Finding Menno

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Finding Menno

Diving and traveling stories, and experiences-based reviews and tips. A wanderer, with a love for diving and sharing epic adventures.
(5)

01/04/2024

Spent my Easter Sunday with a little shore dive off Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. Great to be back in the water with again!

Was just a short walk from home to the beach using the beach customized wheelbarrow. And brought some deck chairs for that important after-dive relax.

Was a great shore dive, with several sightings of one my favorite fish, the juvenile spotted drum. Including the smallest one I ever saw, about the size of the nail of my pinky finger!

28/03/2024

Lauderdale-by-the-Sea giving diving some attention. Although it would be even better if the flag was flipped for the correct orientation….

26/03/2024

So my social media is a bit behind… still sorting out some of my Caribbean highlights.

Saba is a great island to get some hikes in. The trails are well marked, and length and difficulty levels cater for a wide range of hikers. As I was on the island for only a few days, I couldn’t do them all.

But some of my favorites were firstly the short but steep hike on ‘The Ladder’. This was the way people and supplies got on the island in the days of old. Do the hike once, and you’ll have new found respect for the tenacity to choose to live on Saba.

The second one, and the ‘signature’ hike of Saba is to the top of Mt. Scenery. The highest top of The Netherlands. And with clear weather some stunning views of the island, the sea and surrounding islands.

24/03/2024

See you in New Jersey! Yesterday and today I am at the Beneath The Sea show in New Jersey.
Meet me and the VIP Diving - PADI 5 Star IDC Resort team at booth 626 to talk about diving and beautiful Bonaire!

15/03/2024

A pic of the first dive ‘out of the box’ with my XDEEP Stealth Tec sidemount harness. At that point still some tweaking to be done. Tanks are a bit to high and should be below armpits. Bottom of bladder can be a bit tighter to the body. And the longhose on the right tank is a bit of a mess, miflex never seems to bend as I want it!

But that is part of diving sidemount, and something I enjoy - working on setting it up ‘just right’. I’m now a few dives further and am quite happy with it.

13/03/2024

On my way to a very different type of Caribbean island. And it starts straight away with a highlight, landing on one of the shortest runways in commercial use in the world. No problem for the mighty Twin Otter!

09/03/2024

Going for a dive a bit further north than I usual go on the island. Feels adventurous!

Nice to try these sites and I’d certainly recommend. But the extra time to get there is not worth it to do these sites regularly in my opinion.

Brought my new XDeep Sidemount harness for the dive. And of course rocking the orange shirt!

03/03/2024

New diving gear!

Doing a bit of solo diving so wanted a redundant set-up. Having dived sidemount in the past, it was logical to further pursue that route. Having left my old sidemount harness in Cayman many years ago, I borrowed one here but that unfortunately broke after my first dive.

I wanted to get a new harness for myself anyway at some point, so this was the moment for it. Drove around all the shops on Bonaire to look at options. In the end I selected the XDEEP Stealth Tec which I bought from the helpful team at Technical Diving Services Bonaire

Thanks to the many direct and online advice in purchasing and configuring the new harness. Firstly Yvonne Press from Dark Horizon Diving, thanks for your time! The great review from Scuba Tech Philippines and set-up guide from AQUI Water Sports helped a lot. Also thanks for the team at Xprodiver Bonaire, Buddy Dive Watersports and Tropical Divers Resort Bonaire for showing their options.

The first dive was celebrated with a well deserved Polar. Now the tinkering to get it dialed in ‘just right’ is underway!

29/02/2024

Ostracod night! A spectacle you must see!

Normally I’m not the biggest fan of night dives. Having worked as a diver, as in any job, as the evening comes I prefer to head home and unwind after a day’s work. Jumping in for another dive is at that point not the most appealing.

But for Ostracods I make an exception. About 3-5 nights after a full moon, 45 minutes after sunset, the reef lights up for about 15 minutes with Ostracods ascending to the surface. It is a mix of being in the middle of a starry night, and the movie ‘Avatar’.

I hadn’t done an Ostracod dive since I left Bonaire many years ago. I’ve tried in other locations, but haven’t found a spot where you can experience it so well as this island. I was blown away again by the beauty of this light show. A must do if you’re ever on the island at the right time!

As it is a dusk/night and ‘lights out’ dive, footage is unfortunately almost impossible to capture. So you got to make with me heading out for the dive.

26/02/2024

Fun flight from Curacao to Bonaire with Divi Divi Air. These are mostly done on my favorite airplane in the world, the De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter.

This time I was lucky to get assigned an even smaller type, a Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander. Never been on one yet so very cool!

21/02/2024

Recently I had a just too short visit to Curacao. I was mainly there to spent some quality time with my vacationing parents.

But when the port schedule showed there would be no cruise ships in for a day, that meant only one thing! I had to sneak a dive in to finally do the ‘Superior Producer’. This is a wreck of a freighter and located at the bottom of the cruise ship ‘mega pier’ and can only be done when the pier is empty.

A fun dive to do, at around 25 meters the wreck is easy for recreational divers with deep diving experience. And on the way back enough life around the pier to have a look at. Entry and exit can be tricky, so best to get some tips or dive with a local operator. And of course Dive Curacao , your one stop shop for all information on diving on Curacao, has extensive information on the dive site!

Rocking the orange Divers Ready shirt while having a look at the dive site. And yes, we had a few days of not so great weather blowing over the island.

04/02/2024

“Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in”

Diving is a fun business and hard for people to leave! Great but also but also a bit weird to see Drew at Duikvaker.

This Welshman and me worked together for over 2 years at Divetech in Grand Cayman, including doing DEMA Show together. We now found ourselves in staff shirts from different shops at a dive show right here in The Netherlands.

It is a small world!

30/01/2024

Another weekend, another dive show!

Looking forward to this coming weekend. I will be helping my friends from at booth 2d38 in the Bonaire pavilion.

See you there!

27/01/2024

It was a (too) short visit, but had a great day visiting .

Warmed up by looking at Hallberg-Rassy ⛵️boats I can never afford 😅.

Saved the best for last, visiting the diving hall. Got another look at the Sidewinder 2, and of course a lot of other new cool stuff. And was great to catch up with many people again.

Was rocking the one of a kind orange shirt on the floor!

24/01/2024

Meet me at this Friday January 26th. I’m so looking forward to say hello to the many friends in the diving community again!

07/01/2024

Friday nights in a bar? Nah, I prefer working on my regs! 😉😅

4DIVERS in Veenendaal had a service workshop going on. Although I have serviced my own regs before, always good to get some tip ‘n tricks from professionals who have a lot more going through their hands.

And I’m planning a trip next month, so good to get everything serviced again.

09/12/2023

One of the highlights of my recent US trip was seeing James of and again! Last time was 2019 before the world went a bit crazy for a few years.

After having seen the dive locker in the ‘before’ (aka garage) state, it was great to admire the end result of a lot of hard work. Although it of course felt very familiar after watching the many YouTube videos.

We do look a bit fatigued in the picture, a combination of a great day before, James just wrapping up a class, and me coming back from a run.

James and Karina, thanks again for the great hospitality!

17/11/2023

Last day of DEMA 2023. Stroopwafel coffee is keeping us going. Good to see that the USA is embracing this pinnacle of a highly civilized society.

15/11/2023

Caribbean colours!

13/11/2023

First day at DEMA Show 2023! Worked up a sweat, disregarded the jetlag, and got the VIP Diving - PADI 5 Star IDC Resort booth set up straight away. Love the lighted backgrounds!

06/11/2023

Blue World just put out the first episode of diving the beautiful Azores on the Water & Wind liveaboard. Link in bio!

Jonathan Bird's Blue World is a YouTube series of a family diving some great places. Recently they were invited by Portugal Dive to explore Portugal.

The spectacular Azores are of course one of the highlights of Portugal. On this first episode they join the Water and Wind - Diving Liveaboards and Charters - Azores Islands sailing liveaboard to explore the islands.

Having helped on the boat several years, it is great to see the awesome people and beautiful islands get the fame they deserve.

Go see it for yourself - Link in bio!

03/11/2023

Love this LEGO diver at the entrance of my local toy store.

Seeing it always makes me want to jump in again!

31/10/2023

A bit of Caribbean in Amsterdam.

Having been living in Amsterdam again for a while, I almost daily miss the tropical lifestyle.

If the urge for the Caribbean gets too much, there luckily is an escape not too far from home. The ‘Rum Barrel’ bar in Oost has an amazing selection of rums and cocktails. Transports you right back to the beach and waves!

03/02/2023

See you at this weekend in the !

Looking forward to seeing the diving community out in force again!

You’ll see me roaming the floors checking out the latest gear and new exciting destinations. And of course I’ll be helping my friends from at booth 492. Having just returned from Bonaire, happy to share my love for this little island!

27/01/2023

Going for a dive in Curacao. Just park your car in a residential area, walk 3 min to the shore, jump in. Job done. Who needs boats.

22/01/2023

Rockin’ the unique orange shirt for a dive at Watamula in Curacao. Gotta love the Caribbean waters!

20/01/2023

Finally doing a dive in the Caribbean again. My eyes still need to adjust to the sun and azure blue waters after a few years away!

01/01/2023

Happy new year! I hope it will be a year of fun, travel and adventure for all of you!

No I didn’t do the traditional new years swim this year. I wimped out and save that for when living in warmer climates!

18/12/2022

😂😢 This exchange sounds all too familiar….

Love you anyways mom and dad! 😉

02/12/2022

Are you ready for the amazing Amsterdam Light Festival!

The Amsterdam Light Festivall is a spectacular collection of light art on the historical Amsterdam canals. The event started December 1st and will run to January 22nd.

Enclosed some examples of last years festivals. Just come to Amsterdam to see this years art for yourself!

The best way to enjoy the artworks is by joining a boat with Flagship Amsterdam Enjoy a drink and let the guides tell you more about the artworks and the beautiful city.

This week the Flagship crew did our first staff only cruise to explore the festival.
We also received a little staff gift. So you can be sure your crew is warm and hydrated!

Thanks to Flagship Amsterdam for another great fun year. I hope other work commitments will allow me to put some more skippering hours in next year!

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See you in New Orleans next week! Proud to represent VipDiving Bonaire at DEMA Show. Going to be fun!

🌅⚓️ Sunset through the clouds at sea during a passage. Is there anything more peaceful....

Some friends accompanying us on our passage from Santa Maria to Sao Miguel.

Heading out for another day of diving with @waterandwindazores

I counted 17 Mobula! Very impressive dive at the famous Ambrosio dive site. A dive at a line attached to an undersea pinnacle attracting all kinds of pelagic life. Visit it on the amazing liveaboard @waterandwindazores

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