Another Bari good dive!

The Bari Reef dive site is one of our all time favorite sites.  Bari, the house reef for the DenLamen and Sand Dollar is located close to downtown Kralendijk right off the main oceanfront road Kaya Grandi.  You drive right up to the water's edge, park, gear up and seconds later you enter the water over a narrow sand beach.  Nothing could be easier.  And from the looks above water, you might think not much is going on at this site, but you would be wrong.  The experts say more species of marine life have been sighted at Bari than any other dive site on Bonaire.  The variety always makes this an interesting dive and keeps us coming back multiple times each visit here.

Park next to the water and walk in, what could be easier?

 Normally we just kick out to the edge of the reef, ignoring the sand flats, to drop on to the top of the reef, but not at Bari.  You never know what you will see in the shallows.  On this day, Charles quickly spotted an octopus and other lurking fish.

First octopus we've seen here is surprising for being so out in the open.  Normally shy, he quickly hid under this rock as we approached.

More Bari in-shore sightings...

    Needlefish

Peacock Flounder

                                                      Great Barracuda

Donkey Dung Sea Slug

Once on the reef turning to the right (north) in front of the seaside  condos takes you to what is commonly meant as the Bari dive site.  If you turn left or(south) you find a very different section of reef, an area damaged a number of years ago by the surge of a passing huricane.  It was also the dumping ground for the town's trash.  In fact Bari is papimiento for barrel and if you look closely, you will see shreds of old rusting oil drums.  Maybe it is because it is host to a variety of reef structure, part hard corals, part sand chutes that it attracts twice as many groups of marine animals.

Today, we turned left and in the next forty minutes Charles captured a number of good shots of the junkyard part of Bari's residents.

Rod with school of Wrasse.

   Grapes of wrasse.

Queen angelfish.

Graysby (small member of grouper family) with cleaner shrimp. 

  Scorpion fish.

Blue tube sponge.

 

Junk tire with encrusting rope sponge.

Spotted moray eel looks mean but is merely a mouth breather.

Susan says she was meant to spend her life hanging out with fish.

 Schooling Small Mouthed Grunts.

Banded Butterfly Fish

 This spider looking creature is an Arrow Crab.

The appropriately named Rock Beauty.

At first glance, I thought this Sharptail Eel was a snake.

Spanish Hogfish dancing with Sharptail Eel.

Mahogany snappers are plentiful on Bari.

With so many fish swarming this one site, it is easy to understand why multiple dives are required to get the Bari best experience.



 

About Bonaire, Answer to where is Bonaire and more...

I had never heard of Bonaire until we got interested in diving.  So I'll assume for now that you probably hadn't heard of it either until I sent you my blog posts.  "It's just off the coast of Venezuela..." is my usual explanation, but here is a map to better clear up any confusion. 

Part of the Dutch Lesser Antilles, Boanaire is the smallest of the three ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao).  Only 111 square miles, Bonaire is approximately 24 miles long and ranges from 3 to 7 miles wide.  Formed by volcanic action in relatively recent geologic times, the high point on the island, Bandaris Hill is only 780 feet above sea level.  Rising and falling sea levels over time helped add to the island's surface area as fringing coral reefs adhered to the core volcano.  Ancient coral reefs are evident over much of the surface area of the island as exposed limestone/fossilized coral formations.  You are never more than steps away from the reef as it encircles the island and is the star attraction for the thousands of scuba divers that visit Bonaire every year.  

Susan checks out the entry to our own private dive site just outside our beachside condo at the Lighthouse Beach Resort.  In the background is the island's high point, Bandaris Hill.

 
Lighthouse Beach.  The reef starts about 100 yards offshore, where the water turns deep blue.

We had a torrential downpour Saturday night, so it seemed like a good idea to take Sunday off from diving to show Charles around the island.

Downpour left flats flooded.

The rain filled the many sloughs and flats around the island, causing some concern about mosquito breeding.  It had been very dry and mosquito numbers relatively low.  We learned that the breeding cycle of mosquitos varies from five to forty days depending on the species.  We're seriously hoping the water evaporates in the next few days!

Beach and hillside villas like this modest Pueblo Bonaire home offer choice ocean views north of the main town Kralindijk.

Well-known dive site, 1000 steps.  Though only 70 steps down, it feels like 1,000 coming back.

The other big employer on Bonaire after tourism and salt, Bonaire Petroleum.  Tankers carrying Venezuelan oil off-load at the BPCO terminal day and night.

 Rincon, the number two town on the island sits on the windward side of the island.  It is number one, however, in great grilled chicken, goat and iguana stew.  We like this little eatry, also known as the Rosa Cafe.

Charles samples the plato tipico.

Add a couple of cold beers and you have another satisfied customer. 

The windward "iron shore" offers few easy dive entry sites.  We hurried back to our side of the island anxious to resume our diving.

The Happiest Man in Curacao: Meet Captain Goodlife

February 2011

Once you encounter this man in Santa Cruz, Curacao, you won't soon forget him.  Captain Goodlife runs a bar/cafe and operates a water taxi out of the little bay at St. Cruz.  We hired him to take us to the Mushroom Forest dive site.  He drops you off about a mile outside the bay and returns an hour later to pick you up at the end of your drift.  If all goes well you surface near the base of a cliff, right in front of the Blue Room, an underwater cave full of silversides.  Don't miss this dive or Capt. Goodlife if you make it to Curacao.

Captain Goodlife isn't disturbed by a little rain.  He is always upbeat.

Mushroom Forest coral heads swarming with fish.

Good to Be Back in Bonaire

We returned to the southern Caribbean the end of April.  We are staying in a condo steps away from an easy beach entry to the water at Lighthouse Point.  Most of the following pictures were taken in our "backyard."

Son Charles joined us on this trip and has taken over photographic duties.  He has turned out to be a fast learner overcoming the restrictions of my small camera, limited lighting, buoyancy control and framing an interesting picture.

Excellent diving, warm days, cooling trade winds, fresh papaya.  What's not to like?

Charles self portrait.