Only on Bonaire are the people like this!!

[jd950]

When J broke her ankle, we rented a wheelchair to make it easier for her to get around spacious Capt. Don's and in town than on crutches. Nos Arkon, the local medical supply store, happily rented us one, and our pickup proved perfect for hauling it around town. The price was very decent as she offered me the local rate instead of the tourist rate

Okay, I really felt no need to jump into this thread but this is just too intriguing. Does the medical supply house REALLY have a tourist rate on wheelchairs????? Is this a common tourist item?

 

[DiverVince]

JD..I have no reason to doubt that. There are numerous businesses that have local rates for the "on islanders". Really, not surprising to me in the least.
Although I have no direct first hand knowledge of the number of injuries sustained (do to slip & falls), I do suspect there are several tourists each week who fall and hurt themselves either at dive sites, or on wet tiles etc.

 

[Mossman]

JD..I have no reason to doubt that. There are numerous businesses that have local rates for the "on islanders". Really, not surprising to me in the least.
Although I have no direct first hand knowledge of the number of injuries sustained (do to slip & falls), I do suspect there are several tourists each week who fall and hurt themselves either at dive sites, or on wet tiles etc.

I'm only going by what she told me - maybe she was joking, but I do know that islanders get special rates on lots of things in other places (Hawaii, Grand Cayman), so it made sense to me.

There must be plenty of accidents, if not like J's case of losing her footing walking from the dive site up an unstable coral-rubble/dirt slope (Old Blue), then from the potholed slippery iron shore just off the beach that can be difficult even without any surf to contend with.

And slippery floor tiles? She did an involuntary "splits" on her first trip to the island at Buddy Dive - our bathroom had extremely limited ventilation, so every shower temporarily turned the surrounding floor into the slickness of an ice rink. Then there are the notorious stairs at Den Laman that get very slippery when wet, combined with the number of Scubaboarders that admit to bringing wet gear upstairs, and that's another accident waiting to happen (if it hasn't already). Obviously liability laws are different there, or I'd imagine some of the potentially dangerous conditions would be addressed - nonskid stair runners at Den Laman, for instance (BTW, the room tiles there have good texture and don't get slippery).

 

[jd950]

I am sure people fall and get hurt there as anywhere. I grew up in a tourist destination city and understand the marketing, pricing and social distinctions that are made between tourists and locals.

I just found the concept of "tourist rates" on wheelchairs humorous. Of course I also had this mental image of you driving around Kralendijk with your wife sitting in the wheelchair in the bed of the truck.

I can think of all kinds of dive hotels/resorts that like to use those "like ice when wet" tiles. Neither I nor my torn rotator cuff understand why.

 

[Mossman]

I am sure people fall and get hurt there as anywhere. I grew up in a tourist destination city and understand the marketing, pricing and social distinctions that are made between tourists and locals.

I just found the concept of "tourist rates" on wheelchairs humorous. Of course I also had this mental image of you driving around Kralendijk with your wife sitting in the wheelchair in the bed of the truck.

I can think of all kinds of dive hotels/resorts that like to use those "like ice when wet" tiles. Neither I nor my torn rotator cuff understand why.

Since Bonaire offers the combination of shore diving along with slippery floors, I'd bet they rank higher than many resort areas in terms of slip-and-fall related injuries. We did find out that DAN only covers the diver while he/she is still in the water. If the injury occurs out of the water, even only 30 seconds out of the water and before the diver has taken off any gear or even the tank, it's not considered a dive-related accident. Fortunately we had trip insurance that did cover the out of pocket expenses in Bonaire and whatever her health insurance didn't pick up when we got back home for her surgery and post-surgery PT. (Of course we were the only witnesses to the incident, so there would have been no way to verify whether she fell before or after she left the water ).

If anything, the tiles are worse in Mexico, where some places sport for marble polished as smooth as glass. I remember falling down badly on hard marble floors three times at the old Fiesta Inn in Cozumel, not sure what it's called today; the floors weren't even wet and I wasn't even drunk at least one of the times. I smashed my shoulder on one fall, conked my head on the floor on another, but at least my ankles were intact. It must be some sadistic game they like to play with the tourists, knowing we can't do anything about it. Or perhaps they get kickbacks from the local hospitals?

The thought did occur to me to ride around with her in the back, but with her being so accident prone, I reconsidered. Besides, the wheelchair we rented must have been a discard from the U.S. after the Korean or Vietnam wars. It was very heavy and didn't fold (good we had a truck handy!), so getting her and it into the truck bed would have been impossible. When we rented one back in the states for her surgical recuperation, I was surprised how light it was. Either that, or I had gotten stronger from lifting the Bonaire one back and forth.

Kudos to Cactus Blue for their wheelchair ramp. I think we also managed to get into Casablanca. Patrice got a ramp out so we could make it into Bistro. Both of Kirk's restaurants have access via a flat path with minimal incline. And after being exiled to Capt. Don's, we ate there a couple nights.

After J's day of hell, going from clinic to hospital, leg still uncasted, the night already grown late by the time I managed to find us a suitable accomodation at Capt. Don's, she couldn't manage the crutches on the long walk to the room. In sympathy, I got down on my hands and knees and was prepared to crawl the long way there with her, but that wasn't working out too well either. Finally, peeking over the gate to where the restaurant stores its stuff, I had an idea. They have great utility carts for bussing tables, moving inventory, etc. I talked to one of the employees, we got a cart, and wheeled her right to the room. I grabbed a couple pizzas from the Pizza Temple along with a couple of their huge schooners of Heini, and food rarely tasted so good.

The next day, the friendly owner of Nos Arkon delivered our wheelchair, but then discovered its tire was flat, took it back, and finally came again later with our wheelchair that served her well enough for the remainder of the week. Luckily everything runs smoothly on a little desert island!

The fun part was when we tried to fly home. Flamingo Airport doesn't have jetways - there's a lot of stairs to navigate to get into the plane. The doc surmised that they might bring her up via the same elevator system they use to get the meal trays in the plane, but they decided to do it the hard way. The two biggest guys on Bonaire, who they apparently keep handy around the airport just for this sort of situation, put her on some sort of chair that neatly slid up the staircase (with the combined efforts of some 600 lbs of muscle). Needless to say, de-planing and boarding the remainder of our flights home was far less exciting.

 

[DiverVince]

We have a lot of experience on Bonaire and in the Carib in general. On the start of every trip we always strive and reinforce by saying out loud, "lets make this trip accident free". So when dives sites are "iffy" we pass.
At resorts where some of the tiles are like ice when wet, we are EXTREMELY careful. Always be on the look out for potential accidents, that way you'll avoid most of them.

 

[Barb729]

u need to go away pf, you are the most damning person I ever met here on the boards.

 

[adurso]

u need to go away pf, you are the most damning person I ever met here on the boards.

What has he done, other than ask questions, to be so damning?

 

[Mossman]

We have a lot of experience on Bonaire and in the Carib in general. On the start of every trip we always strive and reinforce by saying out loud, "lets make this trip accident free". So when dives sites are "iffy" we pass.
At resorts where some of the tiles are like ice when wet, we are EXTREMELY careful. Always be on the look out for potential accidents, that way you'll avoid most of them.

Considering we've survived plenty of dive trips intact, including some hairy dives in SE Asia and the Galapagos, not to mention plenty of slippery floor tiles in the Caribbean, that's always been our mantra as well. Unfortunately the counter mantra is "s**t happens". After success with all sorts of sketchy entries, like getting into Karpata with a bit of surf, or navigating the potholes of the south dives, the s**t happened during a relatively easy stroll up a slope to where our truck was parked. Being more surefooted and a bit stronger, our policy for future Bonaire shore dives where the entry (or walk from the truck) is less than perfectly easy, will be for me to carry the heavy stuff (her weight pockets and BC/tank) and have her gear up in the water and doff the gear at the waterline. The extra strain on my back is nothing compared to the potential agony of enduring another vacation-negating injury (not to mention her personal agony on an island that refuses to dispense pain medication ).

 

[DiverVince]

MM...Understood and it does on occasion happen to the best of us. That's why I used the word "most" in my posting.