Wanna go to Bonaire--Late Jan?

[jepuskar]

Hi, I am planning on going down to Bonaire sometime in late January/early Feb. My plans are tentative, but will be set if someone wants to go.

We can work out the details in PM's.

Let me know ASAP!

Thanks,

Jason

my email is jepuskar76@aol.com

[scubagrl]

...maybe those of us who are going to be there for New Years will have such an awesome time that we'll just decide to stay on for an extra few weeks.

Anybody out there know of anyone looking to hire short term staff for the month of January.....I can teach, bartend, garden, drive, shop, clean, house sit, dog walk, donkey walk...oh, and I dive too!

Shoot, to stay in Bonaire for an extra month, there isn't much I WOULDN'T do.

[jepuskar]

I was just there two weeks ago...tell u anything?

[raviepoo]

jepuskar once bubbled...
I was just there two weeks ago...tell u anything?

It tells me you have too much money and too much free time.

[jepuskar]

If I had too much money i would be there right now.

I get 3 weeks vacation at the start of the year so this is one week of that 3 weeks.

I have a good paying job, a car payment and I live at home with the parents. Life is good and so is the diving.

If I could up and leave the states for a year and live in Bonaire I would do it...why not? Plenty to dive..plenty to see...heck, I should do it...imagine the dives I would log..ohh my.

hmmmm..wonder how that would work out.. I could save up the money and maybe instead of a year..do a couple months...maybe fly back home for a couple days..

interesting..very interesting.

I wonder how much that would cost!!!

Dear Santa...drop off some benjamins

[sillygrendel]

I'm currently in between jobs and would love to be located someplace like Bonaire! (I just don't think they'd need me!)

But... What I've been thinking would be a lot of fun would be to start an adventure tourism business on Christmas Island.

There is diving, sea Kayaking, Rock Climbing, Hiking, fishing... I was talking to the head of the board of tourism there a couple of months ago and he said there is not a single group there doing that kind of tourism!

Sigh... If I only had the money, or could get serious about raising it! :(

Matt

[jepuskar]

I am in a position to just up and leave and do it..I think that would be just awesome..

Between the accomodations, diving package, meals, misc....it might cost a pretty penny.

Hmm...

I might just price it out....maybe I could make a deal with one of the places I would stay at. and make it a little cheaper.

Hmmmm, this thinking is just not healthy..

[jepuskar]

Anyone know the laws regarding extended stays? Is it like 6 months on a temp visa?

do i need a visa if I was going to stay for just 2 months?

[O-ring]

Hey jepuskar,
What was the average water temp you were getting down there? Was the diving really that good that you want to go back in 2 weeks? :eek:

[jepuskar]

Water temp was 80 degrees at the surface and at 100 feet

I used a full 3mm and was completely comfortable the whole time...not too warm and not too cold..just right.

I realize there are other places that have 80 degree temps and good viz, but there is something about seeing soo many divers....everywhere u look, pickup trucks on the roads with scuba gear hanging out...it really is divers paradise. Keep in mind, these were my first ocean dives..coming from Chicago, where quarries and lakes are the thing with 5-20 foot viz.

To answer your question directly...YES yes and yes. I'm not sure what your diving experiences are or your background, but I'm beyond hooked on diving Bonaire.

I was hooked on diving before I left, but I'll never forget when I first saw the reef. It was right in front of Capt. Don's..we followed the rope they have there straight to the reef..and about 30 feet it started. I had that same feeling every dive..AWESOME

Do me a favor. Write this down---You and your group drive to the site named Alice in Wonderland...its on the south side of the island about a mile or two past the salt pier. Alice has 2 reefs..inner and outer..they are seperated between about 100 feet of a sandy bottom..this is about at 80 feet. When you pass over the inner reef you will see the sandy bottom....I just had a great inner moment at that point..I kneeled on the bottom....you will see a bunch of garden eels on the sand....they will duck back in there holes when you arrive..its funny to see, but kneeling on the bottom i just looked at the reef in front of me and looked up at the surface...it was awesome..that will be the first dive i do when i arrive.

Ok, im about to cry......

[O-ring]

Water temp was 80 degrees at the surface and at 100 feet
Nice! Thanks for the tip...even warmer than I thought...


I realize there are other places that have 80 degree temps and good viz, but there is something about seeing soo many divers....everywhere u look, pickup trucks on the roads with scuba gear hanging out...it really is divers paradise. Keep in mind, these were my first ocean dives..coming from Chicago, where quarries and lakes are the thing with 5-20 foot viz.

To answer your question directly...YES yes and yes. I'm not sure what your diving experiences are or your background, but I'm beyond hooked on diving Bonaire.

I was hooked on diving before I left, but I'll never forget when I first saw the reef. It was right in front of Capt. Don's..we followed the rope they have there straight to the reef..and about 30 feet it started. I had that same feeling every dive..AWESOME
Sounds cool...I am a little bit skeptical, but I am sure I will be awe struck once I get there...


I kneeled on the bottom....you will see a bunch of garden eels on the sand....they will duck back in there holes when you arrive..its funny to see, but kneeling on the bottom i just looked at the reef in front of me and looked up at the surface...it was awesome..
*bonk* "kneeling on the bottom"? You know better than that...hehe.. ;)

[jepuskar]

i noticed very few places to kneel on the bottom..i shoot video soo when I can..kneeling is best for me.

Also at that site...Manta Rays are known to frequent around the sandy bottom.

ok, time to leave for the day..i worked so hard today :/

later

[herman]

jepuskar once bubbled...
Ok, im about to cry......


Hummmmm.... jepuskar it appears that you have a bad case of what is known as PBD (Post Bonaire Depression ). Guess I should have warned you about it, oh well, not too late to save O-ring from the same fate. It is a incurable condition that strikes all divers who enter the water around Bonaire. There is no cure and the only known way to get relief from the symptoms is to return to Bonaire as soon and as often as possible (remedy taken from BonaireTalk.com) Just reading about O-ring going is enough to get my PBD acting up.

The current water and air temps are on one of the webcams. Alice In Wonderland and Angel city are next to each other, my favorite dive one island as well. No problem kneeling there, nice sandy bottom.
While a 3mm is fine, we find that a beenie cap helps a lot. After 3 or 4 dives we start to get cool.

TRY THIS On a night dive, turn your lights off, keep swimming and look behind you after your eyes have adjusted some.....there will be a trail of bioluminance (SP?) behind you....looks like fairy dust from TinkerBell..It has to be the neatest thing I have seen while diving.

[jepuskar]

Herman, yes, I suffer from PBD. I am despising the Chicagoland area right now...its cold, windy, looking at the water makes me sick.

In order to please me inner soul, I have to go hop in my LDS pool. This is no way to live...there is waaay too much for me to explore and see in Bonaire. Every dive was a great dive, even if I didn't see any interesting creature. Just floating over the reef being really relaxed or upright against a wall peeking in between looking for stuff....my air consumption dropped dramatically while I was down there. Up here my buddy was atleast 500psi ahead of me, but down there we were equal. I was soo relaxed...my SI's were horrible. I didnt want to get out of the water.

arrghhhhhh

The video I took does not do it justice...you cant take in the whole surroundings through a little dome port, but I tried anyway.

I have already begun the initial planning of my extended trip. It is very doable, but im afraid im gonna be alone on this endeavor.

[DiverBuoy]

The money dried up somewhere between the week in the Virgin Islands December 14th 2002 and a week in the Caymans in April 26th 2003. <lol>

[livestodive]

from now Pam and I will be diving there. It has been a full year since we were last there and I'm sitting herte in cold New England waiting.

If anyone from the boards is going to be down there during the week of 1/18-25 maybe we can get a dive in together. My favorite was karpata but there were 17 other dive sites that were a very close second. ( only got in 18 dives) This year I am hoping to increase that number a bit :)

[notabob]

livestodive once bubbled...
If anyone from the boards is going to be down there during the week of 1/18-25 maybe we can get a dive in together.

I'll be leaving Bonaire on the 18th... I'm there for the whole week before you. Would be interesting to meet a fellow New Englander in a faraway place. You should join NELD more often on our outings. There may be one this weekend or next... (maybe not necessarily for diving, but it should be fun nonetheless)

-Roman.

[pisces]

Jason,

Are you still trying to go to Bonaire at the end of January?

I desperately need a warm, tropical dive trip. I really wanted to go to Bonaire but then figured since it was all shore diving, I would definitely need a dive buddy. But don't know of anyone who can do a trip on such short notice. So, if things happen the way that I expect them to, stars are properly aligned, things are right with the universe etc., I want to do a week long dive trip sometime around the last 2 weeks of January. Maybe we could talk about being dive buddies. I guess its coming up pretty soon.... Yikes!