dive site emergency plan?

[MikeT73]

Since my trip is still a month away, why don't you get the Passport plan (it's like $30, right?) and let me know if it worked well for you.

Lol!! I'll probably get it anyway since I have small kids at home and I should be available (as much as possible) in the event of an emergency. And yeah, I'll post back here in two weeks or so and let ya'll know how it is :cool2:

 

[Lorenzoid]

I don't see how you could conclude anything else.

View attachment 219461

What's the link to that page? All I could find on AT&T's web site was this link to the countries included in the Passport package: https://www.att.com/shop/wireless/international/global-countries.html#b, which lists Bonaire but not AT&T's roaming partner on Bonaire. Of course, since Digicel is the major carrier on Bonaire, I didn't have much doubt it was Digicel.

---------- Post added November 10th, 2015 at 02:56 PM ----------

Lol!! I'll probably get it anyway since I have small kids at home and I should be available (as much as possible) in the event of an emergency. And yeah, I'll post back here in two weeks or so and let ya'll know how it is :cool2:

Cool. Of course, the more interesting information would be whether you have coverage at some of the more remote dive sites. But I suspect you plan to leave the phone in the room when you're out diving.

 

[diversteve]

AT&T

 

[lunula]

I was coming here to post a similar message, as we are going to Bonaire in 3 weeks and it's just the two of us.

Any recommendations for water-tight containers (boxes, cases, bags, etc.) for phones? Also, I admit I'm a bit confused with the mention of all the phones, plans and acronyms here - we both have an iPhone 6, which I'm not willing to take with me on dives. What type of phone should we purchase, and should we get a sim card there?

Sorry, I've read each post carefully, but I'm not much of a cellphone expert, so this is only making sense about 75% of the time.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I hope I'm not hijacking here, but I am very interested in this. We are leaving Saturday for our first trip and I considered the AT&T Passport plan but am hesitating as I don't know how good the coverage is.

Did you get the Passport plan, and were you able to check coverage at the dive sites?

 

[MikeT73]

Did you get the Passport plan, and were you able to check coverage at the dive sites?

We actually never took our phone with us to a dive site. Got the AT&T Passport plan and never had an issue at Buddy Dive or anywhere in town (Kralendijk, airport, Van den Tweel, etc). Used WiFi where it was available. One hint though: since the plan only includes 120MB of data, turn off your data roaming in "Settings" (iPhone) to avoid background apps from eating it up. I just turned it on whenever I wasn't on wifi and needed to use an app.

I am working on a full trip report...

 

[Lorenzoid]

We actually never took our phone with us to a dive site. Got the AT&T Passport plan and never had an issue at Buddy Dive or anywhere in town (Kralendijk, airport, Van den Tweel, etc). Used WiFi where it was available. One hint though: since the plan only includes 120MB of data, turn off your data roaming in "Settings" (iPhone) to avoid background apps from eating it up. I just turned it on whenever I wasn't on wifi and needed to use an app.

I am working on a full trip report...

Thanks. I have used the 120 MB Passport plan a couple of times before on trips to Europe, and yes, I turn off Data Roaming except when needed. I also set the Data Limit to warn me if I approach 120 MB. I was just curious about coverage via AT&T's Bonaire roaming partner, Digicel, out at the dive sites. Around town isn't where the ability to call for help is the most critical. I guess I will test it out for myself. Really, coverage on Digicel's network should be the same whether using a Digicel phone or a foreign carrier's like AT&T, so I would be no more handicapped with my AT&T phone than a local would be using a Digicel phone. LTE/4G data coverage isn't as important to me as just having reliable voice coverage.

 

[Lorenzoid]

So I ended up using the AT&T Passport plan as I have done in other countries. Unfortunately, in the heat of the moment, I didn't have the motivation to check out coverage at each dive site we visited, which was a major part of my original question. There was coverage in town, and I used Google Maps for navigation a couple of times, but that was all the roaming I did on the trip. Oh well. The waterproof canister worked well, and I stored the phone, money, credit cards and driver's license in it during dives, though wet money and cards would hardly have been a problem.

In keeping with the theme of having something resembling an emergency plan, I had entered into my phone's contacts list the numbers for police (the one mentioned in my original post to call if no one answers "911"), hospital, STINAPA, and the car rental agency.

Also in keeping with the theme, I made up some ziploc bags, each with a few assorted bandages and tape, as minimalist first aid kits. I figured that anything other than bleeding is something that doesn't NEED to be treated on site. If someone were to steal one of these "ziploc first aid kits" from the truck, it would be no big deal, as I had more (and if someone wants to steal cheap first aid supplies, they can have them). Maybe other divers have long been taking a few bandages with them in their trucks, but it just never occurred to me--the mindset of "leave nothing of value in the truck" was just so ingrained in me that I ruled out a first aid kit long ago.

So, now that I am a fifth-timer to Bonaire, I feel, like, all responsible and stuff

 

[AdivingBel]

Zoid, thanks for the follow up. I'm glad you didn't have to use any of it in an emergency, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared. Hope you had a nice trip. Really has me jonesing for our next visit. You've given us food for thought for our next trip prep.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Zoid, thanks for the follow up. I'm glad you didn't have to use any of it in an emergency, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared. Hope you had a nice trip. Really has me jonesing for our next visit. You've given us food for thought for our next trip prep.

You're welcome. As a sidenote related to what you said in post #7, we did not notice an increased police presence as you did. I was actually thinking of your post, but I didn't see any more police than usual--which is to say it would be rare to see even one police vehicle the whole week. At one site, we did encounter STINAPA rangers checking to see that divers had medallions. I can't imagine anyone stupid enough to flout the rules just to save 20 bucks, but I guess it must happen. Perhaps cruise ship people.

Oh yeah, totally unrelated, but pertinent to the ever-popular topic of crime, we arrived at the Andrea II parking area to find a truck with a recently broken window. Sure enough, contrary to standard advice, divers had left the truck locked and stuff lying around inside. The glovebox was open. We looked over the adjacent wall and saw a backpack that appeared to have been rifled through and hastily abandoned, though we had no way to know if it was stolen from that truck or in another incident. One of our group climbed over the wall and brought the backpack back to the parking area, where we left it in hope the owner might return. As the truck with the broken window was gone when we returned from our dive, and the backpack was still where we had left it, it seems the backpack wasn't theirs.