Bonaire

[Treebeard]

We spent New Years in Bonaire, which is rated as one of the best dive destinations in the Caribbean. It was our first trip and we were not disappointed. Although the water temperatures were cooler than normal thanks to that polar vortex thing, and the viz was not as good as normal, we still loved the diving and are already planning a trip for next winter. Bonaire is renowned for its great shore diving and we managed 28 dives in the two weeks we were there. Many pictures and a few movies to eventually follow as soon as I figure out Final Cut Pro!

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17526971/Bonaire/Bonaire-1-8.jpg

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[Treebeard]

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17526971/Bonaire1/Bonaire-1-21.jpg

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[Treebeard]

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17526971/Bonaire2/Bonaire-1-76.jpg

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https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17526971/Bonaire2/Bonaire-1-154.jpg

[Slyguy00]

Those are awesome pics! Keep em coming!

[LoJack]

breathtaking!!

Love the photo's!

[Jason McK]

WOW Amazing pics.

Question for you. I've been researching our next trip and I'm having a heck of a time trying to get from Vancouver to Bonaire. What was your flights like?

[Jakegr]

Very nice pics! 28 dives in two weeks is impressive.

[Scuba Diver Gal]

Awesome photos! Have you ever tried a red filter on your camera? We have one on our GoPro, it's awesome!

We are planning on a Bonaire trip in December, doing Cayman in March... Almost exclusively shore diving sounds too good to be true! Our diving on our trips usually runs us around 3000-4000, as there are 3 of us.

The routing we are looking at is Calgary-Houston-Bonaire on United. Great connections. Where did you stay on Bonaire? We have been looking at a waterfront house on Punt Vierkant...love the idea of diving from your house!!!

Would love to see more photos and vids!

[Gone Snorkelin']

CRAZY photos!!!
So many different things. The blue shrimp were so cool.
Thanks for sharing.

[Treebeard]

Thanks for the comments.
We tried to do at least two dives per day but did not dive the day we arrived, New Years day or the day before we flew home. Doing 3 dives a day is not at all difficult with the ease of access.
We do have a red filter for our housing but did not use it. We bought a new strobe for our camera which we are still trying to set properly. It works good if the subject is close enough but anything in the distance still needs color correction.
The couple staying next door to us used a new GoPro 3+ and shot some great video. I will post a link to some of his stuff.
We stayed at Beachcomber Villas. (http://www.bonairebeachcombervillas.com/) The owners are a couple originally from Calgary who gave up their day jobs to live the dream....great people! The house reef is The Cliff which we dove multiple dives. Karpata was probably our favorite though. You will love Bonaire!

[Scuba Diver Gal]

Thanks for the info! We are going with a group of 15 of us, can't wait!!! For now will dream about my son's new tank :) It is coming soon!

[saltcreep]

We do have a red filter for our housing but did not use it. We bought a new strobe for our camera which we are still trying to set properly. It works good if the subject is close enough but anything in the distance still needs color correction.

Nice shots and I'm a little envious. Bonaire is on our list of dive destinations. Unfortunately, there are too many places to go with what seems like too little time (and money).

What camera, housing, and strobe are you using?

[Treebeard]

There are definitely nicer places to dive in the world but getting there can be a hassle. My vacation time is too precious to use 4 days of them getting to my destination and back again. Bonaire is fairly easy to get to, but if you aren't a diver or snorkeler there is not much else to do.

The camera is a Nikon S8100 with an Ikelite housing and Ikelite AF35 strobe.

Nice shots and I'm a little envious. Bonaire is on our list of dive destinations. Unfortunately, there are too many places to go with what seems like too little time (and money).

What camera, housing, and strobe are you using?

[Treebeard]

Are you going with a dive club?

Thanks for the info! We are going with a group of 15 of us, can't wait!!! For now will dream about my son's new tank :) It is coming soon!

[saltcreep]

There are definitely nicer places to dive in the world but getting there can be a hassle. My vacation time is too precious to use 4 days of them getting to my destination and back again. Bonaire is fairly easy to get to, but if you aren't a diver or snorkeler there is not much else to do.

The camera is a Nikon S8100 with an Ikelite housing and Ikelite AF35 strobe.

The price looks right for Bonaire (diving included), however, being based in Vancouver, Asia and the South Pacific are just as easy for me to get to. That's where the money side comes into play. What were the food prices like? Access to it?

Does your camera have the ability to shoot in RAW or to manually adjust the white balance? Can you shoot in manual mode as opposed to having the camera adjust the settings automatically?

Typically, once you get past 6-8' from your subject, the flash won't help much. The light gets filtered too much. Don't forget, that you need to double the distance for the light to travel as it has to get back to the camera from the subject. Not to mention that you may also get a lot of back scatter depending on the water clarity.

[Treebeard]

Philippines was on our bucket list. Maybe someday.
Dining out in Bonaire is expensive compared to here, probably because there is not as much choice. We only dined out a couple of times because we had a full kitchen. Grocery prices are comparable but again, if you are a die-hard Alberta beef boy like me you will be sadly disappointed in the selection and it is more expensive. If we ever decide to make Bonaire our winter home I will have to adjust! The booze selection is very good and the prices are not bad. Gas is $1.38/litre but it's a small island so you will go a long time on a tank.

We bought a six day unlimited air package and added on additional days. We also did a two tank boat dive but won't be doing that again when the shore diving is so good.

Our camera does not shoot RAW and the white balance can be manually adjusted, however I made all of the settings as per Ikelite's instructions. No doubt regarding anything over 8 feet from the subject. Next trip I will also stick the red filter in my BC pocket for the long shots. I am also seriously considering a GoPro 3+ but they aren't cheap, but the video quality is nice!

The price looks right for Bonaire (diving included), however, being based in Vancouver, Asia and the South Pacific are just as easy for me to get to. That's where the money side comes into play. What were the food prices like? Access to it?

Does your camera have the ability to shoot in RAW or to manually adjust the white balance? Can you shoot in manual mode as opposed to having the camera adjust the settings automatically?

Typically, once you get past 6-8' from your subject, the flash won't help much. The light gets filtered too much. Don't forget, that you need to double the distance for the light to travel as it has to get back to the camera from the subject. Not to mention that you may also get a lot of back scatter depending on the water clarity.