Bonaire, Netherlands, Antilles

Homemade Christmas tree forest with artificial snow, Bonaire — **Sorry to disappoint, It did not really snow on an evergreen forest in Bonaire. We created our own forest and snow.**

Bonaire, where we almost started.

Prior to leaving to endlessly travel for our retirement, we initially decided to go to Bonaire. We have been diving on Bonaire 7 times over the last 23 years and thought it would be a good place to contemplate our next move. After some further thought we decided to forego lugging 200lbs of dive gear and underwater photography equipment all over the world and decided on France and Spain first.

Two months later here we are in Bonaire which, if you don’t know, is an island located near the equator, 80 miles from Venezuela. It is a Dutch protectorate that uses the dollar as their currency.

The diving is mostly done from the shore and the sea life is primarily small colorful fish. Not the most exciting diving on the planet, but a safe, extraordinarily expensive place to figure out our next move.

On the Road Again:

Airplane window view over Biscayne Bay and Miami on the flight to Bonaire — Leaving Florida behind — Biscayne Bay and its causeways under the wing.

Dennis and Ruth selfie on the short flight to Bonaire — Short Flights Make for Happier Faces. Orlando, Fla to Bonaire 3 hours.

Our digs:

Ruth on the oceanfront condo terrace above turquoise water, Bonaire — Our terrace over the water — the commute to the dive site was a stair rail.

The downtown beachfront:

Sunset over the Kralendijk waterfront piers and palapas, Bonaire — Sunset over the Kralendijk waterfront, palapa to palapa.

Some fish:

Rented Boston Whaler moored off the beach, Bonaire — We rented this Boston Whaler for 1/2 day and moored it up near our favorite bar then swam in for a drink.

Lone fish swimming ahead of a school over the reef, Bonaire — Have you ever felt like you just didn’t fit in?

Grandpa seems to be missing his Boston Whalers.

Sea turtle grazing over green vegetation on the bottom, Bonaire — Turtle Grazing Grounds…they munch out on that unattractive green vegetation just below.

We stumbled into an enormous baitball we had heard about and have been looking for since we got here. We were diving from the stairs at our condo deck 50 yards out as it happened by. Fearless Ruth swam right into the ball with amazing cinematic results.

Ruthie Cam view of her excursion into the Baitball below.

(Click the icon on playbar below to view fullscreen.)

Juvenile damselfish with blue speckles over a yellow body, Bonaire — A juvenile damselfish in full party dress — blue sequins over gold.

Ruth photographing a sea turtle underwater, Bonaire — Ruth: “Be very very quiet I’m hunting Turtles.” Turtle: “What’s a Turtle?”

Dense school of fish over the reef, Bonaire — This gives me flashbacks of our 5 a.m. daily commute on the 805 prior to leaving San Diego.

Ruth pursuing a small turtle through a school of fish, Bonaire — Ruth pursues her shot of a small turtle through the thick school of fish from the photo above.

Queen angelfish turning toward the camera, Bonaire — Queen Angel, seems like she is trying too hard to get noticed.

Garden eels rising from the white sand, Bonaire — Even the Garden of Eden has lawyers.

Juvenile French angelfish with curved yellow bands, Bonaire — A juvenile French angelfish; the yellow rings fade as it grows up.

Sea turtle swimming across a sandy ramp between reefs, Bonaire — Hey guys, a little help here, I am trying to get across to my favorite munch garden.

Spotted cleaner shrimp on anemone tentacles, Bonaire — A spotted cleaner shrimp keeps shop in its anemone, waiting for customers.

School of palometas in open blue water, Bonaire — Palometas cruising the shallows — all silver and trailing black fins.

Black and white photo of a fish school over the reef, Bonaire — I cannot help but to get artsy with my occasional Black and White shots.

Close-up head shot of a small sea turtle, Bonaire — Small Turtle

Juvenile grunts sheltering among blade fire coral, Bonaire — A nursery of juvenile grunts shelters in the blades of fire coral.

Barracuda photographed by Ruth, Bonaire — Ruth Shot this Barracuda-She is Getting to be too Good at taking Pics.

Ruth’s turtle whisperings seems to be working. In our experience turtles do not normally approach divers this closely. He was way too close for her to even attempt a photo.

More fish:

Longspine squirrelfish beside the reef, Bonaire — A longspine squirrelfish — eyes built for the night shift.

Banded butterflyfish facing the camera, Bonaire — A banded butterflyfish meets the camera head-on.

Blenny peering from a hole in the coral, Bonaire — A blenny keeps watch from its coral keyhole.

Smooth trunkfish hunting over the sand, Bonaire — A smooth trunkfish puckers over the sand, blowing for buried snacks.

Ruth diving over the reef in long fins, Bonaire — Frog Fish???

Yellow fish beside purple coral in natural light, Bonaire — Another Ruth Shot-Natural Light no Flash.

Some dining:

Ruth at a table under shade sails at a beachfront restaurant, Bonaire — Lunch under the sails at the water’s edge.

Dennis and Ruth at a seaside dinner table at dusk, Bonaire — Dinner at the tide line — Bonaire’s blue hour does the decorating.

Some sight seeing:

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Bonaire, Netherlands, Antilles

Bonaire, where we almost started.