116 replies to this topic

[WreckWench]

King of the hill...or the rock! Regardless they were pretty cool denziens of the island....thanks to bpro for capturing it!

[WreckWench]

Oh yes...we ALL did the famous "Hooker"...

Hilma that is! Thanks bpro!

[WreckWench]

Oh yes...here were some of the other fun island inhabitants! (thanks bpro!)

[WreckWench]

Hello All! I had a great time in Bonaire! BOY HOWDY! these trips just keep getting better and better.... Thanks to all my friends above and below the surface. Click the link for an offering of memories to you...

Zax Pix - X Para Mental

Thanks baby...can you post some of these in our gallery too?

[WreckWench]

Fortunately the lighting was a bit 'dusky' on this one...but a great time was had by all...including Bob aka Fordan in the forfront, Jim aka Diveheart along with Dave aka skyfire with Wreck Wench and possibly ??? with her back to us! Thanks again bpro for sharing your shots! -ww

[WreckWench]

Sounds like a reason for another party!

I'm with you!

Mee too! And we haven't had a Happy Hour since my going away party...what up???

[Neptuner]

Bonaire Baby!

We're back in Colorado now and thankfully the good weather followed us home for once. It's a beautiful day and I'm here rinsing out all the scuba equipment, polishing my guitar and reminiscing about a week filled with fun, laughter and the world's greatest friends. There's a warmth inside my soul that burns so brightly it can't help but force a permanent smile on my face. The kindness and generosity of all you people never ceases to amaze me and I'm thankful for each and every one of you.

In the hustle and bustle that fills the last day of a trip, it seems there is never enough time to stop and say goodbye to everyone or share that last heartfelt embrace, so if I missed anyone, I'm sending a great big hug your way right now. Thanks for the great memories... thanks for the kind words... thanks for your friendship... and most of all thanks for just being the very special people that you are. Thanks for sharing all of your expertise... thanks for sharing all your photos... thanks for sharing your laughter... and thanks for sharing the warmth of your hearts. Just as your body is a reflection of what you feed it, so too is your soul... and having the honor of feeding mine with the charm, wit and wisdom of the likes of you all is a true gift. It is an absolute truth that, "You won't find better friends than the company I keep." - (Just A Scuba Cowboy)

Here's to hoping that our paths cross again real soon and that all our travels from now 'til then are safe, magical journeys! Keep spreadin' the love!

All dah best!
Pup

[divzac]

Hello All! I had a great time in Bonaire! BOY HOWDY! these trips just keep getting better and better.... Thanks to all my friends above and below the surface. Click the link for an offering of memories to you...

Zax Pix - X Para Mental

Thanks baby...can you post some of these in our gallery too?

On the way my dear!

[ScubaSis]

Love the video Zach!! Thank you for sharing!!!

[netmage]

Arrived early this morning, and I've been on pins and needles since landing in Atlanta as one of my bags didn't make it, and my rebreather was broken down into thirds, bits going into two checked bags and the head in my carry on... So, about $2K of rebreather parts, $1K of dive light, 3 regs, 2 tanks, a dive map for Holly (yes, I remembered) and most of my c-cards have been sitting in Bonaire all day...

I just returned from my afternoon reef dive, fortunately all my other gear was in the bag that did make it, and I had tanks available for a leasurely wreck and reef combo..., boy, what a difference a few hundred miles make. The reef was a cold, dark, and sparse desert compared to the lush walls and warm cooling breeze of Bonaire... Without the bitter, the sweet isn't nearly so sweet... (I know... reality chk Tim... my bitter sure beats some folks quarries - right Brian and Liz...!)

Anyways, while I've been fretting over my bag, well in excess of any sort of limit, and stupid me w/ no insurance, I just checked, and my bag has been located and slated for delivery tonite... So, everything should be at peace in the world......

My feedback.....
Resort:
Meals - A+, Plenty of choices covering all types... I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to stick to a carb concious plan... Never an issue...
Waitstaff - B, Dining at Chiba was a chore.... Self service for water and coffee would have sufficed for me at least.
Front Desk - C-, No clue how to handle and track a group like ours, nor did they readily understand; having people arrive on different days, and move rooms probably compounded issues, but it all got sorted out (unless Chris gets charged for a lock he returned!). Kinda erked to learn bills include a 10% service charge; wondering if I've been double tipping all week...
Rooms - Clean, nice, beds a little soft. A/C was broken in a good way..., we lived in an ice box, as opposed to not having any... hot water was not an issue for us.

Dive Op:
Front Staff: Relatively efficient check in, would have been nice to be able to request a private locker... As Zak pointed out more than once during the week, I had a lot of stuff going on , and could have used the extra room.
Orientation/Operations: Mixed bag here... orientation was very thourough and staitforward, except for the last sentence, 'none of this applies for the SD group'. I'll admit w/ the rebreather I was a high maintance customer... Somehow me and Greg w/ his H-valves found each other as dive buddies, two peas in a pod. My only point of issue is after the day 1 orienation and understanding no blender was on staff until the afternoon I was assured getting O2 fills wouldn't be an issue and even asked what sort of protocol I should follow to get fills... So, when I left my bottle Sunday afternoon at the front desk as instructed, I assumed it would be ready for Monday morning dives... not the case... leading me to....

Dive Masters/Crew - Rock Stars... problem solvers and hero's.... Can't say enough here... Didn't babysit us, let me do my own thing, pointed out lots of cool stuff, and showed us a great time...

Next time I'll do things a little differently, but yes... I'll be back.... The goods far outway the quirks which are all workable, live and I learn...

-Tim

[bpro]

Good report Tim Glad your expensive equipment is on its way back to you.

Here's my opinion of how things went:

Divi Resort - A - This was really the first true dive resort I've been to. The lockers were very convenient, rinse tanks on the dock adequate, and dive shop well-equipped with the few things I needed. The location next to Kralendijk (with the back gate opening right on the seaside street) was great for the afternoon walks and evening dining out on the town. Nice happy hour bar, handy swimming/snorkeling beach, comfortable hangout at the Flamingo's Nest, two pools for a quick dunk, inexpensive grocery store across the street, and even an ATM for quick cash. Free wi-fi even worked in the rooms sometimes, and super fast in the lobby at all times except during the brief power outage.

Rooms - A- - perfectly adequate with only minor issues. Plenty of hot water, cleaned quickly each day.

Food - A- - better than I was expecting. The cook-to-order breakfast station allowed us to mix it up a bit with omelets, french toast, and pancakes. Lunch was alway ready for the quick fill-up between dive boats.

Wait staff - B- - They worked hard but pretty inadequate with filling water. As I was drinking so much of it, this is pretty much all I noticed. Breakfast worked well with the DIY drink dispensers.

Dive boats - B+ - good size with plenty of water and even oranges between dives. Ours got quite a bit crowded -- it's nice to have a little elbow room -- but fine.

Dive staff - B - they gave good briefings and adequate help with gear, but who led the dive made for drastic changes in experience. Because of the calm conditions and variety of life no matter where we were, I learned that it was better to just go at whatever pace I wanted, even if it meant letting the leader get way out of sight. One of them smacked into coral on more than one occasion.

The people - A+++ - what more to be said? The friendliest group of divers to be found anywhere. Special thanks to Neptuner for dragging all that equipment down to Bonaire to share his talents with us, for Dave and Jessica for their extraordinary effort in getting everyone on film (can't wait for the DVD!) and all the other SDers who made great dive buddies, dinner pals, and happy hour friends. Til next time!

Edited by bpro, 18 May 2008 - 06:20 PM.

[divzac]

I posted a few pix of the "below" part of the trip....

Bonaire Pix

[finGrabber]

Thankfully, Tim is getting his dive gear

So, my thoughts are below:

Divi Resort - A - They were great!

Rooms - B - my room had cold/warm/hot water sometimes, but was otherwise very clean

Food - B - it was ok

Wait staff - C- - I waited and waited for the staff to bring water, food, etc on numerous occasions

Dive boats - A - we had a great boat!!!!

Dive staff - A - we had a great staff!!

The people on this trip were fantastic!!

[scubafanatic]

Tim brought up an interesting point : " Kinda erked to learn bills include a 10% service charge; wondering if I've been double tipping all week..."

...going forward, I think it would be a good idea to 'discover'/reveal this sort of thing at the start of all future trips, and incorporate that information upfront so participants honestly know where things stand cost-wise, and can make any needed adjustments to their personal tipping strategy....it really pisses me off to discover I'm being forced to tip, regardless of the level of service, with an automatic extra charge to my bill and would appreciate that knowledge beforehand so I can make my own 'adjustments' where appropriate.

Karl

P.S. ...I wasn't on this trip, so I'm not pissed of at SD.com...just making a general statement/observation.

Edited by scubafanatic, 18 May 2008 - 08:46 PM.

[damselfish]

I have a slideshow of a few topside pics. How and where can I post it? ~ Damselfish