Howdy all! I have a question but didn't know to which category it belonged. We will be on island in May (but who is counting). In the past when shore diving, we do two morning dives, dump off all of our gear and find a place for lunch. Then go back and pick up all of our gear and head back out. Makes for a really long surface interval. Are there any places that one can eat and not have to worry about the gear going AWOL? We left our gear in our truck once at Casablanca (the old location), but were parked right next door and ate outside and it worked - the gear stayed put in the truck like good little gear should. Any recommendations for other locations that this would work at? We are thinking about packing lunches, but would like to eat a few out. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Ms. Jeanine Tribs, my travel partner and I have never had an issue when eating lunch at Bongo's. We have done this numerous times. We do not leave our cameras or computers in our vehicle.

You might want to try Cactus Blue on your next visit. As you know, it is going to open in the old Casablanca building.

Corinna and Hagen are great people, I can't wait to see them again.

You would have to get the right parking space, but it could work for you at China Nobo, Bon Appetite, Garden Cafe, Zeezicht's, Bistro de Paris, and the new Casablanca location.

Mr. Bales, thank you ever so kindly for your recommendation. My travel partner and I surmised that Bongo's might also be an acceptable location. Do ya'll park in Eden Beach's lot or follow the sign down the dirt road for Bongo's and park there when you leave your gear in your truck?

We are also considering Cactus Blue.

Wow Tish! Thanks for all of those, especially since they are new for us (except for Casablanca).

Jeannie, Whataburger...get the burgers (park on the street right by there) and sit on the tail gait while you eat...;-) Kelly, good memories huh!

Yep, GREAT memories. I would add The Lost Penguin, but again you have to get the right parking spot.

City Cafe if you park within eyesight...

Josie

Ms. Jeanine Tribs, we have parked in the EB parking lot and on the other side of the fence. Never had an issue in either lot. We might be lucky though:-)

Always impossible to guarantee safety, but we haven't had stuff stolen out of our lot, which is in sight of our front desk. If you wanted to stash your gear poolside while you ate so that you could watch it I wouldn't object to that either.

I feel very confident that if you are within eye range of your car you will be okay Maybe I am niave but we have had no trouble in over 18 years but do not leave cameras and tanks etc in the car or truck
Things seem to be okay for us and we walk to town from the Divi every nite to have dinner. There are some young people standing around at different places but we have never had a problem
Certainly it is a comfortable place . Not like some of the other islands. Bonaire is a family island and has been safe thru the years lets not magnify isolated incidents

Oh no Beverly, I was not magnifying anything. I know Bonaire is a million times safer than several locations I have visited. I was asking for solid advice and recommendations for being able to leave my gear in the truck, which would include tanks, but nothing as expensive as cameras or computers (I don't dive with those). We just wanted to be able to lunch and not have to drop off our gear first. I just didn't know which restaurants allowed for direct line of sight to parked cars because several of the ones we have frequented in the past did not (ie. Richards, Chibi Chibi, Tipsy Seagull, Subway, etc...).

This was not intended to be a Bonaire safety bashing thread. Just one looking for honest replies about what works and what doesn't work.

Thanks Kevin for the offer - I'm sure we will be visiting you for breakfast and lunch.

Ah...whattaburger. Kelly, we didn't know you could park outside the Lost Penguin. We alway parked over in the little "city" lot (for lack of a better term) and then walked over - hence why we would not want to leave our gear. But if we can park out front....that might work!

Thanks everyone!

Jeanine, I meant if you are lucky enough to get that front spot in the alleyway, or even one of the first few spots, you can still see the truck. There is no parking on that main road.

La Luna would also work - it's on the road by the south pier, about 1 block north of ChaCha beach and the Dive Inn. Open for breakfast and lunch only, despite what the dining guide says (or said last Nov.). Delicious food, great CD music collection, and open air with parking easily visible. Wish I were there now...

I think you can see your truck from a table in the Barracuda Club at Sand $ also. Haven't been since it changed hands, though.

I've been thinking about this and it always seems that I take the gear back and rinse before lunch. But then again, if I analyzed my time on island, I spend more time schleping, rinsing and hanging than I do underwater.

Ok, I have away to solve this problem all you have to do is take me along and i will personally
guard your gear while your eating. So Tribs problem solved.

Cecil...you figured out why I started this thread. We did analyze our last trip and realized we spent way too much time schleping, rinsing, and hanging. LOL! I'm getting a longer trip this time (which was the solution - spend more time on Bonaire), but my dive buddy can still only get a week. We are trying to extend our underwater time. The one good thing from the "analysis" was that our last trip was better than our first trip. On our first trip, we also got caught up at a lot of lunch time restaurants that were way too much on island time. One in particular took almost 3 hours to get through lunch. I like relaxing, but I can't sit that long. We figured out how to cut that time down, by avoiding certain eateries. We are now trying to figure out how to avoid a couple hours spent each day hauling the gear around. LOL!!!

Patrick, buddy, if I could, I would!

Uh...you guys rinse and hang your gear after each dive? I "dunk it" if we are at the dive shop, but can't say that I "rinse it" after each dive (unless of course I am at the dive shop). If I'm not staying where there is a dive shop on premesis (with friends) I do give it a good rinse at the end of the day when I hang it up, but it usually stays in the back of the truck in between dives if I'm shore diving.

Cyn...well maybe not between every dive, but I am guilty of a good rinse when I leave the gear for lunch. Probably because I didn't know how long lunch would be or if we would be able to get in the afternoon dive (more likely because I'm a little obsessive about my dive gear). LOL!

Maybe I don't cause mine is old...lol! Although we are going to have to break down and buy new regs...our current one's can no longer be serviced due to lack of parts, they don't make them anymore :-(

LOL, Cyn, I am with you! Several trips to Bonaire, my group has some who are over-rinsers...in between each dive. Gosh that is exhausting. So last time I stated my position, I would rinse my gear only at the end of each day. Funny thing, everyone else went along with that idea, it worked just fine, and each day was much, much more relaxing. Heck, that's the purpose of a vacation!

Ginny...over-rinsers...lol...chuckle...tee hee...I guess that would make me an "under rinser"...still chuckling...I'm with you, it's too much work to rinse it all thouroughly, etc. after each dive...much more relaxing to think about it at the end of the day while having a bright

OK you two, but what do you do with your gear for the lunch break? Do you always pack lunch or do you eat out sometimes? If you eat out, what do you do with your gear? Inquiring minds want to know....

Tribs,

Beau and I have had good luck at EB(knock on wood). Probably because it's off the main road and usually just employees, guests and fellow divers around. We have also been known to hit Lovers for that nutritious lunch break. ;)

Patrick, I'll split it with you. One day you watch, next day me. Swap out tanks while the others eat and cram down a bite on the way to the next site. Now that's efficiency!

Smack

Jeannie, if we are going out to eat, dump the gear either in the dive locker (at a resort if staying there) after a quick rinse. If staying with friends, leave it at the house, go grab something to eat, come back, get gear, go diving again:-)

we have dove the past two years with Photo Tours/Yellow submarine- they were VERY adamant this time about only one tank per diver at the northern sites- I think that is where a lot of the tank thefts are occuring (because there are a LOT more places to hide up there- plus the bummer of the one way road.) When we were told this we started the eye-rolling thing- BUT!! they have added a 4th dive shop/site at Hilltop (which is right where you turn for Oil Slick)- and have a nice little shop/ food place (I think that it is the Carribian Inn?)- plus you are still on the two way road there so it burns the surface time OK- it WAS a pain when we were thinking of going up to Karpata- we missed the dirt road to go back and went all the way over to Rincon- but we turned our tanks in at the PhotoTours shop in town on our way home- you would just have to plan your dives some. We usually only do two dives a day (to do so otherwise interferes with MY plan of laying around as much as possible)and we stay at the Sorobon so driving some doesn't usually bother us. And we are not huge eaters so we usually skip lunch.

OK, Smack you got a deal there, then we could spend are free time thinking of ways to mess with Beau.

Jeanine, we have always stayed at a private home, and mostly eat lunch at the house. So dive gear is left in the truck once tanks have been changed, if we have plans to dive again after lunch. My preferred schedule, tho, is to do 2 dives in the morning, followed by a late lunch at the house, and a totally laid-back afternoon of no diving. I like to structure the day as if it were a 2-tank boat dive, only do shore diving.

You guys are great! I've gotten good advice, some laughs, porters, and a great new lunch idea - ice cream! With no nephew or niece on this trip, we can have ice cream for lunch.

Another place to leave your truck and gear within sight - Kon Tiki! When diving in the south, we do our two morning dives and then drive across the island to the Lac Bay area and park in front of Kon Tiki - nice folks, friendly dawgs, great burgers, and not too far back for an afternoon dive at the Hooker or Angel or ... it's worked for us perhaps 8 times now.