Bonaire: Single diver looking for dive buddies, Dec.6-13

[waterfaerie]

Thanks again for your advice, DiverSteve! To be honest, I was a little worried about all the bad reviews about Habitat on TripAdvisor. But, I'll give it a try! Do you recommend doing a Rescue Diver course in Bonaire?

---------- Post added December 1st, 2015 at 04:23 PM ----------

My husband and I will be in Bonaire Dec 5-13, and I have to say Lorenzoid's post made me laugh because we are exactly the same way (and only two of us)! I must admit, I'm a little anxious about diving some of the sites with just the 2 of us. We'll be diving the house reef at Sand Dollar (and vicinity) for the first day or two, I am sure. We love the house reef at Captain Don's, so I'm sure we'll venture that way.

So, if any of you see 40-something couple wearing a Green Bay Packers or Carolina Panthers (I was born in WI, but have lived in NC for a long time - so I'm torn b/w teams) hat, come over and say hi - we'd love to meet others and maybe do some more adventurous dives that we wouldn't do alone.

What do you mean Lunula, and Lorenzoid?! You mean some people like to REST on their vacation when they could be diving?

Just kidding, I understand! No worries or pressure OF COURSE. Any day you are ok with me coming along (whenever), just text or email me (I'll PM my contact info). We are practically neighbours, after all!

Thanks again, EVERYONE, for writing back! Have a fantastic trip!

:bounce3::bounce2::bounce4::fire: (I'm probably overdoing it with the emoticons...sorry)

 

[lunula]

Hah! I have to be honest, I'm not great at "relaxing and doing nothing" so my husband (who is an expert) is trying to lead by example. I will say, it's much easier to let it all go in Bonaire and I'm hoping the islanders rub off on me.

I've sent my email to everyone who PM'ed me - and Lorenzoid, I'll PM you, too (just in case your group might wanna socialize).

Safe travels to everyone!

 

[wwguy]

All of you sound like my kind of divers. I might have rethink my antisocial tendencies!

 

[diversteve]

Do you recommend doing a Rescue Diver course in Bonaire?

I don't have a reply since I'm not nor ever will take that course. I just like to film the fishes...

 

[waterfaerie]

All of you sound like my kind of divers. I might have rethink my antisocial tendencies!

Well, Wwguy, based on that t-shirt in your photo, you are my kind of diver too!

---------- Post added December 2nd, 2015 at 02:01 AM ----------

I don't have a reply since I'm not nor ever will take that course. I just like to film the fishes...

That's ok! I just want to be as safe as I can. I will take the course sooner or later, I just wasn't sure if I should "waste" valuable dive time to do it this trip.

---------- Post added December 2nd, 2015 at 02:03 AM ----------

Hah! I have to be honest, I'm not great at "relaxing and doing nothing" so my husband (who is an expert) is trying to lead by example. I will say, it's much easier to let it all go in Bonaire and I'm hoping the islanders rub off on me.

I've sent my email to everyone who PM'ed me - and Lorenzoid, I'll PM you, too (just in case your group might wanna socialize).

Safe travels to everyone!

See you soon, Lunula! I'm getting excited!:banana: (God, I love these emoticons)

 

[Lorenzoid]

. . .I just wasn't sure if I should "waste" valuable dive time to do it this trip. . . .

Spending two or three days tending to divemasters pretending to be in peril seems like a waste of a Bonaire trip to me.

 

[dberry]

BTW, the upgrade to an automatic pickup at ABCar Rental is <$40 for a week. (At least for a week in May.) $240 extra / week seems out of whack.

 

[wwguy]

Not trying to be overly serious about this fun thread but I think I can safely argue that learning scuba rescue skills is never a waste of time, no matter where you do it. I'm disappointed to see it being trivialized here.

Learning new skills in conditions where you're most likely to use them is a time-honored best practice, especially in scuba diving.

 

[Jersey]

Not sure what shop you are using, but ask the staff if they know of single divers looking or perhaps an open friendly group. ASK people, I can't tell you how many times people have simply asked 'can I dive with you?' If we are aware you are a newbie or single diver or never done a night dive we may actually even ask if you want to join us (and we are not socially inclined). Boat dives are a great opportunity to scout potential buddy and conversely people you don't want to be near.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Learning scuba rescue skills is never a waste of time, no matter where you do it. Please don't trivialize it or publicly encourage others to do the same.

Learning new skills in conditions where you're most likely to use them is a time-honored best practice, especially in scuba diving.

I guess you're replying to me. Granted, it is never a "waste of time," but it may be sub-optimal use of one's precious vacation time--that is a personal decision for each of us, based on how we value the costs/benefits. My standard advice to anyone asking about mixing training with this kind of vacation is, if at all possible, arrange to take the training when you have set aside time for training, not as an afterthought to a planned one-week vacation. For those of us who come for a typical one-week trip, the week is over before we know it. One can take the Rescue course pretty much anywhere there is an instructor and water, but Bonaire and its unique characteristics can, well, only be found on Bonaire.

I certainly advocate training in the kinds of conditions where one plans on doing most of their diving. I don't know the OP's situation. For me, in my situation, Bonaire has the kind of tropical/sub-tropical conditions I normally dive in, but it's a major investment of time and money to make a trip there. For me, Florida would be a better option for dive training in warm-water conditions. For the OP coming from Canada, I don't know--maybe Bonaire is no more or less an investment of time and money than any other warm-water destination. Maybe the OP plans on returning to Bonaire every year, and so taking a few days out of this trip wouldn't be a big deal. (And we're assuming the OP is a tropical vacation kind of diver and doesn't do or plan to do much local diving up there. It appears she's done 200+ dives somewhere.)