Bonaire First Timers

[JVM4.0]

As the title says, we will be Bonaire First Timers. I'm a little apprehensive about the trip, and am turning to you more experienced divers to help me calm my fears.

First, a little background:

My wife and I are relatively new divers with less than 30 dives. Except for a highly supervised dive in the Bahamas, all of our dives have been here in local lakes in the midwest. We are contemplating a trip to Bonaire in April, and want to make sure we aren't going to have a bad experience, so here are my questions:

1) We will be by ourselves (not as part of a group). Will we be able to hook up with others? How easy will that be? Just drive up and ask to join a group?
2) How important are navigations skills when shore diving? Is it easy to get lost?
3) What if we need some help while out diving, due to some unforeseen circumstances? Who do we look to?
4) Does the dive shop really close at 6:00pm at Buddy Dive? What if we wanted to do some evening dives?
5) Are there lists of recommended sites with what we might see there? Are they available there?
6) Does the dive shop freely offer advice and help with weighting, and other local information?

As you can see, I'm kind of worried because of our relative experience level, and possibly not having access to the kind of help we are used to diving around here. Our other choice is to go to Cozumel and basically have everything done for us........

Ideas? Suggestions? Resources?

We will be making our final decision later this week, and your help will play a large part in helping us make the right decision.......

Thanks in advance!

 

[Cecil]

OK, well, first off don't worry about any of it.

Now to specifics.
1) Dive to your comfort level. You'll see what I mean. You're at Buddy Dive do some boat dives the first day or so to get comfortable. Then venture out on your own.

2) Navigation skills not required. Swim to the wall, right or left, half tank turn around and swim back to entry. It really is easy. Try to take note of a structure near you entry.

3) Distances are not great on Bonaire and most sites are less than 10 minutes away. There will also almost alway be other divers around, who love to help.

4) Just get your tanks ahead and put them in your truck.

5) They're all good and very similiar.

6) A pretty safe bet, if you ask. Another option and recommended is to hire a DM for some dives.

Hy, they don't call it diver's paradise for nothing.

 

[robint]

OK, well, first off don't worry about any of it.

Now to specifics.
1) Dive to your comfort level. You'll see what I mean. You're at Buddy Dive do some boat dives the first day or so to get comfortable. Then venture out on your own.

2) Navigation skills not required. Swim to the wall, right or left, half tank turn around and swim back to entry. It really is easy. Try to take note of a structure near you entry.

3) Distances are not great on Bonaire and most sites are less than 10 minutes away. There will also almost alway be other divers around, who love to help.

4) Just get your tanks ahead and put them in your truck.

5) They're all good and very similiar.

6) A pretty safe bet, if you ask. Another option and recommended is to hire a DM for some dives.

Hy, they don't call it diver's paradise for nothing.

ditto everything said here....... except the issue about Buddy's dive shop closing time. Yes, they close but tanks are available anytime, they will tell you all about that during the briefing. You can dive there at resort 24/7 or take a tank and put it in your truck for a night dive somewhere else if you want. No problemo!
Buy the shore diving book! It's sold online, get it now and start reading about the various dive sites. Really helpful stuff.

robin

 

[Jim Lapenta]

As the title says, we will be Bonaire First Timers. I'm a little apprehensive about the trip, and am turning to you more experienced divers to help me calm my fears.

First, a little background:

My wife and I are relatively new divers with less than 30 dives. Except for a highly supervised dive in the Bahamas, all of our dives have been here in local lakes in the midwest. We are contemplating a trip to Bonaire in April, and want to make sure we aren't going to have a bad experience, so here are my questions:

1) We will be by ourselves (not as part of a group). Will we be able to hook up with others? How easy will that be? Just drive up and ask to join a group?
2) How important are navigations skills when shore diving? Is it easy to get lost?
3) What if we need some help while out diving, due to some unforeseen circumstances? Who do we look to?
4) Does the dive shop really close at 6:00pm at Buddy Dive? What if we wanted to do some evening dives?
5) Are there lists of recommended sites with what we might see there? Are they available there?
6) Does the dive shop freely offer advice and help with weighting, and other local information?

As you can see, I'm kind of worried because of our relative experience level, and possibly not having access to the kind of help we are used to diving around here. Our other choice is to go to Cozumel and basically have everything done for us........

Ideas? Suggestions? Resources?

We will be making our final decision later this week, and your help will play a large part in helping us make the right decision.......

Thanks in advance!

1.We also will be going to Bonaire for the first time in two weeks.
I've got a little more experience than you and the group we are going with is made up of two students doing checkout dives a few recreational divers and four or five tech divers. Also there will be an instructor, 2 DM's an AI(moi) and a few others. Have you looked into going with a group? That way you know you'll be with somebody.

2.As for hooking up with someone it should be possible but many go to Bonaire for the freedom to dive as they see fit when they see fit.

Many reefs are right off the shore. The house reef where we are staying starts 20 yds from the dock. Little current so want to know where you are? Surface and look. Or go with a boat that puts a DM in the water and follow him within your limits. If he goes to 80 ft stay at 60 above him. As for nav skills how are you getting around your local spots? You should be practicing nav and buoyancy on every dive. Compass, natural, or a combination of both. Your instructor should have told you this.

3. Diving is about being self sufficient no matter what the agencies say. If you are unsure about being able to help each other out hire a DM or get more training and experience.

4.Where are you staying? If at Buddy then I believe they have a bank of tanks just for guests. Want an evening dive- grab a couple and hit the water. Where we are at if at 2AM I can't sleep and want to dive I can go to the dock, grab a tank and hit the water.

5. There are guidebooks to sites and you could probably buy one at any shop there.

6. Again as certified divers you should know how to do a weight check. If diving in the park you'll need to do a checkout dive anyway when you get there to be sure you are squared away and not going to tear up the reef.

If not going with a group or hiring a DM then you are on your own. Nobody will assemble your gear except you(this is as it should be). You'll do your own weight and bubble checks, plan your dives, and dive the plan. Even with less than 30 dives you should be competent enough to do all of the above. YOu should be comfortable with each others skills and strengths as well as weaknesses and plan accordingly. If you were going down the same time as us I'd be glad to guide you. For a fee of course.

 

[Lucy's Diver]

Like was said - swim to reef, determine current (if any) descent to max planned depth, swim into current, at maybe 1500 lbs turn around and start to ascend as you swim back. This is not a rule of thirds dive but it worked fine for me in Bonnaire b/c you can ascend on the trip back to a point where you are using way less air than on the way out. I was consistently getting out of the water with more than 800 psi.

 

[gypsyjim]

Bonaire and Buddy dive are favorites of ours!!! My girlfriend is very new to diving and she loves the easy access shore diving available at many sights. Kids and I have more experience and often dive the less accessible sights. When I say there are easy entry sights, I do mean easy. Little current and no surf! There are harder sights to reach, and there is boat diving, although we seldom choose the boats. We love Buddy's trucks and all the great dive sights we can just drive to. Once you are "oriented" by the Buddy team you will know how to access tanks and locker area 24hrs, you will have your own truck and you simply drive threw the tank station. Night dives are easy also with well lighted staging and entry area at house reef. Do stay alert for Jells on night dives as you exit here, as the light seems to draw them sometimes.

 

[Lowrider Steve]

We were at Buddy Dive last week. Had a great time! All above is correct. For dives off the Buddy Dive dock, you can get a tank at any time. If you want to do a night dive off site, get your tanks during the day and put them in a locker for later. All covered in the briefing and very easy.

Be carefull getting in and out of the surf, you can probably expect some reef rash.

Navigation: all we did was take a compass reading to go out to the reef, make an effort to look around and mark your position, swim into the current for half a tank and back to your spot. If you are anywhere in the area, you can surface and see your truck.

Have a great time!

 

[JVM4.0]

Thank you all for the responses, all of which I have found very helpful.

Please forgive some of the naive tone of some of my questions..........Yes, we are indeed certified, and have taken some "advanced" classes as well, including nitrox, navigation, deep, and night, but I'm home recovering from some oral surgery today, and the Vicodan is kicking my brain around a little too much.........

It appears that my concerns were for the most part unwarranted, and we are looking forward to a great time, and some fantastic diving (for a change).

Thanks again, and I will look forward to learning more from additional posts.

See you in Bonaire on April 18th!

 

[gypsyjim]

We'll just miss you: we're returning to Buddy and Bonaire April 4. You'll love it. If you want to try something a bit different you can book a trip with an operator called Larry's Wild Side. He has a Navy style inflatable and dives the rougher back side. My son loved that experience! Have a great trip!! Jim

 

[diversteve]

1) We will be by ourselves (not as part of a group). Will we be able to hook up with others? How easy will that be? Just drive up and ask to join a group?

Stand around for a few minutes and it's likely someone will ask you. I was asked three times on the dock at Capt. Don's while waiting for my buddy. South of town, the area is so flat and the divesites so numerous that you'll see divers at about 1/2 dozen sites - at least in the morning. So finding someone to dive with s/b easy.

2) Is it easy to get lost?

It's almost impossible to get lost. At most sites the reef parallels the shoreline a short distance out.

3) What if we need some help while out diving, due to some unforeseen circumstances? Who do we look to?

There's a hospital, they have a chamber. Police on Bonaire are few and far between. There may also be some Marine Park employees seen occasionally, they're mostly on boats. Keep in mind is that it is pretty remote at some sites especiallly in Slagbaai park to the north and on the south end. Although you really shouldn't be diving either end given your experience, there's more current and it's a long float to Curacao (or South America)

5) Are there lists of recommended sites with what we might see there? Are they available there?

There's hundreds of recommendations in the ABC forum here on SB. ScubaBoard - ABC Islands

People also recommend Susan Porter's book, Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy. Google it for where to get one. Two other good sources for Bonaire info are Info Bonaire - The Bonaire Information Site - The Most Current and Up-To-Date Information and Bonaire Talk - The place to discuss everything and anything about Bonaire!.

6) Does the dive shop freely offer advice and help with weighting, and other local information?

Yes, they do a BMP (Bonaire Marine Park) Orientation with you the first morning you're there. They explain the park rules (basically don't touch anything) their operation and issue your BMP tag. I think Buddy's even has a video.

Without the tag you can't get a tank anywhere. With the tag you don't need to show your c-card anywhere, even if you dive on someone else's property. Which is likely as almost all the resorts are sited on known, better divesites.

Some diveops then escort you on a checkout dive, others just help you get weighted and let you go.

After diving Buddy's reef, drive next door to Den Laman and dive Bari Reef, it's another simple entry and has the most counted species of fish in the Caribbean.

hth,