Trip Report Bonaire Trip Report 12/29/18 - 1/5/19 (+ Hat Tip to SB!)

[oldschoolto]

And here we go again... LOL..
Solo Diving... Don't ask, Don't Tell..

As per PADI dive centers "rules" you need to have the training to do the dives you are doing.. No one is checking for your buddy or pony bottle or the depths that you went to.. w


Now, If you ask if you can Solo deep , DECO dive with a single 80cu with a OW card and 25 dives... Don't be surprised if they tell you NO.. And make sure you don't...

Jim..

 

[Dish]

That was a very fine write-up @Randallr

Thanks for putting that together and posting your report.

 

[darook]

I'm heading to Bonaire January 26th and staying till May 19th.. 4 months of diving should be nice.. Did I ever tell you guy's that retirement ROCKS..

Jim..

I’m sure it does! How do you handle getting tanks and a vehicle for that duration? I’m guessing that you aren’t paying the weekly rat s.

 

[oldschoolto]

I’m sure it does! How do you handle getting tanks and a vehicle for that duration? I’m guessing that you aren’t paying the weekly rat s.

Rental monthly... $1000. Bought my own truck 3 years ago $3500., more than paid for itself long ago.. Own my own tanks. Spend about the same as home for food.. .
I am very lucky to have a few great friends that let me store my wife & my gear. And one that keeps the pick up stuff done for me.. He drops it at the airport gased and ready to go when I get there.. And then picks it up from the airport when I fly out early in the morning..
Jim..

 

[MN Lakeman]

Great trip report - thank you! I'm leaving frigid Minneapolis in a few weeks for a 5th visit to Bonaire & this will be our 1st time staying at Den Leman for the 4 of us. I have read in the past that there are fresh fruit stands around the town on certain days - do you have an update on where they were located & good days to buy? Great tip on the smoked chicken stand - lunch meats @ the grocery were always kind of odd to me...but oh that Dutch cheese - yum!

 

[Randallr]

Do you mean if you want a buddy for a shore dive, then you need to find one? I'm sure you don't mean you are required to have a buddy on a shore dive....

Replying to tursiops, with apologies for the delay:
Well, on almost all shore dives, there's no one there monitoring you, so I guess you're free to go in without a buddy, But the DFB Sand Dollar pier on Bari Reef, I very much got the sense that there were folks keeping a watch out to make sure you were playing by the rules. Maybe it's just my own paranoia.

 

[Randallr]

That would be bad indeed. Can you give us examples?

Richard.

drrich2, yes: In the run-up to my trip, DFB Sand Dollar was insistent that I had to do a mandatory check-in dive. I didn't recall that from the last time I dove there. I was specifically asked in the shop whether I had the PADI solo diver certification, and when I said no, they directed me to the buddy board outside - something that also had never happened to me before. And as mentioned above, I did feel there were dive pros from the shop on the pier at most times keeping at least a vague eye on whether divers were accompanied. But again, maybe I was just overly sensitive. But as a reference point, I never felt any of this at play when, for example, I dove Scuba Club Cozumel's house reef.

 

[Randallr]

Great trip report - thank you! I'm leaving frigid Minneapolis in a few weeks for a 5th visit to Bonaire & this will be our 1st time staying at Den Leman for the 4 of us. I have read in the past that there are fresh fruit stands around the town on certain days - do you have an update on where they were located & good days to buy? Great tip on the smoked chicken stand - lunch meats @ the grocery were always kind of odd to me...but oh that Dutch cheese - yum!

Sorry, MN Lakeman, I didn't see them. There was a bakery stand outside Van den Tweel, and I think they may have had fruit or veggies on some days.

 

[Jordan23]

pm as well
i will be there during july august (have a house there), will be glad to dive with singles diver guys my age (non smokers only) and make some friends as well

 

[dmaziuk]

drrich2, yes: In the run-up to my trip, DFB Sand Dollar was insistent that I had to do a mandatory check-in dive. I didn't recall that from the last time I dove there.

When we were there, the pier was still Den Laman's and there were usually people gearing up and down, especially at night: the place is like nightclub central. I never got the "overseeing dive pros" vibe, but then again we were in a unit near Buddy fence and mostly used the stairs on that side of Sand Dollar instead of the pier beach. We did a "checkout" dive from the beach: a guy form the shop watched us splash. Of course with two of us signing up, no "solo" questions were asked.