GF99/99
Contributor
My wife and I are heading to Papua Explorers the end of Feb we are seeing travel advisories saying terrorism kidnappings etc in Indonesia And Papua
Has anyone been there recently we are getting concerned if we should take the risk Is it dangerous or should we give up the dream
No more dangerous than in the USA. If you check other foreign government website for there nationals traveling abroad they suggest the same precaution for traveling to the USA. Direct quote word for from the UK travel abroad government website. "Terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in the USA. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreigners. You should monitor media reports and be vigilant at all times." Terrorism - USA travel advice so will this stop you from traveling in the US? Obviously this is just an over hype of things, just like how someone has over hyped Indonesia to make it sound unsafe. I am currently in Indonesia and have been since July diving almost everyday and can say it is very safe, I would have no issues what so ever traveling to Papua and I have several friends including myself that are on or will be on liveaboards there right now and it is totally safe.
The only major issue right now safety wise is in the Canggu/Seminyak area where all the tourist/foreigners are (yes there are ALOT of them not as busy as pre-corona but close to it). There seems to be an increase in petty theft of purses and cell phones, this has always been a problem however it seems worse than normal probably because of the lack of income to the locals due to Corona. I have some friends of friends that have been victims of this. General target is females ridding on the back of scooters with a purse on there shoulder, or riding on the back of the scooter with a cell phone in there hands texting or giving driving directions to there partner driving the scooter. What happens is someone will sneak drive next to them on a scooter and snatch the purse off there shoulder or phone out of there hands. Also seems to happen more late at night when everyone is coming home from the bar or club after partying all night.
To avoid this ladies always put your purse and phone in the little compartment under the seat of the scooter and if your taking a Gojak or Grab back from the club your diver should have no issues to put your purse under the seat of there scooter too or just take a car.
And if you check the US travel.state.gov website they have some kind of travel advisory of almost every country that is not in N. America. If you were to go by this you basically could never leave the US. For example seems like Mexico is a very popular dive destination for Americans so direct from Mexico International Travel Information website word for word:
"Rape and sexual assault are serious problems in some resort areas"
"Mexico experiences high rates of kidnapping."
"Mexican criminal organizations are engaged in a violent struggle to control trafficking routes"
"Crime in Mexico occurs at a high rate and can be violent, from random street crime to cartel-related attacks. Over the past year, Mission Mexico has assisted U.S. citizens who were victims of armed robbery, carjacking, extortion, homicide, kidnapping, pick-pocketing, and sexual assault. Increased levels of cartel-related violence have resulted in territorial disputes and targeted killings, injuring or killing innocent bystanders. Travelers who find themselves in an active shooter scenario should flee in the opposite direction, if possible, or drop to the ground, preferably behind a hard barrier."
But this does not stop Americans from flocking to Mexico by the thousands.