By Antonio Ferrer on Friday, April 14, 2000 - 8:16 am: |
The Buddy Dive website mentions a guided snorkel tour of some caves. I had never heard of it previously. Were is that? Is it worthwhile? What is the water temperature in such caves? In principle, it sounds interesting, so we would like to learn more about it.
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By John W. Collins on Friday, April 14, 2000 - 6:39 pm: |
There you are Antonio. I figured I had insulted you or something.
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By Lorraine Meadows on Sunday, April 16, 2000 - 9:42 am: |
Antonio,
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By Antonio Ferrer on Sunday, April 16, 2000 - 12:24 pm: |
No, Lorraine, I just know what is in the Buddy Dive page (http://www.buddydive.com/diving.html). Judging from the picture (if it isn't "doctored") the water is unbelievably clear. May be Jake and Linda could put a WebCam there, for us to find out more? :-)
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By Duurt Zuidema on Sunday, April 16, 2000 - 5:47 pm: |
Hi, I've been snorkeling in one Bonarian cave near Hilltop. It was shown to me when I stayed on Bonaire for 7 months for a M.Sc. research project on Parrotfish. When I returned with friends for vacation trips in 1993 and 1995, I showed them the caves myself.
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By Annette & Mark Roswell on Monday, April 17, 2000 - 12:00 am: |
I think that Pam at Harbour Village knows a lot about caving diving and I believe she's got a special certification for cave diving. Michael, do you know if I'm correct?
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By michael gaynor on Monday, April 17, 2000 - 6:44 am: |
Pam is a certified cave diver as is her cousin, Malin, who works at Sand Dollar. Please take note of the dangers in entering the caves. Also, it is quite damaging to the bat population to have their habitat disturbed on a regular basis.
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By Lorraine Meadows on Monday, April 17, 2000 - 7:03 am: |
We went cave diving once in Florida by Ginny Springs with a very experienced guild, We really didn't care for it , no fish, didn't like being "under" all that rock, but glad we had a competent guild and the video! Scary.
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By Anonymous on Monday, April 17, 2000 - 8:27 pm: |
Many caves have already been destroyed by divers. Snorkeling is not much better. Bonaire is losing its bat population due to far too many people now going in these caves. Many have paint sprayed for markers. Others have had pieces broken off for Souvenirs.
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By Lorraine Meadows on Monday, April 17, 2000 - 8:27 pm: |
This is NOT on our things to do. I tell everyone of how I felt , trapped. I know someone who will never dive again due to diving experience in one.I asked because someone brought it up in a conversation about Bonaire and I said I would check it out for them. Besides being dangerous, upsetting the environment in a negative way isn't too cool either, no wonder I've never heard much about them. Our idea of a "bonairian experience" is swimming along side a turtle, coming "face to face" with a Tarpon, or seeing flamingos fly at sunset.
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By Bruce Bowker on Monday, April 17, 2000 - 8:37 pm: |
I agree that these caves should be left alone (empty of humans). Having been on Boanire 27 years, I can attest to the fact that the caves have had a lot of damage done and this was 10 years ago. They have had even more done according to scientist who study these. Also if you do not know of the diseases bats can give you, read up on it. You won't go in any of the caves.
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By Duurt Zuidema on Monday, April 17, 2000 - 9:06 pm: |
As with all activities in nature, one should consider (and avoid) environmental damage as much as possible. This is not only true for SCUBA diving in the ocean, but also for snorkeling/diving in caves.
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By Antonio Ferrer on Tuesday, April 18, 2000 - 6:36 am: |
OK, Bruce, George, and Anonymous, I get the message (and I agree that there are more important things than my immediate personal fun): my wife and I promise to leave the caves for the bats and the blind shrimp! After all, it is not going to be a big sacrifice: there are so many beautiful things in Bonaire that we are not likely to be bored!
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By Susan at Bon Bini Divers on Tuesday, April 18, 2000 - 9:29 am: |
Hello all. I am part of a new group forming on Bonaire to do research on the bat population. It is also a goal of the group to educate our tourist and resident (human!) population about the bats and their sensitivity to humans.
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By Lorraine Meadows on Tuesday, April 18, 2000 - 2:56 pm: |
Thanks Susan, I think education on the subject is the way to go.
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By Duurt Zuidema on Tuesday, April 18, 2000 - 7:00 pm: |
Hello Susan.
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By John W. Collins on Tuesday, April 18, 2000 - 8:11 pm: |
Sorry folks....even if Susan is involved in it....3 marriages makes me avoid anymore vampires
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By michael gaynor on Tuesday, April 18, 2000 - 8:49 pm: |
Cure! Anyone interested in Bonaire Bat stories can also contact jcligon@bonaielive.com for more info..
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By michael gaynor on Tuesday, April 18, 2000 - 8:50 pm: |
that's jcligon@bonairelive.com... forgot the r
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By Carol at Buddy Dive on Wednesday, April 19, 2000 - 9:25 am: |
Just to let you know that the Activities Director at Buddy Dive Resort is working with the group involved with the bat research and the overall "cave issue". I beleive it is the goal of all involved to find a means of limiting human entry into 2 or possibly 3 of Bonaire's many caves, and even then restricting entry to guided tours only. This would leave the vast majority of caves untouched by humans. A main focus of the tour we provide to three caves now is to provide edcation in combination with responsible cave exploration. Preservation of the caves we are visiting is of primary concern to all. All snorkeling is done without fins and our in-water movement is very limited to avoid contact with all surfaces. Entry to the area itself is also done in such a way to minimize human impact. So until such time as Bonaire can create a formal "cave" program, all parties that I know of are voluntarily working very hard to control the entry and exploration of our caves.
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By Sarah on Saturday, July 20, 2002 - 4:33 pm: |
Q: has anyone done a cave snorkel recently, and if so, your comments PLEASE..
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