On Oct. 1, 23 divers (plus a couple of non divers) from Scuba Shack set off on a tropical getaway to the Plaza Resort on the island of Bonaire in the Netherland Antilles.
Upon arrival to the resort, many of us we surprised to find out how large and spacious the villas were. They were 1,400 square feet with two completely separate bedrooms, each with their own private full bath, a full kitchen, living area, and outside patio. Each villa also was given a good size vehicle to accommodate tanks, gear and divers for the travel to the more than 60 named shore access dive sites.
Click here for the Oct. 2011 Bonaire Trip Photo Gallery.
Sunday started out with a shore check out dive in front of the resort to make sure of proper weighting and that all gear was in fine working order. The rest of the day divers split up into groups and did more shore dives either locally or travelling to other sites.
Monday started with the first of three days of two tank boat dives which were included in the package price. The group was split between the two dive boats, the Green Flash and the Blue Moon. We enjoyed some fabulous reef dives on Klein Bonaire and the north end of Bonaire, not to mention the and a wreck dive on the Helma Hooker in the clear 84 degree water.
Most afternoons divers split into small groups and headed out to distant locations to do shore dives such as Oil Slick Leap and the invisibles. Night dives in front of either the pool location or the Tipsey Seagull were a common theme and many did dives at 5:30 a.m., which started in the dark and ended at daylight when the reefs came alive with the morning light.
Thursday was a busy day of diving with shore dives in the morning, a 3 p.m. dive at the Salt Pier escorted by divemaster Jackson, and a boat night dive to Klein Bonaire or Small Wall, depending on which boat you were on. The night dives were also included in the trip package.
The diving was a great experience for both the newly certified and the more accomplished divers. Besides the usual beautiful coral reefs and marine life some more exotic discoveries were seen including a scalloped hammer head shark, a manta ray, seahorses, sharp tail eels, turtles, and two different colored frog fish were seen and documented by the many photographers on the trip. Friday night we celebrated the close of our diving with a nice dinner for 22 people at the “It Rains Fishes” restaurant. The Sailing Regatta was in town which is a big festive occasion for the local people with a street carnival and live music in the streets.
Special thanks go out to Ed Hayes, Joel Toohey, Forest Rothchild, and Gary Woods for organizing, planning, and making this trip safe and enjoyable. This was one of Scuba Shack’s best trips to date and another one is in the planning stages for the same time slot next year. Your suggestions and comments are always welcome.
