Bonaire 2008 - Day 4 - Tuesday, 11/25/08

9:00p
Today was a little cool, with a high only in the low 80's. We had two morning dives with the group, then Dawn, Richard, Kara and I headed out on our own for one afternoon dive. All the dives were over 60 minutes and physically challenging (long surface swims, tough entires, strong currents, etc), so we are worn out! Kara and I decided to try a new place for dinner, La Luna. This is a dutch restaurant on the waterfront. We shared bitterballs (dutch appetizer that can best be described as pureed mystery meet fried like a fritter), crab bisque, and a crab and smoked salmon salad. The meal was enjoyable, and the cool breeze felt great as we relaxed. We followed it up with Ice Cream from the islands only homemade ice cream shop, Lover's Ice Cream.

The dives today were very memorable. The first dive was a long drift dive from 1000 Steps to Witches Hut. We burned through all of our air after some hard finning to reach the exit and had a 76 minute dive. We then went on to Ole' Blue where we saw 3 turtles, which is extremely unusual! Kara also found what we have been calling "the pea" or "bumble bee", which is this tiny pea-sized juvenile boxfish. To find one is really difficult, so it was exciting when she found the first one either of us had ever seen! (see photo) After a late lunch we headed south past the salt flats to Torrey's Reef. This site requires a long surface swim out to the reef. There was a strong current and heavy surge at the entry/exit. Visibility was low for this area (70ft?) while on the reef, but when we came back in visibility dropped to 30ft in the sandy area. The conditions are a little rough to the south of the island due to storms, so we decided to head north again tomorrow until things calm down. Notable sightings from today's dives:

1000 Steps to Witches Hut (Drift Dive):
Porcupinefish
Chain Moray
Lots of Lettuce Sea Slugs
Scrawled Filefish









Ole' Blue:
Hawskbill Turtle
2 Green Sea Turtles
Spotted Anemone Shrimp
Smooth Trunkfish Juvenile
Large Schools of Boga
Spotted Drums of all sizes
Redlip Blenny




























Torrey's Reef:
Large Hawksbill Turtle
Peacock Flounder
Huge Gray Snappers schooling
Longsnout Butterflyfish
Spotted Trunkfish
Scorpionfish