Trip Report Trip Report: July 1 - July 8, 2018

[morecowbells]

Thanks for the excellent trip report! Last Feb. we did our check out dive in front of Yellow Submarine. I agree, it is a great site which seems to fall under the radar. I have always adopted shelter dogs and feel your heartbreak when it comes to the stray dogs. The Cozumel Humane Society has done a great job of educating the community about their spay and neuter programs along with making it easy for visitors to adopt from their shelter. I do not see nearly the number of strays as I did when visiting the island over a decade ago. Roatan on the other hand was probably the worst that I have seen when it comes to strays in the Caribbean.

 

[uncfnp]

Hi @CapsFan22!

Your flight in was our flight out! Which means most of our plane missed their connections in ATL so there was a large contingency overnighting in nearby hotels courtesy of Delta. Made for a long day. And that rain you flew into was the first significant rain in Bonaire since February. Or so we told by our driver for the rental car.

We noticed that DFs was doing a few things differently this last trip...

1) They are now issuing ID cards and keychain tags for fills. We were never asked to show ours but then we got all our fills from the same location.

2) it looks like they are now using polyurethane orings. We had no leaks and had to replace zero orings for the entire week. That was a first.

 

[Lorenzoid]

A very nice report and thanks for posting! It always encourages me to hear from first time visitors to Bonaire and their enthusiasm. You obviously did your research ahead of time. . . .

I have to agree. I've gotten jaded about trip reports, neither reading nor writing many of them anymore, but this one proves there is always something one can learn, even from a first-time visitor. I knew nothing about ostracods--I only vaguely recall hearing the term. Now having Googled and read up on them, I think we may be able to try this on our trip, as we are there on the next full moon.

Between an ostracod dive and the idea of approaching the Hilma Hooker from an adjacent site (that's yours, @uncfnp ), I have picked up two new ideas in just the past week.

 

[AdivingBel]

1) They are now issuing ID cards and keychain tags for fills. We were never asked to show ours but then we got all our fills from the same location.

Hmmm...I wonder what this is about...maybe it's designed for "peak season" (not that you were there in peak season). When we're there in the fall they don't care how many tanks we take or anything else that I can see other than that we're having a good time and if there is anything else they can do for us...

2) it looks like they are now using polyurethane orings. We had no leaks and had to replace zero orings for the entire week. That was a first.

I've already stocked up for our fall trip. Maybe I'll bring extras for GC...

Oh and nice report OP..."Dive freedom" is pretty special, huh.

 

[uncfnp]

Hmmm...I wonder what this is about...maybe it's designed for "peak season" (not that you were there in peak season). When we're there in the fall they don't care how many tanks we take or anything else that I can see other than that we're having a good time and if there is anything else they can do for us...

It’s an attempt to ensure only paying divers get their tanks. As the guy at the shop said, it replaces the “wave and say hi” system as the divers load their tanks.

At Bonaire I have always asked for a few spare orings at the beginning of the week. This time I returned all 5 that they gave me. And as for GC, I have a box of various size rings I always travel with plus a few tools and a save-a-dive kit.

 

[AdivingBel]

It’s an attempt to ensure only paying divers get their tanks. As the guy at the shop said, it replaces the “wave and say hi” system as the divers load their tanks.

I guess they had a rash of non-paying divers grabbing tanks? The bast*@#s...you just can't have nice things. It would serve them right to get the crappy O-rings. I hope they don't do away with the wave and say hi part.

And as for GC, I have a box of various size rings I always travel with plus a few tools and a save-a-dive kit.

Cool, I haven't serviced my gear recently...I was already planning to hang with your SO to see the good stuff.

 

[Lorenzoid]

That tanks are taken on basically an honor system has always impressed me. Yet another unique thing about Bonaire. It's hard to believe anyone who ponies up for airfare and lodging would then be so cheap and unethical as to try to get tanks without paying, but maybe I'm naive.

As for o-rings, after my second or third Bonaire trip and feeling fed up with the leaky o-ring on every other tank, I finally bought a pack of 100 Viton o-rings that I figured would get me through my future Bonaire trips and any other instances where I rented tanks for use away from the dive op. I probably have half of them left.

 

[uncfnp]

That tanks are taken on basically an honor system has always impressed me. Yet another unique thing about Bonaire. It's hard to believe anyone who ponies up for airfare and lodging would then be so cheap and unethical as to try to get tanks without paying, but maybe I'm naive.

As for o-rings, after my second or third Bonaire trip and feeling fed up with the leaky o-ring on every other tank, I finally bought a pack of 100 Viton o-rings that I figured would get me through my future Bonaire trips and any other instances where I rented tanks for use away from the dive op. I probably have half of them left.

It is amazing what some people will try and get away with.

Think of it as another collectable Bonaire sovereign. Just like the marine park tags.

 

[CapsFan22]

A very nice report and thanks for posting! It always encourages me to hear from first time visitors to Bonaire and their enthusiasm. You obviously did your research ahead of time. Den Laman is a great place to stay and Dive Friends is an awesome dive operator. I will say that there are some outstanding restaurants on the island, if you are so inclined in the future. There are also some great food truck options for a lunch stop between dives. I am the biggest fan of Between 2 Buns and you did well to steer clear of the inclusive breakfast option offered by Den Laman at Breeze n Bites. It is very uninspiring and Bfast at Between 2 Buns is the way to go.

I don't doubt that there is some good food to be had. I forgot to include that we went to Yhanni's, a little hut on Coco Beach, and had their Arepa's. They were ridiculously good!

Hi @CapsFan22!

Your flight in was our flight out! Which means most of our plane missed their connections in ATL so there was a large contingency overnighting in nearby hotels courtesy of Delta. Made for a long day. And that rain you flew into was the first significant rain in Bonaire since February. Or so we told by our driver for the rental car.

We noticed that DFs was doing a few things differently this last trip...

1) They are now issuing ID cards and keychain tags for fills. We were never asked to show ours but then we got all our fills from the same location.

2) it looks like they are now using polyurethane orings. We had no leaks and had to replace zero orings for the entire week. That was a first.

It was pretty frustrating to get in as late as we did. We boarded the first flight on time, but were then deboarded because of a software issue. It seems like that's something they should have been aware of before we got on the plane. It took over 3 hours for us to get a new plane.

The great thing about DFB is that you can check the O-rings before loading your tank. We ended up turning away at least one every day because of a bad O-ring. Some were in pieces, others were hanging halfway out of the valve.

We were also given those ID cards to use at other locations, and they went in my dry box and never came back out. We tended to just use other locations to return tanks rather than pick them up.

 

[Scubagaskets]

Have a look on scubagaskets o-rings. We are the only shop globally with such deep specialization on scuba o-rings

You searched for - Premium O-rings Provider for Scuba Diving
You searched for - Page 2 of 3 - Premium O-rings Provider for Scuba Diving