10 Days to Bonaire!

[Mossman]

Would it be safe to assume that towels and a sack lunch would be fine to leave in the car? Is it conceivable to hide spare camera batteries under the floor mat?

The rule of thumb is "don't leave anything you'll miss". If they're not heirloom monographed towels from home, but some cheapy $1.99 specials, go ahead and take a chance. Just don't be too surprised if they're not there when you return (don't be too surprised if they are still there, since some thieves are apparently picky). Problem with leaving a sack lunch is that it will be very warm when you return even if someone doesn't take it. You can bring a cooler for that purpose, but the cooler might not be there when you return.

I've successfully kept a few guilder coins in the ashtray, a couple bills under the floormat, etc. since it's always nice to have a little money on hand and money always gets wet in the "waterproof" pocket attached to my bathing suit. You could certainly do the same with camera batteries. But I wouldn't be surprised some day to return to the truck and find my stash gone. If they're your only extra set of batteries or if they're expensive to replace, leave them in your dwelling.

 

[texbob]

Anyone going should visit (tanks are not a problem as they cannot be shipped off the island)

This was exactly my question because I am making my first Bonaire trip next week. I know all about the "Leave nothing in the car" stuff but was wondering about the tanks for the possible 2nd dive. What if some local diver thief comes along and takes the tanks? Do the shops hold you responsible for their loss?

 

[Mossman]

This was exactly my question because I am making my first Bonaire trip next week. I know all about the "Leave nothing in the car" stuff but was wondering about the tanks for the possible 2nd dive. What if some local diver thief comes along and takes the tanks? Do the shops hold you responsible for their loss?

A lot of shops don't even track the tanks unless you're diving nitrox and therefore logging them (and it would still be your word against theirs if the tank went missing since there's no check-in procedure that verified you've returned the nitrox tank). Tanks just aren't stolen, period, and if they were, no one would ever find out.

Likewise, the truck itself won't be stolen, which is why it's recommended to leave the doors unlocked and windows rolled down, a practice that would ensure a stolen vehicle back home.

 

[diverbart]

As the owner of a diveshop on Bonaire and the president of the dive association I have to respond to the almost careless assumption that tanks are not being stolen. They are. My shop alone loses more than 40 tanks per annum. And my shop is certainly not the largest. They are being shipped off. I have stated this in similar posts. Last year a whole operation was stopped by the police when they ceased a container with some three hundred tanks destined for Curacao to be melted into blocks of aluminum.

About twenty five percent of all missing tanks will show up at some later date because it is our own guests who discard them, throw them on the side of the road, leave them at the condo they were staying etc. Only two weeks ago a new owner of a house that used to be rented out by the previous owner, brought back 12 tanks I was missing for three years. Found them in the basement...........

The dive industry does not wish to alter the system of total freedom of grabbing tanks and go, because this is exactly what sets Bonaire apart from other destinations. We want to keep it that way. Still that takes all of us by cooperating and acting responsibly. Some dive shops are contemplating restrictions.

Before this thread ends up in Bonaire bashing because of crime: Bonaire has started the most comprehensive anti crime program in perhaps the entire Caribbean, with new schools, revamped education, sport programs for kids, a whole slew of other activities AND more police as well as almost tripling the jail capacity.

So we may be able to leave stuff AND tanks in our cars, even if we leave all of it unattended for a while.............

 

[Mossman]

As the owner of a diveshop on Bonaire and the president of the dive association I have to respond to the almost careless assumption that tanks are not being stolen. They are. My shop alone loses more than 40 tanks per annum. And my shop is certainly not the largest. They are being shipped off. I have stated this in similar posts. Last year a whole operation was stopped by the police when they ceased a container with some three hundred tanks destined for Curacao to be melted into blocks of aluminum.

Sorry, I apparently misspoke. I'll amend my claim to "neither I nor anyone I know has ever had a tank stolen out of their truck". Maybe locking tank racks are in order?

 

[TheWizard]

Sorry, I apparently misspoke. I'll amend my claim to "neither I nor anyone I know has ever had a tank stolen out of their truck". Maybe locking tank racks are in order?

No.
Continuing inspection of all shipments off-island are in order.
Aluminum isn't THAT valuable to be melted down, I'm thinking.

 

[Mossman]

No.
Continuing inspection of all shipments off-island are in order.
Aluminum isn't THAT valuable to be melted down, I'm thinking.

What were the Bopec tanks made out of? Maybe they were trying to steal those?