but
not destroyed. The dive operators are committed to making the best of a bad
situation and no one seemed to have a good handle on when the shore
facilities would be back in good shape. While we were there, Captain Don's
was just getting a new shore entry in place to make it easier for divers to
enter there although another less convenient entry was already in place.
Bon Bini/Lion Dive Hotel has a temporary stair in place for shore entry
while they continue to clear the wreckage of the dive shop and restaurant.
Buddy's has a steep stair in place. We, or at least I, did not have the
heart to check out Sand Dollar but I'm sure some provision for shore diving
there is in place. All are running boat dives from the marina as others
have reported.
My first criterion for judging a dive location is "would I go back?" For
Bonaire, the answer is "In a heartbeat." It's still just too good to miss!
mjbl...@my-deja.com wrote:
> This is the type of firsthand reporting that makes this newsgroup
> worth looking at. Thanks Bob.
>