Since a couple of years I ‘ve been visiting Bonaire specially for diving. I still remember the first time I’ve met the guys from Wannadive, I was impressed by the warm welcome and the cozy atmosphere. I enjoyed this holiday so much, Bonaire and Wannadive were in my heart and I felt pretty sad that I had to return home. The second time I came over they still knew who I was and remembered my name. I was completely impressed by this hospitality and decided on the spot I want to stay longer next time and work at Wannadive to get to know them better. Half of January this year I found myself back on the plane to Bonaire and again it felt a bit like coming home. I already knew most of the wannadivers from the holidays on Bonaire and now I was part of it. Drinking coffee in the morning, check the schedule for the day and decide who’s is gonna do what. My first week I was working at Eden Beach and learned all about the wannadive style and welcome all the new guests but of course also about running the shop, filling tanks, clean the gear room, diving on the Wannadive boat. Now I had to pay attention what to do as a divemaster under and above the water. For example, has everybody enough weights, is everybody geared up correctly and are the divers not diving too deep. I was not a guest anymore and I’ve learned a lot. I liked the debriefings after every dive and that helped a lot to figure out what was expected specifly from me. In the first month I started the divemaster exams, one chapter every week, so in the evenings I had to study.  The first month I was diving a lot during the day, studying a lot during the night and sleep and eat in between but of course there was always time to have a drink with each other after work. After my exams I could focus more on the practical things of diving and soon I was seen as a full colleague, that felt great! I could organize things myself, do things my own way as long as a followed the wannadive rules and the PADI standards. I also was able to assist different instructors teach the courses. First I was watching who they were teaching after later on I assisted as good as I can where necessary. I admit, the first time I thought a little bit too easy about performing the open water skills. They gave me some justified criticism and I practiced a lot, even in front of the mirror to do it perfectly. At the end all went well! After that I had to swim a few hundred meters. I was having a hard time, while Instructors Ger and Emma were sitting comfortably on the dock taking a sunbath…there was quite a current that day…but I continued and that was that. The fun part of the divemaster training is that you dive a lot to get the right experience and that you help people and lead the dives. Although giving the dive briefing on the boat felt a little bit uncomfortable the first time, with the help of the crew soon it started the feel natural. In the meanwhile time passed by so quickly (when you’re having fun). I still enjoy the cozy atmosphere with the guests and my colleague and before you know you end up on the divemaster chair for the ultimate test..the snorkeltest..quite an experience I tell you. I would like to thank Roeland and Bart and all my colleagues for their support, and hospitality. It was a great experience! I closed Wannadive in my heart, and I hope to come back many times, thanks!

On the picture you see Hans taking the last test of his Divemaster training!

Deep Diving
This dive is always part of the Advanced course. The thing is, if you go deep, that means deeper than 18m/60 feet, some people can experience a kind of narcosis, it's your body's reaction on the amount of nitrogen. It has nothing to do with decompression sickness but because the deeper you go the more nitrogen you breath in and at a certain depth your body can react on it. Some people feel nothing, no difference at all between shallow or deep diving but some people do. There are stories that somebody was so nark that took out his regulator and started to give air to the fish...mmm, very strange..others feel a bit drunk and get too euphoric, you probably know how that is after too many polar...you think you can do everything...not responsible behavior and very stupid or even dangerous under water. So check your reaction during this advanced dive. The instructor will play some simple games with you at 30m/100 feet, let's see if you will experience some nitrogen narcoses. If you do, the instructor will go shallower till the symptoms are gone. If you do the deep dive at Eden Beach and you see hundreds and hundreds of Garden Eels next to the wreck at 30m/100feet, it's not nitrogen narcosis, they’re there...
 
Boat Diving
For this Advanced dive you can choose: West Coast Boat Diving or East Coast Boat diving. Let's start with the west coast. A couple of words come to mind...relax, easy, the beautiful reef at Klein Bonaire, maximum amount of people 10, full service on board, haha, we will help you to gear up and to back roll into the water, also perfect for divers who have just done their Open water Course, follow the dive master or go with your dive buddy and dive on your own. The coral is exceptional, for example the rare black coral @ Ebo's Reef, the wall @ Carl's Hill, the shallows @Sampler, also perfect for snorkeling. But also keep an eye on the dark blue for tarpons and rays. Close your eyes otherwise you see to many small eels. Last week we run into a huge loggerhead and an ugly green moray with a big scare. The East Coast is different, since a couple of months we work together with the EastCoast Divers Bonaire and their boat. The boat ride can be rough, not this week because t here is no wind, but usually, through the surf of Lac Bai. The dive itself is a drift dive and everybody can join in. Also a maximum of 10 people, leaded by an experienced dive guide. This dive can be spectacular, take a look in the White hole, full of tarpons and may be some stingrays. The moment you swim out of the hole it's turtle time, don't give the hand signal anymore when you see one, otherwise you get cramps in your hands and they are big..So if you never did a boat dive before, start at the west coast, if you feel comfortable on the boat, check the east coast. Next time Peak Performance Buoyancy and Fish ID.

Spotted @ Eden Beach this morning with the Open Water Class of Fialka

Lately we got a couple of questions about the PADI Advanced Open Water, the answers are yes, yes and yes. Yes it is possible, yes the course exists of 5 Adventure Dives. Yes it includes a Deep dive to 100 ft./30m and a Navigation dive. You will choose 3 more dives in your field of interest. Come to Eden Beach and we make a schedule for you. On Bonaire we recommend a couple of nice ones:   

Wreck diving @ The Hilma Hooker             

The Hilma Hooker was originally named the Midsland when she was built in Holland in 1951. The vessel was later renamed William Express, Anna, Doric Express and finally Hilma Hooker. She ran into some mechanical rudder difficulties while passing the island of Bonaire and was taken to the town pier. Nobody claimed the ship, that was kind of strange and customs immigrations officials decided to search her after discovering that she carried no papers. They searched the ship a couple of times and what they finally found was over 12.000 kilo marijuana hidden behind a false bulkhead. The marijuana was confiscated, taken out of town and burned. In 1984, the vessel sank. Good for us because it is a beautiful wreck to dive between 2 reefs. The bottom is around 100 feet/30 meter. You can still see the engine room, the big propeller and the old name William Express written on the side next to the propeller. If you can find the Maria statue on one of the masts, look on the side or on top of it, a seahorse might be preying here.. (pics by Henkjan from DivEmotion) 

Night diving @Eden beach 

On Monday and Wednesday we are night diving. Everything is hunting during the night and Eden Beach is de perfect place to see that. Don’t be scared of huge big silver fish swimming next. The tarpon is hunting by using your torch light. Shine it on a cute little fish and bye bye little fish. Please do it only once, otherwise the tarpons will be too spoiled and too fat. Have a good look under the dock and alongside the edge, it is full of lobsters, baby drum fishes and beautiful Orange cup coral. And if you hold your torch against your chest so it’s completely dark, wave your hand through the water and you will see the dust powder of Peter Pan‘s Tinkerbelle. Those are single celled algae’s lighting up because of the movement. In Holland we call it Zeevonk; other names are bioluminescence or sparkles of the sea.   

Navigation dive@ Wannadive Windsock
 
Wannasee a seahorse? Learn to navigate to the seahorse place, he usually hangs out next to a big piece of coral that likes like a thrown. You gonna use a compass as well as natural navigation. This small orange long snout fish is not easy to find, it's always a challenge. His natural camouflage is playing dead handing on a branch. The funny thing is that that fish is almost always on the same spot, this is his "stamkroeg" .The seahorse likes this particular place at Windsock so much because of the food, there's lots and lots of plankton, small scrimp and fish larvae. Sometimes he or she, you can tell unless the male gets pregnant, meets another seahorse and they curl their tails around each other and form a heart.. Next time: Boat diving, Deep diving, Peak Performance Buoyancy and Fish ID