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Everything Else Bonaire: Will be in Bonaire March 31 thru April 6
Bonaire Talk: Everything Else Bonaire: Archives: Archives 1999 - 2004: Archives - 2002-01-01 to 2002-03-26: Will be in Bonaire March 31 thru April 6
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dain L. Mangnall on Monday, February 11, 2002 - 8:00 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

My wife and I will be there March 31 thru April 6 for our first visit. We can't wait!!! We will be at Lion's Dive and getting our open water cert. thru Bon Bini the first 2 days. Would love to here from people planning to be there during the same time. Might like to hook up and dive with someone with some knowledge of the island and to let us know where the beer floweth coldest. Dain (age 32) and Nikki (age 31) Mangnall, Denver Colorado. &(_)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Charity Miller on Tuesday, February 12, 2002 - 11:37 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Guess what...we will be in Bonaire from March 30 to April 6th. This is our first time to Bonaire to dive. Charity(26)and Steve(27) Yvonne(26)and Robb (31).We are staying at the Divi.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dain L. Mangnall on Tuesday, February 12, 2002 - 11:59 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Very nice. We are looking sooooo forward to it. Maybe we could hook up for some cocktails or diving. Always like to meet new people. Where from?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Charity Miller on Tuesday, February 12, 2002 - 1:53 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Sounds great... we will have to hook up while we are in Bonaire. We love to meet new divers! We have only been certified ourselves since Oct. 2000. We have planned to boat dive Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Then we rented a truck to do shorediving until Friday. Check out www.shorediving.com it has some really neat information about each site. We are from Columbus, OH.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dain L. Mangnall on Wednesday, February 13, 2002 - 11:53 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

After our open water cert. (mon and tues) we will have 1 boat dive a day then shorediving. We will have a truck also. Can't wait. I hurt my back snowboarding so I hope its healed in time to SCUBA. Do you (or does anyone) know how far apart the Lion's Dive and the Divi are?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Robb and Yvonne Rammel on Wednesday, February 13, 2002 - 12:44 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Dain-
Lion's dive and the Flamingo are pretty close as far as I can tell. I did find a map that has them both at "http://www.ehi.com/travel/carib/bonaire/hot_map1.html"

Check it out, we look forward to seeing you there!

Yvonne

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Linda Richter - NetTech on Wednesday, February 13, 2002 - 1:17 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Only close in that nothing on Bonaire is very far away.

It is maybe a 10 minute car ride between. Lion's Dive is north of Kralendijk in the Hato area.
Divi Flamingo is on the south side of Kralendijk.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dain L. Mangnall on Wednesday, February 13, 2002 - 7:14 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Yvonne and Charity-
Thanks for the websites. We are looking forward to meeting you all! We can't wait to get to Bonaire. We are taking the classes next weekend to get cert. Can you guys recommend a website where you can buy SCUBA gear online. Denver is rather expensive. Correct me if I'm wrong but I should probably buy my mask in person so I can try it on? Any info would be great. Dain

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dain L. Mangnall on Wednesday, February 13, 2002 - 7:15 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks Linda! Any advice on web retailers for scuba gear?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jeff Watkins on Wednesday, February 13, 2002 - 8:05 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I kinda recommend your local dive store (lds) for the basic scuba kit (mask, fins, booties, snorkle, yada). You need to try this stuff on and make sure it fits well. Especially your mask.

I haven't been to Bonaire in 10 years. I live in Longmont, CO. I've been thinking about a trip to Bonaire, but getting there from Denver is difficult. It looks like an overnight layover somewhere like Miami is required. What airlines and routing are you using to get there?
Have a great time. Blub. Jeff

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dain L. Mangnall on Wednesday, February 13, 2002 - 10:44 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Jeff,
American. Denver to Dallas to San Juan to Bonaire. leave at like 9:00am Denver time arrive in Bonaire at like 8:45pm. No overnight, but kinda pricey. Can you recomend a quality dive shop with decent prices in our area? I'm in Aurora. Thanks. Dain

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By sherry baker on Thursday, February 14, 2002 - 11:14 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

barry and i use Underwaterphantaseas. located on the south end of the city in the DTC area. they are very effecient and friendly. have a pool in the store where they give lessons and you also can test out equipment before you buy it.

if you want more info, email me at skbaker@avaya.com

we have taken most of our scuba instruction through these folks, and barry is currently in classes to become instructor.

any equipment we have purchased or rented has been good.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dain L. Mangnall on Thursday, February 14, 2002 - 1:41 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Sherry,
Thanks for the info. I believe that is where my wife and I are doing our classes. She signed us up so I'm not sure. Sounds right though. She said it was in the tech center. Can anyone recomend a particular brand or style of equipment? I want to get good stuff that is reliable ,but not spend toooooo much. Sherry have you been to Bonaire? Dain

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By sherry baker on Thursday, February 14, 2002 - 2:52 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

yes, my husband barry and i have been on bonaire 2 times and will be back in May. we LOVE it.

at the dive shop they will help you with gear to fit your buget, and i am sure you will be happy with what they have to offer. even this year, although barry already has his reg , we both have b.c. , wetsuits, mask, fins, snorkel, we will rent my reg and both of us will rent computers for diving when we go to bonarie. they dont send out junk.
their phone # 303 220 8282. mike and michelle day run the place. i have never had an unpleasant experience with them.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Barry Baker on Thursday, February 14, 2002 - 3:19 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Really there is no preference to dive equipment except personal preference. I must have changed my mind 15 times before I actually bought my own reg. As far as everything else goes it's more of what fit best and was in our budget. We actually bought our own BC's before going on a dive trip because since they were on sale and it was going to cost "X" number of dollars to rent, we just subtracted that cost from the sale price and considered an even beter deal. I now have everything but a computer and will get that as soon as I can but will probably rent one for this trip and buy one after we get back.

Aquaman

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dain L. Mangnall on Thursday, February 14, 2002 - 3:31 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Computer? Help a SCUBA ignoramous out?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Barry Baker on Thursday, February 14, 2002 - 3:39 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Dive computer that keeps track of time underwater and the amount of nitrogen build up in your body opposed to using dive tables. You will learn when you take your Open Water classes.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dain L. Mangnall on Friday, February 15, 2002 - 11:35 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks Barry. I have a lot to learn!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Barry Baker on Friday, February 15, 2002 - 3:53 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Yes, but you will have fun doing it. If you are going through Underwater Phantaseas DTC let me know. That is our (Sherry and I) dive shop. We really enjoy the people there and know you will be treated very well. If you are using another shop then I am sure that you will be treated just the same. If you have any questions, click on my name and get my e-mail from my profile and I will do what I can to help.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dain L. Mangnall on Friday, February 15, 2002 - 6:56 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Barry,yes we are going through them. My wife and I will be there next weekend on Sat and Sun. for instruction. Need to watch the video and do the lessons this week. I know I won't need one yet, but do you have a recomendation on wetsuits? I have a large frame. 6'0 280. Thanks. Dain

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve and Charity Miller on Friday, February 15, 2002 - 10:54 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Dain, We use our local dive shop to rent the basics like BC, regulator and dive computer to take with us on our trip. I found that we were more comfortable diving with equipment we already knew how to use. Many Bonaire sites do suggest that you might want to rent the equpiment when you get there, unless you plan on taking most of it as a carry on, because luggage seems to take a 3 day detour on its way there. We are also flying AA and you have to be very careful with size and weight of each bag. Call AA for more info. Check out www.diversdirect.com We have found and purchased many dive items on the web. Charity

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dain L. Mangnall on Sunday, February 17, 2002 - 12:27 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Charity, Thanks for the info. I hope our bags don't take that 3 day detour! I will pack with that in mind. Any recomendations on what to carry on and what to stow?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve and Charity Miller on Sunday, February 17, 2002 - 8:48 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Dain, we are carrying on our BC's, regualtors and dive computers. We hope that it is 40lbs or less(each person)...it is going to be close. Do you have DAN insurance? I would look into getting DAN insurance to cover any equipment lost or even for medical needs while diving. We have the DAN master program, for two people it is $114 for 1 year. It is well worth it! www.diversalertnetwork.com

 


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