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Bonaire 2011 Mike and Kim headed
back to Bonaire in December, 2011. We had a great time and got in some
spectacular dives. The weather was overcast and rainy most days so most
dives did not have the benefit of bright sunshine and the rain causes
run-off that decreases the visibility. The visibility was still over 50
feet (considered excellent in most locations) but in Bonaire it is
usually better than 100 feet. I now have 350 dives on Bonaire and Kim
made her 100th dive. Her total is now 103 dives (48 on Bonaire). Click on the thumbnails below picture to see an enlarged version. Then click your browser's "BACK" button to return to this page: |
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We took the red-eye down from Houston on Continental. We got to see the sun rise on Saturday from the air. | |
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Kim made her 100th dive while we were in Bonaire. For those of you familiar with the dive sites there, you can see that this picture was taken at 100 feet below the surface on the Helma Hooker wreck. | |
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One of Kim's goals this trip was to find her first sea horse. We were diving at Red Beryl when she discovered this guy. | |
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Some squid that we saw in the shallows. | |
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After one dive a few donkeys came by to say, "Hi." to the Donkey Divers. This mother and her baby came up to see what we had in the truck. | |
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This spotted moray eel was swimming free one day. | |
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This golden eel was hiding in the coral and just stuck his head out to warn us to stay away. | |
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In a little cove along the shore at Oil Slick Leap there was a school of copper-colored glassy sweepers hiding behind these yellow stripe snappers. Very rare to see glassy sweepers. | |
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This guy swam with us for a while on 1,000 steps. | |
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Kim was feeding watermelon to two French Angel fish named Filet and Mignon at Forest on Klein Bonaire. | |
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Watching the sun set while we rinse our gear in preparation for a night dive. | |
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An arrow crab (looks kind of like a daddy long legs spider) hides beside an anemone. | |
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Just in case you get tired while diving a site called Bachelor's Beach, there is a chair where you can sit down and take a rest. | |
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Lots of beautiful colors on Keepsake. | |
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At first glance this Coronet fish may look like a very large Trumpet fish to many divers. | |
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The Coronet fish is rarely seen. In over 880 dives this is only my third. Part of the reason may be that they are so large (this one was over 4 feet long), they blend in so well with the background. | |
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This Christmas Tree worm reminds me of candy corn. | |
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In this picture you can see a red banded cleaning shrimp in the foreground and a spotted moray eel in the background. | |
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Big puffer fish. | |
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This yellow Trumpet fish glides through the soft coral. | |
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One of about dozen Lion fish that we spotted. The marine park is actively hunting the fish now in an attempt to reduce their numbers since they are not native to these reefs. | |
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Someone from the marine park had better get these two soon Kim found these two Lion fish in a courting ritual. It won't be long before the female (white when in mating mode) will be laying some eggs. | |
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Saw a lot more Spade fish than in previous years. Probably saw Spade fish once or twice every day. | |
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This is a pea-sized juvenile trunk fish. When he grows up he will look like the one in picture below. | |
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This little Trunk fish wants to give you a kiss. | |
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Beautifully graceful purple anemone. | |
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Coral formations are artistically unique on the walls. | |
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Spotted moray popped his head up to say, "Hi." | |
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Prior to 1999 the shallows on the west coast of Bonaire were thick with Elkhorn and Stagg horn coral. Waves that hit the island from a distant storm (Lenny) destroyed most of the coral in areas shallower than 15 feet. This year I noticed a lot of areas where the Stagg horn and Elkhorn coral are coming back. This is a patch of Stagg horn coral. | |
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This young adult French Angel fish still has very light stripes of a juvenile. | |
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There were three scrawled file fish hanging out above this rope coral but I could never get all of them to face the same direction at the same time. | |
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This is a different scrawled file fish poses for me. | |
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This is a little blue banded cleaner shrimp in a striped anemone. | |
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This Rock Beauty was checking me out as it swam by. | |
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This turtle would have let me swim beside it until it had to ascend for air. | |
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Several blue banded cleaner shrimp surround this purple tipped anemone. | |
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A secretary blenny pokes his head out of his home in a brain coral. | |
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Another blenny turns to look at the camera. | |
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I always hate it when I find the dive boat before I am ready to surface. | |
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Small coral head with several types of coral. | |
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Group of huge purple tube sponges. |
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Juvenile spotted drum fish. | |
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An adult spotted drum fish tries to hide under a coral ledge and behind a big-eyed squirrel fish. | |
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A shy golden eel peeks out of the coral. | |
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Peacock flounder shows off his colors. | |
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Another peacock flounder decides that it is better to try to blend into the surroundings. | |
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Young adult French angel fish. | |
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Three French angel fish. | |
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This harlequin bass appears to be giving me a dirty look. He does not want me taking his picture. | |
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Kim gets her magnifying glass out to observe some of the micro creatures living in the reef. | |
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This Queen angel fish shows off the blue crown on her head. | |
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Another scrawled file fish raises his trigger. | |
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A sharp tailed eel is out hunting in the coral and rubble. | |
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This baby spotted eel was about the size of a pencil. | |
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Two trumpet fish turn from tan to black to try to blend in with a school of feeding tangs. | |
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Path from our room to the Tiki Bar . | |
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Sunset from the breakfast area. (For those of you who have been to buddy Dive, you may notice the fishing line they have strung in the windows to keep the sea gulls from flying in to join you or steal your food when you turn your back. Made breakfast much more enjoyable.) | |
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End of a great day as the sun sets behind us. | |
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Enjoying dinner at Mona Lisa restaurant. Always a great meal topped off by my favorite desert there, the apple pie with cinnamon ice cream. | |
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