Back From Bonaire
Dive stories are pretty tedious to non divers, so it will suffice to say that we had a great trip, got in thirty dives (would have liked to do more, but I’m not fifty anymore), and reconnected with people and places I haven’t seen for several years.
Bonaire was badly hit by hurricanes Mitch and Omar, and lost a lot of coral (including giant fans) above thirty feet. But it’s part of a natural cycle; all the rubble at upper levels is sheltering incredible numbers of juveniles, so the shallows are teeming with fish. And below about forty feet everything is intact.
Best shore dive: Still the double reef at Angel City. George Lucas and Peter Jackson must both have dived there, or at least their designers did – it’s Hobbitton AND the Gungan Village on Naboo.
Coolest sighting: tossup between the spotted eagles rays at the White Hole, the giant bait ball at Red Slave, or the baby trunkfish (imagine a bright yellow pea with tiny black spots, two little fins, and no other discernible features).
Best wreck: The Hilma Hooker, a freighter that sailed into harbour in the mid eighties and was abandoned. The authorities searched it and found 25,000 kilos of marijuana aboard. It mysteriously drifted around the island to a perfect location for diving, where it mysteriously sank in 100 ft. of water on a sandy bottom.
Most interesting discovery: learning that an old dive buddy on the island, now a leader in sea turtle conservation, had once been a notorious turtle poacher.
Vacation reading: Dennis Lehane, Stephen Pinker, Arturo Perez Reverte, Margaret Atwood, Chuck Palahniuk.
Lots of change on the island. Much of the waterfront has been bought by Dutch and Spanish developers, and condos are springing up everywhere. A big preponderance of Dutch and Brazilian divers, not so many Americans anymore – they’re staying home. Wireless access is pretty common (although I resisted, didn’t log in for two weeks). 9/11 led to the closure of dive sites too close to trade infrastructure, a real pity since they were some of the coolest sites on the island. Why Al Qaeda would take a poke at a Bonairian salt refinery is a mystery to me, but their ways are inscrutable.
Pictures up later this week. Now…time to rinse the gear.
Thirty dives!! In the hotel pool, right?
Well, that too. We sorta used the hotel pool as our rinse tank for a post-dive chlorinated dip to rinse off the salt.
I’m whining about thirty because ten years ago it would have been about twice that. We used to dive twice in the morning, once or twice in the afternoon, and again at night. This time it was two or three a day. But what the heck – time spent diving, like time spent fishing, is ignored by Lachesis, IO guess because she can’t see you underwater.
Sounds as if you had a great time…good on you
As one who uses the ocean as his rinse tank, I’m really impressed.
When do we get to see pictures?