Neither me or my buddy drive a standard, so have been looking at the few automatics available. We will be doing morning boat dives, but plan to do afternoon shore diving. We are staying at the Divi. Anyone know if the storage space in Jeep/RAV or Jimmy is big enough for tanks/gear for 2?

Welcome to BT Deirdre. Either should have enough room. The double cab trucks really work best on Bonaire. Keeps the wet stuff out of the cab. I believe they also come with automatics if you get a deluxe model.

I have rented a Rav for the past 3 years, they were all standards. You might want to email the different rental compnies and ask what they have avail with an automatic.

Looking for someone to share a truck for shore dives with tans to be rented for a week from BuddyDive/Lions resort during the period between 12/2/06 -12/9/06. My wife doesn't dive.

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2 door RAV4 is just fine. Remove back seat and stow in room, and you can then fit 4 tanks across, then pile BCDs and etc. on top. 4 door RAV4 also works well, esp. if you might take along a 3rd or 4th diver. The RAV stick-shift is really quite easy to master, and not too much traffic on Bonaire... maybe this is a good time to pick up a new talent?

Not sure if Jimny has the flat space in the rear that suits laying the tanks down.

We have used a Jimny in the past. If you lay the back seats down you can pile your tanks and gear in there. However, it really isn't the optimal dive vehicle. The little trucks let you climb up in the truckbed to suit up, and keep the sand out of your gear.

We rented the diesel engine Musso pickup at AB Car Rental on our last visit to Bonaire, and reserved the same model for our upcoming return visit. It has automatic transmission (I can drive a standard, but my wife is out of practice). On our last Bonaire visit, diesel was much cheaper than gasoline at the pump and this offset the higher vehicle rental cost.

On our last Curacao visit, we wound up with a manual 4 door RAV4 (we had reserved the 4 door pickup truck at Budget but it was rented out when we arrived). The RAV4 worked fine since I did all the driving. Near the end of a several week dive trip, having the open-air pickup bed to let the moist gear ride on would have been better though.

Deirdre,

I found one other truck model for rent on Bonaire with an automatic transmission - the Chevrolet Colorado at Total Rent a Car. I'm sticking with the Musso at AB personally, but thought I'd pass this along in case you hadn't seen it.

http://www.totalcarrentalbonaire.com/fleet-pickup3.html

Thanks everyone. We opted for the Jimmy. I know it's not ideal, but since we will be doing daily morning boat dives, I think it should suffice.

I'm going see if I can convince my neighbor to teach me to drive a standard before we go- but a Mini is not quite the same as a truck! Still an important skill, and one I will need if I ever get on the Amazing Race.

Deirdre,

With the widespread use of clutches with hydraulic cylinders these days, I'll bet you won't find as big a difference in using a manual transmission between a Mini and a Jimny as you might expect. Gone are the days of having a left leg resembling Popeye's arm from driving a standard transmission.

Best of luck!