Hilma Hooker

[SailNaked]

So how much penetration is done on the hooker? I recently took my basic wreck training and I am "allowed" to enter up to 130 ft from the surface. I would like to spend some time in the hooker tenativly at first and then maybe more seriously to the limit of 130ft. are there known out of the ordinary risks in the hooker? I am properly scared of doing this so no need to frighten me about it, but I am up for the challenge and properly prepared.

 

[Bappelt]

There are two large areas of penetration into the cargo hold. I would stick to those for your first time.

 

[Desert_Diver]

I have no first hand experience with the Hilma Hooker, but make sure that you are going to have enough gas to complete the dive at depth, penetration, and ascent with a sufficient reserve for emergencies.

Have fun. Dive safe.


Art

 

[under water]

Some info on the dive, but nothing much about penetration.
Scuba Shore Diving Site Page for: Hilma Hooker of Bonaire South, ABC Islands

Who are you going with? Some dive operators restrict the bottom time to 10 minutes on this dive due to depth and the faster use of air. I recommend if you are doing penetration, to go with someone who has done that before and plan the dive with them.
To get below 130 fsw, you will need a shovel.

 

[DeputyDan]

The wreck is about 60 foot at the top and 100 foot at the bottom.
It has several large cargo holds that you can swim through.

Since I am not wreck certified (and don't intend to become in the future) I don't know about the penetration areas of the site.

Nitrox will extend your bottom time.

 

[KY_BOB]

I dove on it two weeks ago and was impressed. I didn't see anyone doing penetrations. The cargo holds are open and not a big deal to swim into. They are the size of a small house. I suppose penetration would be possible through the wheelhouse and I assume that there are some passageways from the cargo holds into the main body of the ship but I didn't notice them and I did swim into both forward and aft cargo holds.

Sorry that I can't be more help but it's well worth seeing, penetration or not.

 

[herman]

I suspose you could go fairly far into the wreck but it was sunk "accidently" so all the wire and pipes remain making it a potentially dangerous penetration. Running lines would be required...assuming you want to find your way back out. Penetrating the cargo bays is simple, plenty of room and they are wide open. Then max depth you can possibly get is around 110, depending on how deep it has sunk in the sand, the bottom is around 95 feet where it is sank. I would not do it as a boat dive. It's not far off shore so I would do a surface swim out to it and decend directly on it, planning on a submerged return to the beach.....a very nice way to do a long deco and look at the reef in the mean time.

 

[KY_BOB]

To get below 130 fsw, you will need a shovel.

I'm not wreck certified but I believe that he is saying that he is certified to 130' linear distance to the surface. Meaning at 100' he could penetrate 30' into a wreck, at 65 feet, he could penetrate 65', ect.

I know that's the rule for cavern certification.

 

[RJP]

It's as plain-vanilla a wreck as you'll find in any resort location, with plenty of easy "swim-thru" type penetration opportunities.

 

[MarkUK]

The Hilma Hooker, in my opinion, is a better dive because it sank with no 'clean-up', so it doesn't feel so sterile as some of the artificial reefs around the world, it is more like a 'proper' wreck.

I did several dives on it during assignments on Bonaire, including some night dives (awesome, as you are usually the only ones on it, especially if you go around midnight or later), and there are plenty of places to get into which would be classed a true penetration dives, albeit not on a massive scale.

My buddy and I went in every single room and corridor on the wreck, including the engine room (which is a bit tight and full of junk to snag the unwary), and we found at least three decent-sized air-pockets that are large enough for two divers to surface in and have a quick chat (just don't breath the air in there, use your reg).

For your first dives on it, I'd stick to the holds to get your bearings, then you can begin to explore, but stick to what you are comfortable with. Some of the divers on the Hooker with me took one look inside the engine room and wouldn't go in, whereas for me, it was a nice, clean, easy-to-access room compared with wrecks in Scotland and the UK, for example.

Mark