Dive Review of Larry's Wild Side Diving/Carib Inn in
Bonaire

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Larry's Wild Side Diving/Carib Inn, Dec, 2002, by Jerry Kaelin, IL, USA . Report 428.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	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 ([reef.org link]). 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
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Florida, Turks & Caicos, Belize, Thailand
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm
Water Temp	82-85°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	0
Water Visibility	70-120 Ft/ 21-37 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	recreational dive limits
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	1 or 2	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		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Larry's Wild Side Diving/Carib Inn in Bonaire

Larry's Wild Side Diving/Carib Inn, Dec, 2002,

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 Larry's Wild Side Diving/Carib Inn in
Bonaire