Any reports on how Salt Pier faired with Omar? This is one of my favorite dives, I'm hoping it faired better than Town Pier...

I am trying to get some clients booked to do the pier and was told to wait until closer to their dates (mid Nov.) as right now it's a no go.

ann, maybe they want you to wait till closer to the dive date so they know if any salt ships are due in. i don't know how far ahead those are scheduled or how often the schedules change.

Is Salt Pier still a guided dive or can we do it on our own? Thanks, Ernie P.S. Heading down Saturday

It's a guided dive by "reservation". You have to provide your passport for security reasons in advance. Check with your dive shop early to make arrangements. Expect it to be about $50pp.

Thanks for the reply, I had hoped they relaxed the guide requirement, it's one of my favorites, but $50 is a rip-off.

Ernie, the most I've heard quoted is $35 per person... I haven't seen any guides/shops quoting $50 pp. Buddy's charged $20-25pp in March, but we ended up cancelling due to 7 foot breaking waves that day and 0 visibility in the shallows. (That being said, I always tip my guides fairly well, so I would have paid more than what I was quoted).

YMMV

(Message edited by morgans4me on November 3, 2008)

This is a situation that is occurring at several dive operation through out the Caribbean. For what ever the reason, with Salt Pier it was 9-11, once free dive sites become "guided" with a fee attached. When the threat is over the fee remains as it has become a revenue generator.

Chances are if a terrorist wanted to blow up Salt Pier with underwater explosives, he'd sneak in under cover of darkness w/o paying the fee.
Or do they have some sort of stainless steel fence around the whole area now so that only people who pay the fee can get in?
I dove it twice on past trips, so I'm all set with Salt Pier now...

The Salt Pier being a compulsory guided dive has nothing to do with Bonaire or the dive operators wanting to milk it as a revenue generator. After 9/11 the whole world put into action new port security regulations (ISPS) and have to adhere to those rules. As both Town Pier and Salt Pier accept international ships they are both under ISPS regulations an international port. The only accepted way to achieve access control on days when there is no ship in is by demanding a detailed permit and a local authorized guide. If Bonaire were to relax the rules on this we could lose our ISPS approval and that would mean the piers would no longer be able to accept international ships which would be a problem.

That may be true of Salt Pier but that is not the only dive site where this has occurred.

Bas, how did Salt Pier fair with Omar, it is one of my favorite dives.

it's been my experience that i have not paid a fee to anyone other than the divemaster i've been with. i don't think the government or the dive shops are getting any revenue from this.

Pat, That is good to hear, so far I have heard many variations of the fee structure involved. There is video on this site as well that shows a Salt Pier dive with no apparent guide. Does any one know what the penalty is for diving the site with out a guide?

Yikes, sorry for the misinformation....when we were on Bonaire this summer it was $50 for TWO to dive Salt or Town Pier!! So I was thinking "$50 to dive salt pier" and stuck the "pp" part on without thinking!

Not a problem, it's not the amount of the fee, it's just that there is a fee.

The government takes no money for the permit. I think it varies from dive operator to dive operator what they take and what goes to the dive master.

The penalty of diving without a permit is high. The judge decides the amount in case they give you a fine, but they can even evict you from the island. But apart from that I think you also need to take safety into account. You do not want to be under the pier when a huge Salt freighter arrives!

Re the video without an apparent guide: The dive guide does not always swim in front and there are even guides that operate the camera (which is a very good explanation for not being in the video :-) )

BAS, Thank you for the reply, can any one apply for a permit with proper documentation?

bonaire, being the home of diving freedom is one place where you can enter with a guide but not have to stick close by the guide. i have heard of destinations that require everyone to enter the water together, swim with the guide until the first diver reaches 1500# then everybody returns to the exit point and as soon as the first person hits 500# they all exit. not a fun way to dive if you don't use much air or if someone else sucks air fast.

while my wife and i consider our buddy system sufficient if we are in the same ocean, most divemasters on bonaire will stay fairly close but not immediately next to you....therefore it's possible not to see the DM in the video even if the DM was not operation the camera.

Pat, Thanks for your reply and I understand. Do you know if any one with proper documents can apply for a permit?

Hi Ernie. Only your dive operator can get the permit. You need to give them your name and passport number and they will request a permit for your guided dive. The permit is an official signed and stamped document that you need to be able to show at the dive site should you get checked.

Thank you Bas, another question if you don't mind. So if your dive operation chose to, they could get the permit for you and you could take the permit and dive the site without a guide?? after 1000+ dives I don't feel a need for a guide.

Bang head here(((((______))))))))

You have to have a dive master with you on the Salt Pier and Town Pier, the dive shop is accountable to the Harbor Master for the divers they have gotten the permits for. So if they get the permit and you dive without the DM the dive shop could be in a lot of trouble.

Ernie:

The primary functions of both Salt Pier and Town Pier is to function as a pier for boats. In the long ago time, your dive shop would simply get a permit for you by faxing the harbor master (or the salt company). No boat typically meant you were faxed an approval. Town pier was tightened up as boat traffic increased.

Then, 9/11 happened. Security standards were tightened and both Salt Pier and Town Pier were eventually closed to divers. Yes, those standards are stupid as it applies to Salt Pier. If you want to blame somebody, blame the terrorists, the ISPS regs or the US who supported those regulations. (The regs remain in place as do many relating to air travel).

Local dive operators then worked very hard to restore some access to these dives. It took a very long time to do so. I am thankful they worked out the deal they did -- much better than the alternative.

The arrangement they were able to work out is as follows:
a) The operator must apply for a permit. Their application must include the names and passport numbers of all those diving.
b) The DM must stay/dive with the group the entire time.
c) Not following the rules has consequences for the divers, the guide and, likely, the shop as well.

Some DMs will do a very long dive if you want. Some will hang back and let you decide what pace you want to move at. Just as you would expect for any professional service, they charge a fee.

So, to summarize:
a) Yes, it unfortunate that this is the way things now work.
b) Neither the Bonaire Govt nor the dive operators were the cause -- in fact they worked very hard to create a way to keep the dive site open.
c) Please follow the rules or don't do the dive. You are risking penalties for yourself and placing the future ability to dive that site in jeopardy.
d) The price of a guide is about the same as dinner -- you can probably afford it.
e) A good guide will be very unobtrusive.

In other words, follow the rules or don't do that particular dive.

Not trying to be obtuse here, so Kristi no banging your head over this question. Can any recognized dive master, assistant instructor or instructor apply for the permit or do they have to be linked to a shop on Bonaire?

tribs, to my knowledge they have to be working as a divemaster on bonaire. in other words, someone who is a DM in the states or europe can't dive there without a local DM.

Thanks Pat! But...what about someone who lives on Bonaire, is an instructor or dive master, but not working as one?

tribs, you have exhausted my knowledge....not hard to do tho. i'm sure michael, jake, bas, or one of the other local divers will have a better answet

Tribs, yes I believe so. However, that person has to be able to work with the Harbor Master in requesting the permit. I only know this because I have dove Salt Pier a few times with a guide that was not associated with a shop. You still have to submit your passport number, all that...oh, and pay

Is the payment a business arrangement between the diver(s) and the DM/shop or does some of the money go to the government?

If the former, the matter of payment may be optional, as in a qualified friend being able to do the application and guiding without the going DM guide $.

Glen - great minds think alike! I had this conversation with a good friend who is a DM and her husband an instructor and they live on Bonaire. We all pondered if they could just apply for permits and then dive the sites. Does anyone know for sure?

payment goes to the DM. The gov gets' nada. Now, if they are connected with a shop, no clue.

Tribs, I'm not sure about just applying for permits...I think it's a fairly complicated process. As a DM or instructor on their own would provide competition for the shops and other private dms. The one's I know that do so, have had the permits for years.

The divemasters need to take you in their free time, that's why you pay them. The diveshop doesn't pay these hours.