Any Tomas Impact?

[kona74]

Hi All,
My dive buddy and I will be visiting Nov 10 -17 and staying at the Sand Dollar. Has Tomas caused and issues? How is the visibility?

We are so excited to be coming back to Bonaire. Our last time to the island was in 2007.

Thanks,
jb

 

[Maine Diver]

Surfs a little churned up and it's raining. It will be fine when you get here. I am at Sand Dollar right now.

 

[Rhone Man]

The only place which I heard took a serious beat-down from Tomas was St Lucia, to the North.

It is a big storm though, so it affects the weather for a long way in either direction.

 

[427Dave]

Aruba diving is not good right now. We dove the Pedernales wreck yesterday. Huricane/Tropical storm Tomas has everthing stirred up. Visibility was maybe 6-8 feet at the best. Reminded me of diving in a midwest lake, you could not see the person in front of you. The only good thing is the water temp is 82 degrees. I hope this all settles out soon and I can get some nice dives in.

 

[kona74]

Thanks, glad to hear it is not too bad. Hope it clears up for all that are already on the island.

Sounds like I should plan to bring lots of bug spray.

 

[gypsyjim]

Thanks for posting. Hurricanes are less frequent in that area, but even near brushes, as with Omar a few years back, can do a lot of damage.

 

[vann evans]

I am at Sand Dollar now. It has been raining most of last night and off and on today. We dove Bari Reef late yesterday afternoon. The shallows were very stirred up and visibility there was terrible. However, once we got out to the drop-off, the visibility increased noticably. Still not normal, but quite acceptable. We had a good dive. We plan to go back this afternoon.

the only real problem was getting out. We had to surface about 30 or 40 feet from the pier in order to see where we were and then be very careful getting out on the ladder. The swells were significant. Still very workable and fun.

Vann Evans
Sand Dollar A4

 

[Cravin Curacao]

Anyone out there in curacao? What are the conditions there after Thomas? Will be leaving next Thursday for a week of diving. Hope vis is good there

 

[reefdiva]

Can't speak to the dive conditions on Curacao after Tomas but heard from a friend there via sat phone that there was massive power outages, some of which are continuing. At least two people died in Curacao as a result of the storm and there was some damage to buildings including a hospital.

 

[Seaside Curacao]

Yes, 3 people died, one while trying to save another. Willemsted had serious floods. My old school is closed unitl they can clean up the almost meter of water in the lower and middle schools...
The Banda Abou region faired better with less storm and only heavy rains. Seems to be not as bas as Omar 2 years ago in terms of diving in this area.

Don