Bonaire Crime - Our experience - Looking for input to share

[spacelev]

Oldschoolto, it seems to me that scubalev is grateful to everyone on Bonaire that helped him and his wife. None of that should preclude him from being unhappy about the initial situation and re-thinking that when he returned home. Being grateful that there are some lovely people to help you out when you've been thrust into a situation that shouldn't have occurred in the first place, is not the same as being rightfully angry about what happened in the first place! And none of that negates his thanks and or gratitude to those that helped him, after the fact!

We are extremely thankful for all support that we got on Bonaire. My husband Lev, is now at work and I am the one who wrote about having to think hard about returning to Bonaire. The burglary happened on my birthday, I am the one who planned and organized the last 3 family trips to Bonaire, we traveled with our daughter who also works extremely hard to afford this vacation, her dive gear was stolen too. I am left to deal with the consequences for the next couple of month in order to recover at least some of the losses. On one of the evening dives "Alice in Wonderland" I chose to not dive and waited for my family on shore, now thinking back I feel that I put myself in danger. Reviewing the Bonaire forums I now understand that not everything is as beautiful in paradise as I experienced in 1998 and 2004. Will Bonaire government able to fight the crime wave or with years it will be even worth ? I loved Bonaire and now I am torn.

 

[flyboy08]

Crime happens every where in the world... It's like complaining about the bugs... If you think Bonaire is so bad.. PLEASE stay home.. I lived all over the usa and south America... Crime was everywhere.. real crime..

I live in a little town at the very top of Maine.. less then 1500 people, and we still get $hitheads stealing stuff.. Grow up and get real... Or.. lock yourself in your home and live in fear...

And I'm really sorry people are that stupid....

Jim...

Crime is one thing....having the local law enforcement accept it should take a toll on tourism...

 

[woodcarver]

To put a few things in perspective, Bonaire had a cop shot last year (might have been 2016). From what I understand, it was the 1st Bonairian officer shot in the line of duty in any recent history. Violent crime is very unusual. They do have some petty crime, mostly theft. Break-ins have gone up, but not significantly.
Having been burglarized in the past (not on Bonaire), I understand the sense of violation it can cause. Even if the value of what is taken is minimal, it still makes one feel vulnerable. When the value is more, it adds a level of anger; the feeling of violation is the same. Dealing with it in a foreign country with different laws and a different way of dealing with such adds a level of frustration. Dealing with these things domestically can be a royal PITA and very frustrating as well.
Venting on a forum such as this is a means to deal with frustration. It is also a good way to help others either potentially avoid a future problem or provide them with information that makes dealing with it less frustrating to some degree.
If we allow ourselves to dwell on the potential bad things that might happen when we travel-and dive-we wouldn't travel, or dive. Both have a degree of risk. I would venture our time in the water around Bonaire holds a higher risk than what might happen out of the water. This would hold true for almost any of the destinations we seek out to enjoy.
The Dutch methods are very different from what we are used to in the US. It is why they have the helpdesk. They actually understand how frustrating it can be to deal with these kinds of things when traveling to a foreign country. Add their contact info into your travel pack, just like knowing where the medical facilities are. Hope you never have to use them, but know how to get the help if the situation goes south.

 

[Charred]

I think yes it is fair to acknowledge that there is crime everywhere. However, the difference is that tourists are being targeted and preyed upon. It's not clear that the Police are doing anything about this and people seem to feel it is getting worse. It gives a sense of lawlessness and I picked that word carefully.

I'll share an example. Last Bonaire trip my wife and I drove down to Karpata - our favorite site. As we were just about to gear up, a truck with 3 gentlemen drove up the wrong way on that 1 way road and stopped in the parking lot. They were not divers.... They got our of their truck and sat there in the bed watching us. My wife and I decided it was time to leave. We packed up, skipped the dive and left. That is a long drive back and really ruined the plans for a 2 tank at our favorite dive site. I really think this situation crosses a red line with me.

Who wants to go on vacation and worry about being robbed out in the middle of nowhere? Ironically, since burglary is a thing, people leave their phone at home which just increases your chances of becoming a victim of crime.

I am heading to Cozumel tomorrow and I'm not worried about being burglarized while I am out diving and I won't have to call a dive before it starts because of the locals......

 

[scuba127]

First, to spacelev, I can understand your position on this.....I don't won't to down play the negative effects this incident may have had on you guys....in this particular case, due to the scale of the crime, I can understand why you would hesitate to return. That said, in principal, I have to agree with oldschoolto on this..if you feel very intimidated by what you read about crime on Bonaire you should probably opt not to go...and here's why I say this...I've been going to Bonaire for close to 20 years now....for years I've been reading and have been involved in Bonaire crime threads primarily over on the old Bonaire Talk and, to a lesser extent, Scuba Board...the recurring theme of these threads is that if the police don't do something about this tourism will suffer.....yet, in the almost 20 years I've been reading and participating in Bonaire crime threads, tourism, at least to my knowledge, hasn't suffered....given this, I wouldn't expect the situation to change anytime soon regardless of whats being posted on line. We go to Bonaire and exercise the time proven and much talked about crime prevention measures for Bonaire and have expirienced no crime in almost 20 years. If these measures are not something one wants to deal with then I believe the only other option is to not go. Just my 2 PSI.

 

[mdax]

If the folks that own property, rent houses or manage businesses in bonaire were identified on this thread, it'd be easier to filter out the voices of those minimizing crime.

 

[morecowbells]

I think yes it is fair to acknowledge that there is crime everywhere. However, the difference is that tourists are being targeted and preyed upon. It's not clear that the Police are doing anything about this and people seem to feel it is getting worse. It gives a sense of lawlessness and I picked that word carefully.

I'll share an example. Last Bonaire trip my wife and I drove down to Karpata - our favorite site. As we were just about to gear up, a truck with 3 gentlemen drove up the wrong way on that 1 way road and stopped in the parking lot. They were not divers.... They got our of their truck and sat there in the bed watching us. My wife and I decided it was time to leave. We packed up, skipped the dive and left. That is a long drive back and really ruined the plans for a 2 tank at our favorite dive site. I really think this situation crosses a red line with me.

Who wants to go on vacation and worry about being robbed out in the middle of nowhere? Ironically, since burglary is a thing, people leave their phone at home which just increases your chances of becoming a victim of crime.

I am heading to Cozumel tomorrow and I'm not worried about being burglarized while I am out diving and I won't have to call a dive before it starts because of the locals......

A few years ago my husband and I were diving at an isolated spot in Curacao(I know, different island, but the identical issues which mirror those in Bonaire). We were doing our safety stop when we noticed a couple pull up get out of their car. They entered our rental car via driver and passenger doors(windows were left open), looked around for only a couple of seconds and left. Oddly, our minimal possessions i.e. flip flops and towel were not taken. I don't know if they saw our heads bobbing in the water, but we were too chicken$hit to do or say anything. While we didn't suffer any losses or damage, it did leave a sour taste. We did not report this since we were diving and staying so far out from town. It would have been a lot of time lost and for a system that will likely shrug it off. I have a feeling that so many of these issues/scares go unreported.

I hope Spacelev can get some answers and follow up to their incident. It is aggravating to be a victim of theft in our own environment. However, it is much worse when you are in an entirely different county and that people managed to enter your rental where you and your loved ones are left entirely vulnerable.

 

[woodcarver]

If the folks that own property, rent houses or manage businesses in bonaire were identified on this thread, it'd be easier to filter out the voices of those minimizing crime.

Understand why you ask. For my part, simply another diver traveling. And not trying to minimize anything. Full disclosure, if you will, Doug at bonairehelpdesk.com is my brother, so I know what his position is as a volunteer there. He and I have had some conversations about this issue more than once. As an expat resident, he knows both systems. Bonaire's crime rate is quite low, relatively speaking.
One of the problems is that tourists are targeted, all over, not just in Bonaire. One of the things that changed in the US is all the car rental agencies removed all the stickers because tourists in the US were being targeted. Might be something that could be pushed on the island, but it will take a while, if they can even be convinced it's a good idea.
Rental property is another thing altogether. Pushing with VRBO and Airbnb might get them to do something like adds safes in the homes. But remember, these are private homes, not resorts. Homeowners would be who foots the bill. Followed by the renter. But if it is something requested by a lot of people, it might happen.

 

[scubadada]

Sad, but appears vacation rentals carry a spectrum of risk. I believe I operate at the lower end of risk spectrum, I will remain there for the time being. Just like all others, I would hope things will improve.

 

[boulderjohn]

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