Be careful in Bonaire (Burglaries)

[pilot fish]

They are known as the ABC islands, for a reason.

I am talking about Curacao as far as my experience. From a tourists prospective, they are often considered together. And they have the same crime/perception problems that cost tourist dollars. It's a slippery slope when a reputation like this starts it's very difficult to reverse. And the people are friendly. The island of Curacao at least is well taken care of. It's obvious the locals are proud of what they have. They also have great diving and I like the laid back shore diving experience. I would like to see them succeed. I think taking even limited action to decrease crime could go a long way toward that. Just driving a patrol car around so people see it would do a lot as far as alleviating concerns of tourists.

 

[pilot fish]

Rather than send you a PM I'd like to share my thanks for your informative, and shocking, post on the board so we might help shed a bit more light on this and, maybe, help the next group of divers brave enough to chance a visit to Bonaire, while this crime spree is in full swing.

yes, you were followed from the airport -Question: if cops are aware of this method, why not have patrols out when planes land? A group stayed at the residence until you went to dinner. One crook, with a cell phone, followed you to dinner while the other crooks broke into your rooms. The crook was observing you at dinner and would call the crooks in the rooms if, and when, you headed back to your rooms, so they could take thier time and had no fear you would suddenly show up. They knew your whereabouts all the time. Question , with all the crowbar racket and ransacking of your rooms, no one at the residence could hear that, see that? Were the crooks aided by anyone at the hotel? How could you know for sure? I find it odd though that no one heard or saw anything?

Update as of 2/12/2010:
Called the Bonaire Police today. They said they recovered some items, but none of our stuff. (I doubt they recovered anything significant because they were quick to say none of our stuff was recovered.) They had a few people in custody, but we heard there were more burglaries after the arrest. They confirmed this. The groups committing the burglaries may be part of a 'ring', but there seems to be no direct connections that led to more arrests or recovery of any of our stuff.

Additional Details (I wanted to add this to the initial post, but I can't seem to edit it anymore. Perhaps a mod can do it for me.):

Our plane from JFK to BON landed at 4:35pm on 1/30/2010 (a little late because of weather). By the time we got our bags and got to our rooms it was about 6:00pm. There were 5 in our group spread between two adjacent rooms (3 in one, 2 in the other). We unpacked some of our stuff and put the important things into the safe. Then, we made a run to the supermarket to get some essentials (Amstel Brights). At about 7:30pm, we decided that we would go out to dinner instead of cooking (big mistake). We locked all the doors and headed out. I should note that only 1 out of the 5 rooms in the immediate area was vacant.

We got back from dinner at about 9:00pm. We decided to have a few beers together, so we walked together to one room. We noticed the door was open and the room was ransacked. I immediately ran to the other (my) room and it was also completely ransacked. The door had a deadbolt, but it appeared that a crowbar was used to break in. The door frame was destroyed to point where it would no longer close. The safe was also broken into. I started screaming obscenities and got the neighbors' attention. (I just got hit for about 6k, no insurance.) Nobody saw anything, and nobody heard anything.

All of our phones were taken, so 2 people drove off to get the police. I ran around the area to see if I saw anyone, but they were long gone. When the police arrived, I finally took a good look at what was taken (I already knew all the stuff I cared about would be gone). The thieves had unfolded every piece of underwear, every pair of socks, and opened every zipper. They must have filled our carry-on bags with our stuff because those were gone. To make matters worse, my passport and my wife's passport were taken. The thieves seemed to be smart enough to take only the (slightly) older US passports w/o the chip. The passports were in the safe in a pouch. Unfortunately, in that pouch were the photocopies of the passports.

The police had us write down the things that were taken. They said there had been a lot of burglaries lately. I was angry when I heard that because if I would have known I would have brought my passport, laptop and video camera with me to dinner. (Some people may find that odd, but those items are always on my person when I travel to Europe.) The police believed that the thieves were following people from the airport. Well, some of them definitely followed us to dinner because they were able to take their time and go through all of our stuff carefully and quietly. IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE RECENT VICTIMS IN BONAIRE OR KNOW SOMEBODY WHO IS PLEASE MESSAGE ME YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS. I did get email addresses for a couple of people, but I would like to get as many as possible. I am already getting the feeling that very little is being done. I think we will need to keep them motivated.

 

[pilot fish]

Playa Lagun is on Curacao...

Thanks. I sit corrected.

 

[pilot fish]

clafrieda, would you keep us posted and give us some updates on your situation? It would be nice if you got some things, if not all the things, back. Damn did you say $6,000.00 in stuff and cash is what you were robbed of from your hotel room in Bonaire?

I can't recall if you said you had rental trucks/cars? Did you have a problem with them? Were any of you able to dive at all after this? first day, right? Did they get your dive gear too? Also, did the residence you were robbed at ask any of you guys for payment, of any kind , for what was done to the rooms, if ANYTHING was done to the rooms? I'm gonna guess the rooms, furniture and all, excaprt the safe, was OK? Also, last question, but important, did any of you guys get a feeling that ANYONE at the residence was an accomplice?

 

[DandyDon]

Clafrieda, again I am sorry that you vacation was ruined from day-1 and hope you get some sort of good news along the way. We all know that this same thing could have happened at many other places in the traveling diver world including the US, but these things need to be discuss here on SB so that others may learn from them - with regards to their own trips to Bonaire, for travel in general, as well as those who don't want to accept the risks common to Bonaire. I do want to utilize your comments here and there to offer some suggestions for any of us who want to learn here, as well as a couple of suggestions for you down the line and hope none of this seems critical to you.

Called the Bonaire Police today. They said they recovered some items, but none of our stuff. (I doubt they recovered anything significant because they were quick to say none of our stuff was recovered.) I know that you have to wonder if the cops must be in on the take at times? Yes or no, it's a frustrating situation little hope in mind.

They had a few people in custody, but we heard there were more burglaries after the arrest. They confirmed this. It certainly doesn't sound like it was a bad bunch now locked away huh? Got to wonder if even those are still locked up, but these seems to be plenty more.

Additional Details (I wanted to add this to the initial post, but I can't seem to edit it anymore. Perhaps a mod can do it for me.):

The door had a deadbolt, but it appeared that a crowbar was used to break in. The door frame was destroyed to point where it would no longer close. The safe was also broken into. That part really bothers me. If a deadbolt is only an inconvenience to the criminals and the room safe isn't safe at all, what's left to do short of hiring your own 24/7 guards, and how do you know they're not in on things too?!

I just got hit for about 6k, no insurance. Ok a few notes here...

Trip insurance would help some. I use TravelSafe.com and they seem about as good as any for the premiums. There are several limits and exclusions, but still - would insure each of the insured persons on a group policy for $2,500 in losses each.

For the $300 limits, the $600 limits, and the exclusions listed on my trip insurance, I find State Farm's "Personal Articles Policy" very good coverages against breakage, theft, loss, power surges, etc - especially for anything that ever leaves the house, like laptops, cameras, etc. They even offered to insure my dentures. The premiums are very reasonable, coverage seems universal without deductions or limits, and the one claim I have had with them was the easiest insurance claim I have ever had.

Have you checked your Homeowner's to see if you might file a claim there? Some will list property on homeowner's riders rather than a PAP policy but even unscheduled property often has some coverage.

And I hope some of your uncovered losses can be written off on your income taxes maybe.​

The thieves had unfolded every piece of underwear, every pair of socks, and opened every zipper. Yuck! Kind of hard to sleep there that night?

To make matters worse, my passport and my wife's passport were taken. The thieves seemed to be smart enough to take only the (slightly) older US passports w/o the chip. The passports were in the safe in a pouch. Unfortunately, in that pouch were the photocopies of the passports. Never let the passports and the copies be in the same place. On the flights, I keep originals (passports, money, credit cards, documents) in my backpack that never leaves my person until I get to the room with the copies in my roll-on. In the room, I'll put the originals in the safe and the copies left in my roll-on.

They said there had been a lot of burglaries lately. I was angry when I heard that because if I would have known I would have brought my passport, laptop and video camera with me to dinner. It does seem to be an ongoing problem there; sorry you didn't read the thread titles here before you went. I hate having to take valuables to dinner tho.

The police believed that the thieves were following people from the airport. I'm glad the police will admit the obvious.

Well, some of them definitely followed us to dinner because they were able to take their time and go through all of our stuff carefully and quietly. You are quite possibly right there.

IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE RECENT VICTIMS IN BONAIRE OR KNOW SOMEBODY WHO IS PLEASE MESSAGE ME YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS. I did get email addresses for a couple of people, but I would like to get as many as possible. I am already getting the feeling that very little is being done. I think we will need to keep them motivated. I wonder if the Mods would allow you to start a new thread here on this forum specifically for victims only, no one else allowed to post including me, so that y'all can discuss such openly, without interruption here, and for us to learn from reading? An idea..???

Well, with the circus like atmosphere on this thread, perhaps I should PM you a copy of these in case you miss it in the free for all here. Good luck...!

 

[Mike]

It is your choice to travel elsewhere. You feel uncomfortable and want to travel somewhere else? You are freeing up a spot for two other divers which is an OK situation by me.

As if Bonaire has a waiting list.

WTF???????

 

[Mike]

By-the-by - I'm still waiting for the information of how a door wedge is supposed to be used when you leave your room for the day?

By-the-by #2 -- why do I need to travel with a door wedge to this island? Did they outlaw dead bolts on the island? Condo owners are putting in security cams, tiger traps, electrified peep holes and powder monkey wonder weasels to ensure safety and none of them have sprung for dead bolts yet?

Such a curious and difficult puzzle this bonaire security issue is....

 

[Cave Diver]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

A bunch of off topic posts have been removed. Posters will be next.

The discussion about safety while traveling has been split to a separate thread

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ba...on-crime-safety-affect-your-travel-plans.html

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[gatorchick]

I greatly appreciate all of the information that I gather from Scubaboard.com when planning different trips. I was recently engaged and we are planning our honeymoon. We were thinking 1 week in Curacao and 1 week in Bonaire but these posts have made me concerned to say the least. I hope that things are better by the time that we are ready to book which will be soon. Sorry for the bad experiences that many have had. I know that we need to be careful no matter where we go but sounds like this is somewhat of a spree. I definitely won't be writing Bonaire off forever but not sure that I want to deal with these concerns on my honeymoon. Continued information as this situation hopefully gets better would be greatly appreciated by many I am sure.

 

[gypsyjim]

I greatly appreciate all of the information that I gather from Scubaboard.com when planning different trips. I was recently engaged and we are planning our honeymoon. We were thinking 1 week in Curacao and 1 week in Bonaire but these posts have made me concerned to say the least. I hope that things are better by the time that we are ready to book which will be soon. Sorry for the bad experiences that many have had. I know that we need to be careful no matter where we go but sounds like this is somewhat of a spree. I definitely won't be writing Bonaire off forever but not sure that I want to deal with these concerns on my honeymoon. Continued information as this situation hopefully gets better would be greatly appreciated by many I am sure.

I wish I had some way of accessing the number of divers who actually visit Bonaire in a year. It would be an amazing figure. Diving is what Bonaire is all about. Shore diving, with @60 sites, mostly accessible by road. More if you go to the adjacent island of Kline Bonaire by boat

Figures just do not exist to compare this volume of diving tourism, to the actual crime rate, but after 6 o7 or so trips to the island, and many conversations with divers with vastly more experience on Bonaire, I have to believe that it has really effected a VERY small percentage of us. Crime does exist, and if it happens to be you that it happens too, it will suque big time, but the odds are really very small that it will happen to you. Shore diving, that sets Bonaire apart from other dive destinations, can expose divers to some pilferage risks not present on destinations where divers primarily dive in large groups, and from boats, but from personal experience this is very small, if you follow the precautions suggested.

No one can tell you where to go, but I personally have dived destinations far more dangerous the anything Bonaire could offer on it's worst day, and my kids, my gf, and I return to Bonaire at least once a year, and it is to Bonaire that we intend to move when we retire, after looking in MANY other places, both in the southern USA, and other Caribbean nations.

No BS, just my personal observation, experience, and opinion.