Bonaire Chamber

[Jersey]

Thank you @tursiops - good to know. My bags are almost packed for the annual JustUsDivers Bonaire 2023 tour. We are ultra conservative divers, all too old to be too bold. All the same, having a staffed chamber has been something we look for when travelling. Not always possible, but we check. As a healthcare consultant, I know staffing issues abound.

@Jake 10 that's the piece I read. Thank you.

 

[Jake 10]

Thank you @tursiops - good to know. My bags are almost packed for the annual JustUsDivers Bonaire 2023 tour. We are ultra conservative divers, all too old to be too bold. All the same, having a staffed chamber has been something we look for when travelling. Not always possible, but we check. As a healthcare consultant, I know staffing issues abound.

@Jake 10 that's the piece I read. Thank you.

let us know how your trip goes, we are scheduled to be there late June 2023

 

[tursiops]

Recompression Chamber Bonaire temporarily closed due to shortage of dive doctors -

Since the retirement and resignation of Dr. van der Vaart in early 2023, there has been a shortage in the group of dive doctors on Bonaire.

bes-reporter.com

 

[Jersey]

let us know how your trip goes, we are scheduled to be there late June 2023

Will do. If it's anything like the previous 18, I'm hoping for sublime! Booked Melissa Sailing dinner, reservations at Chefs, a West Side dive trip, catching up with old friends for 5 birthday celebrations. Joining friends from Boston, Wisconsin, Maryland, the Netherlands and our local Bonaire friends....

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

Will do. If it's anything like the previous 18, I'm hoping for sublime! Booked Melissa Sailing dinner, reservations at Chefs, a West Side dive trip, catching up with old friends for 5 birthday celebrations. Joining friends from Boston, Wisconsin, Maryland, the Netherlands and our local Bonaire friends....

Also looking forward to hearing how your trip goes! We'll be there at the end of April for a 10 night stay....
PS..... On your itinerary....did you mean to say East Side dive trip?

 

[Jersey]

@NW Dive Dawg - yes - EAST side diving. I’ll never get it straight.

 

[Sue Sue]

Not having a working chamber on Bonaire is unfortunate, especially with the number of divers that visit and dive there. Hopefully, a solution to the problem will be in place sooner than later. Until then, it is understandable that divers choose another destination with local and quickly obtained chamber services available should the need occurs.

 

[tursiops]

Bonaire gets about 16,000 tourists per month, according to the Tourist Board. They stay 1-2 weeks, mostly. Assume half of them dive, an average of 2 dives/day.
That is (say) 50,000 dives per month on Bonaire, which is likely an underestimate.
The chamber folks once told me they treat maybe 5 DCS cases a week, so 20/month.
That corresponds to 20/50,000 = 4 DCS cases per 10,000 dives.
An oft-reported number for sports divers is 3-4 cases per 10,000 dives.
Bonaire is not special except in having had a low-cost and readily available chamber on-island.

 

[Doctorfish]

Alternatively, still go to Bonaire and dive a little more cautiously. Not having a chamber on island does not deter me from diving Little Cayman and Cayman Brac, and it won't deter me from going to Bonaire either.

 

[Jake 10]

Dive within you limits... is the first or second rule you learn when you first start diving, the other rule is don't hold your breath under water! Then you will not have a need for chamber.