Solo diving on Bonaire

[terramar]

My recent experience (yesterday). Dive Friends at Cliff asked if I was solo diving because I asked for a fill of my pony, and I don't like to lie, so I said yes. They said cert was required, so I'm glad I had just gotten it because I was worried that might be the case. Also had to sign a special form.

This was surprising to me because of an email back in Sept 2023 where I asked:



True, I didn't specifically asked if I needed a certification, but I was trying to be generic and cover any possible blocker, like some places have local regulations against it (yes, looking at you parts of California).

The response was:


Maybe their policy changed since Sept 2023, and like I said, I didn't specifically ask if certification was required, so I'm not upset with them, just sharing as FYI for others. It would really suck to get here and not be able to dive. In my case, I'm here for 3 months, and maybe could have gotten certified while here, but I imagine that could have been some weeks without diving waiting for an available instructor. No fun.

I do find it odd that a PADI Self-Reliant certification is what is required to dive alone in Bonaire or anywhere, since the course literature specifically states that the training isn't so you can dive alone. It probably reads something like "you should not" but I don't remember the exact words. I think some other agency(s) still call the class "solo diver", but not PADI.

The real shocker was the 15 tank card is $210 instead of $180 now, that hurts a little, maybe enough that I'll go see if Buddy Dive prices also increased.

Buddy Dive still has the $100 12 tank card (air or nitrox). You do have to pick up at the shop in town or at Your Scuba Store - can't grab tanks from the BD dock.

 

[tursiops]

Buddy Dive still has the $100 12 tank card (air or nitrox). You do have to pick up at the shop in town or at Your Scuba Store - can't grab tanks from the BD dock.

Can't you also get them from the BD Drive Thru at the resort?

 

[woodcarver]

Come on folks. This is Bonaire, the home of just grab tanks and go.
Pony bottle? Fill it yourself from an extra AL80.
I have done literally hundreds of solo dives on Bonaire, without ever involving any dive ops. No one asks unless you make it their business
Solo night dives, pre-dawn solos, just plain solo diving, "unlimited shore diving" means you can be on your own, set your own plans and dive your own dives, load your gas without drawing attention, and just go diving.

^^^This^^^
A simple transfill whip to fill the pony and go. While I am contemplating taking the solo class, it hasn't happened yet. That didn't slow me down from making a dozen or more solo dives before the rest of the family showed up on my recent sojourn to Bonaire. When I filled out the form with the DC, the question was never asked. My brother dove solo for years before he took the class from a friend of his; after he took the AOW class he needed as a prerequisite (yes, he was going below 60' long before he had the appropriate cert). Having read the SDI Solo Diving Manual of his, there really wasn't anything new in it from all the other certs I've done, other than an emphasis on redundancy. With all the threads about questionable buddies, I'm kinda surprised more people don't approach every dive with the attitude they need to be self-reliant; that buddy may or may not actually be useful in an emergency, or even be aware an emergency is occurring.

 

[shopguy]

Today at Lac Cai, 3 Stinapa officers were waiting by my truck as I finished my dive. One first said, "we don't recommend you dive at this site anymore, we removed it from the list". After some back/forth he said "you need a local guide with you". After more/back forth he also said "it is a rule you can't dive alone anywhere on the East coast". Finally he ended with "it doesn't need to be a local guide, you do need a buddy that knows the area well to dive here". I asked many times "is this a recommendation or a rule?" -- I asked once "will I be fined?". I didn't get direct answers, but for the fine he said "maybe, it depends what you do".

I was going to do a second dive, had my tank with me, but decided not to push my luck even though I was pretty sure that wasn't an actual rule. I went and had a nice dive at Lighthouse, which by the way was a harder/rougher dive than Lac Cai, so he unintentionally pushed me to a more advanced dive in a way.

Don't get me wrong, the guy was super nice and really just looking out for me and saying things like "I don't want to see your dead body". I would totally be friends with him and have beers, even if I think he could have done his job in a different/better way.

Long story long -- I went to Stinapa (by Oil Slick) after my Lighthouse dive to get an official answer. The office people were awesome (free Starbursts!) and called the lead ranger. He asked to speak to me on the phone, so I explained what happened. He called the person that I spoke with at Lac Cai to find out why he said that, and then called the office back. They needed to talk to their lawyers before giving me an answer, so I left my WhatsApp number. The chief ranger called me about 5 or 10 minutes later and let me know I can solo dive the East Coast, no rules against it, and if anyone gives me trouble, have them call the chief ranger and he will clear up the confusion.

So yeah... you can still solo dive Bonaire, but you know, there might be some hassles. This wasn't a case of "don't ask don't tell" -- this was a case of, Stinapa saw me.

 

[shopguy]

Buddy Dive still has the $100 12 tank card (air or nitrox). You do have to pick up at the shop in town or at Your Scuba Store - can't grab tanks from the BD dock.

I just went to Buddy Dive because of the much cheaper price. Sadly, they will not rent anything, including tanks, to solo divers. The first question the very nice woman at the desk asked me was "do you have a buddy?" -- I don't lie, ever, so I said "no". She even made a call, and the person she called made another call, and then I got the for sure answer, "we don't rent to solo divers".

That's fine -- that is their policy, and there are other options. This trip I'm going to stick with Dive Friends, $14 per tank isn't unheard of, and they are nice people with lots of convenient locations.

I do plan on spending 6 months every year for the next 10 years here though, so I hope it doesn't keep getting harder and harder to dive here. I don't really want to have to buy a house and a compressor just to have freedom here like I do at home.

 

[uncfnp]

Just returned from Bonaire after getting stranded in Miami for three days on the return flight (but that’s another story).

The DF office at the Cliff is the only staff that has asked us about solo cert. I guess since it is obvious there when someone enters the site alone. This trip I had forgotten a piece of gear so I plopped down at the picnic table and told Eric to go dive. Of course the staff heard this. While he was gearing up one came over to me.

Staff: “Does he have a solo card?”

Me: “Oh he does this all the time.”

Staff: “But does a have the card?”

Me: “Absolutely.”

Staff: “Well ok then.”

 

[scuba127]

I just went to Buddy Dive because of the much cheaper price. Sadly, they will not rent anything, including tanks, to solo divers. The first question the very nice woman at the desk asked me was "do you have a buddy?" -- I don't lie, ever, so I said "no". She even made a call, and the person she called made another call, and then I got the for sure answer, "we don't rent to solo divers".

That's fine -- that is their policy, and there are other options. This trip I'm going to stick with Dive Friends, $14 per tank isn't unheard of, and they are nice people with lots of convenient locations.

I do plan on spending 6 months every year for the next 10 years here though, so I hope it doesn't keep getting harder and harder to dive here. I don't really want to have to buy a house and a compressor just to have freedom here like I do at home.

Buddy's won't rent to solo divers even if they have a solo card?

 

[woodcarver]

I just went to Buddy Dive because of the much cheaper price. Sadly, they will not rent anything, including tanks, to solo divers. The first question the very nice woman at the desk asked me was "do you have a buddy?" -- I don't lie, ever, so I said "no". She even made a call, and the person she called made another call, and then I got the for sure answer, "we don't rent to solo divers".

That's fine -- that is their policy, and there are other options. This trip I'm going to stick with Dive Friends, $14 per tank isn't unheard of, and they are nice people with lots of convenient locations.

I do plan on spending 6 months every year for the next 10 years here though, so I hope it doesn't keep getting harder and harder to dive here. I don't really want to have to buy a house and a compressor just to have freedom here like I do at home.

If you're going to be there that much for that long, find somewhere you can store your gear, including a couple/few tanks. When you own your own, fills are noticeably cheaper (<$6/fill), & they won't ask if you have a buddy when you're picking up and dropping off your tanks.

 

[shoredivr]

Buddy's won't rent to solo divers even if they have a solo card?

Yes, I want to know that also.

 

[scuba127]

Yes, I want to know that also.

Checked with Buddy Dive and they confirmed they won't support solo diving even if you have the solo certification card.