New here! Going to Bonaire May05 and never scuba dived before! HELP!

[FinnishBeginner]

Hello!

We are a couple going to Bonaire in May 2005 for honeymoon (can't wait!). Neither of us have scuba dived before but we are going to take a PADI owd-course there. Do you have any practical hints fors us about what we should take into account before our journey? What are the costs of owd-course? :06:

We are thankful for any tips that you may have conserning scuba diving and Bonaire!

Best regards,

Beginners from Finland

 

[El Orans]

Hello FinnishBeginners,
welcome (Scub)aBoard! :balloon
First of all, relax. Take a deep breath. Relax some more.

Now, on with your questions.
Bonaire is a great place to learn how to dive and to relax.
Have you made any arrangements yet?

Laurens

 

[DandyDon]

Howdy!

And welcome to SB - the biggest, the best, the fastest growing, and the friendliest! If you'll click ScubaBoard.com above, you'll be taken to our long list of forums, a wealth of information and resources. At the bottom, be sure to notice the Local & Singles Dive Club forums.

PM me if I can help you learn your way around; that is - click my username to the upper left, then follow the prompts to send me a "Personal Message."

don

 

[SubMariner]

Moved from Introductions & Greets forum.

 

[herman]

Welcome to the board.
Do a search here for the tons of discussions on Bonaire that have been posted over the years. There is a lot of good info. Also, come join us on the Bonaire board, everything you ever wanted to know about Bonaire can be found there. www.bonairetalk.com
I have 2 suggestions for your dive course. First, if it were me, I would do a referal. You do all your class and pool work at home with a local dive shop and finish up your open water dives elsewhere (Bonaire). This way you spend less time in class and more time in the water. It also gives you time to work on anything that may give you problems.
I would also suggest you buy your mask at a LDS (local dive shop). Mask are very personal and must fit correctly. You really need to take time and look at a lot of mask to find the one that fits you. I would check every dive shop close to you to find the one for you. I once checked every mask in a bigger Bonaire dive shop and none fit me well (all one brand).

 

[Matt the Aquaman]

Hey there FinnishBeginners, welcome to Scuba Board! and safe diving :butnhome:

Click here to greet a new member! :happywave
No experience needed and it feels great!​

 

[Ain'tDeadYet]

Bonaire is such a great place to begin to dive, because there's a big sandy shelf at 4-9 ft all around the leeward side of the island, so you can get used to being underwater comfortably before you have to deal with pressure equalization deeper down. then there's a reef that goes from 10 to 20 ft with a lot of really interesting stuff to see, and then there's the dropoff to the bottom at 150 ft. in some places. so you can dive as deep as you're comfortable doing and still have a great dive.
there's been a great thread running this week on this board, begun by a diver from tulsa who deco'd on his third dive. a lot of really good points for new divers has been covered in the discussion on this thread. check it out.
congradulations on your marriage!

 

[Tom Smedley]

Where you stay in Bonaire makes the difference what you can expect from the dive operation. Fill us in on the details of your trip. If you plan to take a resort course there you should arrange before you go. Most of the operations have a very busy staff and they would like to fit you into a comfortable schedule.

Make sure your package has a car rental or it it does not arrange in advance for a rental car for the duration of your vacation. The main beauty of Bonaire is the freedom to go where you please and to dive when and where you please.

Listen to the dive briefing at your resort and be adventurous. You will have an adventure of a lifetime.

If you will do a search for the resort where you are staying most all have the rates for dive classes posted.

Hello!

We are a couple going to Bonaire in May 2005 for honeymoon (can't wait!). Neither of us have scuba dived before but we are going to take a PADI owd-course there. Do you have any practical hints fors us about what we should take into account before our journey? What are the costs of owd-course? :06:

We are thankful for any tips that you may have conserning scuba diving and Bonaire!

Best regards,

Beginners from Finland

 

[scubaaaronh]

I totally agree with herman on taking the classes at home. then do your open waters in bonaire. Depending on the resort and the way there class is structured it can take up to four days to get certified and that is a lot of wasted diving time. I also agree with getting the mask locally. You are assured a good fit that way and not what they have on the shelf to use. I also am partial to proper fitting boots and fins. I have samll feet and some of the resorts only have XL open heel fins which are sloppy on my feet even when pulled tight. Something else to think about picking up. Most of the resorts other gear is usuall in really good shape. Regs gauges and bcds are properly maintained.
Congrats on the Wedding i just did the same and am going to bonaire feb 26.
Good luck with the classes and enjoy scubadiving it is a wonderful sport and great exercise. Listen to everything your instructors tell you and follw their guide lines and dont push the limits and scubadivng is a safe sport. Also go to www.scubadiving.com and you can start to read a lot on diving. also i dont know if this magazine is offered overseas but it is a great resource its Dive Training and is a great resource. I stated a subscription 12 years ago and will not let it lapse because just when you think you know something there is some new thing out to help divers. Find it at this link http://www.dtmag.com/homepage2.htm

 

[herman]

Good point about the fins, Aaron.
Don't know why but a lot of the ops don't have a wide range of fins to rent. We were diving with a lady in Dec who was having trouble finding a small size fin. In addition to the fins, hard soled booties are a must, the shore on Bonaire is all iron stone and broken coral. There are VERY FEW sand beaches on Bonaire. The soft soled, sock like kind are not nearly enough protection.