Bonaire Dive logistics

[Jim See]

Thanks for all the advice. I've forgotten what its like to travel light while diving. We'll forgo the gear bags. I can't wait to get to Bonaire. We've been having seas with15'-20' swells the last couple of weeks. ouch!

Thanks again,
Jim

 

[sinistar]

On a two week trip to Bonaire a friend of mine did something that worked out much better than I would have expected. He had read the forums and was thinking he still might like having a duffle. So he bought a cheapo duffle from Walmart. After a couple of days I was thinking I might do the same next time. There was really no problem [w/o a bag] just throwing everything in the back of the truck. However with several divers things were always getting tangled up, etc. Meanwhile he'd just grab his cheapo bag and carry it back to the rinse tank and lockers. So, if you do want some type of dive bag, buy something cheap and light that won't be missed if it dissappears and won't put a dent in your checked luggage size/weight. And since he did this, when we did boat dives he just used the same bag instead of bringing a heavier more typical dive bag. I think the other thing I missed about not having a bag for those couple of weeks is that after years of diving and packing my gear back in bags on boats and on local shore dives - I sorta felt like I was forgetting or missing something.

One thing [others may have already mentioned earlier] - in Bonaire you can park really close to the majority if dive sites. I'm talking really close! So, you definitely do not need a dive bag to hump/stage gear. From what I saw, nearly everyone gears up using the tailgate and walks all gear into the water and then right back to the tailgate when finishing.

We always did the frozen water bottle thing. It can get really warm gearing up in the afternoon and when you finish you will be thirsty. And its nice to have enough water to do a quick rinse of the cameras after exiting.

Also, as it can be very hot in the sun, we always made sure to have a towel or something else to keep the cameras (especially the acrylic enclosure) under cover while we got ready and after we got out.

And unless you do a more norther dive site (road turns 1-way forcing you back around the windward side to reach town) most of the drive times from your LDS to the dive site are literally just minutes. So its really easy to doff some gear, hop in the truck and go get something you may have forgotten or broken, etc. Thus anything beyond a few o-rings etc really isn't necessary (IMHO)

 

[MN Lakeman]

Great tips given f/ seasoned Bonaire vets - another one (though I've just been there once, but heading out again in 3 weeks - YEA!): when loading up your tanks into the trucks, take a quick look at the o-ring groove holding hopefully, a decent o-ring. We found the real culprit to those of us diving w/ bubble trails coming f/ our 1st stage was not faulty o-rings, but bent/dented o-ring housings. You can imagine w/ tanks being tossed into pick ups day in & day out, they get pretty beaten up. Spare o-rings & a "pick" (orange peeler works great) were the only "save a dive" items we brought with us.

 

[piikki]

Great tips given f/ seasoned Bonaire vets - another one (though I've just been there once, but heading out again in 3 weeks - YEA!): when loading up your tanks into the trucks, take a quick look at the o-ring groove holding hopefully, a decent o-ring. We found the real culprit to those of us diving w/ bubble trails coming f/ our 1st stage was not faulty o-rings, but bent/dented o-ring housings. You can imagine w/ tanks being tossed into pick ups day in & day out, they get pretty beaten up. Spare o-rings & a "pick" (orange peeler works great) were the only "save a dive" items we brought with us.

I think we started getting a few looks from the DMs as the week went by. Towards the end of the of the stay we got more vigilant choosing our tanks as our spare o-rings were vanishing, spending a fair amount of time choosing tanks we took - especially when going for the Northern sites for two-tank dives... No fun when 3/4 or 5/6 tanks start hissing, and all o-rings are gone or o-ring won't even fix the problem...

This time I will pack a ton of o-rings, so don't need to be so choosy

 

[herman]

..........And unless you do a more norther dive site (road turns 1-way forcing you back around the windward side to reach town) most of the drive times from your LDS to the dive site are literally just minutes..............

There is a way around this too. Just as you turn right past Karpata there is a dirt road leading off to the right. It starts out kinda rough but gets better as you go. It takes you up by the radio towers and back to the main road just before Oilslick. IMO, it's worth taking for the view alone and a very useful shortcut.

 

[tedtim]

To follow up on piiki's comments regarding o-rings. You may also want to take a look at the hydro dates on the tanks when you pick them up. We saw a few at BDA that were out of date. AFAIK, none of the tanks that we saw anywhere have an indication that a visual was done on them. Wise to be selective when it comes to tanks.

 

[sinistar]

There is a way around this too. Just as you turn right past Karpata there is a dirt road leading off to the right. It starts out kinda rough but gets better as you go. It takes you up by the radio towers and back to the main road just before Oilslick. IMO, it's worth taking for the view alone and a very useful shortcut.

...I love this site! We had no idea there was a shortcut back - thanks Herman!!!

Re: Tanks. Yeah, spending an extra few minutes sorting them out beforehand got tedious but definitely saved headaches. We dove out of Toucan (nitrox entire trip). While one person would check the blend, another was working one tank ahead checking o-rings, seats, pressures and leaks. We did this for our boat and shore dives. We were a bit surprised the first day at how often we found short fills and/or significant leaks. Being conservative, I would say that for every 5 tanks grabbed at least one was short or leaking. All the nitrox blends were a very consistent 33%. However, there were several tanks with 2500psi (or lower). Since we were checking pressures right there we would listen for leaks. We'd even pour a bit of water over the yoke and neck. And we soon learned that a fair number of leaks were not in the yoke but in the tank neck o-rings. Not much you can do about that. We'd mark them and set them aside. And about a day later we'd find others ... or perhaps a few of the same ones with our tape marking removed

I want to make sure and note that we were all very pleased with the Toucan setup, DM's, staff, boats, lockers, etc!!! I would recommend them and use them again. The entire trip was a blast. And this tank checking was our only nuisance which in the end was worth it because every single boat and shore dive went w/o a hitch (no dives aborted, no tools needed, no o-rings blown, no short fills entering the water, no runs back to town for anything, almost every dive exceeded 60min and many reached the 75min mark). And that was for 30+ dives each.

 

[herman]

Happy to help but to be honest the PBD kicks up every time I post anything about Bonaire. Oh well, grab another Amstel and start a slideshow...I have got to get another trip in the works.

 

[undercbon]

There is a way around this too. Just as you turn right past Karpata there is a dirt road leading off to the right. It starts out kinda rough but gets better as you go. It takes you up by the radio towers and back to the main road just before Oilslick. IMO, it's worth taking for the view alone and a very useful shortcut.

We have had a LOT of rain recently so be prepared for the shortcut to be a mess. There is only one area where it really gets chopped up but the ditches can be BIG. Make sure all your gear is situated in such a way that none of it goes out the back (if you have a mesh or gate tailgate) as you bounce your way through the messy part. Take your time and you should get through ok. Once you reach the top of the hill where the telephone towers are it is "clear" sailing from there.