Dive vacation preparation

[Hooked-Again]

:06: My wife and I have both been recently re-certified after years of surface interval. We have been fortunate enough to be able to take dive vacations the past years in Cozumel and Grand Cayman. Those vacations are the best we can remember and it is tough to return to Colorado to our hectic jobs and lives, but you do what you have to do to earn enough for next years vacation( You know- live for future dives! Ha!). Now then, we are both lovers of warm water, which poses an immediate problem when you live in Colorado. There are not many warm water dive locations near us. We do love to dive, however, so we gather up our 7mm wet suits as often as we can and take the 4 hour drive to Santa Rosa, NM's Blue Hole. Not much to see, unless you are thrilled at the sight of other divers, but it does allow us to get wet and helps us keep in shape through the winter months until it is time for our next vacation.

All that being said, you can imagine that as soon as we have returned from our dive vacatoin we start planning next years. The first thing we always say on our return is " We're not packing that much next year, We didn't use half of it". Sound familier? Well, next year we are planning on going to Bonaire. We have read up on everything , both printed in book form and on Scuba board that we can find on the diving, facilities, culture, etc., etc.. We have come to the conclusion that we should be able to get away with just 3 checked bags. We have one large bag that miraculously holds 2-BCD's; 2-sets of mask,snorkles,and fins; 2-sets of accessory items and replacement items; 2 diving skins. A second large bag for clothing, toilet articles, etc!. and a Third large bag for all the items that won't fit in the other two bags . We have carry on bags(2) for regulators,computers, cameras, and other essentials that we don't trust to check. Now being an experienced traveler with my wife I am not so foolish to think that I am going to get away with struggling through airports with just three bags, but one can dream and wish it were so. Ha! Ha! To help me stay at or below the three bag limit, I am trying to make sure I don't take anyhing I might be able to rent in Bonaire. Certain things we just won't rent: regulators, fins and mask, wet suits, BCD's so I'll just haul them around. I was wondering about Bonaire and the fact that one of its primarily souces of income is the diving, and the fact that there is outstanding shore dive locations. I wondered if their shore diving locations are protected or if you have to tow a dive bouy? I couldn't seem to find anything that said. I have a dive bouy but really don't want to drag it to Bonaire with me. Are dive accessories readily available for rent or should they be reserved when reservations are made? I know that information says that everything is available at the LDS but I have found in the past that when I got there that it wasn't available? They had already rented the one or two they had available. Anyone know for sure how well supplied the shops are? If anyone out there has just recently returned from Bonaire, I would thoroughly enjoy hearing every detail you would like to share.

 

[Damselfish]

Divers pretty much have the right of way anyplace you would be diving in Bonaire and the boats will be watching for bubbles if there could be shore divers, no flag needed that I recall. (If they were needed I suspect they'd include them as part of the packages.) What do you think you will want to rent? They will rent all the basic gear that you are taking anyway (regs, computers, BC, fins, etc.) but not little accessories. With so many divers the shops are pretty well stocked and you can buy pretty much anything someplace. The little things don't take up that much room anyway, as long as you don't go too crazy with stuff. You can rent lights, but they tend to be expensive relative to their actual cost, probably due to the cost of batteries there (true anyplace sort of remote where everything comes from someplace else.)

We take all our gear. After years of fine tuning, we have our bags down to 2 rolling duffels usually just under 50 pounds each, 2 rolling carryons, and 2 backpacks that qualify as the "personal item." So we fit within most airlines rules unless it's a puddle jumper, and it's pretty easy to move through airports.

We don't put all the dive gear or clothing in one bag. (So each person has incentive to fit in their own bag ) The checked bags each have one persons BC, fins, lights, suits, and misc gear along with most clothes. One carry on contains regs, computers, masks, bathing suit/lycra skin, some toiletries and a few clothes for padding and in case of lost luggage. The other carry on is my husbands camera case. (If it wasn't for the camera we'd each carry our own reg and stuff too.) Backpacks get other toiletries, books, munchies, and whatever else we want to get on the plane, we squeeze quite a bit in there while making them "look small."

I keep a packing list that has developed over the years. It not only lists things to remember, but things not to take. For example, if you find you always take too many t-shirts or whatever (and buy more when you're there!) make a note of how many you actually wear. I have some items of clothing that seem perfect to take on a tropical trip and kept hauling them along, but in reality I found I never wore them. So I put things like that on my list to to remind me not to take them. And I usually look at the pile of clothes I want to take before they ever go in a suitcase and put alot back in the closet, that's a common travel suggestion and does help.

 

[windi_g]

:06: My wife and I have both been recently re-certified after years of surface interval. We have been fortunate enough to be able to take dive vacations the past years in Cozumel and Grand Cayman. Those vacations are the best we can remember and it is tough to return to Colorado to our hectic jobs and lives, but you do what you have to do to earn enough for next years vacation( You know- live for future dives! Ha!). Now then, we are both lovers of warm water, which poses an immediate problem when you live in Colorado. There are not many warm water dive locations near us. We do love to dive, however, so we gather up our 7mm wet suits as often as we can and take the 4 hour drive to Santa Rosa, NM's Blue Hole. Not much to see, unless you are thrilled at the sight of other divers, but it does allow us to get wet and helps us keep in shape through the winter months until it is time for our next vacation.

All that being said, you can imagine that as soon as we have returned from our dive vacatoin we start planning next years. The first thing we always say on our return is " We're not packing that much next year, We didn't use half of it". Sound familier? Well, next year we are planning on going to Bonaire. We have read up on everything , both printed in book form and on Scuba board that we can find on the diving, facilities, culture, etc., etc.. We have come to the conclusion that we should be able to get away with just 3 checked bags. We have one large bag that miraculously holds 2-BCD's; 2-sets of mask,snorkles,and fins; 2-sets of accessory items and replacement items; 2 diving skins. A second large bag for clothing, toilet articles, etc!. and a Third large bag for all the items that won't fit in the other two bags . We have carry on bags(2) for regulators,computers, cameras, and other essentials that we don't trust to check. Now being an experienced traveler with my wife I am not so foolish to think that I am going to get away with struggling through airports with just three bags, but one can dream and wish it were so. Ha! Ha! To help me stay at or below the three bag limit, I am trying to make sure I don't take anyhing I might be able to rent in Bonaire. Certain things we just won't rent: regulators, fins and mask, wet suits, BCD's so I'll just haul them around. I was wondering about Bonaire and the fact that one of its primarily souces of income is the diving, and the fact that there is outstanding shore dive locations. I wondered if their shore diving locations are protected or if you have to tow a dive bouy? I couldn't seem to find anything that said. I have a dive bouy but really don't want to drag it to Bonaire with me. Are dive accessories readily available for rent or should they be reserved when reservations are made? I know that information says that everything is available at the LDS but I have found in the past that when I got there that it wasn't available? They had already rented the one or two they had available. Anyone know for sure how well supplied the shops are? If anyone out there has just recently returned from Bonaire, I would thoroughly enjoy hearing every detail you would like to share.

Visited Bonaire a year ago. Make sure to take hiking shoes since the island is mostly volcanic. Beautiful water and it's where I saw my first shark. Kline Bonaire is a short boat ride and I highly recommend doing some dives there. Rent a car for a day and visit the island (not much grass grows there and donkey's and chickens everywhere). They have an area there where you can see Flamingo's in their natural habitat. There is ton's of shore diving so when you arrive ask your dive master for a list of all the dive sites. You can rent any equipment you may need at the dive resorts there. Not much of a bug problem unless you go to the mango areas. Visit the salt mines and the slave huts. If you like to take pictures, do it near the slave huts. I have BEAUTIFUL pictues of the white sand contrasting against the blue water. I forget the name of the park there but I recommend visiting it. You will need a rental vehicle to get there and take your dive equipment. A lot of remote area and swimming holes but I warn you, make sure you have a spare tire on the vehicle. Very very bumpy but a lot of fun.
Night life is pretty much non existent there unless you consider going out to eat your night life. There is A LOT of small fish but I did not see a lot of rays or eels. Very environmentally conservative island which I wish other countries would model. You will have fun diving there, very colorful. Just watch out for the donkeys while you are driving (OR WALKING - THEY WILL CHASE YOU).

 

[KayDee]

Been there. Done that.
This has nothing to do with Bonaire or warm water. This is a open invitation to diving in So.Cal (7m required). If you want a nice, safe and exciting place to dive bring your temperate water gear and dive with DiveVets out of Redondo Beach.

 

[RonFrank]

I unfortunately have no helpful info on Bonaire, however, how can you possibly get all that stuff in one bag, and NOT go over 50lbs?

DIA was STRICK about weight. Maybe when traveling international, the limit is 70lbs, but just keep this stuff in mind. They can charge $50-100 for overweight luggage. I have a bag that I could get EVERYTHING I would every need for divng and travel in.. just one bag... unfortunately it would be well over 70lbs when I finished packing

 

[dvrliz1]

Hooked,

Ok, the only other things I can recommend:

1. Be sure to tuck a pair of shorts & Tee in your carry-on.
2. You don't need dive bouys.
3. The dive shops down here are FULLY stocked. I've never heard of anyone having a problem.
4. The Reef IS a marine park, and you are not allowed to damage or remove anything underwater unless it happens to be garbage that has NOTHING growing on it. You are NOT allowed to wear gloves.
5. An orientation dive is required before you start diving. The dive shop will work with you until you feel comfortable.

If there is anything else I can help you with feel free to PM or email me. Thanks.

Liz