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Bonaire, February 2009
West Michigan Dive Travel Group to February 28 – 25 Divers: Heather Bloom, Group Leader, Wayne and Sharon Ferris, Jeff and Elaine Byland, Bert and Jonnie Wilson, Brian Carr, Dave Gallup, Dan Christian, David Hefner, Bob and Geri Hayes, Greg Johnson, Denise Marquardt, Don and Penny Johnson, Jim and Lindsey Radowski, Dan and Julie Schmidt, Richard and Nan Talaga, Kim Bynum and Diane Cramer
Ahhh, beautiful I am happy to say that this was my sixth trip to This group had divers from
What Happened this Week? Sunday morning began with a delicious breakfast buffet, right on the ocean! Fresh baked goods, made to order omelets and eggs, fresh fruit, the works! This was every day! Then it was onto the excellent dive shop, Divi Dive Bonaire, for the orientation with Alvine and staff. Serge, the dive shop manager, had everything organized, so all we had to do was show up! Check in was a breeze, as the group had already done their releases and given them to Heather with their $25 marine park fee. The phrase of the day was, “Everything is gonna be just fine,” and everything was! After a few equipment repairs, the acclimation dives went well. (This is why we do the acclimation dives!) Then it was time for a quick lunch, and our 2 tank afternoon boat dive. We started at Klien (little)
And How was the Diving? And the diving was spectacular! We divided the group between 2 dive boats, with 2 dives in the morning and one dive in the afternoon. Divemasters Susan and Rafino were at the helm for Sunshine and Divemasters Jenna and Enrique were the divemasters on the “Alice H.” They all did a wonderful job pointing out the marine life! I called Enrique the seahorse/frogfish man. And Susan really new her fish! She was great at identifying them, knowing their habitats, and even knew a lot about the juveniles. I learned a lot from her in the short time we were together! With 3 boat dives for the day, we had plenty of time to dive and get to some great sites including Calabas (house reef), Keepsake, 18 Palms, Petras Pillar, Small Wall, Bachelor’s Beach, Something Special, Jerry’s, North Bella, Hilma Hooker, Mi Dushi, Witches Hut, Sampler, and Windsock. The shore diving at the Divi is incredible, too! Lockers right out on the dock make is a breeze to grab a tank and take a giant stride off the end. We could dive 24/7! And we did! Some of us did dawn dives, entering the water in the still of the early morning before the sun came up. Very cool to watch the marine life wake up, and flit around searching for breakfast! Others did afternoon dives, evening dives, and night dives. The Bylands and Wilsons got to watch squid spawning right in front of the Divi on an afternoon dive! We saw a sailfin blenny on a dawn dive. So many juvenile fish in the shallows, too! I have never seen so many seahorses in
A Great Vacation is complete wih Great Food! I also need to mention the wonderful restaurants we ate at! The Divi has its own restaurant, The Chibi Chibi, and most of us had the all-you-can-eat barbeque buffet on Saturday night. Delicious! Chibi Chibi restaurant on site is great for lunch and dinner, too. And downtown is within walking distance, just a 10 - 15 minute walk away on the waterfront, with shopping and a variety of MANY restaurants. We ate at a few including:
Thanks to the Divi Flamino, Divi Dive Bonaire and the Group! It was another special trip to beautiful All the best fishes, Heather Heather Bloom, Group Leader Owner, (Dive and Travel Adventures)
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