Bonaire....steel tank rentals?

[Bubbletrubble]

I also prefer the buoyancy characteristics of steel tanks over AL tanks. However, the path of least resistance might be to get a couple of those inexpensive XS Scuba weight pockets and attach them to your tank cambands.

It looks like you'll be able to get the steel tanks, but you may have to wait for them to be filled and you'll be limiting yourself to one location for tank drop off/pick up. Bonaire dive ops have scads of filled AL80s (air or nitrox) lined up and ready for diving.

Have fun on your trip.

I am not sure why you would infer that this is the case but it is incorrect.

I never waited and there were many many tanks available at all times that I was there. How many places does one need to pick up and drop off tanks??

@Scott from LongIsland: I made that statement assuming: (1) that the dive op wouldn't have a seemingly "endless" supply of steel tanks and (2) that the shop wouldn't be one of the larger dive ops with multiple tank pick up/drop off locations (like Dive Friends Bonaire and others). Having never used the specific dive op that you recommended, I have no idea how many steel tanks they have available -- maybe they have a roomful of those tanks. I was just guessing that the steel tanks wouldn't be nearly as ubiquitous as the AL80s are on the island. That was all I was trying to say. If I'm wrong, then I completely retract my statement. When I'm on Bonaire I want to have easy access to nitrox so that I can dive as much as possible. The multiple tank pickup/drop-off locations enabled me to squeeze in more dives by saving some time at the end of the day. Bear in mind that I adhered to the only-take-one-tank-per-person rule when diving the northern sites. Others may not -- and then that might not be an issue. I just wanted the OP to know that there might be a trade-off of convenience if he went out of his way to rent steel tanks. As I said, though, if I'm wrong...I'm wrong. Just trying to be helpful.
Happy diving.

 

[Scott from LongIsland]

i guess your intent was there Bubbletrubble but I still don't see how it is "being helpful" to provide unfounded information that puts the dive shop and tank rentals in a negative light when this is not the case. Please do not get offended by this statement, but you are doing the opposite of "being helpful" by providing incorrect information. The do indeed have a room full of tanks with a great compressor. I never had to wait for anything there and it was an EXTREMELY efficient shop, not to mention spotless.

Also, the one tank per person rule does not apply to all dive shops and I signed out multiple tanks when I use Tropical Divers.

no offense but you know what they say about assuming things...

 

[rjchandler]

I used Tropic divers two weeks ago. Steel tanks in three sizes sized in liters ( I forget the numbers but basically 63, 78, 93 cu ft) filled to about 3000 (they measure in bar so this was full) and din valves. They had some large aluminum too with din valves but i didnt try to use them.

it is small operation but they only 'ran out" of the 93s once and most of them were back by late afternoon. (nothin wrong with a 78 - the air tastes the same. ) They try to fill em up as soon as they come in. Nitrox is free upgrade (that is Bonaire parlance for "we don't charge extra"). They only do 32% fom their membrane. there is an anylyzer available so you can check it out. The place is clean - ie spotless. German owners and most guests at the associated resort seemed to be German. Everyone spoke English. Don't have to stay with them to get tanks through them.

Taking the steel plate? -- have fun with the baggage charges

 

[Bubbletrubble]

i guess your intent was there Bubbletrubble but I still don't see how it is "being helpful" to provide unfounded information that puts the dive shop and tank rentals in a negative light when this is not the case. Please do not get offended by this statement, but you are doing the opposite of "being helpful" by providing incorrect information. The do indeed have a room full of tanks with a great compressor. I never had to wait for anything there and it was an EXTREMELY efficient shop, not to mention spotless.

Also, the one tank per person rule does not apply to all dive shops and I signed out multiple tanks when I use Tropical Divers.

no offense but you know what they say about assuming things...

@Scott from LongIsland:
Hmmm. So you're telling me that Tropical Divers allows divers to sign out multiple tanks per person to be used at northern dive sites. And they run an efficient, clean shop with a high quality compressor. That's good to know. I'll have to check them out the next time I'm on the island. It really is great that TD has the larger capacity (93 cuft) steel tanks, too.

With regard to the room full of tanks issue...
The last time I was on Bonaire, I was in a party of 8. There was another friendly group of 8 divers that always seemed to arrive at the tank stand at the same time as us -- you can imagine the wait for the O2 analyzer. For the southern dive sites, we'd each get 2 nitrox tanks. When the 16 of us left the tank stand, that was 32 nitrox tanks out the door at once. Shortly before lunch on some days, we'd all arrive at the tank stand...again...and leave with another 32 tanks. And between the 2 dive groups we never even made a dent in the nitrox tank pool at that location. That's what I meant by "scads." As I mentioned in my last post, I haven't used TD, so I have no idea how many tanks are in their pool. rjchandler's post leads me to believe that they have an ample supply. That's good to know.

FYI, I treat these online threads like a conversation. If I think I have something useful to say, then I make a post. And, FWIW, I learned a long time ago to ignore everything someone says after the words "no offense but..." The person's words are likely insulting and rarely constructive.

Bon bini, good sir.

 

[Capt Gary]

In my travels to Saba, Utila, and this year to Dominican Republic, gear with plate weighs in at 43lbs. no extra charges. International travel lets you take 2 bags per person, but thanks for you concerns.

Good Diving,

 

[rjchandler]

Capt -- I think Continental is down to 1 bag unless you're flying Elite- at least that is the only way I was able to get by when I went. I take an old backpack to keep the travel weight down.

 

[Drewpy]

I would prefer steel 93 nitrox tanks as well..didnt know they were so readily available?Will have to check it out? Are all of them DIN? I dive steel and DIN her in Nor Cal.
I agree with the others, the convenience of multiple drop off -pick up points for Al80's even home delivery (better than the milkman!) when we stayed at a villa could not be beat. The drive throughs are great too!

Have a great trip!

 

[CompuDude]

The difference between a 6# steel plate and an aluminum travel plate (which weight 2#) is a whopping 4#. With international luggage allowances, that's not a huge difference. Might be an issue on smaller connecting flights, though, so be sure to check policies beforehand. When I flew to Thailand, China Air allowed me TWO 70# bags per passenger. SWEET! But then my connecting flights around the interior of Thailand, on Thai air, restricted me to ONE 44# bag. DOH! The extra luggage allowance was therefore useless except for things I intended to consume between the two flights, and except for souvenirs purchased for the flight home.

 

[vanessar]

you can rent Steel tanks at Tropical Divers. It is across from the Plaza Resort. It is a German run dive shop. I used them last year and thought they were excellent. They have different sizes available too which is nice...Nitrox too of course.

Just dove with Tropical last week and I highly recommend them. The operation is very well run and tanks are always 2975 - 3000. However, they do use DIN and you will need an adaptor (the shop will provide) to use the tanks if you do not have a DIN reg.

This one of the cleanest dive ops I've ever seen.

Vanessar

 

[aichtwooh]

HP steel?
thanks!