# Bonaire Diving Trip



## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

I thought I would share some photos from last weeks diving trip to Bonaire.

Bonaire is a small island North of Venezuela, just East of Aruba. The whole island is a marine park, so the diving is excellent. The reefs were in great shape, and there was tons of fish and other critters.

I managed to get in 16 dives in 5 days and had a great time. Most of the reef was around 35-60 feet, we rarely had to venture deeper.

I worked as the "spotter" with my personal underwater photographer and I managed to find a few neat things. I'll start off with this guy (not the easiest of fish to find!) and post a few more in the upcoming days as I get access to them.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

Very jealous dude!! Glad to hear you had a good time, and keep the eye candy coming!


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

Sweet! So that's where you've been hiding out while we burned up the threads. 

Moar pics, dude! Don't forget a couple of you in your board shorts to keep the ladies happy 

BTW that frogfish is very ugly, LOL


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## explor3r (Mar 14, 2010)

16 dives in 5 days that sounds like a lot of fun to me, hope you share some more pictures with us


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Hoping to get the rest tonight, will post some more tonight if I can!


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

A few for tonight:

Green Sea Turtle (I think...turtles aren't my thing), with lots in the background (grunts, trumpet fish, soldierfish, parrot wrasse, etc.)










And another one of my friends (I was probably the only one looking for them, but they have to be one of my favourites.):










And last one for tonight, pair of mated Banded Butterflies:










Will post some more tomorrow when I get a chance


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

Thanks! Must have been one sweet vacation! those pics are pretty awesome too- what kind of camera did you use?


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Canon G10 in an Ikelite casing.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Some Caribbean Anemones, and their crew:

Wrasses manning an Anemone - they would clean some of the larger fish that passed by - mostly grunts, angels, snapper, etc.:









Anemone with a Spotted commensal shrimp (you can also see the spines of a liofish on the bottom left):









Anemone with a bunch of friends. In the hi-rez image you can make out 3 commensal shrimp, 1 Arrow crab (on the right side) and 3 Anemone Shrimps (otherwise known as "Sexy Shrimp"). This was a busy Anemone, with even small fish coming by to get cleaned. Not sure how much you can make out at this resolution.









Some meaner fish tomorrow =D


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## fury165 (Aug 21, 2010)

Nice shots Chris, looks you had lots of fun! We were wondering where you were


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Barracuda (this guy was about 3-4 feet):










This Barracuda had to be close to 5 feet, and I don't think they get much bigger:










Green Moray, down at about 85 feet:










Spotted Moray (saw quite a few of these):










Tarpon. These are big boys, this one was probably only around 4 feet, but we had two giant ones "escort" us on a night dive. The larger of the two had to be at least 7 feet, but they seemed quite gentle and content on escorting us through the reef at night!










Still have more to come if anyone is even reading this thread still =D


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## df001 (Nov 13, 2007)

Love the tarpon photo... thats what I was fishing for in cuba... didnt end up landing any... but got a bunch of snook and catfish... 

those baracuda look like rocket-powered propellers with fins....


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

always interested in fishy pics!! More More!!


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## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

Still reading! Keep em coming!


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Ok, here are some images from the reef at night:

Octopus, of course:










Everybody's favourite, the bristle worm out for a midnight stroll:










Sharptail eel, hunting for food:










Tube Anemone preying on zooplankton:










Southern Stingray:










Ok, these are for you coral nerds (like me). The corals in the Caribbean are obviously not as diverse, but they are still pretty damn cool. Here are some night pictures of corals feeding.

Montastraea cavernosa (I think!):










Madracis decactis (right side) with a Spotted Moray - left side is, I THINK, Agaricia agaricites f. danai (Lettuce Coral) - please correct me if you know better:










Last one tonight, and one that I'm sure some of you are familiar with is Tubastraea coccinea, or "Sun Coral". The sponge is, and again I'm unsure here, Ectyoplasia ferox or "Octopus Sponge":


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## mr.sandman (Mar 22, 2007)

Very nice pics!!! What flash are you using? Cause I'm planning to buy one for my S90, and the internal flash is not powerful enough and giving me backscatter.


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## fiftyfive (Feb 12, 2012)

looked like it was a blast, i'm kind of creeped out by the eels, those guys have serious poker faces lol.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

mr.sandman said:


> Very nice pics!!! What flash are you using? Cause I'm planning to buy one for my S90, and the internal flash is not powerful enough and giving me backscatter.


Ikelite DS 51 substrobe


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