This was our 14th trip to Bonaire beginning in 1996 and the 13th staying at Bruce Bowker's Carib Inn. We obviously like it.
The inn was completely full - we'd never seen it so full. And then it dawned that Bonaire was one of the few Caribbean dive locations that had not been hammered by the hurricanes.
Danny, Becky, Jenn and Drew joined us. It was Drew and Jenn's 11th stay at the Carib Inn; Danny's 6th and Becky's 3rd.
Juggling diving, grandparenting, photography work, watercolor, fish and creature identification, gear maintenance, etc., made for a busy time.
The ocean on the west side of Bonaire and all of Klein Bonaire is the Bonaire National Marine Park (the original one in the Caribbean) so the reef and inhabitants are in as good condition as just about anywhere in the Caribbean. That said, we've definitely seen degradation in our many years of diving Bonaire — due almost entirely to human impact (insufficiently treated sewage, silt run off from construction, global warming, invasive lionfish). This year we did a combination of boat and shore diving.
The trip was off to a good start when our luggage made it!
And we presented Edward, who handles tanks, the boat, etc., for the inn an appropriate new hat.
Danny made his first dive via the PADI Bubblemakers experience.
Becky was into the beach
and snorkeling.
With one complete family snorkeling experience.
The kids hung out with us working on puzzles
and playing cards
eating lionfish burgers
and enjoying the inn
and local wildlife.
And the parents got a night out on their own.
We all enjoyed our diving.
All good trips eventually end.
On to the photos!