Rochester to Bonaire is a bitch to schedule. I told the travel agent I would travel anytime in August and wanted to go for about 10 days. To do it without an overnight somewhere at least in one direction, I could only find ONE option priced under $800!!! I had also checked with Caradonna, and spent hours on Expedia and other on-line places, but my good-old local travel agent was best.

So we got August 9 to 21st, Rochester to Baltimore, to Miami(USAirways), then ALM Miami to Curacao, then to Bonaire. I leave at 6 am and arrive in Bonaire (the airline gods willing) at around 5 pm. Fare $607. The return is via Charlotte rather than Baltimore, and is only 14 hours!

Got me a cottage at my favorite spot, Bonaire Town Homes --- see you at the airport, Benny. I'm looking forward to some quiet times on that hammock!!

I'M ON MY WAY!!! And this time, I'm going to be diving. I am determined to do it this time. I'm looking for a local dive shop to redo the course I chickend out on 7 years ago, then I'll do the open water in Beautiful Bonaire.

Any suggestions for a dive shop/instructor on Bonaire for a VERY nervous student? I know I'll need someone very patient and able to provide extra hand-holding. I'm also coming alone, so I'll need to be able to find a buddy for dives after I get my certification (you see, I'm confident, even though I'm very NERVOUS!).

YIPPEE, I'm on my way back to my favorite island.

Josie,

Linda or Kitty at Caribe Inn are two very patient and caring PADI instructors. They are highly experienced. The operation is small and the service is very personal. I used both of them for several certs beyond Advanced.

Are you doing a referral or the whole package? They do both, but you get more diving with less stress if you do your theory and closed water where you live, then refer down to Bonaire (wherever you choose) and take the open water tests. Over in about 2-3 days vs. 5 days and you get that extra 2 days of diving. Just a thought.

Good Luck with your trip and Best of Luck in obtaining your CERT....you sound positive....and that's the most important part of it. Have fun.

Josie, We arrive a few days earlier. Come by and visit us at Sand$. You can find great dive instructors any where on Bonaire. We're partial to the people at Sand $ (we own a two bedroom). The staff is very low key and the people we talked to who took classes loved the treatment they received. Malin & Alvin are very nice, they would take very good care of you.

Josie,

Good for you, and I envy you - I wish I could be your dive buddy!

As for being a nervous student, if you're taking a course in Rochester first, make sure they get you very comfortable with everything in the pool first. If you don't feel good about it, let them know, and get them to work you through it. It's best to get to a good comfort level before you even go in the open water.

I was a *horrible* open water student. My first try at it I took one of those accelerated week-end courses, thinking it'd be a piece of cake. But everything was too new and wierd, and although I did every skill I was asked to do, I didn't feel comfortable with them and wanted to try more often.

But they had a schedule they were following, and rushed everyone on to the next skill; meanwhile I was getting more and more freaked out. I finally couldn't even get down, I was so nervous. So at that point they started attaching weights to me. But they didn't have enough to even me out so I had more weight on one side than the other - I was floating sideways at the top of the pool, trying valiantly to get down but completely freaked out at that point.

My husband and his friend (an Instructor Certifier) later said that the instructors were to blame for not seeing that I wasn't comfortable - I'm also to blame for not telling them, though - I always tough things out silently.

Anyway, I went home crying, and didn't return to the next class. My husband ended up getting one of his good friends,the Instructor Certifier for PADI mentioned above, to take me on one-on-one; he let me do everything until it didn't bring up the anxiety level. I still was not sure I liked diving (it took Bonaire to really convert me) but I knew that I COULD dive, so that was the key.

But my motivation was to share something with my husband - it wasn't something I would have chosen to do otherwise; you're highly motivated, and that makes a big difference.

I still have some equalization problems, which I've learned to just deal with - if my buddy has to sit down at 20 feet waiting a few minutes for me, so be it.

But, stick it out if you can, and make sure they don't rush you past something that is bothering you - you're paying to learn, and they as professionals should spend as much time as it takes to get you there.

Susan

josie, susan...

just thought i'd mention that it took two instructors before i got thru my emergency ascent exercise, i wore out the first one going up and down so many times trying to get it right...

learn the theory part the best you can, practice your pool exercises, then come to bonaire and see how easy and enjoyable diving really is

Yup - you just said it in a lot fewer words!

To give you an idea how much I love it and Bonaire now - I was talking with my husband about how much equity we have in our place, vs. how much the Samur (the Thai junk that's for sale) costs, and how we could afford it.

I don't even know how to sail (and Geoffrey's sailed, and on big boats, but not junks - a completely different rigging.) But it certainly made for a wonderful dream!

Thanks, everyone, for the encouragement. I do intend to do the theory and the pool work (which I've already done in 1993 before deciding I was in no way ready for open water) in Rochester. I will make sure I have plenty of time, and I will be VERY assertive in not letting the instructor move me through before I'm ready for the next step. (I'm blessed with being able to speak up for myself and holding out for what I need....).

My only disappointment about all this is that I haven't been able to persuade my husband to join me in diving. He's perfectly content with snorkeling and very nervous about diving, and just not ready to work through it --- yet!!! So be it, I'll do it alone if I have to, although I know how much we'd both love having that shared experience.

Alan and Joan, thanks for the invite to stop by the Sand Dollar and see you. I'll contact you as it gets closer.

If I was ever going to take another class in Bonaire..it would be with Alvin or Malin @ Sandollar..both great teachers with skill and patience..have fun and enjoy your diving experience... I just booked Delata/Alm from Harford, Ct to Miami/Curacao?Bonaire in Feb for about the same price..I think the prices go down in August and will keep doing my homework for cheaper fare, but I agree it is not easy to do without and overnight stay along the way..prices are all cheap out of Miami or Atlanta or even JFK..all you have to do is get there by 8AM ! yeah right !

Josie,

I just poked around Travel Planning at aa.com for ROC-BON rtn and found ROC departure at 8:35 am 9 August arr BON 8:50 pm, 2 changes, USA to JFK, AA JFK--SJU--BON; no ALM. Return 22 August, 6:10am departure BON, 4:40 pm arr ROC, all AA. $629/person. An alternative.

AA schedules the SJU-BON down on Sa, Tu, and Fr, Rtn the next morning.

Somewhere here someone mentioned a later departure from San Juan beginning later in the year and wondered why. I suspect so that more northern and western US cities can make the trip in one day, perhaps even the west coast.

Here is a cheaper routing all on AA:
1 AA4877N 09AUG Q*ROCBOS 630a 815a
2 AA 401N 09AUG Q BOSSJU 1215P 424p
3 AA5643N 09AUG Q SJUBON 612P 822p
4 AA5623N 22AUG W*BONSJU 610A 825a
5 AA 332N 22AUG W SJUBOS 1100A 309p
6 AA4884N 22AUG W BOSROC 430P 625p

Total fare with taxes is $565.60 when I fared this today. Fare basis NX7C2M.

VALID AA ONLY - NON-REF / NON-END/ SUBJECT TO CHANGE FEE

This fare was just put into the computer June 14.
Looks like it will go out of computer June 22.

Call your travel agent today!

I saw the routing, picked by the departure time. At least, J has options.

AA waiting for West Coast flights? Ha-Ha. I tried. It's still going to take us 21 hours. We depart LAX at 11 p.m., go through Fort Lauderdale and have 7-hour layover in SJU! Flying Air Jamaica is faster (leave 11 p.m., arrive 3-ish), but couldn't swing it.
FIVE days to go!!!!!!

Thanks for the other options. I have already confirmed my flight, but that AA routing via Boston looks pretty good. Before I called my travel agent, I tried all the websites I could think of, and never could get a routing.

The aa.com site tells me (whatever date I tried) that I'd picked a route that American doesn't fly or is sold out --- why can't they tell me which one it is?) I just put in ROC to BON, and various dates. What am I doing wrong? I just tried again, with the same result.

Next time I want to make reservations, I'm going to put it out on the newsgroup, and see what you guys find...

I just got a notice from Canada3000 that they are taking pre-season reservations for the Caribbean for the winter. Think I'll call them and get the February tickets (if I can persuade them to let us have a longer stay). Although we do have to overnight in Toronto on the way down generally, it's a much easier trip with the direct Toronto-Bonaire flight.

Josie,

I got a similar result on aa.com when I seached by price. Search by schedule gave a list of itineraries. (I emailed the aa.com webmaster about this--I think their software needs to be changed. For them and us!!)Also I needed to know what days the SJU-BON flight went to get it to show.
I miss an OAG-style listing of all flights by city pairs showing the days of the week that they fly. OAG is on line for a price--fine for companies, not for individuals travelling casually. If anyone knows of link to this style presentation, please tell us.

You might want to try www.orbitz.com. A new site put together by the major airlines in an attempt to get a piece of the actions expedia, sabre, cheap tickets, etc. has taken. I find it to be fairly comprehensive.

TKS, Kelly, I will try it.

The AA Webmaster was aware of the problem J and I had; they are working on it.