More about Bonaire

What more should I say about diving on Bonaire?

It's hard to describe the overwhelming complexity and diversity of the coral reef community I got to experience. I could list all the fish, coral, and sponges I was able to identify but that doesn't seem likely to do justice to the ecosystem. I suppose that is one of the main reasons I like to dive so much. It is literally an opportunity to immerse oneself in a completely different, vibrant world full of action and color and life.

The protective approach to the reef and the sea in general by the people of Bonaire is also impressive. Part of it I suppose is the realization that the economy of the island depends on diving and without the spectacular coral reef system they would have a harder time competing with all the other tropical Caribbean islands. Even so, not too many other places would think to put "Divers Paradise" on their license plates.

While my trip was focused almost entirely on diving until I was exhausted, I did get out to do a little birding too. My roomie Jeff and I took a couple of quick trips toward the end of the week to the north end of the island to see flamingos and to the south end to see the salt ponds, old slave huts and look for birds.

The northern end of the island feels very different than most of what I had come to think of as typical Bonaire landscape. It was hilly, almost mountainous and much greener than I'd previously seen. We also saw a few farms with goats and the revered donkey. I'm not sure why donkeys are so popular, but they sure seem to be well respected here. We found the flamingos as well as stilts, pintail ducks and some beautiful scenery.

The following day we made our way south looking for larger concentrations of flamingos but didn't see them. We did see the old slave huts that once housed the people that made the salt back in the 1800s. I climbed into one of the huts and thought about how brutal the conditions must have been for those unfortunate people. The interpretive signs nearby seemed to romanticize the era a bit too much for my taste. Even so, the little dog-house sized huts arranged neatly on the coral beaches made for a deceptively lovely scene. Perhaps it is easy to romanticize the horrors of the past when we can view the remnants from such a position of luxury, removing ourselves from the reality of the situation that existed then.

A Divers Paradise

I returned from Bonaire yesterday exhausted but very happy with my first ever dive trip.

The results: 26 dives, 17 hours, 37 minutes underwater.

I saw thousands of fish, many species of coral, sponges, invertebrates and a few really cool new birds. We left the St. Paul/Minneapolis airport around 5:30 a.m on Saturday April and arrived in Bonaire, the Netherlands Antilles at about 2:30 p.m. It took a while futzing around with luggage, customs, car rental and all that stuff but we got to the Sand Dollar in time to pay our "Nature Fee" and pick up our tags that will allow us to dive on Bonaire. The $25 fee for divers ($10 for non-divers) funds the Washington Slagbaai National Park. I also had time for a snorkel in the sea that afternoon.

On Sunday we had our mandatory briefing before being allowed to dive. It was a long (1.75 hour) session where we learned about the marine park rules and the procedures used by the resort's dive operation, Bonaire Dive and Adventure.

We were finally able to dive shortly before noon and we wasted no time before we geared up and dove on Bari Reef just off the Sand Dollar dock. Bari Reef is, according to Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) surveys THE most diverse site in the Tropical Western Atlantic (i.e., the Caribbean) with more than 370 fish species recorded. According to the information compiled by REEF, 8 of the top ten sites for species richness are on Bonaire. Quite a place!

A typical day included an early dive on Bari Reef at 6:30 a.m. A quick rinse and change of clothes for the breakfast buffet, which included an omelet cooked to order, fresh fruit (like papaya, mango, pineapple), granola, yogurt and bananas, orange juice and coffee. Then a boat dive out to Klein Bonaire, the little island just to our west. Returning to the dock allowed for another dive at Bari Reef before a quick lunch. After lunch we would load a couple of tanks for each of us and head off to one or two sites for a couple of shore dives at Oil Slick Leap or 1000 steps. By the time we got done with those two shore dives I was usually more than ready for dinner, a beer and bed.

On Wednesday morning after breakfast Paul and I participated in the class offered by the dive shop's naturalist Jerry Ligon. He offers an opportunity to "Dive with the Naturalist" a couple times each week. It's a half day class that includes fish ID, discussion of fish behavior and a variety of marine biology topics. I liked the way Jerry took the information from REEF surveys and put together a very informative program using the new Reef Fish Identification DVD by ReefNet Inc. We then dove with Jerry for close to an hour at Bari Reef while he identified fish and pointed out behaviors we had just discussed.

Stay tuned for more details from the trip . . .