Stingy Operators, Runny Noses, Credit Card Theft

After a day of diving, I bought a pair of sandals in a Bonaire shop. When I arrived home a few days later, I found a message on my landline (this was before cell phones) from VISA inquiring about the $2000 worth of shoes I'd purchased in Texas on the same day I was shopping in Bonaire; they had canceled the charge and put a hold on my credit card. I recalled that the Bonaire clerk took my credit card into the back room to run it through their machine.

These days, scammers have advanced technology for stealing card data, as one of our readers from Portland, Oregon, reports. On her way to the Cove Eco Resort in Raja Ampat last February, she reports: "When I arrived in Jakarta, I went to two airport ATMs to withdraw money from my Schwab debit card in Indonesian Rupees, as the machines have limits. While I am careful to look for skimmers and watch my back while withdrawing money, a woman came up too close at the ATM and said, "Taxi?" I'm guessing she was testing to see if I understood English for a distraction. I turned around (I should have ignored her). She muttered something, and I told her to go away. I got my money and left.

"Fast forward four days, and I get a text from Schwab questioning two charges from Singapore, one for zero dollars and one for $99.99. The zero-dollar charge is, of course, to verify if this was a live card number. I denied authorization, and Schwab blocked the charge and the card. Yep, my debit card number was stolen. I don't know if the woman had anything to do with it."

As for the resort, she says, "The ocean trash is worse than I remember from December 2023. The beach and dock area are full of garbage. Indonesians use the ocean as their trash bin. Sometimes, I'd surface from a dive to find trash floating around my face.

"My second week was spent at Raja Ampat Dive Lodge. In two weeks, I visited 19 sites, and 11 were worthy of diving, but eight were in terrible condition. When I asked one of the guides to take me to a non-bleached site, his response was 'all of Raja Ampat is bleached.'"

Oh, that Bleachin'

Thankfully, that guide doesn't have the complete story. As Bela Asztalos (Farmington, MA), who was at the Raja Ampat Dive Lodge in February, points out, "A recent article in Undercurrent indicated that coral bleaching and water pollution hit the Dampier Strait harder than the rest of Raja Ampat. The Dampier Strait is no longer a pristine dive destination and is now overcrowded. I hope divers visiting other parts of Raja Ampat have a better experience."

It's a shame to report bad news on Bonaire, but even with all the volunteer work that has been done to stop SCTLD, the coral in most spots is, well, dead. Joel Snyder (Tucson, AZ), who has made 20 visits to the island, writes, "I'm sorry to report this, but Bonaire has fallen from the great pinnacle of 'incredible cannot be believed' diving to, basically, 'meh.' It is not the fault of the resorts, restaurants, and dive operators -- if anything, they are all running at a 5-star level. However, all the large corals are dead, and the impact is so significant it cannot be ignored. But you still see many parrotfish, morays are everywhere, and there are lots of turtles on the East side. You can do good dives, even occasional great dives. But the average has dropped so low in terms of fish diversity, fish density, soft and hard coral life, that it's not the amazing, your-eyes-get-big-every-time-you-go-down destination. The shore diving is still a great freedom experience."

On the other hand, if one looks past the coral, there are fish. Kevin Smith (Center Valley, PA) has been traveling there almost annually since 2005. He dived with the Plaza Resort, Bonaire, and says, "Saw lots of eels, spotted, green, and sharp-tailed. Several octopuses, as well as several squid. Five or six free-swimming turtles, frog fish, and seahorses. Overall, a great trip! This is my first time staying at the Plaza. This place is impressive. The open-air lobby features magnificent sculptures and art pieces. The food is amazing, and the waiters are friendly. The dive shop is first-rate. www.plazaresortbonaire.com/en

Perhaps there's hope. Mel McCombie, who has dived Bonaire for years and has a getaway there just returned and told us "I saw a number of small brain corals dotting the bottom, even in the most devastated areas like the hotel zone. Brain corals are particularly subject to SCLTD. And sites up north, like La Dania's, Bloodlet, etc. were remarkably healthy, with large stands of intact star coral. I saw only a few polyps of flower coral and no living maze coral, however. Soft corals are robust, and if the waters don't warm too much and we have a good coral spawning season this fall, it might improve quite a bit. Fingers crossed."

Bleaching has even hit the Solomon Islands, says Ann McGrath, who was aboard the Bilikiki in May. "In the Russell Islands, about 15 percent of the corals are bleached, which the boat manager told us just happened this year. Most reefs are covered with algae. We were unable to dive at Gavutu because the locals are now harvesting coral. The boat managers refuse to dive there, and I don't blame them.

"The water is much too hot! -- 86°F the entire trip. It actually felt hot underwater. There used to be tons of nudibranchs, pipefish, hairy squat lobsters, and huge schools of fish. There were some nudis, but it's not the same. I have to rant about climate change! Even in a remote location like the Solomon Islands, human actions are taking a huge toll on the reefs. Stop burning fossil fuels, stop consuming farmed animals, and recycle everything you can! Our actions are killing the reefs, the oceans, and the planet." www.bilikiki.com

Tigers Everywhere

We wrote about diving with tiger sharks at Tiger Beach in the Bahamas, but Phil Johnston (Bayswater, Australia) has been there and says Fuvahmulah in the Maldives is even better.

"The operator of Fuvahmulah Dive School told us that up to 280 individual tiger sharks have been ID'd at Fuvahmulah. I estimate that I saw 10 of those over the six dives at 'Tiger Zoo,' which is a minute outside Fuvahmulah's boat harbor. Tiger sharks have been there for decades due to fishermen dumping fish scraps, but dive operators now conduct shark feeds with tuna scraps hidden under coral rocks.

"The sharks appear immediately when divers reach the viewing sites. Their behavior is somewhat contrived, but viewing full-grown tiger sharks at relatively close proximity is an incredible experience. Apparently, only female tigers are seen; the smaller males are rarely sighted.

"Sticks are provided for personal defense, and five staff are in the water on all Tiger Zoo dives. Staff simply shoved the sharks away if they approached customers too closely. Whilst I felt safe, one of the staff members said that the tigers are not trustworthy and require constant monitoring. There have been no accidents at Fuvahmulah, but divers will have close encounters, and it is not a risk-free activity." www.fuvahmulahdive.com

Adds our Senior Editor, the ever-optimistic John Bantin (who has the distinction of being twice picked up and carried away by a tiger shark): "Although there have been no accidents so far, I'm sure there will be one soon!" Odds are, he's right. (https://tinyurl.com/2trjt22j)

Tight Quarters

It has become common in the liveaboard industry to let a guest who paid to share a cabin with another move into an empty cabin if it hasn't been booked. It may mean the staff has to clean an additional cabin, but it's excellent public relations.

In January, Lisa C. Evans of Fort Collins, CO, arranged a trip for eight friends, and when they boarded the Seven Seas to head to Indonesia's Komodo Island, "There were multiple empty cabins, but when we asked to split up, they told us that we each would have to pay for a single cabin to do that. The cruise director called the office for us, and they insisted that we pay or double up. People ended up paying half of the additional cost. But how greedy!" And very shortsighted. Lisa. Why don't you send them an email and attach this issue of Undercurrent? www.thesevenseas.net

Just a few years ago, divers were being quarantined at hotels and on liveaboards if they tested positive for COVID. Of course, simple colds have never been viewed the same way, although a bad cold is contagious and can keep a diver out of the water for a day or more. Unfortunately, liveaboards are floating petri dishes. We've gotten reports from divers who missed as many as three days with heavy colds.

In May, one of our correspondents traveled to the Philippines and made back-to-back trips on the Infiniti to Tubbataha. He reports, "I got a head cold the first night back on the boat for the second tour. All six in my group ended up getting it and medicating our way through it. Two people had to skip a day of diving, being unable to clear their ears, but I was able to do all 34 dives."

When being around divers who had colds, I have tried to keep some distance, but didn't think much about it, other than "I hope I don't get it." But these days, many businesses tell you to stay home if you have a cold. Should divers with obvious colds -- runny noses, sneezing, congestion -- isolate themselves on a liveaboard, eat meals alone, and keep away from the common areas? One can spread a virus a day before symptoms appear and remain contagious for about five to seven days. It's an interesting question if you're not the one with the cold. www.infinitiliveaboard.com

Colds aren't the only things that keep traveling divers out of the water. So can simple injuries, such as falling down steep steps, having a tank fall on your foot, or taking a misstep between the boat and the dock. Ken Kurtis, who runs excellent trips (www.reefseekers.com) for divers, recently reported on one of his divers.

"While walking barefoot on the concrete dock after a dive, one of our divers slipped, hit his head on a bench, and fell, dislocating his shoulder when he landed on his elbow. The Anthony Keys' Resort folks quickly leapt to his aid. Fortunately, there's a medical clinic on the property, and a doctor came down to take a look. They took him to the clinic, where the shoulder was popped back into place and a cut above his eye was stitched; they cleaned him up, and gave him pain meds. Needless to say, that was the end of his diving for the trip. It just underscores that you can't be too careful, even between dives."

What about Credentials?

Neal Langerman (San Diego) had great diving, accommodations, and food at Blackbird Resort in Belize in May, but calls them out for their Advanced Diving rules.

"The resort requires at least an Advanced Open Water level to dive anywhere within the perimeter of the Blue Hole. They will not allow divers with less experience to dive in the more interesting shallow sandy areas. The resort managers claimed that the Advanced Diver requirement was imposed by Belize and enforced by Rangers.

"This is a bit misleading. The Belize National Code of Practice for Recreational Scuba Diving Services addresses diving the Great Blue Hole. Recreational Scuba Diving tours to the 'Blue Hole' require special skill sets. . . Divers are required to be screened for eligibility to perform the recreational scuba diving tour. It is left to the discretion of the Scuba Diving Tour Operator to proceed with the Recreational Scuba Diving Tour or additional training before the same.

"While I agree that the dive to about 130-140 feet requires adequate diving experience, I object to the resort blaming the country when, in fact, the decision is left to them. I have seen many Belize operations take divers to this site based on their own evaluation of the divers. I have also seen operations lead one group to the maximum depth and have another group stop at about 90 feet (27 m) or shallower." www.blackbirdresort.com

One must wonder, if a resort won't take responsibility for such a simple decision as this, what might it do if something more serious were to arise?

In our July story on Sipadan Island in Malaysia, our writer said that being on board the Celebes 9 is the only guaranteed way to dive Sipadan, but Undercurrent subscriber Richard Tucker says, "The Seaventures dive rig also guarantees dives at Sipadan for anyone spending three nights. We spent eight nights and dived Sipadan four days."

Our writer responded. "Yes, Seaventures has a limited number of Sipadan packages daily. Mr. Tucker was fortunate to secure four days of Sipadan diving, indicating that either Seaventures had no guests interested in diving Sipadan, occupancy was low, or they had acquired permits that another resort didn't use. The daily diving and snorkeling quota at Sipadan is 252 people, with permits allocated to 24 operators. Celebes gets permits for all its 16 guests, guaranteeing diving Sipadan every day."

And For the Newly Certified

If you're just getting started diving, the Florida Keys may be a good first stop, and Morgan Lyons (Arlington, TX) thinks Conch Republic Divers in Tavernier can be just the ticket.

"Republic Diver is a very comfortable diving platform, and Jason (captain) and Lee (mate) took good care of us: detailed briefings and excellent topside support. Very healthy fish populations at Alligator (Lighthouse) Reef and Shark Island. Happy to see a number of fat groupers and nurse sharks. The dives are less than 30 feet; long, relaxing dives, even if the visibility isn't that great. Good dives for beginners. Not as much for experienced divers, but there are good photo opportunities." www.conchrepublicdivers.com

Thanks to everyone for submitting their reports. Please share your thoughts with us and your fellow readers by logging on to www.undercurrent.org/SubRR.

Ben Davison