1st trip to Bonaire! Lots of questions.

[drrich2]

One thing on the thick vs. thin-soled boots. Everyone will make their own decision; read over some past Bonaire-related threads & the thick-soled recommendation has been repeated a number of times. I used to think I was okay with my old thin-soled booties. Dove Oil Slick Leap and other sites, no substantial problems. Yeah, it could be uncomfortable on the feet, but I wasn't keen to shell out the money for a pair of SeaSoft Sunrays, for instance. Then one trip to Oil Slick Leap, for some reason standing on that jagged iron shore in full gear, my foot got hurt. It didn't penetrate the sole, and I figured the soreness would go away soon.

I had foot pain off & on for at least several weeks after that. And I bought thicker-soled boots! Now that's a single incident, so it's just anecdotal. So take it for what it's worth to you.

Richard.

 

[oldschoolto]

You are so right about the donkey place with an 11 year old girl! She isn't going to want to leave! Thanks for the eardrops advice. We use homemade drops too, never tried the oil though. We both seem to have a lot of wax build up, ick.

Luckily I drive stick shift but it's a car, not a truck. I get a little nervous driving a bigger vehicle (my husband has a truck but I hardly ever drive it and he doesn't trust me with it either, lol). Thanks again

They are not "big" trucks... Little baby trucks...

Jim..

 

[dlawr3]

One thing on the thick vs. thin-soled boots. Everyone will make their own decision; read over some past Bonaire-related threads & the thick-soled recommendation has been repeated a number of times. I used to think I was okay with my old thin-soled booties. Dove Oil Slick Leap and other sites, no substantial problems. Yeah, it could be uncomfortable on the feet, but I wasn't keen to shell out the money for a pair of SeaSoft Sunrays, for instance. Then one trip to Oil Slick Leap, for some reason standing on that jagged iron shore in full gear, my foot got hurt. It didn't penetrate the sole, and I figured the soreness would go away soon.

I had foot pain off & on for at least several weeks after that. And I bought thicker-soled boots! Now that's a single incident, so it's just anecdotal. So take it for what it's worth to you.

Richard.

I saw that thread. I guess we'll go ahead and buy some soled boots. I'm spending money like crazy on this trip!

 

[dlawr3]

They are not "big" trucks... Little baby trucks...

Jim..

I know it. And I can do it.

 

[dlawr3]

I put in an email request to VIP. It does look like a great fit. Still trying to find the perfect place to stay, though. I have a reservation at den lamen, will have to look into some of the other places mentioned. We definitely want a good house reef. How is the reef there? I don't know about their dive shop? And I've got to look into a vehicle. Do you have to pick up at the airport? Can I maybe get one delivered? And would a car be adequate? In reality we'd probably only take it out for shore diving a day or maybe two. Plus, I would really only like to have it part of the week, since we're doing boat dives and the guided dives, I don't know that we need it the whole time. I'll look at the rates. Has anyone snorkeled at Klein Bonaire, as opposed to diving it? The trips get such good reviews I'm wondering how the diving compares? Plus, half price for kids on the snorkel trip! Ching Thanks everyone who chimed in to help me.

 

[diversteve]

Well let me set some things straight...

Step on a sea urchin at a south Bonaire sites and see what happens with thin soled boots. Maybe you could post a video of the doctor cutting thru your heel to remove the infected spines as they'll break off and start to decay almost immediately. I can cherry pick sites where thin boots are all you need, in fact I have dove a few in surf-walkers but they were the easy ones. I could make the case for not needing boots at all - if I only wanted to dive those resorts with dive docks or the few with sandy beach entries. I know of at least one person here who dives full foot fins and wears surf-walkers to get out deep enough to put them on. You'll just miss about 75% of the better shore dives.

for the OP:
ftr, my "hard" boots are 5mil. Tusa's - they have sort of a tennis shoe tread. I still get good grip and feel due to the tread pattern yet crush urchins when I happen to step on them. At some sites it's almost unavoidable.

One thing if you're still considering the Marriott is that it's built on an improved section of the lagoon near the Plaza Resort - too shallow to dive plus I don't believe there's stairs down. So the nearest dive is either 18Palms at the Plaza (north end of their beach) or Windsock west of the airport. Or Bachelor's Beach just a little farther south. For boat dives, Toucan Diving at the Plaza keeps theirs in the next cove over or Dive Friends keeps a couple at Port Bonaire condos just a little west of the Marriott. I've dove with Toucan and would again but go with Dive Friends since they have 4-5 convenient locations including a shop at Bari Reef. Actually I read they took over at Den Laman condos also recently so there's now two adjoining - both with nice stairs - one into the water the other onto a small beach first.

Most people pick up cars at the airport. It allows you to note damages so you won't be charged for them later. The big chains are there and rent small SUV's but some have restrictions on wet gear in the back. ABCarrental will pick you up - since they're off-site of the airport they'll even meet your flight or drop you back off the morning you leave as needed. There's not a lot of cabs on Bonaire - probably a dozen or so and if a cruise ship ports, you may have trouble getting one. Plus you really can't haul dive gear in one and even if you could at any site not in town you'll need a cellphone in a waterproof case to take with you to call them for pickup.

In case it's not obvious, there are no facilities at any of the north or south dive sites except where the food truck is at the south site near the kitesurfers.

 

[noj3333]

One thing with the cars/ trucks. If you're diving then most companies will rent you a truck/ suv that's dive friendly... you won't be the first 'wet butt' to sit on the seat, and the truck/ bed is a 'little' beat up from gear. I think you'll have trouble renting a car if you plan to use it on dive outings.

 

[dlawr3]

Step on a sea urchin at a south Bonaire sites and see what happens with thin soled boots. Maybe you could post a video of the doctor cutting thru your heel to remove the infected spine as they'll break off and start to decay almost immediately. I can cherry pick sites where thin boots are all you need, in fact I have dove a few in surf-walkers but they were the easy ones.

I could make the case for not needing boots at all - if I only wanted to dive those resorts with dive docks or the few with sandy beach entries. I know of at least one person here who dives full foot fins and wears surf-walkers to get out deep enough to put them on. You'll just miss about 75% of the better shore dives.

ftr, my "hard" boots are 5mil. Tusa's - they have sort of a tennis shoe tread. I still get good grip and feel due to the tread pattern yet crush urchins when I happen to step on them. At some sites it's almost unavoidable.

One thing if you're still considering the Marriott is that it's built on an improved section of the lagoon near the Plaza Resort - too shallow to dive plus I don't believe there's stairs down. So the nearest dive is either 18Palms at the Plaza (north end of their beach) or Windsock west of the airport. Or Bachelor's Beach just a little farther south. For boat dives, Toucan Diving at the Plaza keeps theirs in the next cove over or Dive Friends keeps a couple at Port Bonaire condos just a little west of the Marriott. I've dove with Toucan and would again but go with Dive Friends since they have 4-5 convenient locations including a shop at Bari Reef. Actually I read they took over at Den Laman condos also recently so there's now two adjoining - both with nice stairs - one into the water the other onto a small beach first.

So I was wondering how that works with doing boat dives with VIP. Do you go to their location? (Just waiting for their response). The dive shop at DL is DF? They sent me a different name on the info sheet.

 

[noj3333]

So I was wondering how that works with doing boat dives with VIP. Do you go to their location? (Just waiting for their response). The dive shop at DL is DF? They sent me a different name on the info sheet.

What's the point of going to bonaire if you want to do boat dives? Not being disrespectful/ nasty... just curious.

 

[oldschoolto]

Step on a sea urchin at a south Bonaire sites and see what happens with thin soled boots. Maybe you could post a video of the doctor cutting thru your heel to remove the infected spine as they'll break off and start to decay almost immediately. I can cherry pick sites where thin boots are all you need, in fact I have dove a few in surf-walkers but they were the easy ones.

I could make the case for not needing boots at all - if I only wanted to dive those resorts with dive docks or the few with sandy beach entries. I know of at least one person here who dives full foot fins and wears surf-walkers to get out deep enough to put them on. You'll just miss about 75% of the better shore dives.

ftr, my "hard" boots are 5mil. Tusa's - they have sort of a tennis shoe tread. I still get good grip and feel due to the tread pattern yet crush urchins when I happen to step on them. At some sites it's almost unavoidable.

One thing if you're still considering the Marriott is that it's built on an improved section of the lagoon near the Plaza Resort - too shallow to dive plus I don't believe there's stairs down. So the nearest dive is either 18Palms at the Plaza (north end of their beach) or Windsock west of the airport. Or Bachelor's Beach just a little farther south. For boat dives, Toucan Diving at the Plaza keeps theirs in the next cove over or Dive Friends keeps a couple at Port Bonaire condos just a little west of the Marriott. I've dove with Toucan and would again but go with Dive Friends since they have 4-5 convenient locations including a shop at Bari Reef. Actually I read they took over at Den Laman condos also recently so there's now two adjoining - both with nice stairs - one into the water the other onto a small beach first.

Most people pick up cars at the airport. It allows you to note damages so you won't be charged for them later. The big chains are there and rent small SUV's but some have restrictions on wet gear in the back. ABCarrental will pick you up - since they're off-site of the airport they'll even meet your flight or drop you back off the morning you leave as needed. There's not a lot of cabs on Bonaire - probably a dozen or so and if a cruise ship ports, you may have trouble getting one. Plus you really can't haul dive gear in one and even if you could at any site not in town you'll need a cellphone in a waterproof case to take with you to call them for pickup.

In case it's not obvious, there are no facilities at any of the north or south dive sites except where the food truck is at the south site near the kitesurfers.

Well, I've been diving all over Bonaire for years... day and night... 2 trips a year at least 14 days each.. last 2 trips were 4 and then 5 weeks... I'm headed down for 8 weeks in September... I have never stepped on a sea urchin of any size that would go through my 5mm booties with soft rubber soles... MOST people diving Bonaire use 5 mil soft rubber sole booties..

Jim..