Pre-BD questions

[Warmwater Wank]

Liz I hope you survived the high-pressure world of DEMA and Orlando without the need for a chamber ride! A couple of "new to Bonaire" questions before we hit GRI next month:

1. I assume Wannadive can handle Town Pier dive requests? Do you know if we can request certain times (like early morning or night) or is it sort of like a lottery system, take what you get?
2. We dove Roatan w/out wetsuits when the water temps were 82-83F but I know fullsuits are a better bet to avoid coral contact. Wetsuit thoughts for mid-December?
3. I've read a lot about currents there but have seen nothing about currency. Uh, guilders, euro-bucks or greenbacks?
4. Coffee. While I'm hoping Starbuck's hasn't invaded the island (yet), is good coffee available or should we sneak our own past customs?

Will be buying Susan Porter's shore diving book when we get there, so I expect that to help with dive questions. Also have been checking out SB & Bonaire Talk posts, am staring at the reef cam (12:11pm and the south beach cam shows beautiful skies), doing "flyovers" on GoogleEarth--any other remedies for Pre-Bonaire Depression? Thanx!

 

[dvrliz1]

DEMA was actually great and 2 days after I returned I was called to work in the chamber! Wound treatment, no dive accident, so that was good.

1. Wannadive can handle town pier dive requests. The harbormaster will only issue permits to dive shops 24 hours prior to the dive. Normally the town pier is done at night. You can request it as soon as you arrive, as if I request it now they will tell me for you to request it when you arrive due to the 24 hour request.

2. I have always dove bonaire with either a t-shirt over my suit, and to avoid fire coral contact and usually in Jan & Feb I use an insulated (polartec) skin.

3. Currency, they take euro's dollars and Antillean guilder. If you are bringing dollars, don't bring anything higher in denomination than a $20.00 bill, no restaurants, stores, etc will take anything higher. The majority of places will give you guilders in change, US$ if you request it and they have it available. ATMs all over the place. You can request $ or guilders. They don't charge to use them here, but you have to check with you bank to see if they charge for foreign withdrawals, and not using your own banks atms.

We have her book in our guest services area, so you can get it as soon as you arrive.

Check out shorediving.com and you will be able to actually the see the actual dive sites on line! enjoy and see you soon!

Liz

 

[Warmwater Wank]

Thanks for the prompt reply Liz. I have already been checking out shorediving.com. Great site, part of my Pre-BD regimen! It's feeling like deja vu all over again thanks to the great resources available for traveling divers. Well, back to the reef and beach cams...22 days and we'll be waving at them!

 

[bristoldiver]

Could you please let me know the title of the Susan Porter book you referred to? I would like to get it before my trip over to Bonaire!

 

[dvrliz1]

Easy...Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy, great for divers and snorkelers alike!

Liz