My husband and I spent the first 3 days diving with Captain Don's -- very good set-up at the resort for diving and top-notch staff.

We then moved to Harbour Village. Checked out equipment to go shore diving -- not a convenient set-up and you have to cart your stuff quite a long way to the parking lot. We met friends on the other side of the Harbour to dive 'Something Special.' The DM at HV was completely unhelpful about how to locate the site, much more interested in waxing his windsurfer. We rented regs and bcs and left.

Getting into the water, my husband's reg began to freeflow. Well, better on the surface than at 80'. He got in the truck, drove back, and got another reg. No apology or even semblance of concern from the kid.

While he was gone, my power inflator hose started leaking. Upon closer inspection the hose was cracked all up and down. We went BACK and got another reg, and this time I had them check it in their dunk tank. They pulled down THREE REGS that leaked before they gave me a good one.

Back at Something Special, our friends waited patiently. We started to descend when my tank blew an o-ring. Back up. At this point, we decided that Neptune didn't WANT us to dive that day, and we packed it in. Out of six tanks, four o-rings were badly chewed. They're like what, a quarter to replace?

I spoke to the HV manager and we immediately booked the rest of our diving days with Captain Don's. The dive shop manager just kept insisting that they check all of their equipment, and wanted me to view their maintenance logs. They also seemed annoyed that I wouldn't "give them another chance." Uh, three with my life is plenty.

Gee, sounds like OUR local dive shop. Poorly maintained equipment makes me furious and the attitude from the shop is just as bad. There is NO excuse for it. I stopped teaching for our ONLY dive shop that very reason. I was forever explaining to students why the regs were free flowing. I maintain my own gear and have another instuctor double check it before I go on a trip. We ALWAYS take our own regs and BC's which can be a hassle at times but I have never regreted it. You should see the stuff in Mexico - YUCK!!! It's a life support system and it's my life at risk. And in this case YOURS. Bonaire doesn't lack good dive shops, so I'm glad you didn't give them another chance.

As much as a hassle as hauling your own divegear aboard air flights and through customs in my opinion it is worth it! I have observed various diveshop rental equipment and when traveling to third world countries for the most part their rental gear isn't up to parr with the USA. Diving technical requires many regs and divegear, which I carry without any regrets, last trip I carried 140+ pounds of tec gear, would never think about rental gear, I trust my divegear with my life! I have seen rental regs that I wouldn't stuck in the mud let alone in my mouth and have complained to the diveshops and have reported them to my travel agent even when I had my own regs with me. We as divers deserve the very best conditioned divegear, that's what we go to their destination to do - dive- and diveshops should provide good working order and inspected divegear. One doesn't need a logbook to see if the equipment is serviced, just look at he outside of it...If it looks dirty on the outside image the insides!

Oh by the way... HI everyone! I'm back... jiminiŽ

Great Adventures at Harbour Village was THE BEST experience we ever had diving. Not only was the equipment well maintained and in great shape.. but prior to each dive (we were there 1 week in September 2003) they inspected all of our equipment, o rings included (and we always bring spares everywhere as every diver knows). They wouldn't let us in the water till they checked our regs, bc's and double checked! Not only did we feel safe, we learned more from these dive masters about maintaining equipment than any single dive we've been on! In the past year, we've been diving in Bonaire, Cozumel, Curacao, Cancun and Jamaica. Nothing compared to the staff at Harbour Village! Lionel, the manager saw us off 95% of the time. The "windsurfer" as mentioned earlier was Etienne. He was on every dive we made, either as our divemaster, or our boat captain. I would trust my children and their children with any one of the dive staff here! The only complaint I have is that we don't live close enough to be there every month. If anyone would like to contact us, we would be happy to discuss our experience. We own and operate a summer camp for children. Safety is our #1 concern 24/7. Our email is sandy@marimeta.com
We are looking forward to our next visit to Great Adventures and staying at the Harbour Village.. again, not for this posting.. but what a WONDERFUL place to stay in Bonaire! First Class all the way!! You can't miss with these people!

Sandy, thanks for that report and it's great that you hold Harbour Village is such high regard. And I am sincere about that. Successful businesses maintain their reputation because of happy customers. However that doesn't excuse the fact that Cynthia and her husband had a major problem, not only with equipment but attitude. As an Assistant Instructor for our local shop, I have put up with poorly maintained equipment and lousy attitude (from the shop owner- the nice young man that he is - yeah right!!!) for 2 years and I only stayed THAT long because the chief instuctor begged me as there were no other female instuctors. No more!!! I am no longer putting my students at risk. If anyone ever has problems with dive shops to the magnitude that Cynthia says she had, a complaint to PADI should be considered but you better be prepared to back up your complaint. PADI will always do a thorough investigation if you feel it is justified. There is a side to dive shops (good and bad) that most customers never see or care about and that is equipment maintenance. Most people just rent gear and expect that it is in good working order (and in most cases it is) but there are times when maybe a lot of people have come through the shop that week and they give you a reg that should have been serviced months ago. And "O" rings, don't get me started on "O" rings!!!!

I stayed at the Harbour Village the first week in September, dove two boat dives per day plus shore diving. I have nothing but great things to say about the dive shop at harbour village. We found Etienne, Leo and the other staff very helpful and unlike dive shops on other islands their tanks were always full. Not sure why you had to cart your stuff the to the parking lot, when we were there a porter moved tanks and gear from the dive shop to the parking lot. Sorry to hear you had a bad experience but I belive this was an exception and not the norm.