Bonaire: Dive 1 - Buddy Reef

129 ft/25 minutes – consumed 2300PSI

My first dive since 2005.   We stopped in at Buddy Dive to do our checkout dive at Buddy Reef.  The entry was down the stairs into a coral rubble area.  The reef starts in 35 feet and drops off steeply to ~130 to a sand bottom with a large area of garden eels.  We’ll be back later with cameras to get these little critters on photo/video.  We also saw what looked like a coral nursery area, with staghorn coral hanging from a PVC pipe frame.   This was my first dive in 9 years so I was breathing like a banshee trying to get my buoyancy control in line, gear situated, mask strap adjusted.  I’ve had to switch to a mask with readers.  Getting old sucks.  We also saw an octopus in about 20 feet of water hiding inside a tire.  Cool.


An entry where you walk down some stairs.  Sweet.  I didn't take this photo and have no idea who it belongs to.  If you recognize it as yours, drop me an email and I'll give photo credit or remove it - as you wish.