We visited Bonaire for two weeks in August and September of 2008 with a new HD camcorder. Our group was Linda and Bruce and Linda's parents (in their 80s who just had to have "one more snorkeling trip to Bonaire"). We stayed in the first floor sea-side (Unit #6) at Bruce Bowker's Carib Inn. A new house (yellow in this photo) was under construction next door. The tile saw ran anytime from 7 am to 7 pm 7 days a week ! UGH!

We arrived in a rainstorm which was a spin off from Tropical Depression 7 (later known to the world and the GOP convention as hurricane Gustav). It is unusual to see rain on Bonaire. The winds this time were mostly out of the west due to the passage of hurricanes Gustav, Hanna and Ike MANY miles to the north. This resulted in less than perfect diving (and lighting) conditions for most of the two weeks we were there. With every rainstorm there is a rainbow!

New work at Bruce Bowker's Carib Inn: Bruce and his guys spent a lot of time taking out a tree and fixing the sidewalk between the Bungalow (Unit 9) and the sea-side house (Units 6 to 8). The day before we left, they finished their work. The results were wonderful!

Here are notes from this year's trip:

• Ricardo was our "official" taxi driver for the duration (#21 796-1250). Responded to an call from the Sunshine market and from a curio shop when we needed help; took us to dinners and to the airport for our departure. The few dollars spent with him was MUCH less expensive than renting a car.
• Restaurants of note this trip - photo is from our evening at Richard's - photo by Richard with his sailboat in the background!:

  • Richard's is as good as ever, now in its 18th year! A fine restaurant, run by a true gentleman! Give it a try.
• The Casablanca has moved a few doors north, but is still a wonderful night out. Their "mixed grill" is a bargain, considering we had leftovers for several lunches.
• The Calabas restaurant continues to be over-priced and under-whelming.

We met many new friends there - most of them come to the Carib Inn once or twice a year! It really feels like home!

For a map of Bonaire and its dive sites, CLICK HERE!

Videos - Quick Time low resolution renders from edited HD videos. There is no "story" to these clips, just, for the most part, a record of items encountered on specific dives. Here they are, sorted alphabetically. Click on the image to watch the clip!
Sunset on Bonaire Here is a video I shot while I was cooking on the BBQ. The 18 minutes or so of video are condensed into about 4 minutes with a soothing piano accompaniment! Watch the clouds move, birds and insects fly by, the Dutch Navy vessel head south, the crab explore the dock and the wind shift direction while the sun sinks into the west.
Angel City A quiet, relaxing dive on a site at the beginning of the double-reef system on the south end of the west coast.
Andrea 1 A morning dive on this dive site early in our trip results in some greenish video. One of the highlights is Susan and her pet barracuda! All good fun! A good snorkeling site, too, in the middle of the island.
Bloodlet Gorgonians, juvenile Moorish Idol, Coral Banded Shrimp, Purple Tube Sponges and a feisty Damsel fish, set to rhythmical music are the high points of this video.
Hilma Hooker Bonaire's own wreck! A drug smuggling ship sunk about 20 years ago unintentionally. Amazingly, it landed in dive able water perfectly between two reefs near Salt Pier in the south.
Jeannie's Glory A nice morning dive on this southern dive site with good light and color and lots of fish!
Jeff Davis Memorial No, this has nothing to do with the American Civil War. Jefferson Davis M. D. was a pioneer in the hyperbaric medicine that helps scuba divers recover from Decompression Sickness. This lovely site is near historic northern sites like 1000 Steps and Rappel. Two dives made up this clip.
Keepsake A turtle encounter, lots of sea fans, swimming with the blue tang horde and a genuinely beautiful reef slope made this one of our best dives this trip. A well named dive site!
Lenora's Reef Not a lot of outstanding video from this dive on Klein Bonaire - not the best lighting. However, some fine brown seahorse shots!
Mi Dushi Barnacle Bob (the turtle) and his friends including an arrowhead crab play amongst the sponges and entertain us at this fun dive site.
Nearest Point This lovely site on Klein Bonaire is rarely dived, as the mooring is in over 150 feet of water. The blue water swim to the reef can be a bit spooky. The rewards are lots of sponge life. On this dive we encountered reef squid and mating Honeycomb cowfish.
Red Slave Huts Early in the trip (before Bruce had checked out the video housing) we dove here and shot stills. Bruce assembled these stills with some music in this short video. The southern-most site on the west coast.
Small Wall This fine scuba and snorkeling site is in the intermediate northern area of the main island. This video includes some hunting, a lot of squid footage and "Charlie" the Tarpon and a Red Lipped Blenny. Enjoy!
Witches Hut Sponges, gorgonians, Butterfly fish, sponges, fans and a pretty reef backdrop make this a fine video set to lilting and relaxing music for your enjoyment.