Instant Reader Report
on Larry's Wild Side Diving / Carib Inn in
Bonaire / [N/A] on
2002/12
by
Jerry Kaelin , IL, USA
Report Number 030411004410155

Questions?
Send an email to the author of this report

 Florida, Turks & Caicos, Belize, Thailand 

Dive Conditions

recreational dive limits  

[None]  

Overall Rating

Something NEW in (sometimes boring) Bonaire:

We love Bonaire, been there 9 times.  You know why:  shallow, beautiful
reefs; lots of fish, even though few pelagics; no current, below the
hurricane belt, desert island, favorable flamingo to people ratio;
continuously improving restaurants and grocery stores; even getting there
is easier now, via Air Jamaica (which doesn’t leave Bonaire til 3pm,
allowing diving the day before you leave).

We love Carib Inn (www.caribinn.com), been there 8 times and going again
twice in 2003.  Bruce Bowker continues to provide impeccable attention to
his guests and his nine-room inn.  Improvements to the already pristine
grounds, dive shop, and facilities are obvious at every one of our annual
trips.  The staff is always stellar:  helpful, friendly and dedicated to
reef-saving ecodiving.  One dive master, Linda Baker, regularly does REEF
fish surveys (http://www.reef.org/data/surveyproject.htm).  So skilled is
she at hunting critters, that she’s acknowledged in the 2nd edition of the
two CD “Fishes of the Caribbean and Adjacent Waters”

The rap on Bonaire is that it is boring for a thrill-seeking diver with
any experience. “Nothing challenging”, one might say, “Where’s the big
stuff?”  Arguably true, until now.  “Larry’s Wild Side Diving” goes to the
eastern, windward side where no one else regularly dives.  And on days it’s
just too rough over there for even the hardy, he’ll take you to the far
north or the far south, areas accessible but long trips in resort boats or
jeeps. 

Larry Baille has twenty-eight years in the diving business, over 8000
dives, and is a gregarious raconteur. His 25 ft Grady White has two 150hp
Yamahas which make for a fast, smooth, and powerful ride, comfortable
seating, a custom built ladder for easy exit, iced water, drinks and
lunch.  Our meal included fabulous smoked fish sandwiches from Will &
Sue at Harbor Lights Cafe, one of the hottest restaurants in town.  The
boat holds a maximum of seven, and frankly, Larry confides he wants to
keep the trips even smaller than that so he can continue to provide
maximum flexibility and top quality attention. 

Safety always comes first for this former Royal Canadian Seal.  He has
that difficult-to-replicate quality of making every level of diver feel
safe, so he’s an ideal sort to challenge the occasionally rough wind and
seas on the other side. His plans for the future include adding a military
type rigid-hull inflatable. All of us could imagine ourselves readily
taking orders from a barrel-chested guy who still maintains his buzz cut. 


Once, in our nine years of diving Bonaire, we were taken to the east side.
 On one dive we saw a gently waving forest of sea fans, two squadrons of
spotted eagle rays, three turtles, a couple of distant and cautious sharks
and reefs even more pristine than the west.  Unfortunately for us, the east
was too rough for our day with Larry, so after our pick-up at the Sand
Dollar dock, we headed north. As we discovered, no great loss even if you
can’t dive the “wild side.”   Larry’s commitment is to the sites less
frequented by most of the dive operations, be it the far northern or
southern sites.  Traveling to those sites is usually out of the question
as the slower, less powerful boats chew up too much time and gas getting
there.

Once we passed the refinery, the trip along the Washington Park shoreline
was absolutely breathtaking, a view of Bonaire we’ve never seen.  We
encountered dolphins, a few small fishing boats but no other divers.  Yes,
the shallows up north (particularly at Nukove) were devastated by the wave
action of Hurricane Lenny; but below 40 ft was a very healthy reef. 

As an accompaniment to the typical, couldn’t-be-easier diving for which
Bonaire (and Bruce Bowker’s Carib Inn) is famous, Larry’s Wild Side Diving
certainly adds adventure, the possibility of big stuff, and the
personalized service that a high-end charter affords.

Walks (or dives) on the wild side do not come cheap, though.  Our two-tank
day with Larry was $100/person, but we’re certainly adding a day with Larry
to our next Bonaire trip.

011-599-790-9156, cell
717-5246 business and fax
larry@larryswildsidediving.com
www.larryswildsidediving.com 
 

Questions?
Send an email to the author of this report

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