Greetings All!

I am in the very early stages of trying to put together a study abroad trip for May of 2008 to Bonaire. We had our first liability meeting and might have just run into a problem. Our school insurance will not let students under the age of 21 drive trucks. Most students who take these courses are traditional aged, 18-21. There is a good chance that we will not end up with a student who is 21 and can drive stick shift. Other problem...the other faculty member cannot drive stick and does not seem receptive to learning. I originally thought we would get a dive/drive/stay package and be done with it, but with this little glitch, I'm not too sure now. We are looking to take 10-12 students, so that means 12-14 adults with dive gear. We also want to shore dive, not boat dive. Any suggestions out there? Is there a reliable ground transportation company that could be hired to shuttle us around for the week? (That is what the liability person said we should do.) I know, this sounds like a nightmare since the trucks are so easy. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

For now...I am hoping we get at least one student 21 years of age and can drive stick. That way I can drive one truck, he/she the other one and then we can get a car for the other faculty member. Keeping good thoughts...

There are automatic trucks on the island, yes, they do cost more - but if all of the group is splitting on it, the cost increase would be negligible for everybody.

Does insurance specifically say "truck"? Some rental companies have SUV's (if I remember correctly, ab car rental has a hyundai tuscon SUV).

(Message edited by yukoneer on April 12, 2007)

Hi Tribs, You may have a problem getting a rental agency to rent to even a 21 year old, just looked at a/b's website and it notes you have to be 23 y.o. to rent from them. I would try Everett's as they have vans, don't know if automatic, but maybe send them an email or a few other rental agencies and inquire about their min. age and some agencies also make real young drivers take the CDW insurance due to age and it notes it in their policies. Not all agencies are the same, so kinda of individual company policy. Good luck, I would research a few for you, but got to do some laundry and cook dinner and then go to work. I do think there is at least one who will rent to 21 y.o's.

Most of them want the drivers to be 23, if not 25. E mail me a proposed time schedule, etc. and I will talk to Achie Tours who will provide a bus and driver...info@chatnbrowse.com

Thanks everyone. The issue is who can drive, not who can rent. The university takes care of all rentals and liability etc...and we will be taking the extra insurance per university policy. That is why we had to meet their requirements. Now if the rental agencies block who can drive, that is a different issue. However from having been on Bon with a dive group for my first trip, I know that at least one agency didn't even bother to check ages because they let everyone in our group (including the 19 year old) have their truck that came with the package.

I've gotten a couple of PMs, so let me reiterate that we are only in the planning phase. We still have to get everything approved by the insurance company and the lawyers. We are no where near ready to book or put deposits down on anything and once we are, that would all go through the university.

I'm not sure how a driver would work since we would need one for dives (we are only shore diving), shopping, meals, etc... Again I think this is a nightmare idea and am only asking because they asked us to inquire.

The idea of an automatic would work if we could get a guarantee on it. I know at least two people who requested automatics and were told they would get them and did not. We can't risk that happening.

Michael I sent you an email about phones and haven't heard from you. I will email you again.

Might be a good idea to get a few kids together on a week end and have someone teach them how to drive stick shift. Young minds can pick up that skill quickly... Ron

Sent you a mail stating that the phones will be gratis..just pay for the cards...

Michael you are a doll! I think my email account is being obnoxious again and blocking emails from my most favorite island in the entire world because I never received your message.

Ron...I already offered to let them learn in my car and everyone in the room looked at me like I was insane! LOL!

Tribs, you could always take me down to drive. My name is James. Didn't you always want to say, "Home James?"

It would be nice to have another professor around. We could "teach" the students about the benefits of higher education...get to go to Bon or move to Bon for retirement!

Works for me. I'll hopefully be retired then, so let me know.