Bonaire handrails

[ronski101]

Gee, Rattling cages worked better than I thought it would. Must be boring at work this week huh? Actually I have decided against hand rails. The hot ticket today is a 50 ft long zip line. With your fins on and reg in, camera held with retainers, you just grab a handle, lift your legs and glide effortlessly into the water. This would work great at 1000 steps but Dina's leap might be a bit much when you let go except for you macho types. I haven't figured out how to get back out of the water yet though.
Despite having the thread stolen, purist rants, overkill like escalators, beer served (I bet a catering truck could do a good business at the south end), defending Stinapa (when was the last time you saw a big grouper? Ain't lion fish purty), I did see an idea worth trying. Holding hands with your dive partner to steady yourself is worth a go. Lugging an integrated tank/BC, fins, and camera sans strobe may be a bit much but using the tank as a support may also have merrit. Wait, I just got another idea. How about a water slide like the one at the Golden Nugget in Vegas where you slide right through their huge shark tank? This should keep you all busy for a while.......

 

[gypsyjim]

It was a thread designed to be stolen

As long as you were being silly, it was an open invitation for hijack

 

[ernani]

Wait, I just got another idea. How about a water slide like the one at the Golden Nugget in Vegas where you slide right through their huge shark tank? This should keep you all busy for a while.......

This one is ALMOST as good as my idea of the hostess with the beer - mine is more practical, though. Beer you can get on Bonaire, but where on earth will you find sharks???

 

[Walter]

This one is ALMOST as good as my idea of the hostess with the beer - mine is more practical, though. Beer you can get on Bonaire, but where on earth will you find sharks???

Grenada

 

[tarponchik]

We didn't do many dives either but the island may very well be the most beautiful island I've ever been on.

That's right! Dominica is sometimes called "Caribbean Hawaii" for good reason. There is too much to see besides diving. But for the underwater junkies their low diving rate can be a serious turn off.

 

[lmorin]

Dominica has a law that forbids diving w/o a local guide. This pretty much rules shore diving out. The trips to dive sites on a boat are very short, 5 min top, so in theory you could easilly do 4-5 dives a day. But no way, these guys are very, very relaxed. In 5 days of diving there we did only 11 dives. The airport is in NE, and we dived in SW, so get ready for a 2-hr ride. Driving is a nightmare cause the island is a chunk of rock and the roads wind like snakes and always go 45 degrees up then 45 degrees down etc. The roads are very narrow, and they drive on the left, just to complicate things further. I suggest, do not rent a car and move around on local mini-buses or call a cab. On the bright side, diving itself is very interesting and marine life is rich and diverse. The island has beautiful waterfalls and great hikes along desolated volcanic landscape. And the grow world's best pineapples.

On our January, 2010, trip to Dominica, we did 2 boat dives each AM with DMs from Dive Dominica at Castle Comfort. Each afternoon, we did at least one shore dive from the CC dock with no DM/guide and with the dive shop closed (the gear/tank part of the shop was open). Same for night dives. So, I don't think the "law" about guides being required is true. We were certainly never informed of such. Moreover, Dominica doesn't even have a drunk driving law, so I think it unlikely that divers would be required to have a guide. Or, there may be such a rule that applies only to the Marine Preserve which are not near Roseau.

 

[gert7to3]

BDSC, RE: vis

On Bonaire it varies during the seasons. When there is rain that promotes algae growth. With the easterly trade winds, you can get a lot of sand and particulate blown into the water. If the wind has backed around, waves on the west side can stir up the bottom. I understand that July and August offer less wind and rain with better vis, though it can be hot.

There have been some anecdotal complaints that the cruise ships may be polluting the water with off shore discharge. There are many more ships in the area now. I saw a ship in port everyday, on my last couple of trips. It was a really weird experience when one of them departed while I was diving at Divi. There was a tremendous amount of racket and it seemed to create some turbidity.

Another issue is the sewage treatment capacity of the island has not kept up with the increasing population. There has been a building boom. Couple this with cruise passengers, and some cruise ships unloading waste into on shore dumps, with in ground septic tanks at new dwellings, there's a growing problem.

Besides decreased vis I have noticed numerous patches of slimy reddish algae killing corals and sponges on the reef. It seems to occur more on the southern sites which puzzles me, because they are more remote from the settled areas. I haven't noticed this as much out on Klein.

 

[Belmont]

Here is a little trick I have used:

There is a shore entry dive I do sometimes where it's very rocky and uneven. Between the rocks the ground is soft and the mud wants to keep your feet in.

I fell once in a foot of water with twin 130's on my back.:shocked2:

Now, at that location, I bring a set of old bamboo ski poles. I walk in and leave them in five feet of water when the way is clear.

They stay down with a two pound lead weight.

I pick them up on my way out.

Ski poles with scuba diving.

 

[tarponchik]

On our January, 2010, trip to Dominica, we did 2 boat dives each AM with DMs from Dive Dominica at Castle Comfort. Each afternoon, we did at least one shore dive from the CC dock with no DM/guide and with the dive shop closed (the gear/tank part of the shop was open). Same for night dives. So, I don't think the "law" about guides being required is true. We were certainly never informed of such. Moreover, Dominica doesn't even have a drunk driving law, so I think it unlikely that divers would be required to have a guide. Or, there may be such a rule that applies only to the Marine Preserve which are not near Roseau.

That's what they told us at Nature island when we stayed there in 2004. Maybe not all diveshops enforce this rule, maybe they changed the rules. But this was true for us back then.
Nature Island Dive, Dominica - Scuba Diving, Snorkeling, Mountain Biking, Sea Kayaking

 

[ronski101]

I thought about some kind of walking stick but figured it would get stolen or washed away. A take it with you telescoping system might work. I have not dove all the shore dive sites in Bonaire and would like to see rocks placed in an arrow to show the best/safest entry/exit point but then again (sigh) it would destroy the visual environment wouldn't it?????