Kite Boarders on Bonaire - Concern?

[herman]

The Hooker is north of the salt pier by a couple of miles. It's one of my favorite dive as is Alice in Wonderland which is just south of the Hooker. As you go over the reef dropoff look way ahead of you at the bottom. You will see garden eels in the sand at at around 95 ft. I missed them for years because I was looking for them after I had reached the bottom, long past the time they had seen me and backed into their holes. A lot of times the dive ops will do the hooker as a double duty dive, counting it as some combo of boat/deep/wreck. It is also easy to do from shore, just watch your NDL. And while your at the hooker, there is a hole in the sand under the bow (easy to swim into) where you can just BARELY make a 100ft dive if you catch the tide right and press your gauges in the sand. Great place to do your first 100ft dive.

 

[rottielover]

And while your at the hooker, there is a hole in the sand under the bow (easy to swim into) where you can just BARELY make a 100ft dive if you catch the tide right and press your gauges in the sand. Great place to do your first 100ft dive.

Thanks for the info herman, I've been trying to figure out how deep the sand (bottom / floor) was at the site. I keep seeing referances to "the wreck lies in xxx feet" but some people seem to talk about the top of the wreck, while other's talk about the deck or midsection, while still others talk about the bottom of the boat, while others are talking about the bottom/sand/floor.

I'm getting pretty hyped-up about the trip, seems like each day I get a little more excited, and check over the gear one extra time per day!

 

[DiverVince]

Another thing you may want to keep in mind rather then completely avoid the sites where the Kiters frequent, if you get into the water by 09:00 you'll probably completely avoid them.

However IMHO the real solution to this issue is for the Marine Park to set MANDATORY geographical boundaries & times for the kiters to use a specific area. If they go outside, they should be fined or prohibited from using the marine park waters. As divers we all have certain rules to adhere to. Why should an exception be made for Kiters? They should be forced to abide by the Marine Park rules for boating which are quite clear.. The LAST thing the island needs is a catastrophic accident with a diver.

 

[ShakaZulu]

Hey, stop ripping on the kiters....we are actually a very responsible bunch, for the most part. I doubt you'll get hit by a kiter, we can manouver very quickly. Hmm, I can see that they would want to see how close they can get, just kidding

 

[herman]

The Hooker is located just off the reef dropoff, you can easily see it. I do it as a shore dive by taking a compass heading on the center buoy of the 3 mooring buoys (although I understand one of them is laying flat and can't be seen from shore so only 2 may be visable) and going to it UW. The port side is at 60 ft and the starboard side lays in the sand at 95-98 ft. At the port stren there is prop that makes a good photo op. I usually dive it by crossing over from the reef to the side of the ship, going past the prop and dropping to about 1/2 way to the sand. We sometimes enter the stern cargo hold and exit back out the center cargo hold. This is a penatration dive but the holds are wide open and easy to swim in and out of with plenty of daylight, not a big deal if you don't go any farther into the ship but still plenty of cool factor. We then drop to the sand for the 100ft bow hole and end the wreck part of the dive by accending back to the port side of the ship. From there we accend back to the reef and use the reverse compass heading. Even though the dive maxes out at around 100ft our dive time is close to 60 minutes. Be careful and WATCH YOUR NDL TIME. It is very easy to go way past your NDL on this dive and you will use air very quickly at this depth. This can bite a new diver very quickly....be safe.

 

[rottielover]

Hey, stop ripping on the kiters....

Was your comment directed at me? I dont' think I was "ripping" on anyone... It's just that I've read a few stories of near-misses, and I want to do everything I can to protect myself and my wife while diving.



@herman - Thanks again for the post. I've talked to our AOW instructor from the LDS (it's a shop trip and more than 1/2 of the people going are instructors), and we'll be doing wreck as one of our 5 dives for AOW (deep is a requirement). I'm also setting up our dive computers alarm settings in advance (ie here at home) so that I don't have to worry about chaging settings "on the fly" as it were.

Thanks again for the tips and cautions, I'll take them to heart!

 

[DiverVince]

Shaka Zulu..There are rules for the Marine Park. Why don't you & your compatriots just follow them. I suspect that someday there is going to be a serious accident between a kiter & a diver down south because you guys are traveling in excess of 5 knots & are not in the blue water. At that point there will be such an uproar & outrage by the dive community that your sport will be banned in entirety. And additionally if you're a citizen of the U.S. I guarantee you will be dragged into litigation over the incident for the injuries sustained because of your negligence.

 

[Goose75]

Hey, stop ripping on the kiters....we are actually a very responsible bunch, for the most part. I doubt you'll get hit by a kiter, we can manouver very quickly. Hmm, I can see that they would want to see how close they can get, just kidding

It didn't bother me as much as some of the divers I was with. I figure everybody has to fill their quota of undesirables.

 

[Jetwrench]

I've seen a few idiots under the water as well. Dive the southern sites in the morning and go north in the afternoon and you will most likely not have any issues with the kiters.

 

[ShakaZulu]

Shaka Zulu..There are rules for the Marine Park. Why don't you & your compatriots just follow them. I suspect that someday there is going to be a serious accident between a kiter & a diver down south because you guys are traveling in excess of 5 knots & are not in the blue water. At that point there will be such an uproar & outrage by the dive community that your sport will be banned in entirety. And additionally if you're a citizen of the U.S. I guarantee you will be dragged into litigation over the incident for the injuries sustained because of your negligence.

What is up with the domestic violence.... I'm not familiar with this spot, but if they are breaking rules, then something need to be done. Kiters are in jeopardy of loosing places to ride, because of the actions of a few individuals.

Please post on www.kiteforum.com to raise the issue, and voice your concerns.