Bonaire; we found the longer one is there, the more it grows on you and the longer you want to stay. Yet again this was so true. Our seven weeks went far too quickly and it was very hard to leave what is for sure one of our favorite islands in the Caribbean.

Bonaire is part of the ABC islands and although part of the Caribbean they are in a class of their own. Tourism has not yet taken the charm from the people who still go out of their way to help you. Luckily we were there in the low season, and it remains the same sleepy, laid back place that we remember from six years ago. The three islands are part of the Netherland Antillies. Bonaire is 50 miles from the Venezueland coast and the smallest at 112 square miles (24 long and 3-7 wide) with Klien Bonaire (a little uninhabited island) off the west coast.

Six years ago there were no cruise ships, but sadly they have recently found this little gem, we can't imagine what it must be like once the season starts on the 4th November. In a couple of years it will become a different place as we saw a lot of building work in progress.

The weather was very kind to us with cool offshore breezes to ease the heat that we remember being quite intense our last visit. We had a few wind reversals, but the mooring buoy we picked did not put us too close to shore. We were in our favorite spot just off the Yellow Sub dive shop; which has fantastic snorkeling and diving. The sea around the two islands is a marine park. There are 63 dive sites off the main island and 24 off Klein Bonaire. You are not allowed to anchor and all boats either take a mooring buoy and go into the marina.

Needless to say, the diving and snorkeling is some of the best in the world and so we pigged out. Be warned there are quite a few underwater pictures with this blog that I took with my new camera. I just love being in the water (above or below) the beauty of it draws me and each time I enjoy looking for that rare treasure that Bonaire always seems to deliver. However, time on board Ta-b is not always play as she is an ongoing concern. Russ especially got a lot of boat jobs done (of course more reared their ugly heads to keep the to do list in balance) and I kept the place running and clean (not an easy task). We had some great days where we took friends out sailing and diving to the more remote sites, with a late leisurely lunch after, before sailing back before sunset.

The boating community are such a wonderful mixed bunch. We made wonderful new friends with numerous nationalities, some who will be friends for ever and we are looking forward to seeing again in the San Blas islands next year and others in Panama/Pacific the following, with more downunder. When we arrived there were only about a dozen boats, but by the time we left nearly all of the 30 odd mooring buoys were taken. There was probably a rush for ours as we left, as it was such a great location. We experienced more boats during regatta week; which was fun, but there was always seemed to be a mooring buoy for all the cruising boats .

When we were last in Bonaire Karel's bar was very unpopular with cruisers as their speakers pointed in our direction and the music at night kept everyone awake until dawn. Thankfully they are now pointed in the other direction and we never heard them, although we were told that they are still loud if you are close to Karels. Also if you are near the fishing boat dock the fishermen tend to wake you up predawn as they shout to each other leaving. Just a heads up for fellow cruisers. There is also a new supermarket in town that does a free shuttle on Tuesdays and Fridays at 10am for all the cruisers, makes life SO much easier.

We used to get together on Wednesdays at the marina with other boaties for their two hour happy hour (2 for 1) and fantastic $8 hamburger night. I am not a hamburger person, but without the bun, a choice of six toppings, salad and fries it made for an easy, yummy, fun and cheap night out. Another weekly event was going to Bobbejan's (only open at the weekend) a Bonaire must. They have a garden to dine in, but we found that it was more fun to have take out and take it to the kids park with a crowd. We all took our own refreshments and enjoyed the ambience of the kids who stay up until all hours in true European fashion.

Our favorite dive site was probably Salt Pier, it is not too deep so I was able to take quite a few pictures and it was always teeming with life. Salt is still exported from the island and one can see many pink flamingos on salt pans. Our second favorite diving spot was off the back of the boat, especially at night when the colours are so fantastic and different fish come out to play. We also went across to the East Coast with friends for a day's outing and enjoyed diving the White Hole, a huge collapsed cave with a white sand bottom with sleeping turtles on the reef.

We have found as we travel we open doors to perceptions we did not previously know exsisted. We meet new challenges, form new friendships and discover new visions of our world. We have a week of hard work to put Ta-b to bed for two months, she will be on the hard at Curacao Marina. Next week we fly back to Vancouver for a quick stop over on our way to Australia to visit Russell's older sister and family. We then go to New Zealand to visit Russell's 91 year old mum, his younger sister and also our best man Foxy who has moved to Queenstown. It will be a busy month before we return to Vancouver for Xmas and New Year.

We hope that we will be able to see many of our friends while we are off the boat, please let us know if you will be around over the holidays. The best way to contact us is via email as our global cell phone is rather expensive. Enjoy some of our Bonaire pictures, it is a place that we would recommend to anyone; especially if you are a diver.