Tobago, diving, crime

[diverlady]

I know we have a few Tobago residents and/or avid visitors on the board here so if you could please provide some insight...

I hear the crime rate in Tobago has gone up in recent years and that tourists are specifically targeted. Most of the articles I've read lump Trinidad and Tobago together so it's hard to tell how much of this increased crime is specifically related to Tobago.

Any thoughts? My S.O. and I are considering Tobago as our next dive destination however the increased security risks posted are a concern for us.

I'd appreciate your feedback.

Diverlady

 

[Rhone Man]

I can't speak for Tobago, but my wife used to work in Trinidad, and no amount of money would ever persuade me to set foot back on that island.

 

[DvrRick]

I can't speak for Tobago, but my wife used to work in Trinidad, and no amount of money would ever persuade me to set foot back on that island.

Wow, can you give some specifics as to why?

 

[Rhone Man]

Wow, can you give some specifics as to why?

Nothing ever happened to my wife or I, but if you know enough people from Trinidad you hear enough to make you know that this is not a pleasant part of the Caribbean. My firm employs about 30 Trinidadians, and I have heard stories that will turn your hair white (yeah, all hearsay I know, but I believe and I am staying put).

I'll recant the worst story that I ever heard, but with the caveat that these events took place back in 1994. There was a robbery in a jewelry store in Port of Spain, the two men were armed with guns, everyone lay down and they took what they wanted. As they were getting ready to make their exit, one says to the other "let's waste one of them" and so shoots one the people lying prone face down on the floor and kills them. Robbery ends, police arrive. Everyone who was there says that they will not give evidence. Except for one of the friends of one my wife's co-workers. Gives her name and address, says she will assist if she can. Several days later, her house is broken into, she is raped by two different men and then shot multiple times, dead. Could have been a coincidence, but nobody really thought so. That was the worst story I ever heard about Trinidadian crime, but not the only one.

And I am not going back.

 

[naga]

Per capita, T & T also has the highest rate of kidnapping in the world as well. Gun related crime 'aint no joke over there either.

Also, because the islands are Afro-dominant, white westerners tend to stick out and because poverty is the main driver of crime, all local hoods assume tourists and expats are rich (they are in comparison).

In addition, like most Caribbean islands, insitutionalised corruption and incompetence will ensure that most crimes are not investigated let alone solved. The drug trade is serious over there too, which sees a lot of hopped-up thugs with guns.

enjoy...

 

[Rhone Man]

Per capita, T & T also has the highest rate of kidnapping in the world as well. Gun related crime 'aint no joke over there either.

Also, because the islands are Afro-dominant, white westerners tend to stick out and because poverty is the main driver of crime, all local hoods assume tourists and expats are rich (they are in comparison).

In addition, like most Caribbean islands, insitutionalised corruption and incompetence will ensure that most crimes are not investigated let alone solved. The drug trade is serious over there too, which sees a lot of hopped-up thugs with guns.

enjoy...

Couple of quick points: TT is actually only about 45% Black, 40% of Indian descent and 15% "other" (including Chinese, Syrian and white - the friend of a friend in the story above was a white Trinidadian - but agree, not too many of them).

Second, the comment "like most Caribbean islands, insitutionalised corruption and incompetence will ensure that most crimes are not investigated let alone solved" is laying it on a bit thick. I am no fan of Trinidad, and there are other places in the Caribbean I wouldn't go either (Haiti, anyone? Never been to Jamaica, but it sounds scary too) but having lived in the Caribbean my entire life, I'd be quick to point out that Trinidad and Haiti are not representative.

The US State Dept website (or the UK's FCO website) should be able to advise you which parts of the Caribbean are safe and which are not.

 

[Damselfish]

I've been under the impression for a long time that Tobago is very different from Trinidad, like another country, and much safer. But I don't have 1st hand experience, and also don't know if it might have changed.

 

[DvrRick]

That is a horrible story Rhone Man, but thank you for the info. I guess I'll stick to Tobago then if I head down there. It is really sad to see the poverty and the destitution in a lot of 'resort' destinations. There are two completely different sides of several islands, the tourist area and the actual people's area with a wide disparity between the two. I guess that is the problem when the only source of income is tourism, there just isn't enough work or money to go around.:depressed:

 

[DeputyDan]

I know this is off topic but - just remember to not go to Bonaire - the crime it way to bad!!!!!

 

[Bosun]

We spent two fantastic weeks on Tobago at Speyside, we walked around in some quite deserted spots and never felt worried or threatened. The locals were great and seeing many young men walking first thing in the morning carring machetes was a bit of a worry but chatting to them was easy, they all do community work (NOT as punishment) in the morning clearing the vegetation and keeping the island clean and tidy.

The diving was spectacular with ripping currents, we saw nurse sharks, manta, Tarpon, turtles and lots of great stuff. The bird life was amazing, this was why we walked around so much.

We would go back to Tobago without a second thought.