Solo diving on Bonaire

[redacted]

That's better, Jim. DFB's policy is that all divers must dive within their training, and as far as I know, none of their employees has ever implied otherwise.

So, what does that mean besides I need to be certified to dive? With an OW cert, am I limited to 60 ft max depth and day dives only?

For example: "Dive Friends Bonaire offers a free upgrade to Nitrox-certified divers. If you are not certified, we can easily arrange the course for you when you are on island."

 

[wwguy]

I thought I would post this so people don't get surprised.

Bonaire is sometimes referred to as the home of diving freedom. One context is with respect to solo diving. One of the larger firms on the island is now discouraging / preventing solo diving unless you have a TEC cert or a solo diving cert. You then have to sign a solo diver waiver.

It was really disheartening to see a young woman whose significant other could not or would not dive, be told that she could not dive by herself. She looked very upset. We offered to have her dive with us, but she declined.

Solo diving is not for everyone, but if anyone does want to do it, perhaps they should do it in the safest possible manner. So, I can understand any dive op not wanting people to go solo without appropriate training or certification.

This hit home enough for me to get solo diver instructor certified once I got back so our people who want to dive solo don't run into this situation.

Sorry in advance if my comments below seem a bit strong. Some of you guys, including the OP, are cracking me up with this thread. I'm frankly amazed that it's grown to 60+ posts without someone else making statements similar to mine below.

No dive operation, dive instructor, or professional dive guide in their right mind would ever condone their clients solo diving without appropriate proof of training, certification, and experience, plus clearly written express assumption of risk by the diver, and written release from liability for the operator and guide. Anything else would be plain stupid and would be grounds for voiding their certification agency's professional ethics and their own liability insurance policies.

This is nothing new for Bonaire or anywhere else. No dive operation on Bonaire has ever openly condoned or supported solo diving by unqualified guests. (Thus the don't ask, don't tell approach suggested by others in this and other threads.)

The term "Diving Freedom" on Bonaire was coined many years ago by Captain Don Stewart and it means that on Bonaire you have the opportunity to dive 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, at your own pace, at sites of your own choosing, and under your own guidance underwater. It most certainly does not mean that you don't have to be properly trained for those activities before you procure breathing gas or other services from dive operators. It also doesn't mean that those same diver operators should turn a blind eye at your attempts to exceed your certification levels.

Shame on those of you set on shaming any dive operator for living up to the professional ethics intended to protect you from harm and them from your lawyers.

 

[drrich2]

It also doesn't mean that those same diver operators should turn a blind eye at your attempts to exceed your certification levels.

This is a loaded topic that's been the source of criticism before. 'Certification levels.' While it may be recommended that a newly cert.'d OW diver not exceed 60 feet deep to start out, how that diver proceeds into appropriate readiness for deeper diving can vary. It might involve additional coursework (e.g.: AOW, Deep Diver), or mentoring with a more advanced diver, or self-study and gradual advancement with one or more like-minded buddies.

We've also had divers point out that OW cert.s from days of yore often entailed more vigorous training & didn't assume people would take these additional courses, so not all OW courses are created equal.

In other words, a given cert. is not a restricted license prohibiting dives beyond 60' for OW or 100' for AOW.

I don't think anyone expects them to outright condone solo diving without a solo cert. As for turning a blind eye, that's exactly what a lot of people would expect.

If a dive op. for reasons of liability insurance coverage has to prohibit solo diving, or require a solo cert. for it, for boat diving, that's understandable.

If they put something in their customer agreement prohibiting it across the board, this will offend some customers, many of whom will simply ignore it and shore dive how they wish. Most likely, if the customer doesn't make a point of announcing what's he's doing, that's all there'll be to it.

If they actually try to become the scuba police of shore diving, we'll look forward to diving with their competitors.

Richard.

 

[divezonescuba]

And then there was the totally naked guy diving that week.

I do not know which dive shop he used, nor if he advised the dive shop in advance of what he was going to do. I can say that he was not diving alone.

Although I cannot say for certain, he probably did not have a naked diving certification, unless maybe he got one at Hedonism. That would explain why he wisely stayed away from the sites with dive shops nearby.

Diving freedom or not, apparently some people's delicate sensibilities were offended. Although he was probably a nice guy and a skilled diver we did not ask him if he wanted to join us.

I don't plan on applying to teach that cert because personally, I think the inherent risks are unacceptably greater than any present in solo diving, even if you have the proper training and equipment. On the other hand, for some more daring, younger, and attractive instructor then myself, it could become a very popular certification.

Sorry in advance.

 

[Lorenzoid]

So, what does that mean besides I need to be certified to dive?

Exactly. That's the point I think some of us are making here. "Don't ask. Don't tell." You have complete freedom on a place like Bonaire so long as you don't open a can of worms by telling the dive op that you intend to do something they likely aren't allowed by their risk management policies to publicly condone. The dive shop doesn't ask if you're going to dive solo, and you don't volunteer that information.

With an OW cert, am I limited to 60 ft max depth and day dives only?

Not a great example because I think dive ops give a lot more latitude to those "recommended" (by cert agencies) depth limits than they do to solo diving. However, I wouldn't recommend a diver walk into DFB or any other dive op and say, "Hi, I only have an OW cert but I plan to dive to 100 feet. Is that okay with you guys?" The diver is putting them on the spot.

For example: "Dive Friends Bonaire offers a free upgrade to Nitrox-certified divers. If you are not certified, we can easily arrange the course for you when you are on island."

Interesting point raised. They DO want to see a Nitrox card before selling you the Nitrox package. But then when a diver goes to pick up tanks, there is often no one watching over the diver's shoulder to make sure he has a Nitrox package. Really, nothing stops a non-Nitrox certified diver from using the free Nitrox on Bonaire.

 

[oldschoolto]

I sure someone will try and screw up Bonaire one day.... I hate the fact that people have to say /do stuff that makes waves... Do we want Bonaire to turn into the nanny shops that seem to be all over the place... Bonaire, is what diving was before the lawyer and money hungry people got into it... Please leave this last place for us old school people that know how to have a safe time without a babysitter alone... Go to the keys or Caymans or any other place if you need a babysitter....

Jim...

 

[redacted]

Exactly. That's the point I think some of us are making here. "Don't ask. Don't tell." You have complete freedom on a place like Bonaire so long as you don't open a can of worms by telling the dive op that you intend to do something they likely aren't allowed by their risk management policies to publicly condone. The dive shop doesn't ask if you're going to dive solo, and you don't volunteer that information.
.

If a dive op has restrictions, they should be documented and made known before the shop and the diver make a contract. "Don't ask. Don't tell" is a flawed policy that leads to unnecessary problems, like this thread. If the OP requires a solo cert, they need to make that statement up front. If they prohibit any solo diving, say so. If they say nothing up front, then it is not an element of our contract.

 

[oldschoolto]

All dive op's on Bonaire as far as I know... Require all divers to dive within their training and certification... Period...

There are no scuba police on Bonaire.. Last time I went inside the engine room of the Hooker, No one asked to see my wreck card... No one was standing at the dock checking for night cards after sunset. No one was checking dive computers for depth of last dive on the OW divers... No one was tracking number of dives for Nitrogen or O2 loading..

If you need a Nanny, Go to a Nanny dive country... Bonaire is not for you...

Jim..

 

[Lorenzoid]

If a dive op has restrictions, they should be documented and made known before the shop and the diver make a contract. "Don't ask. Don't tell" is a flawed policy that leads to unnecessary problems, like this thread. If the OP requires a solo cert, they need to make that statement up front. If they prohibit any solo diving, say so. If they say nothing up front, then it is not an element of our contract.

This sort of thing has been touched on in other threads. If a contract purports to spell out every detail, one of the parties could later try to use the fact that a detail wasn't specified to their advantage. In other words, if they start spelling out "Diver agrees not to do A, B, C, D, ..." then the omission of "X" might come back to bite them. In my opinion, a written waiver that broadly says something like "Diver agrees to dive within the limits of his training and experience" is beneficial to the dive op. If they spell out "Diver agrees not to solo dive," then it would be risky for them to just look the other way when they see one of their divers doing what looks like solo diving--then they have taken on more responsibility to be vigilant, to nanny their divers. Neither the dive op nor their customers want that.

As for Nitrox, I think they do what they can to enforce that. They do "require" you to sign the analyzer log.

 

[redacted]

All dive op's on Bonaire as far as I know... Require all divers to dive within their training and certification... Period...

There are no scuba police on Bonaire.. ..

I looked at a couple sites to see what I could find The Marine park regs do not address the subject. Closest I found on the Buddy Dive liability resease for on their website says:

3. Engage only in diving activities consistent with my training, comfort and experience.

5. Adhere to the buddy system throughout every dive.


# 5 is intersting in that Buddy does offer the PADI solo course. Does the PADI course require the conduct of a solo dive? Adding the elements of comfort and experience is quite a change from siimply "within their training and certification".

BTW, I have done quite a few solo shore dives on Buddy reef and have never ben challenged or asked for my solo cert.