First trip to Bonaire

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Rig Magician

Contributor
Messages
134
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Location
Pineville, La
# of dives
50 - 99
Well we finaley got it set up. Myself and 2 friends will be taking the Continental direct flight there arriving on the 18th of march and leaving on the 25th. we will be staying at the GRI town house near the beach. I do have a question are 2. I will be bring my camera and need to know what is the voltage there for the charger that i have. i am not sure if the one that i have is good for both 120 and 240VAC. If the power is 240VAC i will need to get an adaptor for to go down to 120VAC. Also other than the mormal save a dive kit what else do you recomend to bring?
Thanks,
Mark
 
Amazing what you can find on the web...

www.infobonaire.com:
Electricity
Bonaire, Curacao, and Jamaica have two things in common. The first is that they are all located in the Caribbean. The second is that they share the same electrical power characteristics. The default power from an electrical outlet here on Bonaire is 127 Volts AC at 50 Cycles (or Hertz or Hz). This doesn't really match either the power requirements of most European appliances (220V, 50Hz) or American appliances (110V, 60Hz), and while both European standard and U.S. standard outlet connections are visible in just about all Bonairean structures, it's not always clear what voltage the outlet is running at, so it's important to check this with whomever operates the house, hotel, apartment, etc. that you'll be staying in.

Assuming you have a 127V outlet, most resorts have transformers available for rent for your more sensitive plug-in appliances, such as battery chargers. Such transformers can also be bought in local stores such as Benzers, Inpo, and Playa Trading for between $50 and $100.

Some things may be plugged into a 127V socket directly without a transformer, as long as you understand that some U.S. voltage specific devices may run warm, and may burn out if left plugged in for a long time. Note that many notebook computers already have universal power supplies (check with your manufacturer for details) and should work fine plugged into any outlet.

However, it is also said that Bonaire is occasionally "generous" with its power, and surges and brownouts are not uncommon. If you plug anything electronically delicate into a wall outlet, it might not be a bad idea to have a small surge protector in between. These are available at most consumer electronics stores, such as Radio Shack.
Bring boots with tough soles for shore diving. Trust me, you will want to shore dive... :D
 
I dont remember using any special converter plugs on my charger and I changed batteries for cameras....cells.....all kinds of electronic cr**.

Man...going to Bonaire....gotta shore dive. You can save a bundle on boats and there are like over 65 shore locations to dive.

Also....go to the Casablanca restuarant and get the grill teller for two. You will have enough left overs to cover your lunches for three days.

Please Please Please take some pics of the GRI place. I stayed at their other locations my first trip down....and wonder what the new location is like.
 
So far we are booked for the drive and dive. so we will mostly be doing shore dives. we may take a boat trip one day to Kline Bonaire, but we are not sure yet. the main thing i will be charging is the batteries for my camera. Cell phone i can give a damn about. frenquent flyer mile paid off big time, it was only 58$ for three of us to fly down for the week. I am still trying to read up on the different sites and figure out where we are going to dive at. trying to find a map that i can print up so i can highlight from the ones listed here and bonaire talk also. I found a map on info bonaire and will try to prit it up later.
As for the boots, I have some scuba pro rubber soled boots, will those be good are should i get some differant ones.
Thanks again,
Mark
 
Mark

If you are staying at the townhouse in Belnam, take a ceiling fan balancing kit with you. The one in the living area needs it bad! Ed will appreciate it.

I had my battery charger fried while I was there and had to get another one at a shop next to the tourism center in town. They told me not to use the transformer that comes with the charger unless I was in the U.S. and instead GAVE me(no charge) one that was voltage adjustable and worked like a champ. Some devices are more robust than others. My other camera with a dedicated battery had no problems recharging but I always use a surge protector for anything I plug in down there.

As for boots, make sure yours arent thin soled rubber like my first pair. You want boots with soles like sneakers(thick). Your feet will thank you.

If you can find it, get a copy of "Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy", a book that will give you just about all the info you will need to navigate the various sites. It also describes some sites that are not marked and are great dives. You might even run into the author down there and get it signed.

If you are not familiar with European road signs you might want to bone up on that. It took me a bit of time to learn the do's and don'ts

Mark, you are in for a really good time!

Jet
 
Mark:

See you at the airport. In Bonaire. I arrive on the Continental flight on March 25. So leave some good diving for me & my buddies. I cant wait for the trip!
 
Jetwrench:
If you can find it, get a copy of "Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy", a book that will give you just about all the info you will need to navigate the various sites. It also describes some sites that are not marked and are great dives. You might even run into the author down there and get it signed.

Susan Taft, who lives in Vermont, distributes this book. I ordered a copy by sending her a PM via the Bonairetalk site. Check http://www.bonairetalk.com/newsgroup/messages/30/237510.html?1125397573

We received the book quickly. It has some good information on many, but not all of the shore diving sites.
 
Ca diver, we will probly be there when you arrive getting ready to board.

Ted, i sent her a PM so i can order the book. I am just waiting to hear back from her.
 

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