Aittvax.138
net.scuba
utzoo!decvax!ittvax!swatt
Tue Nov 24 09:49:55 1981
Bonaire Travelogue
About this time last year, with the ink on my NAUI basic certification
barely dry, finished at my previous job and waiting for ITT to get my
hiring paperwork through the bureaucratic maze to the "official"
status, I decided "why not?" and confirmed a place on a Bonaire dive
trip.
The trip was 10 days (2 of which were consumed by travel), 8 days
accomodation with 2 meals/day, 6 days unlimited diving. I brought all
diving equipment with me, except the tank, which was rented from the
dive shop as part of the package (you can't transport pressurized tanks
without special permits anyway). The hotel was the "Flamingo Beach"
hotel, which started its days as an an internment camp for Nazis during
WW II. In the interim it has expanded and acquired facilities more
conducive to attracting tourism. Cost including round trip fare was
$865. The package was arranged through Divers Den of Manchester, NH.,
where I had taken SCUBA classes.
The trip down was a drag: we started before 6am in Manchester, and
finally got into Bonaire after 11pm! However the restful climate and
easy pace quickly restored my energy and I was up for the 9am breakfast
call the next morning.
The dive shop attached to the hotel (Dive Bonaire) is well run,
reasonably well stocked (but at island prices, you better plan on
bringing everything you'll need), and can't be beat for convenience.
The shop runs 4 dive boats, plus a VW van. Most of the better spots
are located the smaller island (Klein Bonaire), which is roughly 20
minutes from the hotel dock. There are 2 boat dives each day, but you
can dive as much as you want if you have your own transportation (not
strictly necessary; the diving just off the hotel dock is quite
pleasant). The first day is an orientation dive, and the rules
of the dive shop will all be 'splained to you then.
Required Equipment is:
Regulator with high pressure port and tank pressure guage
Boyancy Compensator (BC)
mask, snorkle, fins.
weight belt, weights
You are not required to have a depth guage or dive tables;
decompression diving is forbidden. The rule with the pressure gauge
is: at 1000 lbs. you head in. Bringing a tank in with less than 200
lbs. will get to socked for an inspection fee. For the typical dive
this means about 40 minutes at 80 feet. For myself, going again I
would take a wetsuit top, as I tended to get a little cold at the end of
the dive.
The worst visibility I ever encountered was ~60 ft; the first day out
was the best at ~150. Typical was 80 - 100. I am told it occasionally
goes over 200. Water temperature was in the upper 70's.
The entire island of Klein Bonaire is an underwater park, and
regulations prevent taking coral, spearfishing, and that sort of
thing. As a result, dive sites show few signs of people, despite heavy
use. All the sites have permanent moorings, so the coral is not
damaged by boat anchors. At one site about 120ft down we saw a patch
of black coral (in the water it's green; it only dries to black after
it is removed). There is a limit on taking of black coral, which
protects both the coral and one of the island's native industries.
Some of the parties saw spotted eagle rays, and one party saw a nurse
shark. We saw several spotted morays and some small barracuda.
However the more common reef inhabitants are quite enough to watch.
You can take some bread from the hotel in the morning in a plastic sack
and have some fun feeding the fish (word of warning: use work gloves;
the fish can get quite excited and a nip from a large parrot fish can
be painful).
The biggest danger for me was the sunshine. Like all places in the
southern Carribean, it was 100 octane all day. If you're of the
Caucasian persuasion, no matter how tanned, take some heavy duty
sunscreen. I used #15, which was about right. Take plenty with you,
as the island prices are high (ditto for film, booze, and the like).
There are no major wrecks in the area, but just off the hotel pier are
the remains of a small motor launch ca. 1930. It is quite enjoyable to
just snorkle off the pier, and in fact I saw some of the more
interesting creatures doing just that in
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The Usenet Oldnews Archive: Compilation Copyright© 1981, 1996
Bruce Jones, Henry Spencer, David Wiseman.
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