Boat diving question.

[DavidHickey]

Well my trip to Bonaire is coming up quickly! Just wondering though, as I've stated 99.9% of all my diving has been in Quarries here in Ohio. I've never been on a dive boat and we have six 2 tank boat dives included with the package. Any special etiquette to consider while on the boat? And whats the best way to store our equipment? I can't imagine you bring your suitcase on the boat with you. Or should I purchase one of the mesh bags to store it? Any idea or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks
David

 

[Ed Marshall]

Bring a mesh bag for your gear. Some dive ops will loan you one, but it's a nice thing to own in my opinion.

Ed

 

[Dave Zimmerly]

Travel light on the boat. Take a mesh bag for fins, suits and a dry bag for everything else. Wear your BC to the boat. When suiting up, fins go on first, then your BC.

Listen to the DM about the dive brief.

Stow gear under your seat, and secure dry bag to overhead railing. There will be two tubs at the stern of the boat, one is for masks the other for camera's. Don't put your mask in the camera tub.

If you are prone to sea sickness, take meds before going out. Make sure your fins are marked; after you get back on the boat, your fins will be in a big heap at the stern along with everyone elses. Stay out of the way of the DM and Captain as they help other divers aboard.

Items you might want to have; money for tips, water, sunscreen, wind breaker, sunglasses.

Hope this helps.

Dave (aka "Squirt")

 

[Doc]

Listen to the DM about the dive brief.

Amen, amen, amen.

And if not using a weight integrated BC, leave any weights ON THE DECK (floor).

 

[diversteve]

Just about every dive op on Bonaire has lockers on/near their dive dock. In fact they'll suggest you leave your stuff there while diving with them. So at the most a mesh bag will work. I just carry my bc over one shoulder separately and all my other stuff goes in the bag onto the boat. Most of the boats are on the smaller side since the water's so calm so there's not a lot of storage room except for under your seat.

There's little crime on Bonaire at the resorts, I've left stuff out in the open there and it's there on my return. My buddy accidentally left his fins in a rinse tank, they were there a couple hrs. later when he went back for them.

Otoh, don't leave anything in the truck while shorediving that you don't want to lose. Although it never happened to us, it's a pretty common problem. We just load tanks and throw our divegear loose in the back seat of the truck (most are 4drs.) so we don't leave anything in the truck while on the dive. Although a lot of the time someone will be doing a surface interval nearby so everybody watches each others stuff. Around the Hooker/Angel City/Invisibles south sites, there's probably a half dozen sites within 200 yds. of each other so it's easy to see who's there.

Bring good treaded boots for shorediving. While it's excellent, the entries are coral rubble and ironshore almost everywhere.

Also realize that you're 10-15 minutes from your resort no matter where you dive on the west side. And once you go through orientation and get your BMP tag, you'll never need to show your C-Card again - we left ours at the condo after the 1st day, even though we dove with at least 4 different dive resorts/ops (it was Diveweek so everybody sponsored a dive) No one even asked to see it.

Who are you diving with? I'm sure many of us can give you some insight into their operations.

P.S. Bonaire viz makes St. Thomas viz seem like the quarry.

 

[rottielover]

My wife and I are going to Bonaire March/April 07, so I'm listening in on this thread as well.

We've done one 2 tank boat dive when we were on Maui, and it was an experaince! We had mesh bags for our mask,fins, snorkel, camera, etc (basically anything "allowed" to get wet. We also purchased one of those "roll down" dry bags, this was very useful, we put our towels, glasses, and log books in it.

The BIGGEST mistake I made (yea, I'm a dumb@ss sometimes too), was that I put my towel under my seat while I was getting my gear all squared away. I had intended to put it into the dry bag, but being our first boat experiance, I got sidetracked... By the end of the diving when I went to reach for the towel, it was SOAKED, just like the captian and DM's had said it would be.... Well at least I didn't really need it much, we hung it off our balcony for the next couple days to dry

BTW, LISTEN to the captain / DM / Crew on the boat, they will most likely tell you where to put ANYTHING that needs to be dry, assume that ANYWHERE else will be WET!

Other than that it was a great time, though by the end of the day on the way back to shore I was starting to get a little sea sick. Fortunatly, all I needed was to watch out in front of the boat, and I was fine... A good indicator I think is do you get sick if you try to read in the car? Some people can read a novel in the car, me on the other hand, if I try to read 1 sentance I start to feel a little queezy.

I think next time I'm going to get some meds....

 

[sskasser]

Paying attention to the dive briefing is a good tip. Often, you're meeting new people, setting up gear, etc, and it's easy to miss important info.

I'd definitely suggest taking some seasick meds starting the night before the first boat trip, and again about an hour before. Once you feel sick, it's too late.

Depending on the boat and operator, you may be in tight quarters getting your gear set up and/or stowed. Introduce yourself to your "neighbors" and remember you're all there to enjoy the adventure!

 

[renthal]

Great info on what to take on the dive boat. A note about towels, we use the swimmers towels, they are synthetic chamois. Just use, rinse, and wring them out.

 

[bfisher]

Some decent advice and pretty much all covered except one thing. I did it and will always remember----do not get on the boat till you are given "permission to come aboard". ASK first.

 

[timle]

When suiting up, fins go on first, then your BC.

While I'm sure this has been your experience. I have never put on my fins before my BC on a boat. Ever boat has different procedures, best bet is to listen up and if its something small like when to put on your fins, etc - just do as they like it. If its something big like a trust me dive to 130 ft - speak up.