To escape the gray days of November and December, the Caribbean offered itself. Bonaire, off the coast of Venezuela and part of the Netherlands Antilles, was the chosen destination.

The rental car was already waiting at the airport, so all we had to do was find our “Tropical Inn” resort in Kralendijk, the capital of Bonaire. The small hotel room and apartment complex offers space for 24 holidaymakers and can be described as a palm terrarium. Exotic lizards scurry through the garden everywhere, with us they were constant guests on the breakfast terrace. My jam-smeared finger was an offer so tempting that the braver lizards couldn’t refuse. However, they only licked their fingers at the first taste, then they bit into it heartily!

The base under German management is modernly equipped and also offers Nitrox at no additional cost. It goes without saying that the diving package includes non-limit diving. Diving on Bonaire means, in most cases, shore-diving on the west coast. The east coast is rather rough and can only be dived when the sea is calm. The dive sites in the national park in the north are often inaccessible after prolonged rainfall because only unpaved sandy slopes cross the park. In front of it is the island of Klein-Bonaire, which can be explored on boat trips.

Most dive sites are easily accessible by car. They are also easy to find because they are marked with yellow entry stones. For better orientation, a yellow buoy is usually attached to the edge of the reef – until then you can snorkel.

The underwater landscape is characterized by giant sponges, which offer many other animals a place to hide and shelter. In addition, it is above all the lush soft corals that determine the picture. Although they are not quite as colorful as the corals of the Red Sea, they offer a completely different landscape character. The eye has to be trained to some extent to discover the sometimes very unusual snails, mussels, frogfish… but there is no shortage of larger creatures either. I particularly remember the squids at the wedding dance, the filefish, the tarpon, the turtles and the not at all shy barracudas.

A large chunk of the west coast is a unique double reef where beginners can dive inside and advanced divers can also dive on the outside edge. To the south and up north are beautifully overgrown drop offs that allow for varied and relaxed dives. The current can get a little stronger in the south. If you don’t reach the entry point again, you have to get the car on foot (which isn’t very far either).

Because almost everyone has a rental car and travels individually, you often have dive sites all to yourself. A pleasure!

We would like to share this pleasure with you and travel to Bonaire again with a group in summer. Interest?:

On Friday, January 16th, 2009, at 7pm, there will be an information evening in the Bootshaus restaurant in Linz/Puchenau.

For more information, contact Christian Hofinger at hofingerc@yahoo.de or 0676 930 1738.