Category Archives: SCUBA & Snorkeling

Adventures under the water.

SCUBA and Chores in Kralendijk

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Since the wall behind the boat is so large and expansive, we wanted to explore it some more. Yesterday was another gray day, with frequent showers that brought very heavy rain, which disappointed Eric. He likes to dive when it is sunny and everything in the water is all lit up. But we dove anyway. We did two more dives along the wall, the first dive exploring more to the south, the second dive exploring more to the north. On the first dive we stayed at 60 feet, and on the second dive we went to 70 feet to check out the life a little lower on the wall. On the second dive we experienced just a little bit of current, but none on the first dive. We could seriously dive this spot a thousand times because there is so much to see!

On the first dive we pretty much saw all the same things we mentioned yesterday. In addition, we saw Continue reading →

SCUBA Diving in Kralendijk

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Today we intended to spend the whole day SCUBA diving. The plan had been to hop in the dinghy and head to one of the moorings nearby. But, yesterday we had forgotten to do the most important thing on our errand list: buy dive tags. Since we were going ashore anyway, we decided to get breakfast. We were excited to find that several places offer hearty breakfast menus. We picked a place where the food was good, but the service was painfully slow. Then we went to a dive shop near the restaurant to buy the tags.

It has rained a lot the whole time we have been in the Caribbean, which is odd since it is supposed to be the dry season. In Guadeloupe and Antigua, it was usually an odd squall or two each day, though we had a few days with more rain. In Dominica, we had several days where the squalls consistently came through every couple of hours. In our short time in Bonaire, we have experienced squalls every couple of hours, just like Dominica. Usually, they are fairly hard rains that last only a few minutes. Anyway, while in the dive shop, another one rolled through. This one was probably the biggest Continue reading →

Snorkeling the Fan Garden and the Market

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Yesterday Barb and Chuck took us snorkeling at one of their favorite spots, “The Fan Garden”. It is located at the southern end of the bay, near the shore. Fortunately for us, they picked us up in their fast dinghy. It would have taken us forever to get there in Kosmopolitan.

We hopped in the water with our snazzy new camera that is waterproof to 30 feet and it immediately went dead. It had filled with water. Sigh. This camera is touted as being totally indestructible and we were sure it would survive us. We must have some kind of bad camera killing karma from a past life haunting us. We swam from south to north, and each took turns pulling the dinghy along with us as we swam.

We are so sad about losing the camera right then, because the site was lovely and Continue reading →

SCUBA Diving Cabrits Point, Dominica

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Yesterday it rained for most of the day. It was a good reason to stay home and do much needed chores. Dominica has a ton of activities to offer, but almost all of them are outdoors, and most involving hiking. In the morning and early afternoon we worked on the bottom and water line. When Christi hopped in, she was horrified. It was the worst she has ever seen it. The grass was thick and long, and there were barnacles galore. She worked on the bottom for 45 minutes, until her tank was empty (the tank wasn’t full when she started). When she came up, Eric decided to give it a go. He hooked up a tank and jumped in. He was in the water a total of an hour. Like Christi, he worked on the bottom until he ran out of air (he also was not on a full tank), then worked on the waterline. The bottom looks a heck of a lot better, but we still have a long way to go. Sigh. The good news is that the water in the bay is amazingly clear. And we are amused to report that we have some fish living under our boat. Check out the beautiful rainbow.

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There are three restaurants that have dinghy docks for the cruisers to use, so we went to one of them for dinner. We both got a conch plate, which was served with an absolutely delicious sauce. The conch was perfectly tender, and not at all rubbery. It was served with mixed veggies, including christophene. It also came with a cooked banana or plantain (delicious), a piece of plain yam and a couple pieces of plain taro (both quite tasteless), lightly seasoned rice, and beans that had a little zest (quite good). It was nice to see such a full plate of food with so many little side dishes. It is almost a Guadeloupe style meal, except in Guadalupe all the sides would have been more elaborate.

 

Check out the pretty sunset from the resturant:

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While on shore, we booked a dive trip for this morning. We grilled the poor owner, asking her dozens and dozens of questions before we committed to diving. She must think we are freaks, but after being so unhappy with our last two dive companies, we figured we were being prudent. The fee was Continue reading →

SCUBA diving around English Harbor

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Today we went diving. We booked with the dive company located in Nelson’s Dockyard. The cost was $89 USD per person since we had our own gear, and without gear it is $110. He swore to us that he is the cheapest dive company on the entire island.

There were four people total, the two of us, a French Canadian, and the dive master. We did our own gear on shore, then all loaded into an 18 foot, open fiberglass boat with an outboard motor. It is the kind of boat locals use for fishing, and hadn’t been customized for diving. There were no tank holders or anything like that; you just kind of threw all your gear in a pile on the floor. This is the first time ever we have been on a dive boat where there weren’t two dive operators, one to stay with the boat and one to go under.

The first dive spot was Continue reading →