This Is For All You Kids Interested In SCUBA!

A recent poster said she was 12 and wished she could SCUBA dive. I say why not? Major SCUBA agencies offer junior SCUBA programs for kids between 10-14. Each agency is a little different with their age requirements. For example, PADI's Jr. Program allows kids between 10-14 (with restrictions for 10 and 11 year olds), while NAUI requires kids to be at least 12 to enroll in their junior program. SSI offers programs for kids as young as 8 called SCUBA Rangers! Kids, if you want to have fun and want to see some really cool things underwater, and learn more about marine life and environments, talk to your parents about SCUBA diving!

Disclaimer: Please note that I posted some of the more popular SCUBA diving agencies in my area. However, there are dozens of agencies to choose from. I recommend that parents contact their local dive shops for more information.

Good Site For Info On Underwater Photography

Check out Splashdown Divers photography section. It's a great resource for all you noob and veteran photographers. There's plenty of info camera settings, image processing, and techniques.

Getting Around In Our Suzuki!

I rented a Suzuki Jimny 4X4 from Hertz at a rate of $40/day. It featured an automatic transmission and a transfer case offering 2H, 4H, and 4L settings. Otherwise, it was pretty bare bones (no radio, no AC), but that was fine with us. Suzanne and I just lowered the windows and enjoyed the unadulterated sounds of the wind and waves. Simplicity at it's finest!















I think a small sedan should satisfy most needs, but a majority of Bonaire roads are like this. Plus, it's only $5/day more to rent a Jimny over the basic sedan. I think it's worth it. The Jimny can easily fit four-80 cubic foot tanks and two sets of SCUBA gear in the back with the seats folded down. If you have more than two people you need to drive around during your trip, you should get something bigger like a quad-cab pickup.















Here's the main road south of Kralendijk. You can see Salt Pier (right) and the Solar Salt Works (left) in the distance. What looks like a small river is actually a moat around the Solar Salt Works (run by Cargill). It runs along the shoreline and takes you to Lighthouse Point at the southern tip of Bonaire. It then follows the coastline on windward side up to Sorobon and Lac Bay and then back to Kralendijk. Here's a road map to show you Bonaire's roads.














Sazanne getting ready to take the plunge off Oil Slick Leap. Generally, the dive sites north of Kralendijk are right off narrow paved roads with little parking areas like this. And although the dive sites to the south are also off a paved road, you typically have to drive onto the beach where it's quite rocky and full of coral debris. A 4X4 or pickup truck is highly recommended!

More Fishy Pics From Bonaire!

Suzanne has been photoshopping a bunch of underwater pics we took despite the fact that she's under-the-weather. Ins't she great?! All of our underwater pictures came out very blue due to the lack of an external strobe. Suzanne used Photoshop 7 to correct the colors. Some colors were over-processed, but now you can see what we saw in much more vivid color. Enjoy!








Smooth Trunkfish



































Lutty, our divemaster found this Longsnout Seahorse. He also found a couple of frogfish but none of our pictures came out :(















This picture of another Longsnout Seahorse is slightly blurry, but it shows the seahorse in its natural habitat. Notice its tail wrapped around the coral!







Stoplight Parrotfish













Bar Jack













Peacock Flounder













Scrawled Filefish













Spotted Moray Eel













I think the eel is happy!













Blue Tang












Yellowtail Snapper














Yellowtail Damselfish











Bicolored Damselfish
(looks like a trunkfish below it)








We have more fish photos and I'll post them soon!

Furry Friend Found!

Although it comes to no surprise that a new species of isopod was found, this one required a new family classification. It's quite a discovery! This furry lobster was found by a team of divers at slightly lower than recreational diving depths. Reported by the AP.

More Dive Pics!

Here's Suzanne performing a giant stride at Oil Slick Leap. The surf was a little rough and there was a little bit of current going from north to south, but things were quite calm once we got to the reef (about 70 feet off shore and 35 feet down). There's a very sturdy metal ladder at this dive site to aid you when exiting. It's the only way out of this dive site because of the elevated rocks and cliffs. Alternatively, one could exit at Witches Hut to the north or Andrea II to the south.

























Here's me at 1000 Steps. In reality, there are only 72 steps, but going down and up in full scuba gear is a real workout! It's the hardest part of this dive! Check out the beautiful water in the background. The lighter blue is Bonaire's shelf and consists of white sand, coral debris, and a sprinkling of corals. The darker blue is where the reef begins. Hanging from my left wrist is the underwater camera.















Suzanne at 1000 Steps. This shot gives you a much better view of the shelf and reef line.

























Each dive site on Bonaire that has shore access is marked with a yellow painted stone and the name of the dive site written on it. This is the infamous Salt Pier. In order to dive Salt Pier, and Town Peir in Kralendijk, you'll need to get the harbor master's permission and pay $25 per diver for a local dive master to accompany you. And yes, I put the stone back where I found it. Suzanne wouldn't let me take it.















This is Pink Beach. It was the only southern dive site we dove. Pink Beach is a popluar sunbathing area because it's the only spot for miles with any shade. However, the beach is no longer pink since Hurricane Lenny brushed Bonaire in 1999. Notice the palm trees ...















Kite surfers taking advantage of the trade winds at Margate Bay.

The Dives and Our Underwater Friends!

We dove the day after we arrived to Bonaire. It was an easy orientation dive at Calabas Reef. We didn't take pictures during our first dive because it had been a one and a half years since our last dive; we wanted to take it easy and regain our bearings. During our second dive at Calabas Reef, we decided to take the underwater camera out for some test shots. We used an Olympus C-5060 with the Olympus PT-020 underwater housing. Initially, our camera settings were: 100 ISO, slow flash, and apeture priority mode. However, it was clear that we had to adjust our settings as the Bonairean sun came in and out of the clouds and the white sand resulted in many blown pictures. We adjusted the ISO, exposure, and even turned off the flash, but without an external strobe, most of our pictures turned out very bluish. See the untouched photos here. Still, Suzanne was able to tweak the colors using Photoshop 7, which resulted in some gorgeous images. Not bad for our first try!







Stoplight Parrotfish












Trumpetfish













Brain Coral












Juvenile School masters












Tube Sponges















Christmas Tree Worms













We also had issues with the autofocus being sluggish and a sticky telephoto switch on the underwater housing. As a result, many of our pics were blurry. I'll talk more about our camera setup later. In the mean time, Suzanne will continue to work her Photoshop magic and I'll continue to post new pictures when they're ready. Hope you enjoy the pics!

The Divi Dive Shop

The Divi Dive Shop is a full service dive shop. Everyone I met there (shop attendents, divemasters, and instructors) were all very nice and willing to assist us. In this pic, you can see one of the Divi dive boats--the Sunshine. The covered shelter contains many full-height lockable lockers with plenty of room to hold 2 (if not 4) sets of scuba gear. There are 2 ladders (one on each side) of the platform where divers can enter and exit the water. Alternatively, you can giant stride into the water. In addition, the platform has storage facilities for full and empty oxygen tanks. The entire platform is lit at night--very convenient for night divers.















Here's a shot of Suzanne posing in front of the Divi dive platform. Isn't she beautiful? Anyways, you can see more scuba gear lockers lining the pier. The Divi Dive Shop provides three gear dunking tanks, two camera dunking tanks, a freshwater shower head and water hose all on the pier.















Here's a shot at twilight from our balcony of the three newer Divi dive boats. The other two boats are older and slower. Thankfully, there are PLENTY of dive sites with a 30 minute ride.

More Pics From the Divi Flamingo

Our balcony was right on the water. Waves crashed gently against the rocks, which were homes for countless crabs. In the background is the Divi Bar Pier. The blue sailboat in the distance is permanently anchored at Divi's house reef: Calabas Reef.















The boat belongs to the Divi Dive Shop. At the end of the day, they dock three of their boats here and then swim back to shore.














This iguana was hanging out just a few feet from our balcony!
























Here's Suzanne standing next to the sign that explains where everything is. Most of the rooms, a pool, and dive dock 1 are to the left. To the right, you'll see the in-house Hertz car rental center, the day spa, the Divi Dive Shop and dive dock 2 (Calabas Reef), and the Divi Flamingo's two restuarants: Chibi Chibi and the Calaba's Restaurant. Next to the day spa is a gift shop called De Palms, which is owned by Lutty--a great divemaster that works at the Divi Dive Shop. His last name is De Palm and he also creates some really nice jewelry out of gold and silver!

Also to the right is the Divi Flamingo Casino. It's tiny compared to Las Vegas, Atlantic City, or even casinos that you'll find in Aruba. There are four blackjack tables ($5 min/$200 max), a roulette table, and a bunch (40-50 maybe?) of slot/video poker machines. It is currently the only casino on Bonaire, although the Plaza Resort will have their casino up and running by the end of March 2006.

























Another pic of the Divi grounds. Suzanne absolutely loves turtles!

The Divi Flamingo Resort and Casino

This is the main entrance to the Divi Flamingo Resort. The entrance to the Divi Casino is another block down the road. Both have parking lots, but the parking lot at the main entrance has a scuba tank storage area where resort guests can pick up and drop off tanks when they go out on their shore dives. The storage area is locked; you can get the code at the Divi Dive Shop.



























At the front desk. The 'Business Center' is behind the rectangualr window in an air conditioned room. I has four computers with internet access and two pay telephones. Both accept credit cards, but only one accepts pre-paid calling cards. There was a major shortage of calling cards the week I was there; no one was selling them. I'd recommend you bring them with you if you plan on making phone calls, or bring your world mobile phone.



























Thumbs up after checking out the room. The room featured two full beds, a clean bathroom, plenty of hot water and good water pressure. It also had a mini-fridge and in-room safe, which will cost you $7/day should you choose to use it. The room was air conditioned and the temperature can be adjusted via remote control. We also had a balcony with ocean views. We only had two complaints: the dresser unit had weak drawer bottoms and the TV had spotty reception, although it did feature HBO, The Food Channel, CNN, and Spike TV.