Bonaire First Timers

[diversteve]

If you want to try something a bit different you can book a trip with an operator called Larry's Wild Side. He has a Navy style inflatable and dives the rougher back side.

Not with 30 dives apiece...

 

[agilulfo]

My wife and I are relatively new divers with less than 30 dives.

My wife and I had a similar experience. Bonaire was our first dive trip after getting certified. One of the reasons why we picked Bonaire is because the diving is very easy. The reef is very shallow and close to shore so you don't have to dive deeper than 50' if you don't want to.

1) We will be by ourselves (not as part of a group). Will we be able to hook up with others? How easy will that be? Just drive up and ask to join a group?

We also were by ourselves. At first, we did a few dives with a divemaster. By the third day we got comfortable and we hooked up with a solo diver at our resort. We did most of our dives with him and a few other dives with other people at our resort. In the end, we did very few dives just the two of us and by then we were pretty comfortable with that.

2) How important are navigations skills when shore diving? Is it easy to get lost?

Navigation skills are only important if you want to spare yourself the surface swim to and from the reef (which it can be 50' to 100' at some sites). The reef runs parallel to the shore so even if you get lost, all you need to do is surface and look.

3) What if we need some help while out diving, due to some unforeseen circumstances? Who do we look to?

You should definitely get DAN insurance and if you are concerned about this, you can rent a cell phone from a local provider. Even if you are alone, it's very common to encounter other divers at most dive sites either in the water or at the surface. The island is very small so even if you must drive to get help, you will be in town within 15/30 min.

5) Are there lists of recommended sites with what we might see there? Are they available there?

I suggest you purchase Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy, BSDME, by Susan Porter. It was very useful to us to help us decide which shore dives were suitable to our skill level. We are going back to Bonaire in two weeks and I purchased the new edition as well.

In conclusion, it is understandable that you have concerns, but you picked one of the easiest and best dive destinations in the world. You will have a great time and you will go back! We are.

 

[maxguru]

OK, well, first off don't worry about any of it.

Now to specifics.
...
2) Navigation skills not required. Swim to the wall, right or left, half tank turn around and swim back to entry. It really is easy. Try to take note of a structure near you entry.
...
Hy, they don't call it diver's paradise for nothing.

I usually leave a partly filled safety sausage at the point I want to turn back to shore. I take an extra 2 lb. weight and anchor it on the bottom where I can see it on my return. Otherwise, it can be a trifle tricky to identify the exact point you turned down the reef. Before I submerge, I take a compass heading to the truck on shore and use that heading to dive across the sandy flat to my entry point.

Finding the mooring line can work, too, but sometimes its a few yards away from the reef drop off - easy to miss.

max

max

 

[bubba105]

It's best to have a compass & computer or depth gauge, for each diver, to navigate in Bonaire. What we did was take a heading from shore to the buoy, say West. That makes East home. Surface swim to the buoy, usually no more than 50 yards, descend & take a depth reading, ussually around 30 feet. As has been said many times swim into the current. You're on your own so you need to pay attention to your air usage (actually the dives will be parallel to shore so even if you run low on air you can surface & either swim or walk back to your entry point but I prefer paying attention). When you reach the turn around pressure, which you've already discussed, make your way to 30 feet as you swim back & you'll run into the buoy line. Turn to the homeward direction, in this case East , swim to shore & you've just navigated a dive. Your confidence will grow through the week. I suggest doing a night dive later in the week in the same location as one of that day's dives. You'll have some confidence in your abilities at this site & the critters you'll see on a night dive will be quite different that the day dive. If you hook up with somebody, do the navigation yourself anyway. Insta-buddies are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. It's easy, just have fun.

Safe diving

Richie

 

[kona74]

Hi,
My wife and I were Bonaire 1st timers back in November 07. We had 17 dives under our belt when we arrived and made 11 dives while we were there. All of our dives were shore dives made on our own with no issues. You will love it.

There is a great Bonaire website - BonaireTalk, with lots of great info.

I would recommend thinking about entry and exiting with surf. It is mild in Bonaire but if you have not considered how you will deal with it, then you will have some coral rash.

Enjoy your trip.

 

[fireken]

See you there, we are arriving on April 3 and staying at Belmar, but doing one boat dive a day with Buddy's

 

[Drewpy]

You will probably have more than enough to explore But Larry's Wild side is not that extreme..its actually a great dive (s).My wife did it as dive # 12. She did have an outstanding instructor in our resident NW Greatful Diver though.. Thanks again Bob!

You will love Bonaire..no worries!Have fun!

Drew

 

[herman]

I was thinking the same thing Drew, it's pretty tame by NC standards. The time I went there were 3 young adults less than 16 (one 12) along and we had no problems. Later in the week, it should be no problem.

 

[JVM4.0]

Once again, my sincere thanks to all who have responded. I have found out so much, that I have very few questions remaining. I have a feeling that things will be much smoother than what I was afraid of. It's all just one big experience that we are looking forward to.

Big thanks to all!

 

[Cecil]

One major thing was missed, go to the below link for much more info.

Topics - Bonaire Talk