Dive #13 - Rich Torkington's Dive Log

Banded cleaner shrimp
Photograph by Myron Johnson in Bonaire 1998

Dive Journal: We are up way too early for my taste, about 7:30AM. RumRunners is serving the usual fare, and we enjoy eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, fruit, and coffee. There are a couple of resident cats and one dog at the restaurant, all of which have grown quite plump from an apparently constant supply of handouts.

Our 8:30AM dive this morning is on board the Ocean Freedom once again, with a planned destination of Country Gardens, a dive site about 4 miles north on the main island. During the trip, we again delight in the actions of many dozens of flying fish. When we reach the site, however, the divemaster announces that the surge action is too strong to safely dive, and that we will try a different site. The boat motors south a short distance to 1000 Steps where the waters are noticeably calmer, and we moor to the buoy there.

The site 1000 Steps is so named due to a steep beach wall that divers must traverse when diving from shore. There are actually only 68 steps or so, but when carrying weights and tanks down to the water, it just might feel like a thousand. We've avoided all that by diving from a boat.

The dive is at once stunning and teeming with sea life. The coral gardens here are most impressive. Linda revels in discovering a gigantic blue parrotfish, and we also observe a neat blue-striped lizardfish resting on a shelf. There are again large dense schools of blue chromis and brown chromis hanging mid-water over the reef. In one reef pocket, we catch sight of a nice-sized barracuda who appears to be scowling at everything, looking for a meal. According to my computer, we reach an 80 foot depth and dive for about 48 minutes.

Back at the cottage, Linda and Myron visit the Habitat office to seek service for our broken toilet bowl fixtures, while Mercedes and I fix lunch. When they return, we enjoy a tasty lunch of slightly burned turkey cheeseburgers and ramen noodles while sitting on our outside porch enjoying the wonderful tropical breezes. Yes - cheeseburger in paradise. And the diving certainly increases the old appetite!