206 replies to this topic

[Mermaid Lady]

Hiya WW! Welcome back!

Hey I have a few questions.

1. How do I get to the resort from the airport? will there directions, someone there from the group etc.?

2. What are the rules w/r/t spearfishing/underwater hunting in Bonaire? I like to freedive with a pole spear (Bahamian style -NO speargun or scuba!), and was wondering if I should bring along my Hawaiian sling and long fins.

Can't wait. this is gonna be a *great* trip!!!

[rkohler1]

tuttt,

I am still waiting to get my flight data, but great question. Seems to be some distance between the airport and the resort, hard to tell on my map. This trip is gonna rock.

[Seahorsewrangler]

There's even a "rebreather adventure dive" on Weds. -according to the website- that I'm interested in doing...anyone have any info/experience on that?

This would not be something for a newish diver in my humble opinion. And if seriously interested we've looked at doing one in Florida with reputable instructors as an SD group.

Well I wasn't sure what it was all about.. such as maybe 'get your feet wet intro into rebreathers' kinda like a resort SCUBA class or more indepth diving...anyway just a thought and your "humble opinions" are always welcomed.
Thanks again for all you do.

[finGrabber]

so, how many days to we have to WAIT????? Until diving?? Are we there yet??

[scubafanatic]

Hiya WW!  Welcome back!

Hey I have a few questions.

1. How do I get to the resort from the airport? will there directions, someone there from the group etc.?

2. What are the rules w/r/t spearfishing/underwater hunting in Bonaire? I like to freedive with a pole spear (Bahamian style -NO speargun or scuba!), and was wondering if I should bring along my Hawaiian sling and long fins.

Can't wait. this is gonna be a *great* trip!!!

....can't help but step in here.........Bonaire is a protected marine reserve......the ENTIRE island........so don't even think about UW hunting!

......typically your 1st dive there will be a check-out dive, to see if you have the bouyancy control skills to even be allowed into the water........they don't want diver's trashing the reefs..........needless to say, UW hunting is a BIG 'no-no' !

........not to lecture you, but I'm saddened that UW hunting is even on your mind while in Bonaire........the beauty of the natural world is so wonderous, so precious, so special, and so irreplacable......please help preserve Bonaire for your fellow divers today, and the unborn generations future divers.

Karl

[scubafanatic]

There's even a "rebreather adventure dive" on Weds. -according to the website- that I'm interested in doing...anyone have any info/experience on that?

This would not be something for a newish diver in my humble opinion. And if seriously interested we've looked at doing one in Florida with reputable instructors as an SD group.

Well I wasn't sure what it was all about.. such as maybe 'get your feet wet intro into rebreathers' kinda like a resort SCUBA class or more indepth diving...anyway just a thought and your "humble opinions" are always welcomed.
Thanks again for all you do.

...I tend to agree with Wenchie here....... you'll have enough to do on your plate getting the AOW and Nitrox certs done........... rebreathers are serious business, involving a much higher level of scuba training/experience...not to mention some SERIOUS money!

You might want to buy a couple of good books on rebreathers, so you can begin to get a good idea of the complexity/cost involved.

......among other things you'll discover that you have to get certified separately on all the different models of rebreather......imagine how annoying it would be to have to get re-certified everytime you used a different brand of scuba regulator...same thing with rebreathers!

......I think Wenchie has a great idea with the dedicated rebreather class in Florida, that's where I'd 'experiment' with rebreathers.......under very professional supervision.

......I found we kept very busy in Bonaire......I'd call it 'scuba-camping'........ it was a whole LOT more work to dive in Bonaire than, say. a live-aboard....like the difference between night-and-day......a lot more logistical issues to deal with, which will take their toll on you physically.......so between doing 5 dives daily, and dealing with the logistics of Bonaire, you will have way more than enough to do as is.

.......the only 'free' time we ever had was on our last day...the day you can't dive because you're 'cooling off' for 24 hrs prior to flying home....when we took a very nice tour of the harbor and Kline Bonaire aboard an awesome luxury catamaran......met a very friendly pair of couples from Britain, (snorkelers) where we shared with them our newfound tales of the underwater wonders of Bonaire, so that was a nice end to a wonderful trip!

Karl

[Mermaid Lady]

........not to lecture you, but I'm saddened that UW hunting is even on your mind while in Bonaire........the beauty of the natural world is so wonderous, so precious, so special, and so irreplacable......please help preserve Bonaire for your fellow divers today, and the unborn generations future divers. 

I think you misunderstand. Even if UW hunting were legal in Bonaire, the fish would be in very little danger from me. I only fish where it is legal and then not very well (the fish are much too smart lol). While in the Bahamas, any fish that we caught were always either eaten by us or used in the shark feeding dive the following day. I myself am a purist, and refuse to use either spearguns or scuba when fishing underwater anyway.

UW hunting can be done responsibly if one does so in appropriate places, in accordance with local laws, and does not overfish or fish out of season.

You mustn't judge us too harshly. Most of us are decent folk.

[scubafanatic]

Hi tuttt,

.......well, you did ask about the 'law' in Bonaire....so perhaps I just saved you from spending your vacation in the 'big house' !

....... I'm not a rabid 'anit-hunter' .....I ate my fair share of fresh lobster last August on the JULIET / Bahamas liveaboard......as well as the fish we caught of the pair of fishing lines trailing off the stern as we traversed the islands....... I didn't actually spear any lobster myself, as I'm not a big fan of snorkeling/freediving, and I'm paranoid about blowing out my ears and ruining my scuba trip...so I watched the other divers do the hunting....but I'm not a vegetarian or a hypocrite.

........I will say that you are a guest in a foreign country, and need to be mindful of the local laws to avoid ruining your vacation at a minimum, and perhaps getting into enough trouble to make a ruined vacation the least of your problems!

.....I'm also leery of mixing scuba divers/snrokelers and weapons together...heck, I wish you'd seen us on the Sea Searcher II last Labor Day as we watched one of the FLING/SPREE boats and a Coast Guard evacuate by helicopter an injured diver back to the mainland........the diver was blinded in one eye by an errant Bungie Cord....permanently blinded, I might add!

...shark-feeding ??? YIKES !!!! don't even get me started on that! ...any reputable dive operator will NOT do that........neither the JULIET crew nor the T & C EXPLORER crew did any of that......and we saw plenty of sharks 'naturally' .......teaching sharks to associate divers with food is pretty stupid.

.......I wonder, if you really want to do a bit of spear-fishing, why didnt you sign up for the Flower Gardens trip ? ........... it's allowed on the Oil Rig dives, although, of course, it's NOT allowed within the Marine Park itself.......you can spearfish there on scuba, with high-powered spear guns too........I wouldn't have any huge issues with that myself, as long as you did it either before or after all the other divers were out of the water, to avoid any accidents.

Karl

[scubafanatic]

......on second thought, as we stood in line at the airport to leave Bonaire, I spoke to a lady there who mentioned her husband was there to fish....... I believe he had been line fishing from shore...I forget the species he was after......it's too late tonight to Google search the complexities of Bonaire fishing law.......... so if you really want to hunt, perhaps it's possible...just do your homework first.

...I will add that I don't remember ever seeing any fish over a foot long.......other than the one night dive we did where we saw some 3--4 ft' long tarpon out hunting.

...Bonaire is great for healthy reefs, warm, clear waters, minimal/non-existant currents, but weak on big critters........no turtles.....no sharks...no rays......... had a very brief dolphin encounter once............ I don't know if Bonaire has always been that way, or if it has already been fished out and only the little stuff is left.

Karl

[Mermaid Lady]

.......I wonder, if you really want to do a bit of spear-fishing, why didnt you sign up for the Flower Gardens trip ? ...........

It was already full.

it's allowed on the Oil Rig dives, although, of course, it's NOT allowed within the Marine Park itself.......you can spearfish there on scuba, with high-powered spear guns too........I wouldn't have any huge issues with that myself, as long as you did it either before or after all the other divers were out of the water, to avoid any accidents

Of course I have only stated twice that I DON'T use scuba or spearguns when spearfishing. I dont like spearguns and give them a very wide berth. My spear never leaves my hand.

I only fish the old fashioned way: with a pole spear and my lungs, a practice which dates from antiquity in many island populations. That is the activity we did legally in the Bahamas, and I was simply asking ahead of time, if the same were allowed in Bonaire.

[WreckWench]

...Bonaire is great for healthy reefs, warm, clear waters, minimal/non-existant currents, but weak on big critters........no turtles.....no sharks...no rays......... had a very brief dolphin encounter once............ I don't know if Bonaire has always been that way, or if it has already been fished out and only the little stuff is left.

Actually Bonaire does have large animal life...have to go to the East side to see it. We did and it was fabulous. East side can be rough so its not easy diving like the rest of the island.

We saw huge eagle rays, lots of turtles, eels, tarpon and other game fish, etc.

[WreckWench]

P.S. getting caught up on questions and requests in this thread....stay tuned! -ww

[texasmermaid]

...Bonaire is great for healthy reefs, warm, clear waters, minimal/non-existant currents, but weak on big critters........no turtles.....no sharks...no rays......... had a very brief dolphin encounter once............ I don't know if Bonaire has always been that way, or if it has already been fished out and only the little stuff is left.

Actually Bonaire does have large animal life...have to go to the East side to see it. We did and it was fabulous. East side can be rough so its not easy diving like the rest of the island.

We saw huge eagle rays, lots of turtles, eels, tarpon and other game fish, etc.

I saw two spotted eagle rays on the west side last summer on the trip that Karl is talking about. We were on the same trip with our local dive shop in our pre-SD days.

Karl - I don't think you were on the dive where two of our group were hooked by two Bonaire yootes that were fishing at Oil Slick Leap. I am pretty certain I remember that there was no fishing in the sanctuary, but maybe it's ok if you are a local who is fishing for divers. Bill's first stage got tangled up in one of the kid's lines and Cindy had her wetsuit snagged. One thing about the sanctuary is that they did not allow knives (at least not last year when we were there) so a pair of safety scissors is a good idea to take along.

Here are the dolphins I saw in Bonaire last summer at the dive site Aquarius. They were breathtaking! Hope y'all see some too.

Attached Images

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Edited by texasmermaid, 06 May 2005 - 02:04 PM.

[WreckWench]

WOW!!! What an amazing shot!

Now folks I really need 2 more divers on this trip....anyone care to join the 'pod'???

[Mermaid Lady]

I second that!

WW works really really hard to put these great trips together. We all need to support her with our patronage.

Cmon Guys!! (gals too, we can share)