By Dain L. Mangnall on Monday, February 11, 2002 - 8:00 pm: |
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. &(_)
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By Charity Miller on Tuesday, February 12, 2002 - 11:37 am: |
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.
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By Dain L. Mangnall on Tuesday, February 12, 2002 - 11:59 am: |
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?
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By Charity Miller on Tuesday, February 12, 2002 - 1:53 pm: |
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.
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By Dain L. Mangnall on Wednesday, February 13, 2002 - 11:53 am: |
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?
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By Robb and Yvonne Rammel on Wednesday, February 13, 2002 - 12:44 pm: |
Dain-
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By Linda Richter - NetTech on Wednesday, February 13, 2002 - 1:17 pm: |
Only close in that nothing on Bonaire is very far away.
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By Dain L. Mangnall on Wednesday, February 13, 2002 - 7:14 pm: |
Yvonne and Charity-
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By Dain L. Mangnall on Wednesday, February 13, 2002 - 7:15 pm: |
Thanks Linda! Any advice on web retailers for scuba gear?
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By Jeff Watkins on Wednesday, February 13, 2002 - 8:05 pm: |
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.
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By Dain L. Mangnall on Wednesday, February 13, 2002 - 10:44 pm: |
Jeff,
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By sherry baker on Thursday, February 14, 2002 - 11:14 am: |
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.
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By Dain L. Mangnall on Thursday, February 14, 2002 - 1:41 pm: |
Sherry,
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By sherry baker on Thursday, February 14, 2002 - 2:52 pm: |
yes, my husband barry and i have been on bonaire 2 times and will be back in May. we LOVE it.
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By Barry Baker on Thursday, February 14, 2002 - 3:19 pm: |
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.
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By Dain L. Mangnall on Thursday, February 14, 2002 - 3:31 pm: |
Computer? Help a SCUBA ignoramous out?
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By Barry Baker on Thursday, February 14, 2002 - 3:39 pm: |
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.
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By Dain L. Mangnall on Friday, February 15, 2002 - 11:35 am: |
Thanks Barry. I have a lot to learn!
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By Barry Baker on Friday, February 15, 2002 - 3:53 pm: |
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.
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By Dain L. Mangnall on Friday, February 15, 2002 - 6:56 pm: |
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
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By Steve and Charity Miller on Friday, February 15, 2002 - 10:54 pm: |
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
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By Dain L. Mangnall on Sunday, February 17, 2002 - 12:27 pm: |
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?
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By Steve and Charity Miller on Sunday, February 17, 2002 - 8:48 pm: |
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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