Dive Review of Bonaire Dive and Adventure/Den Laman in
Bonaire

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Bonaire Dive and Adventure/Den Laman, Mar, 2010, by Colleen Kabat, WI, US ( Reviewer 3 reports). Report 5747.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food	N/A
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	This is our 6th year in a row we have returned to Bonaire for our annual dive vacation. We've been diving for 17 years and have been all over the Caribbean prior to our "discovery" of shore diving and the wonders of this enchanted island. We stay at Den Laman and dive with Bonaire Dive & Adventure. Their service is excellent. My husband, brother and I arrived March 6th via the redeye from Houston. Our trip was uneventful and we had previously booked a room one day early at Den Laman so we would have immediate access to our room. One of the office staff was there to meet us and had our key ready for us. The second week, our son & daughter-in-law joined us. This was their third time on Bonaire. The first morning consisted of dive orientation (shortened version after many years), grocery shopping (try to stay away from The Warehouse on Saturdays, it's crazy with people lined up & down the isles with carts - no room to grab anything off the shelves in front of the shoppers!) and a rest before our afternoon check-out dives. An early dinner at Captain Don's and we were done for the day. We managed to get in 2 dives per day,sometimes 3, each lasting over 1 hour. There was a terrible infestation of jellyfish most of the first week and we were all covered with bites. Vinegar helped, but it was pretty unbearable on some of the southern reefs. The divemasters claimed it had to do with the full moon. We had never seen so many and weren't convinced that was the reason for the many, many little critters that were totally attracted to our faces and hands! However, we did notice they disappeared toward the end of the 2 weeks. We dove the north and south sites and enjoyed the ease of Bari Reef every day. The sealife didn't disappoint us. The second day I found a trunkfish "pea" on the reef, then a trunkfish "dice" (we look for them every year!), juvenile peacock flounders, drumfish, filefish, etc. The fun is finding the little creatures that are often overlooked by divers "cruising" over the reefs. Eels were plentiful, including a couple of green morays. Spotted morays were often seen swimming outside of the protection of their reefs. We saw a hugh green turtle, as well as the usual hawksbills that hang out on the reefs. We found 2 frogfish - one white at Capt. Don's and another, by chance, at Yellow Submarine. We were looking at a purple anenome and taking pics of it when my brother spotted a piece of "red coral" moving. He looked up and noticed it was a dark red frogfish with white fingers. He signaled us back to the coral head and I witnessed the froggy swimming to a new spot. I was too late with my camera, but I got a shot of him as he settled into his new hideout. I also caught him with him mouth wide open. He was really a little angry that we found him in his secret location! We had "Charlie" (a huge tarpon!)accompany us on day and night dives at Bari reef. He's as beautiful as ever! Very shiny at night!!! We saw a permit fish on Yellow Submarine -- second time we saw one there. There is a large anchor at ChaChaCha and we saw a huge Grouper hanging out there in camouflage. He watched us dive past him and barely blinked an eye. We found our way to Taylor Made again this year by watching the charts on Wind Guru. It's a beautiful site north of Bopec and as some stone markers for entry. It's not a very popular dive, so there are lots of gorgonians, etc., that seem to be in good health. Karpata is a wonderful dive with sand chutes and huge coral formations. We wanted to dive it twice, but the surge was too strong the second time we tried. Oil slick is always a fun dive and if you look carefully you can see an octopus near the ladder. Alice in Wonderland produced an huge eagle ray at the end of our dive. The restaurants were great and our favorites are Casablanca, Donna & Georgio's, Wills, It Rains Fishes, Captain Don's and Lion's Den for shrimp. As usual, the Brights are the best!! We had no issue with theft this year and never felt unsafe. This was a relief after reading all the info about the recent thefts on the island. We're already dreaming of our next trip to "The Bon." We are all seeing fish in our minds' eyes!
Websites	Bonaire Dive and Adventure
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Cozumel, Yucatan Pennisula, Cenotes in Mexico, Grand Cayman, Belize, Aruba, Curracao, Roatan, Florida Keys
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm, no currents
Water Temp	79-82°F / 26-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	2
Water Visibility	75-100 Ft/ 23-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	No restrictions.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Bonaire Dive and Adventure/Den Laman in Bonaire

Bonaire Dive and Adventure/Den Laman, Mar, 2010,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Bonaire Dive and Adventure/Den Laman in
Bonaire