East Coast Diving

[gert7to3]

me_diver,

How comfortable are you in the water? What sort of boat dives have you done, any small boats like Zodiacs or pangas? How comfortable would you be climbing back on board a boat that is pitching about in 2 or 3 foot (60-90 cm) waves? Have you dived in surge or current? Do you have good buoyancy control?

These are skills you might need on the eastside. If it's a nice day the dive would be a rewarding skills building experience. If it's a rough day you might not enjoy it much.

Still, the eastside is fantastic.

 

[Doctorfish]

Not in my opinion. Drift diving, often big waves, surge and the need to get on or off the boat quickly. In addition, you need to be able to do your safety stop in open water, which is not so easy for many people.. I'd log some more dive time on the leeward side first.

 

[tkaelin]

Hey all, first thanks for all the info. We ended up doing a single tank dive in the morning with Eastcoast. We booked a 1 tank PM but received a call that they did not have enough people booked to do a PM but there was room to join the AM dive when they return for their surface interval between dives. Hans and Fred were great and run a well organized trip. We dove turtle city and saw 3 eagle rays and so many turtles, plus 25 that we stopped counting. The trip was definitely worth doing but we also found it somewhat challenging. Waves and wind were fairly high the day we went. One person said it was rougher than usual and another said typical. Being our first and only trip we can't say. The ride out past the reef was bouncy and wet but not long. The back roll entry and re-entry in the big swells were not that difficult but the safety stop in the open ocean just underneath the rolling swells was somewhat of a challenge. All in all we were glad we did the trip. As far as the inquiry above about whether suitable for a newer diver, I would have to say it depends but probably not. Our waves were big enough that we would lose sight of the boat between swells, probably closer to 4-6 feet with wind blowing off the tops. The ride back was not too bad but very wet. We needed to either keep our eyes closed or wear our masks. If you are comfortable with entry and re-entry in a small boat in big swells than maybe you can give it a try. If you have never experienced similar conditions maybe hold off or speak with the folks at EC to see what they say.

 

[calicant]

Glad you had a good trip.

 

[DiveMaven]

You described exactly the conditions we had a couple of years ago when we did the East Coast charter. Although I'm glad we did it, I certainly have no desire to do it again.

 

[me_diver]

Not in my opinion. Drift diving, often big waves, surge and the need to get on or off the boat quickly. In addition, you need to be able to do your safety stop in open water, which is not so easy for many people.. I'd log some more dive time on the leeward side first.

Thanks for all the inputs. We will consider it carefully. We are boaters ourselves so are used to rough boat conditions. Almost all of our dives have been boat dives. 2 of our certification dives in the BVIs were in pretty rough seas, boat bouncing all over the place. That said, we probably want some more experience.

I assume the conditions depend on time of year? We'll be there in late Dec, does that make it better or worse?

 

[calicant]

If you do go, mornings are the least rough I think. That's what we were told. They do a two tank trip in the morning, with surface interval back in the calm water of the lagoon at the dock. The back roll off the boat is excellent, requiring each diver to wait for a signal as the boat is running backwards. It's the closest I'll get to feeling like a Navy Seal.

 

[diverrex]

If you do go, mornings are the least rough I think. That's what we were told. They do a two tank trip in the morning, with surface interval back in the calm water of the lagoon at the dock. The back roll off the boat is excellent, requiring each diver to wait for a signal as the boat is running backwards. It's the closest I'll get to feeling like a Navy Seal.

The timed backrolls one after another are fun. Though for me I feel even more Navy Seal like when we do local SoCal dives at the oil rigs where everyone is ready on a live (not moored) boat and the DM yells "dive, dive, dive" and we all jump in as fast as we can.

East coast diving in Bonaire is an adventure. I recommend it at least once.