Bound for Bonaire in February

[gasgirl]

Where have you decided to stay??

Yes you will need a C card for Nitrox. And, I agree, get the cert here dont wait and waste time there. Most dives are not really deep. One is the Helma Hooker. Worse case its I think around 103. Most dives....the good stuff....is about 25 to 45 ft.

You will enjoy Bonaire...and if you havent made reservations yet....try
www.goldenreefinn.com
rich

We are staying and diving at the Sand Dollar but I am attending a week long conference at Plaza Bonaire Resort. Will it be safe to use Nitrox 32 to the Hilma Hooker?

 

[gasgirl]

I found that in a lot of the sites you could easily rech 100 feet. As far as navigation here is trick I used when diving with my sons who seem to manufacture air when diving (we didnt do any dives under an hour) so we covered alot of ground. When we entered I would leave a partially inflated surface sausage with a 2lb weight on it (small one about 30") at a certain depth(usually around 20'). When I thought I was close I would simply work up to 20' and look for the sausage. For three days the kids didn't know i was doing it and though I was a genius!!! Then they spotted me dropping it off one dive and I was busted. but it works well.
Also dont leave anything of value in the car, they get robbed alot.

Thanks for all the great tips.

We have been unsuccessfully trying to locate the Marine Supply orange surface sausage from our local dive shops. Our LDS that we normally deal with only carries the yellow Akona one. I got the impression the yellow sausage should only be deployed in emergency situations. Does anyone know if we can just wait and get one in Bonaire?

 

[herman]

Welcome to the board.
To answer a couple of your questions, I would take a passport photo with you. My wife took a course there and we had to go find a photo shop to do one. I would think it would be a lot easier to do it at home, cheaper too.

Yes, you are well within the MOD limits of 32% Nitrox when diving the Hooker- you will learn about MOD in class. The deepest spot I know of is 100 ft and you have to swim under the bow and press your gauge into the sand to get that. A few years ago, I caught my wife actually digging in the sand a couple of inches there....she was determined to get her first 100ft dive.

 

[murphdivers286]

Welcome to the board. I know you will have a great trip.

 

[DandyDon]

Howdy!

And welcome to SB - the biggest, the best, the fastest growing, and the friendliest! If you'll click ScubaBoard.com above, you'll be taken to our long list of forums, a wealth of information and resources. At the bottom, be sure to notice the Local & Singles Dive Club forums.

PM me if I can help you learn your way around; that is - click my username to the upper left, then follow the prompts to send me a "Personal Message."

don

 

[gasgirl]

Well, thank you to everyone for making me feel welcome to the board.

We took the advice and got our Nitrox Enriched Air Certification course with our LDS. We even enjoyed our open water dives (in 45 degree water temperature).

Unfortunately, my husband's rental drysuit had a leak around his inflator valve so he was pretty wet... now I'm looking at the threads on buying a drysuit... I'm sure I'll have lots of questions!

Only 5 more sleeps until we're off to Bonaire!

 

[herman]

We have been unsuccessfully trying to locate the Marine Supply orange surface sausage from our local dive shops. Our LDS that we normally deal with only carries the yellow Akona one. I got the impression the yellow sausage should only be deployed in emergency situations. Does anyone know if we can just wait and get one in Bonaire?

I use a very simple marker. I have a small plastic bottle about 3x1 inches with a screw on lid that I have about 10 ft of 1/8in string tied to. Along the string I have 2 - 3ft pieces of 2in wide plastic tape, the kind used to mark off construction areas, glued to the string. I wind the entire string and tape onto the bottle and secure it with a rubberband at the end.
The dives on Bonaire are a gental slope to around 30 ft of water and then a steep drop to around 90ft. To place the marker, I take a compass heading from shore and head straight out to about a 25ft depth. I locate a sandy area and deploy the buoy, securing it to the bottom with a loose rock. I then note EXACTLY the depth I am at and head off into the current following the dropoff. On the return I start to work my way back to the EXACT depth that I placed the marker. The slope on Bonaire is very predictible and if you are at the same depth you placed the marker, you will come very close to it, just keep scanning the area in frount and ABOVE you as the "flags"on the strings will be severa feet off the bottom. When you find the buoy, do a 90 deg turn and follow your compass back in. To be very accurate with your exit, add a degree or 2 to your compass heading to compensate for the current. Remember that you will be going with the current on your return so expect to be back at your exit in a lot less time than your outbound trip.
Plastic soda bottles work ok too but I would take them out with their lids OFF and PARTLY fill them with exhaust air at the deployment site. Otherwise they are way to buoyant and are hard to control or weight to the bottom.

As an alternative to taking a marker, almost all the sites on Bonaire have mooring buoys in around 15ft of water. I often times will take a compass heading to the mooring buoy, which usually has a fairly large weight like 2- 55 gal barrels, and use the buoy as my marker. Just note the exact depth as above and on the return work your way to the depth of the mooring buoy. There is a lot of life in 15-20 of water so it's not a bad way to end a dive and you get lots of safety stop time.