Nekton

The Island.

To appreciate Bonaire diving, you first need to understand the basic geology of the island and its reef structure. Bonaire is the most arid and level of the Antilles chain. Being flat, it has great constant breezes - Bonaire is becoming the parasailing capital of the world - and being arid, it has myriad cactus. Formidable organ pipe "fences" are grown to keep the other island constants - the wild donkeys and goats - from eating cherished vegetation. Yatu and kadushi cactus, wind sculptured divi-divi and mesquite trees, aloe and rubber vine cover the desert island in a thorny tangle that has left trespass rights of most of the island to the large iguana, donkeys and goats.

The northern tip of the island is mostly devoted to the huge Washington Slagbaai National Park. Gotomeer is a lovely, large flamingo pond on its border. Rincon is the tiny historical heart of Bonaire about 15 minutes east.

Kralendijk is the main port, nestled in the tummy of the kidney bean island across from Klein Bonaire in the calmest waters of the island. The Cargill Solar Salt Works dominates the Southern quarter of the island. The rest of the island - what is named the northern and eastern Bolivia and Columbia regions - we'd like to call the Bonairean Outback. More on this later!

The coastline is ironshore - a dangerously ragged mixture of volcanic extrusion, limestone and coral bones, tempered occasionally by pools of sand or spits of dirt encircled mangrove pools. Let's just say that any sailors capsizing off the windward (eastern) shore of Bonaire would be tossed by rough waves onto the rocks and cut to ribbons, unless they were lucky enough to end up in the small bay at what is now Lac Bay. The windward eastern shore is devoted to windsurfing and naturalist resorts around Lac Bay. Believe me, you wouldn't want to be caught naked on the ironshore! And windsurfers learn expert control to avoid going outside the protected areas.

Dive sites are along the western shoreline. The shelf varies in width from about 30 to over 130 feet before you reach the reef drop off, depending on what site you choose. Dive sites are added and pulled from the list sometimes, but you can rely on yellow painted rocks along the beach road to guide you to most of them. Some sites are unmarked - but, heck, you can dive just about anywhere anyway as long as you're willing to tough out the shore entry details.

The shelf structures differ widely from soft corals to hard boulder gardens, gorgonian and sponge forests to staghorn minefields. Even where the beach is softened by sand deposits, shore entries ar e made difficult by small surf obscuring holes in the underlying rock structure. With 50 pounds of gear dangling off of you in different directions, losing your balance is painful and costly if you get nailed in the wrong place by a jutting piece of ironshore.

Another option - wrapping your gear tightly around the tank and floating it out to waist-
deep water past the surge before putting it on might be the best laid plans of diving mice and men! Working with your buddy makes it happen. Of course, if you opt to do the sites by boat, mooring on the well-placed buoys gets you there painlessly - as long as there's a reliable buoy on the site! Despite the pain of water entry, we loved the freedom of picking our time and place and getting there by driving our little truck loaded with gear.

It must be noted that Bonaire led the world in marine site conservation, starting with turtle protection in 1961 and creation of the Bonaire Marine Park in 1979 by WWF Holland. Captain Don's, 1972 Habitat conservation activities have been joined by CORAL, CEDAM and now the local STINAPA agencies to maintain the health of the reef - with great success. School children in Bonaire are all taught marine ecological preservation, as well as how to turn marine trash into artistic and useful objects. It's a family affair.

The Place

Bruce Bowker's Carib Inn is a five minute drive from Flamingo Airport in Kralendjik, western (leeward) Bonaire. This little jewel of a diver's resort is not a well kept secret off the Venezuelan shore since the resort stays continually booked year round. Bruce doesn't advertise in the island's myriad publications. He doesn't need to. CI has such a popular following that you have to book years in advance to get some of the prized rooms, especially the deluxe seaside 2 bedroom apartment where we joined John and Brooxie Shumate. With a full kitchen, 1 and � baths and living/dining area, it is spacious, clean and perfectly appointed for the serious diver. Windows all around let in the constant Bonaire breeze, while a/c units in the bedrooms offer climate controlled sleeping conditions for those who prefer them.

The kitchen is fully equipped with a full refrigerator, microwave, double deep sinks, gas cooking range and oven and plenty of countertop for food preparation. There is even a TV with cable for those who want to keep up with the world while in paradise. The bathroom shower is a large tiled walk-in with sufficient water pressure for a good hot soak. Towels and washcloths are replaced on an as requested basis. There is always a supply of clean beach/boat towels by the pool. We have a large porch with a table and chairs next to our large dive gear locker and another set of comfortable patio furniture for enjoying the sunset and surf action. The beach and calm water are about ten steps from our door.

The complex includes a variety of room sizes, but all told, it is a small, cozy resort. Rooms are arranged around a small pool which has a short waist-high area leading into a very deep section used for dive instruction. The grounds are very attractively landscaped with lush, colorful tropicals and iguanas.

There is a large communal BBQ grill under a palapa by the dive pier where a large wooden table is used for dive instruction during the day and serves as an excellent site for group dinners. Take citronella candles or DEET spray because evening meals are shared with mosquitoes. Although the bite of the Bonarian mossie is almost a non-issue, for those with special appeal, Cactus Juice skin protectant (www.cactusjuicetm.com) works well as a lightly scented insect repellent and sun shield.

When we weren't diving, eating, sleeping, taking photos or shopping (in order of importance!
), we were reading myriad tasty summer novels and listening to the surf.

The Diving.

The dive shop is well equipped with gear, books, maps, clothing, gifts, some toiletries, etc. There are dive signup boards outside where we schedule our next day's boat dive, or simply order our tank fills for self-paced shore dives. We pay upon departure for our dives based on a week's package price ($99 for 6 days), or by the tank ($12/day + $5/extra fill) - whichever ends up cheaper. Boat dives are charged similarly at 6/$189; 12/$279 or $15 each, taking up to 8 people to sites along Bonaire's west coast or across the bay to Klein Bonaire island.

When you check in, one of the personable dive guides - Wendy, Kitty, Linda or Frank - brief you on shop procedures and island dive guidelines. Once you know where you leave your assigned tank empty and where they leave it for you filled, you're set to go. Be sure that by the shop closing time of 5pm that you've signed up for morning dives or, if you're diving, that you've requested extra tanks needed for a night or early morning dives.

If you have rented a dive truck or car you can schedule tank fills and dive to your heart's content at any of the 70+ shore dives listed in Jessie Armacost's essential booklet Bonaire Diving Made Easy. (Buy a copy of BDME in the dive shop! It gives driving directions and specific shore entry conditions, as well as reef descriptions.) The four-door truck we rented at Avis had a small bed with tank rank and suited our diving, dining and touring needs very comfortably.

Shore diving precautions:

         1) Don't leave anything in the vehicle during your dive that you don't mind having
             stolen! Towels and water, OK, but leave the wallet, camera, sunglasses, etc in
             the room. Then, don't lock the car and leave the windows cracked to keep
             potential thieves from breaking in to check it out. (although theft is always an
             issue to take into consideration, we experienced no problems ourselves nor did we
             hear of any other traveller's misfortunes during our entire trip)
         2) Bring hefty dive booties rather than socks and step in fins for shore diving! (Read
             reef geology above.)

Cleaning up after the dive is simple. Large dunk tanks and racks by the parking lot and the dock allow for a good rinse before hang-drying in your roomy locker. (Beware the mosquitoes that lurk in damp gear, however!) There's a separate rinse tank for regulators and cameras. You can even rinse off suit and hair under the showerhead by the pool. Can't be easier!

We visited a tasting of the dive sites that are listed below. Recommendations for our next trip include Karpata, Old Blue, Rappel, and La Dania's Leap.

Dining within reach.

Hungry? There is a great little spot a short walk next door in the Divi Flamingo Resort. Chibi Chibi Grill (named after the little yellow bananaquit finches) has an excellent daily menu served on a waterfront terrace.
We also drove to the two major grocery stores to stock up for cooking several meals "at home." The large warehouse by the airport supplies all of the restaurants and has a great meat, wine and vegetable selection. The other grocery in Kralendik has the better dairy selection. During the week John and Russ took turns in the kitchen cooking breakfast omelets adding bacon, sausage, mushrooms, Scotch bonnet peppers, cheese and other goodies. Lunches were often cold salads with leftover beef, chicken or bacon and tons of veggie nibbles added on, topped by Russ' Balsamic Vinaigrette. Yum!

If you rent a car or truck, there are several excellent restaurants within a 10-minute drive. The local food (goat, fish, or iguana, with onion, tomato, rice and beans) will be found in the little "snack" shops.

The way it played out:

June 13

We fly from Dallas' DFW through San Juan, PR into Bonaire, arriving after dark. Brooxie picks us up at the airport for a short drive to the Carib Inn. We unpack and eat a light dinner prepared by John, of grilled beef filet, salad and veggies, then take a cool dip in the pool with a glass of wine. Ah! Caribbean paradise!

June 14

After a great night's sleep we rise to spot a pod of pilot whales cruising parallel to our beach, only a few hundred yards out. We decide to dive off the pier today - only a few steps from our back porch. We grab our tanks from the dive shop out the front door, assemble gear on the back porch and walk down to Calabas Reef off our pier. Fifty feet

out the sandy shelf slopes down to a depth of over 130'. At week's end we agreed that this site to the north and south offered more variety of eels, octopus, lobster and other critters than many of the other sites that we visited.

The sand has coral nurseries, large barracuda lurk under the dock and the marking buoy rope attracts squid. Large tarpon shadow our night dives. Other reef inhabitants we noticed most often during the week included: snappers, margate, surgeonfish, squirrelfish, Creole wrasse, pufferfish, filefish, chromis, soapfish, lizardfish, rockhind, goatfish, horse-eye jacks, spotted scorpionfish, flounder, parrotfish, trumpetfish, spotted drum, scrawled filefish, banded butterfly, smooth and spotted trunkfish, queen, gray and rock angels.
John spotted the biggest green moray we've seen in a LONG time, wound around inside a coral head at 60'. Don't dive Bonaire expecting to see large populations of mature fish, however. Go for the reef: the hard and soft corals and the sponges coexisting happily. They are gorgeous.

June 15

Margate site, south past the Salt Pier. The ironshore was pocked with tiny sea urchins for a doubly cautious entry. Once we got past that, the reef was gorgeous. Large hard corals and sponges abounded, inhabited by colorful encrusting tunicates, tiny blennies, banded cleaner and Pederson shrimp, brittle stars and lettuce sea slugs. Anemones were plentiful and varied in color, sporting tiny crabs and anemone shrimp. The wall was quite colorful - wire coral, sea fans, huge tube sponges.

June 16

On this day we took the dive boat to Rock Pile on Klein Bonaire. The buoy rope broke off, making it a "drift" dive for dive master Frank, who stayed with the boat while we toured the depths.
Photographs included a chain moray, damsel fish, and a scorpionfish. Someone in the group spotted a loggerhead, but we didn't get a glimpse.

That night we signed up with Linda to meet us at Town Pier for a night dive. Due to new US security rules, Town Pier may soon be closed to recreational diving and we didn't want to miss a possible last shot at this favorite site.
After descending some easy concrete steps into the water, we were thrilled at the old growth and new critters that inhabited the island's main dock. Eels and spotted drums dance in the old tires. One giant hermit crab had an anemone growing out of three sides of his shell, looking a bit like the opera singer in Fifth Element. This is where we photographed the longlure frogfish and the sharptail eel. Be sure to look under the concrete steps on the way out. Restaurants dump their fish cleanings out there and it's an eel condominium!

June 17

Weber's Joy in the Marine Park. The entry LOOKS easier since there is a soft coating of sand over most of the ironshore, however watch out for holes obscured by the surge. After about 15' of staghorn and elkhorn coral in various degrees of survival, we entered a beautiful soft coral/gorgonian forest. Further out the sea wall has hard coral growth, especially plate coral formations at around 60' down.

June 18

Red Beryl is also south across from the Salt Works. Though close to Margate, it differs in its shore entry (some sand covers the ironstone) and shelf growth (fire and brain coral and large sea fans). The wall is quite nearly vertical. At one point we discover a 70' long, 2' diameter metal tube column, all totally encrusted and lovely, standing about 10 feet proud of the wall, accentuating the

June 19

We take Brooxie and John to the airport at 7am and then head back to the Inn to pack up our gear. This is our day for our island photographic safari! First we visit Yenny's Museum and Gift Shop in Kralendijk. This local artist has adorned every square foot of her home with primitive art sculptures made from salvaged goods. There is also a menagerie of native fauna: 2 flamingo, parrots, lovebirds, box turtles, water turtles and lizards. I especially loved her island Barbie collection! All is labeled in English and a smattering of Papiamento (local spoken language). Not to be missed.

On to Rincon for local cuisine (fresh Wahoo with veggies, beans and rice) and a Grolsch on the outdoor patio at the historic Rose Inn. Be sure to look at their copy of Portraits of Bonaire: Paintings and Stories by Schilderijen and Verhalen. It's a history of Bonaire told through some of its colorful residents, accompanied by copies of the

We drove west to the ocean, by the flamingo pond at Gotomeer and then east to the windward shore at Boka Onima. There we photographed the rocky inlet and collected samples of the finest, whitest sand on the island. Most of what you find on Bonaire beaches has been well worn by relentless wave action against the jagged ironshore beach. Smooth circular stones and fingers of coral piled up in this little inlet. We drove by to view some of the ancient Caiquetios rock paintings - figures etched on limestone cave ceilings using Brazilwood tree dye.

We then embarked on a two hour cross country tour of the wilderness "outback" regions (coined Columbia and Bolivia) between there and the lighthouse on the westernmost part of the island. We weren't sure after a while whether the faint tracks we were on were one of the "roads" marked on our little rental map. We just prayed that the jagged rocks and coral wouldn't puncture our tires and force us into an involuntary Bataan March to find help!

We cut back across the island on the Kamida Lagun Road, picked up another camera and headed down the west coast. We photo-
graphed the colorful concrete slave huts across from the present day Cargill Salt Works, then turned to photograph the pink, green and blue flooded fields of the Salt Works. Heavy salt foam along the edges of the ponds rippled in the constant breeze off the ocean. Giant "ice" cones and glaciers rose above the pink ponds into the clear blue sky. We snapped delicate mangrove stands working their roots through holes in the ironshore and a windsurfer dancing 30' above

the surf on invisible heat waves. An abandoned house next to the Willemstoren Lighthouse and the numerous totems erected along the seawall completed our photojournal. These totems are spontaneous art projects constructed by recreational parties at random intervals along the length of the eastern shore using driftwood and objects that wash up from the open ocean. What a good idea! (Maybe that's what the Easter Island totems were�and Stonehenge!) We reached the naturalist Sorobon Beach Resort at Lac Bay and headed northeast toward Kralendijk.
It's a small island. This whole tour took 5 hours!

June 20

To the airport by 7am - to avoid the tour bus crowd - where we pay a $10 each departure tax, get our hot tea, and start planning our next dive trip!
Our thanks to John and Brooxie, for inviting us to join them on this fascinating island! The Carib Inn certainly is a perfectly appointed dive resort. But mostly their conversation, laughter, generosity and culinary skills made the week a memorable delight!