Buddy's Submarine History

Does anyone know the history of the submarine in the parking lot of Buddy's in bonaire?

Do you have any photos of the sub? Can you describe it?

It looks like a 2 man sub about 12' long white in color. When I was there in Nov. I asked around but no one knew anything about it other than it had been sitting there for a number of years.

Good question. I do know it was some type of working wet sub and not just a decoration. If you look inside the operations consoles and much of the control mechanics are still there.

Does it look anything like this? Perry made quite a few sub models, if I recall correctly...

Dedication of the Perry Cubmarine on May 31, 2008

That submarine model was shown at DEMA back in the 80s. They called it a Sportsub and had an operating range of 3 hours (limited by deco necessity) and a max depth of 120 feet. It was a two or three man wet sub that you could tool around in and park it to get out anytime you wanted. Submariners wore scuba gear. We lusted over the thing and wished we had one for Vortex and Morrison. The ones that are still in operation are asking around $40000. You notice I said asking and not necessarily selling. I think the dealer cost for one in 1988 was around $7500.

The sub that you are talking about belonged to Lions Dive Hotel when it was in business and has been sitting there in the bushes in the same spot for the 15 (16 in March) years that I have been going to Bonaire. Buddy Dive inherited the sub when they bought Lions Dive. The apartment that is to the left of the sub was the Lions Dive front desk.

I thought it might belong to Lions Den based upon it's location in the parking lot.
Thanks for the history lesson. I appreciate it.