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Bonaire by Cruise



 
 
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  #1  
Old May 24th, 2006, 03:53 PM posted to rec.scuba,rec.scuba.locations,rec.travel.caribbean,rec.travel.cruises
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Default Bonaire by Cruise

We sail there in November. We've never been there. My husband is mostly
interested in the off shore diving. I'll probably do an excursion to the
Harbour Village Resort while he dives. The cruise line doesn't seem to
offer an off shore diving package. Does anyone have any suggestions? Can
we all just go to the Harbour Village by cab and maybe find a dive shop that
will allow him to do the diving nearby?

All suggestions are appreciated!



  #2  
Old May 24th, 2006, 04:05 PM posted to rec.scuba,rec.scuba.locations,rec.travel.caribbean,rec.travel.cruises
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Default Bonaire by Cruise

Caribbean Girl wrote:
We sail there in November. We've never been there. My husband is mostly
interested in the off shore diving. I'll probably do an excursion to the
Harbour Village Resort while he dives. The cruise line doesn't seem to
offer an off shore diving package. Does anyone have any suggestions? Can
we all just go to the Harbour Village by cab and maybe find a dive shop that
will allow him to do the diving nearby?

All suggestions are appreciated!



Bonaire is well known for its shore diving - my advice would be to not
book thru the boat - if he has his gear go to a dive shop rent a couple
of tanks and dive - he can probably get in 3 - 4 dives depending how
long you are in Bonaire.

Doesn't need a boat - just gear and tanks (you can rent the gear too)
  #3  
Old May 24th, 2006, 06:10 PM posted to rec.scuba,rec.scuba.locations,rec.travel.caribbean,rec.travel.cruises
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Default Bonaire by Cruise


Joe English wrote:
Caribbean Girl wrote:


I wonder WHY the same post under two different subjects

Ok, I take it as a valid reason that the one I responded to was posted
ONLY in rec.travel.cruises, and perhaps as an after thought that the
scuba divers may know more, that this was cross-posted to three
other groups, including rec.scuba and rec.scuba.locations -- the latter
should draw useful INFO about diving in Bonaire.



Bonaire is well known for its shore diving - my advice would be to not
book thru the boat - if he has his gear go to a dive shop rent a couple
of tanks and dive - he can probably get in 3 - 4 dives depending how
long you are in Bonaire.

Doesn't need a boat - just gear and tanks (you can rent the gear too)


Good advice about the shore diving on rented tanks. The itinerary:


Day Port Arrival Departure

1 San Juan, Puerto Rico 11:00 PM
2 St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands 7:00 AM 6:00 PM
3 St. Kitts, St. Kitts & Nevis 7:00 AM 3:00 PM
4 Grenada 9:00 AM 3:00 PM
5 Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles 12:00 PM 7:00 PM
6 Aruba 8:00 AM 5:00 PM
7 At Sea
8 San Juan, Puerto Rico 6:00 AM

There are scuba diving opportunities at St. Thomas, St. Kitts
(crummy),
Grenada, Bonaire, and Aruba.

For those like myself who are over the 4-5 dives a day on liveaboards,
this will be a suitable "dive cruise" to do one or two dives per port
over
several of the well-known Caribbean dive locations.

-- Bob,

  #4  
Old May 24th, 2006, 06:44 PM posted to rec.scuba,rec.scuba.locations,rec.travel.caribbean,rec.travel.cruises
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Default Bonaire by Cruise

What kind of transportation would be involved in this plan? Would he just
take a taxi to the rental shop and to the dive spots?


"Joe English" wrote in message
om...
Caribbean Girl wrote:
We sail there in November. We've never been there. My husband is mostly
interested in the off shore diving. I'll probably do an excursion to the
Harbour Village Resort while he dives. The cruise line doesn't seem to
offer an off shore diving package. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Can we all just go to the Harbour Village by cab and maybe find a dive
shop that will allow him to do the diving nearby?

All suggestions are appreciated!



Bonaire is well known for its shore diving - my advice would be to not
book thru the boat - if he has his gear go to a dive shop rent a couple of
tanks and dive - he can probably get in 3 - 4 dives depending how long you
are in Bonaire.

Doesn't need a boat - just gear and tanks (you can rent the gear too)



  #5  
Old May 24th, 2006, 08:28 PM posted to rec.scuba,rec.scuba.locations,rec.travel.caribbean,rec.travel.cruises
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Default Bonaire by Cruise


Caribbean Girl wrote:
What kind of transportation would be involved in this plan? Would he just
take a taxi to the rental shop and to the dive spots?


"Joe English" wrote:

Bonaire is well known for its shore diving - my advice would be to not
book thru the boat - if he has his gear go to a dive shop rent a couple of
tanks and dive - he can probably get in 3 - 4 dives depending how long you
are in Bonaire.


One hitch with this will be the Bonaire Marine Park "permit" and
checkout dive requirement. To avoid losing a lot of time on a single
day visit, it may be wise to do some prior arrangements.

For who/where to dive with, if the cruise line is using the pier that's
south of town, a very short walk south gets you to the Divi Flamingo
hotel complex, where there's a diveshop.

Its been a few years since I've been to Bonaire, but I'd say that this
is probably only a 100m walk (from the Flamingo, we used to walk past
the pier when going into town for dinner).

I'd also recommend checking out: http://www.infobonaire.com/

And asking for advice on the discusion groups at:
http://www.bonairetalk.com/



-hh

  #6  
Old May 25th, 2006, 01:57 AM posted to rec.scuba,rec.scuba.locations,rec.travel.caribbean,rec.travel.cruises
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Default Bonaire by Cruise


"Reef Fish" wrote in message
oups.com...

Joe English wrote:
Caribbean Girl wrote:


I wonder WHY the same post under two different subjects

Ok, I take it as a valid reason that the one I responded to was posted
ONLY in rec.travel.cruises, and perhaps as an after thought that the
scuba divers may know more, that this was cross-posted to three
other groups, including rec.scuba and rec.scuba.locations -- the latter
should draw useful INFO about diving in Bonaire.



Bonaire is well known for its shore diving - my advice would be to not
book thru the boat - if he has his gear go to a dive shop rent a couple
of tanks and dive - he can probably get in 3 - 4 dives depending how
long you are in Bonaire.

Doesn't need a boat - just gear and tanks (you can rent the gear too)


Good advice about the shore diving on rented tanks. The itinerary:


Day Port Arrival Departure

1 San Juan, Puerto Rico 11:00 PM
2 St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands 7:00 AM 6:00 PM
3 St. Kitts, St. Kitts & Nevis 7:00 AM 3:00 PM
4 Grenada 9:00 AM 3:00 PM
5 Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles 12:00 PM 7:00 PM
6 Aruba 8:00 AM 5:00 PM
7 At Sea
8 San Juan, Puerto Rico 6:00 AM

There are scuba diving opportunities at St. Thomas, St. Kitts
(crummy),
Grenada, Bonaire, and Aruba.

For those like myself who are over the 4-5 dives a day on liveaboards,
this will be a suitable "dive cruise" to do one or two dives per port
over
several of the well-known Caribbean dive locations.


Then any reef shore dive off any of the common sites in Bonaire would be
spectacular. By far, the best diving of the places above. St Thomas, imo,
had some pretty nice diving and I was pleasantly surprised, although I was
there only briefly (via a cruise). Diving in Aruba is just a watered down
version of diving in Bonaire. Aruba has many other things to offer and I'd
recommend spending your time and dollars elsewhere. If you haven't been
there, I'd recommend one of their "jeep adventure tours" which gets you to
most of the cool sites and you get to drive across the back side of the
island in a jeep, which is fun all by itself.

As another poster mentioned, you should try to take care of getting your
marine dive permit which is required (annually) to dive in Bonaire. I
think it's still $10.


  #7  
Old May 25th, 2006, 02:35 AM posted to rec.scuba.locations,rec.travel.cruises
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Default Bonaire by Cruise


Skeptic wrote:
"Reef Fish" wrote in message
oups.com...

Joe English wrote:
Caribbean Girl wrote:


I wonder WHY the same post under two different subjects

Ok, I take it as a valid reason that the one I responded to was posted
ONLY in rec.travel.cruises, and perhaps as an after thought that the
scuba divers may know more, that this was cross-posted to three
other groups, including rec.scuba and rec.scuba.locations -- the latter
should draw useful INFO about diving in Bonaire.



Bonaire is well known for its shore diving - my advice would be to not
book thru the boat - if he has his gear go to a dive shop rent a couple
of tanks and dive - he can probably get in 3 - 4 dives depending how
long you are in Bonaire.

Doesn't need a boat - just gear and tanks (you can rent the gear too)


Good advice about the shore diving on rented tanks. The itinerary:


Day Port Arrival Departure

1 San Juan, Puerto Rico 11:00 PM
2 St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands 7:00 AM 6:00 PM
3 St. Kitts, St. Kitts & Nevis 7:00 AM 3:00 PM
4 Grenada 9:00 AM 3:00 PM
5 Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles 12:00 PM 7:00 PM
6 Aruba 8:00 AM 5:00 PM
7 At Sea
8 San Juan, Puerto Rico 6:00 AM

There are scuba diving opportunities at St. Thomas, St. Kitts
(crummy),
Grenada, Bonaire, and Aruba.

For those like myself who are over the 4-5 dives a day on liveaboards,
this will be a suitable "dive cruise" to do one or two dives per port
over
several of the well-known Caribbean dive locations.


Then any reef shore dive off any of the common sites in Bonaire would be
spectacular. By far, the best diving of the places above. St Thomas, imo,
had some pretty nice diving and I was pleasantly surprised, although I was
there only briefly (via a cruise).


Had a few good dives there; and a few forgetable dives there. Nothing
to get excited about.


Diving in Aruba is just a watered down
version of diving in Bonaire. Aruba has many other things to offer and I'd
recommend spending your time and dollars elsewhere. If you haven't been
there, I'd recommend one of their "jeep adventure tours" which gets you to
most of the cool sites and you get to drive across the back side of the
island in a jeep, which is fun all by itself.


Pretty good idea. To see the blow holes and the "other" side of the
island. Unfortunately the "Natural bridge" was blown down by the
hurricane last year. But the island has many quaint sightseeing
sites,
including a huge anchor (on land) that seems 10-15 feet tall.

But for a 1 day port of call on a cruise, you can't see even a small
fraction of everything that's worth seeing.

-- Bob.

  #8  
Old May 25th, 2006, 03:15 AM posted to rec.scuba.locations,rec.travel.cruises
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Default Bonaire by Cruise

On 24 May 2006 18:35:53 -0700, "Reef Fish"
wrote:

Unfortunately the "Natural bridge" was blown down by the
hurricane last year.


Hi Everyone,

As a clarification the above is not correct. Here is one of the many
news reports available. Of course there was no hurricane at the time.


Best regards,
Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
http://www.lighthousetravel.com
--
  #9  
Old May 25th, 2006, 03:16 AM posted to rec.scuba.locations,rec.travel.cruises
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Posts: n/a
Default Bonaire by Cruise

On 24 May 2006 18:35:53 -0700, "Reef Fish"
wrote:

Unfortunately the "Natural bridge" was blown down by the
hurricane last year.


Hi Everyone,

As a clarification the above is not correct. Here is one of the many
news reports available. Of course there was no hurricane at the time.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/...ory?id=1091315


Best regards,
Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
http://www.lighthousetravel.com
--
  #10  
Old May 25th, 2006, 06:14 AM posted to rec.scuba.locations,rec.travel.cruises
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Posts: n/a
Default Bonaire by Cruise


Ray Goldenberg wrote:
On 24 May 2006 18:35:53 -0700, "Reef Fish"
wrote:

Unfortunately the "Natural bridge" was blown down by the
hurricane last year.


Hi Everyone,

As a clarification the above is not correct. Here is one of the many
news reports available. Of course there was no hurricane at the time.

AD billboard snipped

Where's the clarification? You're trying to get TWO ADs in for one
nitpicking statement aren't you?

Hurricane Season 2005

The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active on record.
Twenty-eight named tropical (or subtropical) storms formed, breaking
the old record of 21 of in 1995. Fifteen storms became hurricanes,
breaking the old record of twelve of 1969. Seven of the hurricanes
became major hurricanes (category three or higher on the Saffir-Simpson
hurricane scale) including four, Emily, Katrina, Rita and Wilma, which
reached a potentially catastrophic category five intensity

As far as our islands are concerned, only the ABC Islands were somewhat
threatened by hurricane Emily

The center of Hurricane Emily passed about 180 km north of the ABC
islands on July 14 and 15

The Natural bridge of Aruba had started cracking even before 2005. The
The record season of hurricanes in 2005 and the effect of Emily finally
caused the bridge to collapse about a month later.

So, what news releases does Ray Goldenberg have that's contrary to
the above reports of the effects of hurricanes on the ABC islands?

Ray, you are SO DUMB in your AD tactics that everyone is exposed
to your spamming activities now.

Making TWO ADs out of a NIT that the bridge was not blown down
by the direct hit of a hurricane is about as useful as your press
releases.

-- Bob.

 




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