Bonaire our way: a trip report

[Lorenzoid]

Your knife comment made me laugh - we got so frustrated with crap knives, we bought a set of 3 that we travel with - serrated, carving and paring. . . .

We bring knives on non-diving vacations, but on this trip we ran up against the 50 lb. weight limit. I guess we chose the frozen steaks over the knives. Carry-ons were stuffed to the gills, too. I should have mentioned I brought two wetsuits: a 5mm in the checked bag, and a 3 mm in the carry-on. I did the very first dive with the 3 mm, realized that I would be chilly if I did that three or four times a day, and used the 5 mm for the rest. Even then, I found myself feeling ever so slightly cool by the end of a 50-60 minute dive on a site with no current.

But back on the knife thing, although the unit had no serious utility ("chef's") knife, what we did find in the drawer were two different tools for carving cheese: a "plane" as I think it's called, and a wire cheese cutter. The Dutch don't mess around when it comes to cheese. Bring on the giant wheel of gouda.

 

[Jersey]

Oh yes - intimately familiar with the 'weighting' game! I usually sacrifice shoes, makeup and clothes.

 

[tkaelin]

Thanks for the report. Did you do much shore diving on your house reef? I did not see much mentioned other than the first day but I could have missed it. Also on the car insurance thing, I am by no means an expert on this issue but you should look carefully of what actually happens if you have and accident and say the car is damaged or totaled. When you pay the extra coverage with the local rent a car company, you simply walk unless there is a deductible. When you use other coverage, such as what a credit card company might provide you need to find out if you just walk and leave it to your cc co to work it out with the local rental car company. I thought I read somewhere that in this scenario you may be required to pay the local rental car co. and then wait and hope your cc company fully reimburses you. I may have this wrong but you should definitely find out beforehand.

 

[KeithG]

We bring knives on non-diving vacations, but on this trip we ran up against the 50 lb. weight limit. I guess we chose the frozen steaks over the knives. Carry-ons were stuffed to the gills, too. I should have mentioned I brought two wetsuits: a 5mm in the checked bag, and a 3 mm in the carry-on. I did the very first dive with the 3 mm, realized that I would be chilly if I did that three or four times a day, and used the 5 mm for the rest. Even then, I found myself feeling ever so slightly cool by the end of a 50-60 minute dive on a site with no current.

But back on the knife thing, although the unit had no serious utility ("chef's") knife, what we did find in the drawer were two different tools for carving cheese: a "plane" as I think it's called, and a wire cheese cutter. The Dutch don't mess around when it comes to cheese. Bring on the giant wheel of gouda.

Hang on a minute...You are saying your dive knife can cut your free from any underwater entanglement, but it is crap at the kitchen table?

P.S. My dive knife has only been used once in its life - to cut the pineapple during our SI.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Thanks for the report. Did you do much shore diving on your house reef? I did not see much mentioned other than the first day but I could have missed it. Also on the car insurance thing, I am by no means an expert on this issue but you should look carefully of what actually happens if you have and accident and say the car is damaged or totaled. When you pay the extra coverage with the local rent a car company, you simply walk unless there is a deductible. When you use other coverage, such as what a credit card company might provide you need to find out if you just walk and leave it to your cc co to work it out with the local rental car company. I thought I read somewhere that in this scenario you may be required to pay the local rental car co. and then wait and hope your cc company fully reimburses you. I may have this wrong but you should definitely find out beforehand.

"The Cliff" is Hamlet's house reef. We did not dive it again after the initial weight check dive because we have dived it many times on previous trips, when we rented a villa with steps down to the shore. That was convenient to say the least. There is no dock at DF Hamlet that would allow a convenient Cliff dive, so you have to do a shore entry like any typical Bonaire site. I like house reef dives, but I would not bother with them unless the place has a dock or at least steps or something.

As for the Amex Premium Car Rental Insurance program, it has been extensively discussed in a number of SB threads.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Hang on a minute...You are saying your dive knife can cut your free from any underwater entanglement, but it is crap at the kitchen table?

I usually carry scissors/shears, and they're great for all kinds of things out of the water, but not so much for cutting meat or dicing vegetables.

 

[tkaelin]

As for the Amex Premium Car Rental Insurance program, it has been extensively discussed in a number of SB threads.

Ok, I'll take a look.

 

[Kharon]

... Our Hamlet Oasis unit was a 1-br "apartment" in the building (No. 27) right next to Dive Friends, which could not have been more convenient. We chose Hamlet Oasis because out of the various options in our price range for a place with a reasonably equipped kitchen--Hamlet Oasis, Den Laman, VRBOs, etc.--Hamlet's balance between price and amenities seemed to suit our needs. Den Laman would have been a step up, I suspect, but Den Laman quoted us about $30 more per night. Our kitchen was minimally equipped--no microwave, no blender, no steak knives, plastic cooking tools, small coffeemaker, a gas stove with no ignitor (and no matches/lighter stocked). ...

... This group of early birds (which I doubt DF appreciated) took an hour to get checked in, rent gear, and clear out to The Cliff for their weight check dive. By the time we had checked in and returned from our weight check dive, the group had returned and were in the process of analyzing and loading 28 tanks onto their four trucks. Another hour.

During my last trip to Bon I stayed in Hamlet #27 and I don't remember having any of the problems you cite. The kitchen had everything I needed or wanted. Some of the items (a collander, for example) were tucked away and I had to look a bit till I found them. The apartment is very new, furnished well, and exceptionally clean. The AC works very well and the wi-fi is very fast.

Maybe I'm more flexible but I found #27 to be perfect. I rent directly from the owner and get my transportation directly from them as well. They give me a 10% discount at Dive Friends and the cost for accomodatoions and transport is less than any other place I've stayed (even Coco Palm Garden). Berry (property manager) picks me up at the airport and either he or his wife drops me off when I'm leaving. Certainly you can't beat being right next to the dive shop and right on the Cliff dive site.

Also, don't think you can fault the dive shop for a$$hats that have no consideration for other divers. Last I knew, the Hamlet Dive Friends had a sign asking that you only take 2 tanks per diver. Unless they stationed someone in the tank room to enforce that, there's no way to keep jerks from taking way more than they should.

Trip before last I had a bunch of (ethnic - not going to identify) people push and shove to get on the plane first even though they were in Group 4 boarding and I had priority boarding. Some people are just jerks.

 

[Lorenzoid]

During my last trip to Bon I stayed in Hamlet #27 and I don't remember having any of the problems you cite. The kitchen had everything I needed or wanted. Some of the items (a collander, for example) were tucked away and I had to look a bit till I found them. The apartment is very new, furnished well, and exceptionally clean. The AC works very well and the wi-fi is very fast.

Maybe I'm more flexible but I found #27 to be perfect. I rent directly from the owner and get my transportation directly from them as well. They give me a 10% discount at Dive Friends and the cost for accomodatoions and transport is less than any other place I've stayed (even Coco Palm Garden). Berry (property manager) picks me up at the airport and either he or his wife drops me off when I'm leaving. Certainly you can't beat being right next to the dive shop and right on the Cliff dive site.

Just to clarify (for others), Hamlet #27 is the building number, and the building is divided into (I think) four units, of which we had unit 27-1, the ground floor unit on the right side. The ground floor unit on the left side is a studio (www.hamletstudio.nl), while ours was a "1-br apartment," which but for the walls enclosing the bedroom is probably about the same square footage as an average studio apartment in the US. When all our gear was spread out, it was just barely enough room not to feel claustrophobic. I am SO glad we did not opt for the studio. For us, the kitchen did not have everything we wanted--seriously, a gas stove with no way to light it unless you buy matches or a lighter? The kitchen was just barely okay for two people who like to cook. In addition to what I mentioned, there was no large pot for boiling a quantity of pasta or something of that sort--only two smaller pots. The AC worked well but is limited to the bedroom and doesn't reach the kitchen/living area (which was okay with us, as we just left the glass door open all the time). The WiFi was weak, but that could have been a temporary issue. The best WiFi signal I could find was over at Dive Friends. Overall, it met our needs and we had a great time there. And yes, there is a 10% discount at DF for anyone staying at Hamlet Oasis.

Also, don't think you can fault the dive shop for a$$hats that have no consideration for other divers. Last I knew, the Hamlet Dive Friends had a sign asking that you only take 2 tanks per diver. Unless they stationed someone in the tank room to enforce that, there's no way to keep jerks from taking way more than they should.

Don't get me wrong--the group of 14 were not a$$hats but rather seemed polite. It's just that there were 14 of them, and each had to analyze two tanks. I can't expect DF to have notified us that this group would descend on the dive shop the moment they opened (or before!). It was just one of those days, that's all.

 

[Bas Tol(B.A.S.Diving)]

That's not us in the video (at 4:22), so it's either from another day or a compilation of both days. Regardless, Boka Spelonk is a great dive. Thanks again!

Yes, you are correct. It's two dives in one video. Yours and next days Spelonk dive combined. Usually I make the video's per dive. But since I did not have enough footage due to lower viz when certain shot just do not come out great. And also because I wanted to use the precious bottom time showing you stuff rather than filming. Normally my video's get the dive site name and date of dive. But since I also post the vids on FaceBook and there were so many Lobsters in it I did not give the video the dive site name as I would like to see them again next week...
Thanks for diving with me! It was a good time and I am looking forward to showing you some more of the east side.