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Ropes4u posted:One upside to the current pandemic is that bonaire isn’t crowded. Are you on the island? The lack of cruise ships has been awesome, but the existential dread has been stressful. Flights are still coming in from the US against all logic, but will probably stop sometime this week. If/when poo poo really goes down here you're basically hosed if you have a bad response. The health system will be overwhelmed pretty much instantly, there's a handful of ICU suites and the hospital literally shares a building with a nursing home... recipe for disaster. The European airlines have at least been flying empty planes here to get out the filthy Euros stuck here, and get residents back. The something special parking lot had a grand total of 1 car today, and he lives here. It's pretty eerie, and I bet it will get eerier in the coming days/weeks. It reminds of the Keys right before Irma came though.
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Mar 16, 2020 00:10
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SuitcasePimp posted:Are you on the island? The lack of cruise ships has been awesome, but the existential dread has been stressful. Flights are still coming in from the US against all logic, but will probably stop sometime this week. If/when poo poo really goes down here you're basically hosed if you have a bad response. The health system will be overwhelmed pretty much instantly, there's a handful of ICU suites and the hospital literally shares a building with a nursing home... recipe for disaster. Yes we are on the island for the next two weeks. We have been told that outbound flights will continue to fly until we are all taken back to the states. My wife and I have visited the hospital a couple times over the last few years. I agree it will be a burden on them when the corona virus hits. Colorado, our home state closed all ski resorts, and we were surprised we made it here at all. Should be a nice couple of weeks of diving. We almost bought a place here a few years ago, How do you like it here?
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Mar 16, 2020 01:59
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I currently have a trip to Curacao planned for March 28th - April 4th. Do you think they will still let me fly there? I bought a JetBlue vacation package, so I can get all my points and money back, that's not an issue. Honestly, I'm in denial about canceling. My girlfriend has bad asthma, so the Covid could kill her. I've made the rather weak argument that by March 28th, there will be much more of it here then in Curacao.
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Mar 16, 2020 12:10
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Mar 16, 2020 12:25
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I do no not know how reliable the information is but We were told flights here would be ending sometime this week. To be honest I am debating if I was stupid for flying out of the country. At home I have access to everything i need to get along for a few months of quarantine while here I am basically hosed if I cannot pay with cash or credit card.
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Mar 16, 2020 12:53
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Ropes4u posted:To be honest I am debating if I was stupid for flying out of the country. I hear that. At least you went someplace without the virus, one of my idiot Facebook friends flew to loving SPAIN last week. For fun.
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Mar 16, 2020 13:45
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Squashy Nipples posted:I hear that. It probably shouldn’t have but that made me laugh...
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Mar 16, 2020 14:15
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Squashy Nipples posted:I currently have a trip to Curacao planned for March 28th - April 4th. I highly doubt you will be able to fly to Curacao from the US. Even if they do, don't. You're going to be much better off being where you are unless you are in some kind of backwoods Deep South area with no services. At best you would be taking valuable resources from residents, and in the worst case you're going to be 1000 times better off in a more developed country. Aruba already announced NO non-residents would be admitted to their hospital for instance.
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Mar 16, 2020 17:28
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Ropes4u posted:I do no not know how reliable the information is but We were told flights here would be ending sometime this week. This is very reliable, as its going to happen today. Apparently the American flight coming in will be the last one. KLM and Tui (Dutch carriers) have been flying empty planes here to get people back that are already stuck on the island, but it isn't mandatory yet. There was a brief period over the weekend where residents stuck in NL were allowed to come back, but that has since changed. Things are going to get a lot worse in the US and here, but all things considered you're going to be way better off there. If your airline gives you the opportunity to go back early I would take it... in 2 weeks the option may not be there. edit: just announced: http://bes-reporter.com/index.php/2...AlmgT1oSpc9E-u8 SuitcasePimp fucked around with this message at 17:49 on Mar 16, 2020 |
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Mar 16, 2020 17:37
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Yeah, Curacao is reporting it's first confirmed case, and they found a dead tourist at the old Hilton. That's means it's already everywhere on the island.
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Mar 16, 2020 19:02
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Squashy Nipples posted:Yeah, Curacao is reporting it's first confirmed case, and they found a dead tourist at the old Hilton. 3 confirmed now: https://cw.usconsulate.gov/news-events/covid-19-information/ Seeing the same on the local news sites and FB groups. Its pretty much definitely here too... pretty much NO testing has happened from what I hear, and the "screening" prior to the cruise ban last week was just theater.
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Mar 16, 2020 19:10
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SuitcasePimp posted:3 confirmed now: https://cw.usconsulate.gov/news-events/covid-19-information/ Nobody ask us about our health when we arrived, we are healthy and haven’t been around anyone sick in months. We live in a world with cheap easy travel and without the power of the Chinese government it is almost impossible to contain anything. We slept most of the day and will start diving tomorrow. Having spent time in places I wasn’t invited, or wanted, we will follow the suggestion of local authorities. Our hosts children are also here visiting from Holland, I think they are planning on leaving later in the week.
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Mar 16, 2020 19:29
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Life here on Koh Samui is at a standstill. P much all tourists have canceled their plans so all dive operators are in standby mode. It really sucks too because conditions are getting way better, and Sail Rock is just 
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Mar 18, 2020 03:06
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Trivia posted:Life here on Koh Samui is at a standstill. P much all tourists have canceled their plans so all dive operators are in standby mode. We're on mandatory shelter in place here. I was supposed to dive next weekend and my buddy is trying to make excuses about how it's okay, but I shouldn't. If only solo diving wasn't a bad idea.
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Mar 18, 2020 05:33
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Solo diving is A GREAT idea so long as there are fun divers nearby that you can use in an emergency :p
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Mar 18, 2020 06:44
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DeadlyMuffin posted:If only solo diving wasn't a bad idea. Pffft. Depends on the dive plan. I have 19 logged solo dives, and I don't even have the cert for it. I'd like to get that cert, though. EDIT: And when I go lobstering up here in New England with the South Shore Neptunes, it's every man for himself, so apart from getting in the water at the same time, that's essentially solo diving, anyway.
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Mar 18, 2020 10:24
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We were supposed to be landing in Grenada today but cancelled on Monday. This isn’t a useful post but I’m just venting.
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Mar 21, 2020 05:12
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let it mellow posted:We were supposed to be landing in Grenada today but cancelled on Monday. This isn’t a useful post but I’m just venting. We are leaving Bonaire today. Our flight has been cancelled and rescheduled three times since the state department, and local consultant, suggested everyone leave. We have a place to stay if it goes to hell but it’s probably best we all ride this out at home. We have booked return trips for November and January..
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Mar 21, 2020 10:53
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Yeah, I canceled my Curacao trip Tuesday night. I have a friend who stuck around in Aruba a day too long, and now he might be stuck there. Dude, they were evacuating the island, just GO TO THE loving AIRPORT.
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Mar 21, 2020 21:55
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Squashy Nipples posted:Yeah, I canceled my Curacao trip Tuesday night. Atlanta looks great, the clerk at the hotel said they are only at 11% capacity. Glad to be is the USA. Ropes4u fucked around with this message at 01:48 on Mar 22, 2020 |
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Mar 22, 2020 01:00
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Glad you made it back and sorry you didn’t get the full Bonaire trip
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Mar 22, 2020 04:20
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let it mellow posted:Glad you made it back and sorry you didn’t get the full Bonaire trip Already booked trips for November and January, if the world isn’t back to normal by then we are probably all going to be living in the Stone Age.
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Mar 22, 2020 20:36
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Ropes4u posted:Already booked trips for November and January, if the world isn’t back to normal by then we are probably all going to be living in the Stone Age. Yeah, we’re gonna go nuts traveling later this year too. Still have a Belize trip in July booked.
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Mar 25, 2020 03:43
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I’m gonna dive in my pool and replace the drain grate do I need a tank or weights for that? No am I doing it anyway? Yes e: not tonight but definitely soon. I might take a video of it
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Apr 7, 2020 05:28
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Hook yourself to the bottom, make yourself slightly positive, then take a weightless nap. At 2 meters your air will last 3 hours.
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Apr 7, 2020 08:24
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Please make sure your pump is a) off and b) has its circuit breaker/fuse turned off 
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Apr 7, 2020 10:44
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The last two pieces of advice seem contradictory 😀
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Apr 9, 2020 03:01
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So...the shop I used to work for closed permanently. We took a number of hard hits...multiple hurricanes whose names were retired, the owner having some medical issues then the ‘rona finished us off. I haven’t worked there for a while, but I stayed in touch with everyone. It’s the place I did all of my training, outside of my open water class. That’s AOW->divemaster, plus working there as a DM for 2 years before heading on to CA and FL, plus all the random certs I picked up there over the years (heritage awareness diver, anyone?) One of our instructors was one of the main excavators for the Queen Anne’s Revenge, so as part of the heritage diver class we went up to the preservation lab to have a look at all the recovered artifacts from Blackbeard’s ship. I think he only charged us the processing fee, dude was just really passionate about his projects and wanted an audience to share it with. All those cannon had to have been a pain to haul up, and they’ve pulled up 36 out of approximately 40 (last I checked). I don’t have much else to add, other than
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Apr 20, 2020 13:14
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Sucks dude 
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Apr 21, 2020 03:06
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Long shot, but are any Florida goons interested in diving off of Venice this month for megalodon teeth on a chartered dive? Looking for a dive buddy.
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Jun 1, 2020 18:16
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 the diving thread. I liked this thread, in fact it was my favorite spot on the forums. I went from OW to rescue and learned a lot about underwater photography through the course of this thread. That was fun, as was sharing different dive destination reviews that weren’t tripadvisor. Maybe we will meet somewhere without knowing we posted here! let it mellow fucked around with this message at 03:17 on Aug 12, 2020 |
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Aug 12, 2020 03:07
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let it mellow posted:
We hope life returns to normal soon so we can return to Bonaire, maybe a live aboard soon after..
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Aug 12, 2020 03:34
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let it mellow posted:
Dive boats around here have started running again with limited occupancy, but it doesn't seem safe to me. I've started doing some shore diving again. I'm not sure how smart it is, but I'm making excuses to justify it to myself. Is anyone else diving? Am I being reckless?
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Aug 12, 2020 17:26
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Ummm... Well I went for a dive out of Dover a few weeks back. Would have been two but the poor skipper's gearbox died in a shipping lane and we had to get towed back. UK boats are back in action but with reduced capacity doing 1m physical distancing. I also went for a holiday to North West Italy, Portofino to be exact, and did a couple of days diving there. Italians were strict on having masks for everyone but capacity didn't seem to be reduced. Finally I did a few days in Menton in France and the French did not give a crap about any of the regulations as far as I could tell. Nice Mediterranean diving and the marine reserve in Portofino seems to be in good shape. Apparently there's quite a bit of research work there as it's basically the northerly wall species are hitting as climate change drives them North. My dive club had it's first RIB trip last weekend as well and we've been very cautious. Really as long as you're using all your own equipment, making sure everyone uses a mask for indoor bits I don't think there's a huge infection risk. Shore diving I don't see being too risky.
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Aug 12, 2020 18:03
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I've been shore diving locally. Boats aren't running around here but there are a bunch of dive sites that don't need them. Shops are running classes which seems pretty irresponsible.
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Aug 13, 2020 04:13
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I'm still "working," here on Koh Samui. Which amounts to 4-5 days a month. Early retirement is nice but it's getting a little dull. Here's hoping for Trump Bux 2.0!
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Aug 15, 2020 01:04
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I haven't been underwater in over 6 months now
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Aug 15, 2020 01:17
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Icon Of Sin posted:I haven't been underwater in over 6 months now Same! 
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Aug 15, 2020 01:44
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Icon Of Sin posted:I haven't been underwater in over 6 months now Same and I moved to south Florida
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Aug 15, 2020 05:05
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I went diving today! Two lovely dives, plus l saw a Hawksbill. In an unrelated note, I'm v. poor please send money.
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Aug 15, 2020 09:28
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