Boxing Day in Bonaire

Connie took it easy. A short stroll through downtown Kralendijk and then back for a little sunning. No we don’t know how to pronounce it.

I (Rob) on the other hand, went for a dive. According to rules here in Bonaire, there is an additional charge to dive in the “wildlife refuge” which is essentially all the water around the island. This is in addition to the fees already paid. Next, they also require a check-out dive for everybody -- again, supposedly according to regulations. The check-out dive turned out to be fairly nice. The location is known as The Cliff. The Cliff is a 70 foot vertical wall dive with a lot of sand mixed in with the coral. There were lots and lots of fish and they weren’t shy. The bigger ones probably could have been touched, but they would probably have “touched” back. The coral and other fixed life were covered with sand from the beach above. Also, there was some kind of pipe running from the shore down to the deep below. Despite this, it was a fairly nice dive.

My dive partner, a lawyer named Bob had some problems with his ears. I stayed underneath and behind him. I also stayed away from the crowd to see undisturbed sights. Bob stayed away from the reef, but several others were only too happy to bang into it every step along the way. I think that’s why on our second dive, we ended up at a site that, although the divemaster said it was more typical of Bonaire, it wasn’t as good as I was expecting. I don’t really blame them. Who would take divers that clumsy and destructive to a pristine location?

The second dive site was just off Klein Bonaire (Little Bonaire). There were a lot more fish and more varieties of other forms of life. I saw sea horses, cleaner shrimp, and huge numbers of other types of life including tarpon. The tarpon jetted by so quickly, good pictures were almost impossible. After almost an hour underwater with visibility well over 100 feet, I finally had to surface and come back to the dive boat. Along the way back to the Princess, we stopped at the dive shop and everyone was urged to buy stuff as well while returning the rental gear. I set my bag to one side to go to the bathroom. When I came out, I found it tipped over and cast outside on the grass. A gentleman who was not one of our party, but seemed to work for the place, said it was in the way and so he tossed it outside. The dive boat was just about to leave for the Princess, so I grabbed my bag without checking it and headed to the little boat. Back at the Princess, as I cleaned my gear, I discovered that my wetsuit, which had been on top in the bag, was missing. All the other people at Sunshine Scuba were really nice, except this one guy. They really need to replace him and I need to figure out how to get my wetsuit back. It’s a shame such a great dive had to end on such a lousy note.

So ended day six of our cruise. We had a good dinner and now we are going to bed. Yawn.