Shore entries Bonaire

[Waterskier1]

Only been to Bonaire once but have done a fair bit of off the beaten path shore diving in Cayman. On rocky/uneven entries a solid stick/branch helps a lot. Steady yourself with it until thigh deep then toss it back on shore. For the exit one diver takes gear off in the water then retrieves the stick.Not needed most places but helps in the tougher spots,especially with doubles and deco bottles!.

This should all have been covered in your ASD .

( Advanced Shore Diving) Prerequisites for this class are an aversion to Cattle Boats and controlling Divemasters

There aren't very many sticks along the shoreline in Bonaire. If you toss your stick back on shore, you then have to get out to retrieve your stick to get out. Once out of the water, it's not too hard to walk. It's the slippery rocks, and the unforeseen holes or boulders that make it difficult in the water.

 

[Waterskier1]

I will use my compass if I'm swimming out to the buoy, and then dropping down, if the buoy isn't perpendicular to my entry point. Like at Hilma Hooker. I usually surface swim out to the buoy, take a reading to my entry point, and set it on the compass. That way, I'll know the bearing to follow back to my entry point.

If I simply swim straight out from the entry point (which is the most common), then I may take a bearing back just before I descend, but I do that mostly out of habit and for sake of routine. I rarely need/use it when returning. The important thing is to find some sort of marker you can use to know when you are at your turning point.

Also, regarding diving to 1/2 tank or 1500 psi, this works best if you know that the first part of your dive will use more air than the second part of your dive. I suggest you dive the first half at a deeper depth than the second half. This assures you that you have ample air left, since you'll be breathing fewer cubic-feet of air at the shallower depth, and have enough left to do the swimming safety stop. I usually return at least 20-ft shallower than what I dove the first half tank. (I'm sure Mossman knows this, I'm posting it for those who may be new to this).

If you were to surface swim to the buoy, descend to your depth, and swim to 1/2 tank, turn around and swim back, you'd end up at your starting point just as you were finishing your air. You wouldn't have enough to swim underwater back to shore, nor would you have enough to do your safety stop. This assumes you use the same amount of air going each direction; no current.

A compass doesn't bring you back to the exact spot, it merely indicates direction. Direction is obvious on Bonaire's reefs: there's only two choices, left and right, and then you have to figure out which way to go when you're back at your starting point, either shallower or deeper. To determine when you're back at your starting point, all you have to do is remember a physical "landmark" and its depth. Stay at that depth on your return swim (surely you can do a 180-degree turn on a Bonaire reef without a compass?) and when you see the landmark, turn toward shore - again, that's the shallower side, not the deeper side. See how easy that is? (Sometimes the mooring line can make a good marker, sometimes it's a recognizable sponge or coral head that serves better, but there's always something.)

No, you've not seen me crawl over iron shore, I retrace my swim out once I find my landmark, then end up exactly at my entry point without using a compass because my UW nav skills are definitely right on, so right on that I fail to see the need for a compass in Bonaire.

(Exception that I'll note: There are some spots where the shallow surface swim involves lots of bare sand and if the waves are really crashing, that can get pretty stirred up. The "house reefs" of Capt. Don's, Buddy, and Sand Dollar that have these lengthy stretches of bare sand each have some system of landmarks to enable the compass-free diver to find his or her way back in low viz conditions - most of the rest of the sites I've dove at Bonaire tend to be sand-free iron shore (to the north) or the shallows are coraled enough to create recognizable sand channel paths back to the entry.)

IMO, they should ban compasses and allow gloves. Who wants all these directionally-challenged divers climbing over the iron shore?

 

[DiverVince]

MaineDiver, you will love Bonaire. Turns out we will be there the same week.

We've done this for awhile. I take one of the small plastic water bottles with cap(or my LED pen flasher if near dusk), tie a string with clip on it, and clip it to something suitable and voila! here's your marker. you just need to remember the depth you place it at.

our normal dive is: swim out, set the marker, swim against current(if you can read it) till half our air is done, turn around make our way back to the marker, then a slow swim towards the shore. We make the slow swim last at least 10 min, BAM, there's your safety stop. We breathe the tank down to a couple of hundred and enjoy the view.

good dives, SeaFlea.

Sea Fly..PLEASE don't do that! There is no reason to place artificial markers on the reef for navigation (plus it's illegal).

 

[SeaFlea]

Greetings,

You don't think we leave it there? we retrive it and re-use it each dive.

It's a simple and non invasive form of marker. Illegal? Come on, don't be so dramatic.

we always leave the water with everything we took in.

Enjoy it.

SeaFlea

 

[Mossman]

Also, regarding diving to 1/2 tank or 1500 psi, this works best if you know that the first part of your dive will use more air than the second part of your dive. I suggest you dive the first half at a deeper depth than the second half. This assures you that you have ample air left, since you'll be breathing fewer cubic-feet of air at the shallower depth, and have enough left to do the swimming safety stop. I usually return at least 20-ft shallower than what I dove the first half tank. (I'm sure Mossman knows this, I'm posting it for those who may be new to this).

If you were to surface swim to the buoy, descend to your depth, and swim to 1/2 tank, turn around and swim back, you'd end up at your starting point just as you were finishing your air. You wouldn't have enough to swim underwater back to shore, nor would you have enough to do your safety stop. This assumes you use the same amount of air going each direction; no current.

You're indeed correct. I try to shoot for a identifiable marker or the mooring line sitting in around 20-30'. If I'm using half my tank at the beginning of the dive, I'll probably cover the 60-100' range until it's time to turn around, and I'm also more likely to start out against the current (unless I've already been that way on a previous dive at the site and really want to see what's in the other direction. On the way back, I'll make a slow ascent up towards 30-40' and the crest of the reef, which should get my designated marker close enough to my return path that I can't help but stumbling into it while I still have plenty of air left to make the shallow swim back to the entry point.

When I dive the Hooker, I prefer to find it underwater instead of surface swimming to the buoys. I hate surface swimming when there's so much to see underwater, even in the shallows (not to mention getting sunburnt - I hate that too!).

 

[Mossman]

It's a simple and non invasive form of marker. Illegal? Come on, don't be so dramatic.

Actually, he's right. Regulation 9 requires a permit in order to "To remove anything from the bottom or put anything on the bottom of the BNMP."

Here's the permit application form:
http://www.bmp.org/pdfs/Permit-Non-Construction-application-form.pdf

Good luck!

 

[DiverVince]

Greetings,

You don't think we leave it there? we retrive it and re-use it each dive.

It's a simple and non invasive form of marker. Illegal? Come on, don't be so dramatic.

we always leave the water with everything we took in.

Enjoy it.

SeaFlea

SeaFly..Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not being dramatic. A bit of friendly advice..Practice your nav skills and you will find there is absolutely no need to do that. It is a practice that is frowned upon by local divers and those in the know.

I can give you tips on nav, but you can really get them anywhere. I do advise that you try diving without using any type of artificial crutches. It's really not that difficult, all it takes is practice.

 

[Mossman]

I can give you tips on nav, but you can really get them anywhere. I do advise that you try diving without using any type of artificial crutches. It's really not that difficult, all it takes is practice.

This coming from the guy who advocates the artificial crutch of a compass? :mooner:

 

[DiveMaven]

Hmmm, maybe that's what we picked up off the reef last year as trash.....someone's entry marker! We try to remove garbage and line that isn't wrapped around coral. Anyone know what SINAPA's position on picking up trash is?

 

[DiverVince]

This coming from the guy who advocates the artificial crutch of a compass? :mooner:

MM...Well your "logic" is completely fallacious. I do strongly advocate using a compass. It's a piece of equipment (in my mind mandatory). Since when is that analogous to leaving artificial markers on a reef to assist exiting in the proper spot?

I suspect if we took a vote on this with the diving community you'd lose. If using a compass is a crutch, than why use a regulator & scuba tank? Why a SPG? A BC? You get the point. All the above have one thing in common, perhaps you can figure it out? :mooner: