scratch Curacao - is Bonaire my only solo shore option? suggestions please

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Kharon

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Apparently dive shops on Curacao are anal about solo diving - "no solo diving under any circumstances" (equals none of my money under any circumstances). Had not a whit of trouble on Bonaire and was even asked if I wanted to solo on a boat dive and hadn't even asked.

I want to shore dive solo. Is Bonaire my only option or are there other places I might consider?
 
Good question. Had a great time diving solo in Bonaire. If anywhere is as easy going, I'd like to know. Who did you dive with that was OK with solo boat dives? Plaza Bonaire/Toucan Diving wasn't very cool with solo boat dives.
 
Why is shore diving solo an issue? Can you just rent whatever you need and head off to meet a fictitious buddy?

Kristopher
 
Why is shore diving solo an issue? Can you just rent whatever you need and head off to meet a fictitious buddy?

Kristopher
In Bonaire it's not a problem. I've heard of plenty of places that won't even let you take their tanks of their home reef in other places. There are rules all in between. One of the other issues for me is where is there also great shore diving that rivals the ease of Bonaire. In Bonaire you just grab as many tanks as you want and take off to wherever you want to dive.
 
Tulamben, Bali. I solo there from the beach, pretty much every dive.
 
In Bonaire it's not a problem.
..snip..

This was the waiver we had to sign at Buddy Dive in Bonaire:

STATEMENT OF UNDERSTANDING AND WAIVER
AS A DIVER WITH BUDDY DIVE I WILL:
1. BE IN GOOD MENTAL AND PHYSICAL CONDITION FOR DIVING AT ALL TIMES.
2. AVOID BEING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCHOHOL OR DRUGS WHILE DIVING. BUDDY DIVE STAFF MAY
DISQUALIFY ME FROM DIVING ACTIVITIES IF I AM OR WAS STILL UNDER INFLUENCE OR HAVE A HANGOVER.
3. ENGAGE ONLY IN DIVING ACTIVITIES CONSISTENT WITH MY TRAINING, COMFORT AND EXPERIENCE.
4. LISTEN CAREFULLY TO THE DIVE BRIEFINGS AND RESPECT THE ADVICE OF THE DIVEGUIDES SUPERVISING MY
ACTIVITIES.
5. ADHERE TO THE BUDDY SYSTEM THROUGHOUT EVERY DIVE.
6. FOLLOW LOCAL DIVING RULES OF THE NATIONAL MARINE PARK.
7. NEVER EXCEED THE DEPTH OR TIME LIMITATIONS PLANNED BY THE DIVEGUIDES AND NEVER EXCEED THE
MAXIMUM DEPTH ACCORDING TO MY LEVEL OF CERTIFICATION FOR RECREATIONAL DIVING.
8. ASCEND NO FASTER THAN 30 FEET PER MINUTE AND DO A THREE (3) MINUTE SAFETY STOP AT FIFTEEN (15)
FEET ON ALL DIVES.
9. MAKE CANCELLATIONS AT LEAST 4 HOURS BEFORE THE SCHEDULED DATE AND DIVE TIME. ALL NO SHOWS
AND LATE CANCELLATIONS WILL NOT BE REFUNDED OR CREDITED.
10. UNDERSTAND THAT THE FAILURE TO RESPECT BONAIRE’S FRAGILE REEF SYSTEMS BY DELIBERATELY
TOUCHING THE REEF COULD RESULT IN THE PREMATURE TERMINATION OF MY PLANNED DIVES.
11. ACKNOWLEDGE HAVING EXAMINED THE EQUIPMENT AND HAVE SATISFIED MYSELF THAT IT IS IN GOOD
ORDER AND WORKING CONDITION BEFORE I GO DIVING. I HEREBY ACCEPT THE EQUIPMENT IN THE
CONDITION AS IS. BUDDY WATERSPORTS B.V. ACCEPTS NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DEFECT IN THE
EQUIPMENT AND DOES NOT WARRANT THAT IT IS SUITABLE FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. I AGREE THAT
THE USE OF SAID EQUIPMENT IS AT MY OWN RISK. I SHALL RETURN THE SAME IN GOOD ORDER AND
WORKING CONDITION AND SHALL BE FINANCIALLY LIABLE FOR ANY DEVIATIONS THEREFROM.
 
I have about eighty solo dives in Bonaire. I use Great Adventures at Harbour Village; they let me do my check-out dive solo.
 
I have about eighty solo dives in Bonaire. I use Great Adventures at Harbour Village; they let me do my check-out dive solo.
Plaza Bonaire let me do my check-out dive solo as well on their house reef. There is a reason I chose not to go with Buddy Dive (many). I certainly made it no secret that I would be diving solo when not on their boats and they said diving with a buddy is safer but made no attempt to bother me more than a tiny warning as I walked away with my tank and weights.
 
miketsp:
This was the waiver we had to sign at Buddy Dive in Bonaire:
STATEMENT OF UNDERSTANDING AND WAIVER
AS A DIVER WITH BUDDY DIVE I WILL:

5. ADHERE TO THE BUDDY SYSTEM THROUGHOUT EVERY DIVE.
Interesting. Yet, there are many, many solo dives done on the house reef without any comment. I routinely solo dive at Buddy, and on Bonaire using Buddy equipment and vehicles and have never had anyone from Buddy comment.
Plaza Bonaire let me do my check-out dive solo as well on their house reef. There is a reason I chose not to go with Buddy Dive (many).
I am curious about the 'many' reasons you chose not to go with Buddy. - not trying to promote Buddy at all, just interested in what you found objectionable.
 
Good question. Had a great time diving solo in Bonaire. If anywhere is as easy going, I'd like to know. Who did you dive with that was OK with solo boat dives? Plaza Bonaire/Toucan Diving wasn't very cool with solo boat dives.

I dove solo with Divi Dive while staying at Divi. I had a SDI solo card and carried a redundant air source. No problem on their boat or on their reef. When I soloed on their house reef, I'd check out and in with the dive shop. See Serge who manages (owns?) the shop. He's a real good guy.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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