Diving near Bonaire's Salt Pier

[lgreco]

Hello all. I wrote an article about diving at Salt Pier in Bonaire, and I thought you may find it interesting. Following is a brief quote from the article and a link to the full text, for your consideration.

What would help even more, however, is if guided dives at both pier structures resumed. The conditions at this point are similar to those before hurricane Omar — at least at Salt Pier. The security profile of divers and dive masters on the island does not appear to have changed. Perhaps the time has come for the authorities on the island to begin issuing again permits for pier diving.​

The full article is available from mybonaire.org/blog.

 

[janrn777]

So you saying that they shut down the piers to divers because of unarticulated security issues? I wouldn't think any diver would hurt them out of reverence and awe but Pieta is behind bullet-proof glass.

 

[lgreco]

It's not clear, at least to me, why the Piers are still closed for diving. The security issue (which is part of USA's DHS requirements) is addressed by allowing guided dives. But they no longer issue permits for such dives which doesn't really make sense. If a terrorist enters Bonaire, s/he will not bother joining a guided dive. The important thing is to keep the terrorist out of the island, i.e., maintain and improve border control quality.

 

[lizard0924]

The latest word on the other Bonaire forum (which shall not be named), is that you can dive salt pier if you get written permission from the harbormaster and have an official dive guide. It seems the DeLoaches just did the salt pier dive with Augusto from Buddy Dive. Of course, given their status, perhaps they were afforded special treatment?

Good to see you posting, Leo

 

[lgreco]

Hi there Liz...ard.

OK so the situation with the piers is confusing but it looks like the bottom line is not about security but about the harbormaster's convenience. As one local dive master told me, the harbor master would rather not deal with the hassle of issuing permits. Them pesky tourists are too demanding, you know?

Fact 1: you can dive the pier with the harbormaster's permit and a guide divemaster.

Fact 2: the DeLoaches dove the pier in Sep 2009.

Fact 3: the harbormaster stated that no permits have been issued in 2009 and that the chances of any permits being issued are nil.

Regarding fact 1: to obtain a permit, you need to provide the harbormaster with a copy of your passport's ID page. You know, just in case you sneaked from the back of the airplane, jumped the airport fence into Marina's sanctuary, and rode a donkey into town, thus skipping passport control.

Regarding fact 3: the chances for permits are nil? In thermodynamics, even events with nil (ie zero) chances are probable. So how did the DeLoaches end up diving the Salt Pier? Either the harbormaster knows advanced thermodynamics or some dive shops have special relations with Cargill.

From a security point of view, there is no reason for the Salt Pier to remain closed. First, because, divers are there already. Second, because divers in Bonaire pose no security risk (except, of course, those who ride into down on a donkey). From a diver's safety point of view also, the Salt Pier is perfectly safe.

I would even take things a step further: you don't need a guide/dive master to dive the salt pier, at least not during daylight. It's a perfectly simple, straight forward, mostly-shallow dive.

 

[lgreco]

And here's a bit of a detective work Lizard.

The DeLoaches dove the Pier on September 4 (night of the full moon, etc).

Now, on the same day the harbormaster in Bonaire allegedly stated that no legal permit has been issued in 2009, according to a post in another bulletin board.

So did the DeLoaches dive the Pier without a permit?

It is possible of course, that given the DeLoaches status, the harbormaster issued an expedited permit for the same day. I just find the coincidence a bit interesting. Diving the Salt Pier the same day the harbormaster made those -- regrettable by now? -- statements.

 

[DiverVince]

Hmmm...sounds like it's going to be just another one of those Bonairean mysteries (of which there are many)...
PS..Hi L & L!

 

[lizard0924]

I love a good mystery....perhaps I can do some investigating in January when I'm back on the island.

 

[Blackrock]

This is a response from Bart Snelder (co-owner of Wannadive) on Bonairetalk.com. I know Bart and completely trust him and respect him.

"[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]I just went into the harbormasters office (again!) I wanted to know the real scoop! The pier is not going to open until at least next year, because................tadaaaaaH..... the pier is going to be enlarged. Apparently the barge to drill the pilings is already on its way, the plan is to start within two weeks.
The salt pier will remain closed because the walkways next to the conveyor belt is completely destabilized by Omar and its after effects (massive electrolysis). This is a massive structure alltogether, in danger of complete collapse. Not good for a passing diver, I suppose. One would guess thats where the harbormaster would end his prose but no! He said, and I quote "We do not have the authority to prosecute trespassers" "I fish there regularly but cannot stop divers from diving the pier" ????? He continued saying that the problem therefore is not so much a worry for prosecution, but rather that without permission the diver is fully liable for whatever happens.
IE You get a steel pier on your head of say 20 tons, your problem! His words!"

If you would like to read all the posts on the thread, you may do so at:

Bonaire Talk: Are people still diving the town pier?

Have fun.


[/FONT]

 

[Papa_Bear]

Hello all. I wrote an article about diving at Salt Pier in Bonaire, and I thought you may find it interesting. Following is a brief quote from the article and a link to the full text, for your consideration.

What would help even more, however, is if guided dives at both pier structures resumed. The conditions at this point are similar to those before hurricane Omar — at least at Salt Pier. The security profile of divers and dive masters on the island does not appear to have changed. Perhaps the time has come for the authorities on the island to begin issuing again permits for pier diving.​

The full article is available from mybonaire.org/blog.

Just did the Cargill Salt Pier last week on a night dive and it was great! Over an hour of very good diving with a lot of life!