Bonaire Crime - Our experience - Looking for input to share

[Lorenzoid]

That's my preference as well now after 30 trips---dive the house reef and do some boats over to Klein Bonaire--you are missing some of the BEST sites doing only truck diving! But then, most of my dives at home are truck shore dives!

For those of us who had dived only from boats until discovering Bonaire, taking one's own truck to a dive site and just walking into the water is quite the novelty. I can see how people who do shore diving at home might do less in Bonaire, but surely you are the minority among visitors to Bonaire.

And who ever said "only truck diving"? We do almost all our night and early morning dives from the house reef. During the day, we drive somewhere to dive. Best of both worlds.

That's not the hassle I'm referring to. First, I don't like diving without a phone/radio nearby. Second, I hate that I feel trapped by not being able to bring a wallet or other stuff. It takes the fun out of it. Lastly, some of the entries and exits are problematic, like at the Hilma Hooker. Far, far safer to dive that off of the boat.

I take a phone and my wallet in a waterproof canister--the kind used for PLBs. Well, at least that's what I did on this last trip--and it worked fine. Until then, I used an Otter Box, which was good enough for keys, money, credit cards, etc., but tended to leak if a grain of sand got on the o-ring. We bring lunch in a cheap cooler. I haven't experienced any theft at all, but I expect it to catch up with me at some point, and I will lose a t-shirt or sandwich. Oh well.

As for the Hilma Hooker, as I said in my reply to jimw above, who said "only" truck diving? My mix is probably 80% truck and 20% house reef. I haven't done a boat dive on Bonaire yet, but I'm not opposed to it at all. Yes, the Hilma Hooker is popular to do from a boat, for good reason. It's great that Bonaire allows divers to make up their own mix of truck/house/boat. Such a unique place!

 

[The Chairman]

who said "only" truck diving?

I don't know that anyone said that... I merely pointed out why I didn't do any this past trip. I can be fairly flexible up to the point where it affects my safety. I have a routine for diving that I like. Mess with that routine or my comfort and I'll probably call the dive and possibly the trip. At this point, I see Curacao as a much better choice for my diving dollars than Bonaire.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I don't know that anyone said that... I merely pointed out why I didn't do any this past trip. I can be fairly flexible up to the point where it affects my safety. I have a routine for diving that I like. Mess with that routine or my comfort and I'll probably call the dive and possibly the trip. At this point, I see Curacao as a much better choice for my diving dollars than Bonaire.

jimw said that one would miss some of the best sites by "doing only truck diving." I didn't mean to imply you said it. I was just pointing out that Bonaire offers the ability to choose one's preferred mix of truck, house reef, and boat.

I didn't care for Curacao. Too much infrastructure. I prefer the isolated desert island feel of Bonaire.

 

[The Chairman]

I prefer the isolated desert island feel of Bonaire.

Go West, my friend! Go West! The NW side of the island is truly wild. More so than even Bonaire. The SE side of the island is truly populated. They are less than an hour apart by car.

 

[jimw]

The Hooker is the boat dive I will probably not do again as it's waay short--shore entry much preferred at this site. The sense of cataclysm descending down the reef slope is amazing!

 

[Lorenzoid]

Go West, my friend! Go West! The NW side of the island is truly wild. More so than even Bonaire. The SE side of the island is truly populated. They are less than an hour apart by car.

Aw, okay okay, maybe wifebuddy and I will give Curacao another go. We got married there. I know the NW is the remote end. Some friends who do the more or less annual Bonaire trip with us tried it and didn't like it as much as Bonaire. Maybe we will need to see for ourselves. So many opinions.

 

[oldschoolto]

It's funny to listen to the different points about Bonaire... I go to Bonaire for a lot of the things people are saying Bonaire does not have.. I hate big cities and mega tourist places for a diving vacation... I hate having to dive on someone else's time line.. Having to get up at 6 am to get on a cattle boat just doesn't sound like vacation to me.. I love the laid back pace of Bonaire... I love the fact that 80% of my dives I see no one in the water.. But, Love having a chat top side with divers going in or getting out of the water... I find the locals to be very friendly and love joking with them... I find Bonaire to have the personal freedoms that was the backbone of America... No one looking over my shoulder... If I wanted to do a solo night bounce dive to 200' in a storm, have at it...

And just to stir the pot, I don't let the fact that someone " MAY " steal my flip-flops and towel stop me from enjoying myself....

Jim....

 

[scubadada]

Aw, okay okay, maybe wifebuddy and I will give Curacao another go. We got married there. I know the NW is the remote end. Some friends who do the more or less annual Bonaire trip with us tried it and didn't like it as much as Bonaire. Maybe we will need to see for ourselves. So many opinions.

I find Bonaire and Curacao different and complimentary. Nothing beats the ease and abundance of shore diving in Bonaire, the sites are farther apart and more difficult to get to in Curacao, but very nice. As per Pete's comment, I find the topography more diverse in Curacao. I do boat dives off both islands and enjoy them very much. I usually stay at Sand Dollar or Den Laman on Boaire and find Bari Reef a magnificent dive, day or night. We stayed at Lodge Kura Hulanda on Curacao and found Playa Kalki/Alice in Wonderland, almost as good a house reef. I understand Go West has put in a new fill station in the parking lot, making shore diving much easier, as you can avoid the stairs up and down. Go West Apartments seems a good alternative to Kura Hulanda and has its own tanks on site, I will give it a try next visit. Both islands have opportunities to experience more rugged diving, off the beaten path.

Good diving,

Craig

 

[gert7to3]

There have been 34 pages of posts made here about crime on Bonaire over the month of March.

A couple of take aways:

It seems an isolated or individual rental property is more prone to B&E than established resorts.

I have no clear sense whether there is a variation of the theft rate among dive sites. It might be valuable to know this information.

My sense and observation is that the northern dive sites are more prone to theft. I think this is because they are on the way to Rincon and that these sites offer more cover from which thieves can shelter, observe and strike. This is especially so at Oil Slick. I have stayed at Caribbean Club and noticed a lot of trails overlooking Oil Slick's parking area. I even recall one group being robbed despite one of their party remaining on shore there.

The southern sites are farther away from the common local travel routes and there is less cover.

Does anyone have anything to share? Please mention the dive site(s) you have suffered thefts at.

 

[scubadada]

Why start this, yet again?