First trip to Bonaire
- Thread starter Rig Magician
- Start date
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Jetwrench:
We have the 2005-2006 version. We also checked at http://www.skin-diver.com/bonaire/main.html for site descriptions. There are a few sites shown on the maps that do not have description on the website and are not included in the book. I did a cross reference and there are about five or six not in the book. Some of them are listed on the website as both shore and boat dives, so that may account for it.
The book is terrific!
As long as your charger is multi-voltage ie 100 to 240 V 50 to 60 hz it is fine. If you use a charger that is rated for 120 volts 60 cycles it is assured to fry. The plugs are the same as the US. There may not be a three prong plug so it pays to take a two prong to three prong adapter if you have grounded plugs. Take some spare o rings and straps as it is a looong way back to town from some of the sites. Also take some of the snap caps from water bottles. When you get there buy a 2 liter drink and pour out what is in the bottle. Fill the bottle with water and put the snap cap on it. You have an instant solar heated shower. The Scubapro boots with soles that look like running shoes are the answer. Have a great time.
OP
Rig Magician
Contributor
Tom , thanks! The boots that I have have the deck soles on them. I will look at the other ones. As for my chargers they are 2 prong but I have to check the vlotage.
Thanks
Thanks
The deck sole boots won't hack it. Talk to the boys at Scuba Toys about
Henderson pull on athletic sole boot
They feature:
Molded athletic style sole for maximum comfort and traction
Integrated arch support and heel and toe cushioning
Vulcanized heel and toe caps for maximum durability
Your feet will say Thank You Thank You Thank You!!
Henderson pull on athletic sole boot
They feature:
Molded athletic style sole for maximum comfort and traction
Integrated arch support and heel and toe cushioning
Vulcanized heel and toe caps for maximum durability
Your feet will say Thank You Thank You Thank You!!
Rig
I have much to tell you about dive paradise. You are leaving in March and I will put it all together. Maybe I'll be there with you.....
Gosh - what a wonderful place it is. There is lots to see and lots to do.
Will sit down and put it all together - but not tonight.......
I have much to tell you about dive paradise. You are leaving in March and I will put it all together. Maybe I'll be there with you.....
Gosh - what a wonderful place it is. There is lots to see and lots to do.
Will sit down and put it all together - but not tonight.......
OP
Rig Magician
Contributor
Tom, Thanks!! that would be very helpful of you.
Uncle Ricky and I have long thought that the two best times to be in the ocean are dawn and dusk. Here the night creatures are coming out for their first meal and the day creatures are still trying to get their last before retiring for the night or vice versa. What a magnificent show - shift change - got to love it!
The alarm clock wakes us at 5 am - time to get from the room to the dock - open the gear locker with sleepy eyes and assemble our stuff. By the time we hit the water - make that aircraft carrier run down the dock at Buddy's - fly off the edge and land not so gracefully in the water - slip on fins and start the dive - it's 30 minutes before sunrise.
You all know what I feel about sunrise - Mother Nature's way of signaling the start of a new day - another chance for a new adventure - freshness - The best gift God has to offer. At mine and Uncle Ricky's age - we know that we're still alive because we couldn't hurt that bad if we weren't - funny thing - being in the water relieves all those aged joints of their burden - weightlessness - what a marvelous feeling!
We start the dive in total darkness - left toward Capt Don's and the tug that lays upside down on the reef - hoping to see Mister Rogers the green moray. Wishing to see most anything of interest - then remembering that all things in the ocean are of interest.
Eels out roaming the reef - basket stars - parrotfish in their cocoons - noctaluca - octopi - the occasional but elusive squid - Oh man - I want to be there now!
Anyway - back to the subject of dawn dives - you're swimming along - still dark where you are - shining your light - wanting to see something good and suddenly you look up. Weird - it's dark where you are but the water's surface is brightly lit. Some sort of twilight zone. Then it happens - you reach the tug and the sun reaches critical angle at the same time - lights come on - your night dive turns to day. The night creatures are elated - they made it without becoming someone's dinner - the day creatures feel hunger - the cycle starts over - few things in the ocean die of old age.
The hardest part of a dawn dive is ending it - got to climb those steps - re-enter gravity - give it all up - you resist with all your might - then remember you have five dives to go before day is done - got to hurry - got to get them all in - got to live another day in paradise - wondering what the poor people are doing - not really caring.
The dawn dive is done and you're climbing the steps - reluctantly leaving the water. You keep your mask and regulator in place because you know that when the seal is broken, you're again breathing air at only one atmosphere - the smell of cooking bacon will permeate your nostrils. Like Lorelei - sitting on the rocks and combing her golden hair - bacon cooking brings out the primal hunger in the strongest willed. What the heck - crash on those rocks? Just when you think that life is at its best - nothing can be better - you remember that life can be better.
You hastily put away your gear - dry off - grab the keys and head for Kralendijk - around the circle and down Kaya Gobernador you cruise. Waiting patiently as you drive - little traffic on the road at this hour but the one car you get behind seems painfully slow. You roll down the windows trying to get an advance sensory experience - around the final curve - the giant Cultamara's Market building in sight the smell hits - like a baseball bat across your temples - fresh baking bread in the morning air - the smell is everywhere - inescapable - your stomach talks - FEED ME NOW!
You rush into the bakery - loaves on the shelf still warm from the oven - croissants dripping with butter - pastries of all sorts. You rush to the counter way in back - The girl behind the counter is from Venezuela so you instinctively shout "Por favor, puede de dame un kilo de queso?" She smiles and replies "Si claro, tengo Gouda fresca. Esta bien?" Your only answer is "Oh yes! Uhh Si esta bien!" This morning she pulls out a wheel about two feet across and lops off a hunk of cheese - the first cut - sort of like the first draw from a keg of Pils. You grab the neatly wrapped cheese and the warm bag of croissants and head back to Buddy's. The smell from the package causes you to roll up the windows - trapping every morsel of aroma - anticipation burning in your soul.
You run into your room and your partner has the Blue Mountain coffee that you picked up in Montego Bay perking on the stove - one more smell to whet that appetite. You sit on the patio - eating - sipping coffee - and feeling the tropical breeze as it gently caresses your hair. Talking about yesterday - recapping this morning - planning today.
After all - the day is still young - adventure still waits - see, I told you - life does get better.
The alarm clock wakes us at 5 am - time to get from the room to the dock - open the gear locker with sleepy eyes and assemble our stuff. By the time we hit the water - make that aircraft carrier run down the dock at Buddy's - fly off the edge and land not so gracefully in the water - slip on fins and start the dive - it's 30 minutes before sunrise.
You all know what I feel about sunrise - Mother Nature's way of signaling the start of a new day - another chance for a new adventure - freshness - The best gift God has to offer. At mine and Uncle Ricky's age - we know that we're still alive because we couldn't hurt that bad if we weren't - funny thing - being in the water relieves all those aged joints of their burden - weightlessness - what a marvelous feeling!
We start the dive in total darkness - left toward Capt Don's and the tug that lays upside down on the reef - hoping to see Mister Rogers the green moray. Wishing to see most anything of interest - then remembering that all things in the ocean are of interest.
Eels out roaming the reef - basket stars - parrotfish in their cocoons - noctaluca - octopi - the occasional but elusive squid - Oh man - I want to be there now!
Anyway - back to the subject of dawn dives - you're swimming along - still dark where you are - shining your light - wanting to see something good and suddenly you look up. Weird - it's dark where you are but the water's surface is brightly lit. Some sort of twilight zone. Then it happens - you reach the tug and the sun reaches critical angle at the same time - lights come on - your night dive turns to day. The night creatures are elated - they made it without becoming someone's dinner - the day creatures feel hunger - the cycle starts over - few things in the ocean die of old age.
The hardest part of a dawn dive is ending it - got to climb those steps - re-enter gravity - give it all up - you resist with all your might - then remember you have five dives to go before day is done - got to hurry - got to get them all in - got to live another day in paradise - wondering what the poor people are doing - not really caring.
The dawn dive is done and you're climbing the steps - reluctantly leaving the water. You keep your mask and regulator in place because you know that when the seal is broken, you're again breathing air at only one atmosphere - the smell of cooking bacon will permeate your nostrils. Like Lorelei - sitting on the rocks and combing her golden hair - bacon cooking brings out the primal hunger in the strongest willed. What the heck - crash on those rocks? Just when you think that life is at its best - nothing can be better - you remember that life can be better.
You hastily put away your gear - dry off - grab the keys and head for Kralendijk - around the circle and down Kaya Gobernador you cruise. Waiting patiently as you drive - little traffic on the road at this hour but the one car you get behind seems painfully slow. You roll down the windows trying to get an advance sensory experience - around the final curve - the giant Cultamara's Market building in sight the smell hits - like a baseball bat across your temples - fresh baking bread in the morning air - the smell is everywhere - inescapable - your stomach talks - FEED ME NOW!
You rush into the bakery - loaves on the shelf still warm from the oven - croissants dripping with butter - pastries of all sorts. You rush to the counter way in back - The girl behind the counter is from Venezuela so you instinctively shout "Por favor, puede de dame un kilo de queso?" She smiles and replies "Si claro, tengo Gouda fresca. Esta bien?" Your only answer is "Oh yes! Uhh Si esta bien!" This morning she pulls out a wheel about two feet across and lops off a hunk of cheese - the first cut - sort of like the first draw from a keg of Pils. You grab the neatly wrapped cheese and the warm bag of croissants and head back to Buddy's. The smell from the package causes you to roll up the windows - trapping every morsel of aroma - anticipation burning in your soul.
You run into your room and your partner has the Blue Mountain coffee that you picked up in Montego Bay perking on the stove - one more smell to whet that appetite. You sit on the patio - eating - sipping coffee - and feeling the tropical breeze as it gently caresses your hair. Talking about yesterday - recapping this morning - planning today.
After all - the day is still young - adventure still waits - see, I told you - life does get better.
scubaaaronh
Contributor
Here are a couple links we used to help start planning before we left. The site description is pretty close to the yellow book but the yellow book does have a lot more info in it. However the info on the site is identical to the yellow books info just condensed.
descriptions:
http://www.geographia.com/bonaire/bondiv04.htm
Map:
http://www.geographia.com/bonaire/bondiv03.htm
another good map is the road map:
http://www.skyviews.com/bonaire/map.html
and a great dive guide with interaction with angels snake eels and a multitude of fish is Dee Scarrs guided trip at the town pier. We did the single dive but wished afterwards we did the three dive trip with her:
http://www.touchthesea.com/reservations.html
Have fun and i really wish i was going with you.
Check out casablancas for dinner(out of this world) also old inn for subs at lunch and city cafe in town for very good burgers. Richards was the best for fish that we found but a little more pricey.
Now i really wish i was going. Have fun
descriptions:
http://www.geographia.com/bonaire/bondiv04.htm
Map:
http://www.geographia.com/bonaire/bondiv03.htm
another good map is the road map:
http://www.skyviews.com/bonaire/map.html
and a great dive guide with interaction with angels snake eels and a multitude of fish is Dee Scarrs guided trip at the town pier. We did the single dive but wished afterwards we did the three dive trip with her:
http://www.touchthesea.com/reservations.html
Have fun and i really wish i was going with you.
Check out casablancas for dinner(out of this world) also old inn for subs at lunch and city cafe in town for very good burgers. Richards was the best for fish that we found but a little more pricey.
Now i really wish i was going. Have fun
Tom, all I can say is &^%$$#$@!@ you!!
My PBD has flared up big time! I have got to get back.
My PBD has flared up big time! I have got to get back.
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