Bonaire March 21-28...

[Belaflek]

So Im still in the pool diving part of my PADI cert and I decided to take the trip to Bonaire with a dive group for the Open water check dives. My main question is...what should I bring. The only gear I will own will be mask snorkel and fins (boots and open heel). I'm going to bring some food with me but I dont know if there are any rules against bringing anything. Any ideas would be more than welcome. I'm a complete noob to all this (noob = inexperienced newcomer). The standard stuff of course..clothes, sunscreen...I just dont want to get caught lacking

 

[herman]

Welcome to the board.
If possible, I would suggest you bring all your dive gear however you can rent gear there if you like (no weights or tanks ). If you do not already have them, buy yourself some hard soled bootied and I do mean hard soled, the tennis shoe varity. The shore on Bonaire is very rough and is hard on the feet, the soft rubber footed ones will not do. Another piece of dive gear to consider is a full length skin or suit. Not so much for thermal protection but for sunburn protection and to protect agains scrapes. Sun screen is not really a good idea, it washes off, is bad for the reef and you always miss one spot that gets cooked.

You can bring food if you like but it is not necessary unless you have some particular dietary needs or just got a favorite brand you like. There are pleny of places to eat and the local grocerys have pretty much anything you need....although you may have to settle for a different brand or look a couple of places to find what you want. As far as I know there are no rules on the import of food.

Take all the cloths you have layed out and remove 3/4s of them. Most folks pack way too heavy. Tshirts and shorts are all you need top side.

I would also suggest you do a search on Bonaire with the board search function. You will find hours and hours of reading and most likely find every answer you want plus some you did not know to ask. There are plenty of us on the board who know the island well and some lucky dogs who live there, once you have read for a while and still have questions, fire away.

 

[DiveMaven]

As far as I know there aren't any rules about food items you can and cannot bring. We brought some Mac&Cheese, as well as coffee, and Splenda, but everything else was easy to buy at the grocery stores, and honestly the prices weren't so high that packing an extra bag of food is really necessary IMO.

 

[Scotttyd]

Welcome to the board.
If possible, I would suggest you bring all your dive gear however you can rent gear there if you like (no weights or tanks ). If you do not already have them, buy yourself some hard soled bootied and I do mean hard soled, the tennis shoe varity. The shore on Bonaire is very rough and is hard on the feet, the soft rubber footed ones will not do. quote]

herman, I am going to probably have to pick up a new pair of booties for the wife as I know hers have a very soft sole. Although I guess I could wear my dry suit rock boots, not sure how that would work without the dry suit neoprene sock.

Would something like this be thick enough for the shore there?

Deep See 3mm Mens Caribbean Boot

 

[skynscuba]

Would something like this be thick enough for the shore there?

Deep See 3mm Mens Caribbean Boot

The soles look probably okay, but in my opinion it is better to see such in person to judge. Also, I don't see much reason to buy thin (3mm) low-top shoes/boots, except that they are slightly lighter for travel. I use a pair of

SEASOFT Stealth boot

for all of my wet diving.

 

[robint]

Bring granola bars for between dive snacks. Also, gatoraid powder or iced tea powder to mix with gallon bottles of water for your fridge. When you get there go to the grocery store and buy beer, sodas, a couple of gallon jugs of water and any other foods you might like - we got some bread, yummy gouda cheese, ham, etc for sandwiches.

As far as gear goes, bring what you can. YOu can rent there but depending where you stay will determine if they have your size and now new the gear really is. Also bring a hat, sunscreen, tshirts and shorts, and several swimsuits.... a couple of times a day you will want to put on dry stuff. Bring a couple of beachtowels also so that you always have a dry one.

Bring your topside digital camera too!!

robin

 

[Bob]

Would something like this be thick enough for the shore there?

Deep See 3mm Mens Caribbean Boot

These boots work well for shore diving on Bonaire. almtree: Bob
Scubapro Molded Sole Boots, Lone Star Scuba in Fort Worth, TX, Dive Equipment for Scuba Class

 

[herman]

Any of the above will do, you just don't want the cheap ones that look like neoprene socks that have had the bottoms dipped in rubber. Those work fine for boat diving or sandy shores but the shore on Bonaire is coral rubble and ironstone, the soft sole boots will not protect your feet with the added weight of having scuba gear on.

 

[gert7to3]

Here's what I use on Bonaire. Felt soles really grip on slick rocks and you don't feel anything through them.

NRS Felt Sole Kicker Wetshoe

 

[drrich2]

Hi:

Well, one thing I wished I'd taken when I went to Bonaire with my wife & friend was tank bangers. Yeah, tank bangers. It's the kind of thing you can put on your own tank back home for quarry diving and forget about, then when you're using rental tanks thousands of miles away, and you're diving deeper than you really ought to be (in my case laying on my belly in the sand at 99' alongside the Hilma Hooker) since the visibility is great and it 'seems the same' at depth, when all of a sudden, you realize there's a whole lotta water overhead, if your regulator craps out or you get careless and run out of air abruptly you will likely die rather than reach the surface unless your buddy is close & paying attention to share his Octo. (and my, it's easy to get distracted down there!), and it would, really be nice if you knew a quick, easy way to signal each other.

I'm certainly not suggesting deeper diving than you're trained & ready for, negligence in buddy monitoring either way, not keeping up with your air supply (check it often; during open water training I got excited, ran through my air supply fast & ran out abruptly at depth; my instructor was right there to intervene, but let me tell you, but I don't want that to have to happen again!) or other 'injudicious' practices.

I'm just saying it's nice to have a way to signal each other if human nature is having its way when disaster comes calling.

Richard.