Klein Bonaire, is it worth going to for dives?

[Montana Tom]

Hi all,
My wife and I are in Bonaire. We've been here a week and are here for another 4 weeks. We are newbies with now 20 dives. Wondering if a trip out to klein is worth it. if so where and with what company?

On another note and probably should be posted elsewhwere...we both have struggled a bit with boyancy here. we both have new Bare 5/4's. When we first got here we we started a little overweighted. Nancy had 16lbs and I had 18lbs. After the second dive we scaled back to 14 and 16 and all went well. but the last few dives have been an issue again when we first get in the water it is difficult to get down. A couple times I helped my wife stay head down and opened the leg zippers on her wetsuit for her and helped get extra air out. Today I could not get down and went back to the truck for an extra 2 lbs. then during the dive I had to compensate with the bcd. Is there a trick getting air out of your wetsuit?
Thanks for advice and help,
Tom

 

[diveallthetime]

Cannot say for sure. But my guess is you have plenty of weight. Most likely it is too much air in your lungs. Try always going down go feet first. Blow almost every last bit of air out of you lungs as you are going down. Then breath normally.

Going head down is the most difficult way I have found to go down.

It takes some experience to get it right. But for me personally I have found that I control it all with my breathing for the most part.

With a full 3 mil suit I use 12 lbs of weight and I am 6"1" 235 lbs. So even with all my body mass I can get down with a fairly small amount of weight. And I never use air in my BCD unless I want to float on the surface.

It did take me a few more dives than you now have to really master it. Relax and breath easy. Have a blast. We will be in Bonaire Feb 21st.

 

[Montana Tom]

Thanks Willie,
I'm 6'4" and 200lbs. Like I said the first few dives with 16 were fine but today I just couldn't get down I tried feet first head first etc. that's when I just said screw it and went back for more weight from the truck. Then after I dropped to 25-30 ft I felt overweighted and had to compensate. Didn't know if it would help to try wetting my suit down before I get in the water. I'm thinking because it is new it is retaining more air until I get down enough for the pressure to force it out.
I'll keep messing with it and share any tricks I may come up with.
Tom

 

[diverjen]

We went to Bonaire for a week and did 4 boat dives to Klein. We loved Klein and will do a handful of boat dives to Klein when we return. There were some sites I liked better than others, so it might be worth looking up good Klein sites and only signing up for the boat doing those ones. We liked the The Knife, but I can't remember which other one we really liked. We thought Ebou's Special was so-so at 60 feet and above. "Just a Nice Dive" is exactly that. I need to go back and look through here and Bonaire talk to remind myself.

Good luck dialing in your buoyancy. I am sure there are people with better advice on that than me as I am a newb as well.

Don't forget to give us the gift of a trip report when you get back!

 

[Damselfish]

New suits are more buoyant than the same suit that's been used awhile. The tiny bubbles of gas in the neoprene will compress from pressure when you descend, and over time they will get somewhat squished permanently. But that is a completely different thing than having actual air pockets in your suit that you can let out through a zipper.

Going upside down and opening a leg zipper to let out air is a new one to me and you just shouldn't have to do that. You shouldn't really have air pockets of much note in a wetsuit, and in my experience little bits don't have trouble finding their way out on their own. (Usually the neck is an easier route, especially if this air was around the torso someplace. Just stick a finger in there when you're right side up and pull it out a little to burp it if that helps.) How do these suits fit, seems like they would have to be a bit baggy but with tight openings/seals to do this? If so, you would probably be warmer and more comfortable in a thinner suit that fit better.

I second the idea that you may be unconsciously holding air in your lungs on descent. If you're going feet first, you may also be finning when you don't mean to. It's common stuff for new divers to do and the whole buoyancy thing just takes practice. There are tons of tips on this board if you search for "buoyancy" - you're not the first new diver to struggle with it. If you wait a bit they will probably get all repeated here. You might want to consider taking a buoyancy control class while you're there. Working with a good instructor who can see you would probably help. Most places will offer the PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy class or something like it.

 

[jcaplins]

I would suggest doing a buoyancy check at the end of your dive, when there is only ~500psi in your tank and you and the wetsuit are thoroughly soaked.
At the surface, dump all the air from the BC. With full lungs your head (eyes at least) should be above water. Exhale completely; your head should just go under. If you sink before you exhale, then you are overweight. If you can't sink after exhaling, then you need more weight.

(don't know about Bonaire, never been there.)

 

[Montana Tom]

Thanks for the input. Damselfish, I do agree with the new suit thing with the tiny gas bubbles. I expected a little of that. The suits do fit us well, not baggy or loose, so I also agree there should not be room for any extra air inside anyway. We did a boyancy check a few days ago at the end of a dive as jcaplins explains and we were perfect at 14 and 16. I guess we will just keep doing it making sure we focus on our lung emptiness and also possible finning and see how it goes. Will let you know
Thanks

 

[Insta-Gator]

Klein is worth the boat ride.


Before you descend, try to relax completely. Nervous or tense people will retain air in their lungs, even if they are trying not to.

 

[hroark2112]

Klien was fun. We did a drift dive around the south tip of the island and actually covered 3 dive sites in one dive. If you're going to be there for a fee more weeks, definitely hit a few of those sites.

 

[diversteve]

Forest was a good dive if you want to do 75'+ to see the Black Coral "Forest". Otherwise you won't see much. Hands Off is an easy drift dive if you want to try that.

Jerry's Reef often has turtles near the mooring. Just a Nice Dive was.