If you leave the windows down in your vehicle and nothing in it will it be left alone? Is it safe to leave things like water and snacks in the vehicle?

Also what dive shop would you recomend to use for tanks? Which one has the drive through?

Thanks inadvance for your assistance.

Can't wait to get there.

Safe diving to all.

Buddy's has a two lane drivethru, no waiting. You do have to sign up and do an orientation, so I suggest if you want to use Buddy's drive thru, you register with them. The prices are all pretty much the same. Buddy does have a fresh water rinse tank and equipment storage adjacent to their roadside fill station. As for stuff in cars, I would say the water is safe but the food is another story. I left a loaf of bread on the dashboard when I was at windsock diving once and a donkey helped himself. Goats are also prone to thievery as well.

my 13 year old son (newly certified jr. diver)and i will be comming to bonaire july 14 thry july 24. my main question is how safe is this type of diving for a 13 year old? he is very comfortable in the water and seems to have developed good diving skills but this will be his first experence with ocean diving. i have been certified for over ten years and i am also very comfortable in the water. also, if there are any others who would like to hook up with us for shore diving, for safety reasons, we would welcome you to join us or we would welcome an invitation to join you

thanks, jim pride P4175@HiWAAY>net

Bonaire is the ideal place for beginners..Just take it slow and do a few dives at the hotel/resort you are staying at before venturing off on your own. I am sure you will find dozens of folk willing to join you!

Jim,

IMHO, one of the main reasons Bonaire is such a popular dive destination is because the diving can be so stress free and suitable for divers like your son. The reef starts from 20 feet to 40 yards or so off shore and is from 15 feet to maybe 30 feet deep at the top. This allows you to plan a dive that gets no deeper than 25 or 30 feet and still allows you to see so much that it's a great dive.
Even when diving on the small offshrore island of Klein Bonaire you are never more than an easy swim from a shore.
On the other hand, the reef slopes to a sandy shelf at about 110 to 140 or so feet, so if you want to do a deeper dive you can.
We seldom ever venture below 70 feet since the amount of sealife seems to taper off as you get deeper, but the option is there.

Clay

Jim,

I agree with Clay's "humble" opinion, the shore diving is so wonderful, no current and very fun. The most difficult thing fo me was the entry and exit and most of the time that is not a big deal, especially if you are 13, energenic and all!

Crime is not a problem if you listen to what everyone tells you to do....ie, since your son is 13, don't take trendy ballcaps or t-shirts and clothing items that he values, they will take those things from an unlocked car. Do NOT lock your rental car. We hid our cash ( very little) and car keys under a rock away from the car when we dove. Some people take a little dri-box into the ocean with them with those items.

Does your son use a computer to dive? If not, he needs to. There is no better way to do the multi-level diving in Bonaire and do not kid yourself into thinking you can stay together and use one....not a good idea!

Have fun! Cheryl

great idea re computer, but don't forget to still do the tables. Batteries and computers have a way of letting you down when you need them the most

Agreed! Do those tables...or carry a back-up computer if you are spending a lot of time in the water and don't want to dry out for a day if your primary fails. Its a pricey safeguard, but hey, what's a life cost?

been diving with my computer for 5 years its the only way to go. those table are cummbersome. i always change my batteries before a trip it is worth the few buck and have it serviced once each year. it keeps trac of all my dives the whole time i'm there and let me know if i need to decommpress i always stay in the green it it starts towards yellow i just stay at the depths a while and it goes back to green it is super and the only way to go all us in family have them and our diving is very enjoyable not much concern during intrevals computer lets us know.it takes a while to really get used to it just like any other computer. our dives are longer than does that do not have one and multilevel diving is the only way to go. i cant imagine just going down and staying at a certain depth then going back up. multilevel means you can go up and down as you wish for the ocean floor is mountainous the sys measures and calculates your bottom time exactly.... get a computer you'll love doing your dive logs when you return not there while on vacation.

Just a word of caution. Your computer directions tell you that it does allow for multilevel diving NOT SAWTOOTH diving. Your computer is a mathamatical machine, your body is not, and since your body may not know your computer said it was okay to "go up and down" many times, you run the risk of DCS. The directions in most computers as well as those cumbersome tables, tell you clearly to do the deepest part of your dive first. I strongly advise everyone not only to have your computer serviced, but to re read the directions and follow the manufactures suggestion or read one of the publications published concerning diving with computers. Another precaution, buy dive insurance...it is cheap and compared to the $3000 treatment in our chamber, it is a bargain. The majority of the friends I know who have experienced the "bends" have been using computers, including myself. The diagnosis was an "undeserved case of the bends".

Again I have to agree with Michael. The computer is just cranking out its particular mathematical model: everyone's body varies some from the model, and DCS can happen even when you are well within the "green", if the profile is too extreme, or last night's drinking has left you dehydrated. Be careful out there.
And join DAN (1-800-446-2671) to get that insurance, just in case.
May you never need it!