Bonaire Crime - Our experience - Looking for input to share

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Your wife only buys $3.00 hats because she only likes $3.00 hats, or it's because she fears it will be stolen and she wants to minimize the inevitable loss as you both become victims again?
Never have been a victim of crime on Bonaire in all the trips we have done there... Yes, She liked the hat and was happy to only have to pay $3 bucks for it... In fact it's sat in the back seat of our unlocked pickup every day for over 2 months of diving over the past 2 years... Still have it... And I still have my snack and cold drink every time I surfaced so far also... But that only like 175 dives :wink:

Jim...
 
Yes, She liked the hat and was happy to only have to pay $3 bucks for it..

Jim...

My mistake, not sure why I thought she buys cheap hats instead of nice ones just in case they get stolen it's no big deal. Oh, now I remember, you said it..

My wife brings her big a$$ $3 sun hat she got at the Chinese store in town... If it's stolen, Big deal...
Jim...
 
In a thread over on the Cozumel branch, someone reports a pair of sunglasses (apparently nice ones) that went overboard into the water. When I go on a dive trip, I leave the nice sunglasses, nice hat, nice whatever at home, because it's not just theft I am concerned about. I take two pairs of cheap sunglasses, two cheap ballcaps, etc. I don't take stuff I would be upset to lose. I had a pair of sunglasses snatched right off my face in one of those "third world countries." Lesson learned.
 
You were looking at real estate in Santa Barbara or you were looking at real estate in Bonaire?

Yes to both. Santa Barbara and Sabedeco, where the initial poster was residing and the incident occurred, are neighborhoods on Bonaire. Both north of Kralendjik, near the Andrea's. Sorry for any confusion.
 
I am from Brazil and I have been to Bonaire 2 times. Both of them I stayed at VRBO rented houses. Did I feel safe? Yes I did, but my standard is different than most of you guys. Where I live you cannot drive with your windows open (or you risk being shot or stabbed in the face for 5 bucks), you cannot display sunglasses, watches or cellphones while walking at the streets because you become a target and one day or another they will steal it from you. So, said that, going to dive in Bonaire and not to leave anything at the rental truck was pretty easy, I am used to that and I can tolerate that.

Now, being at home and someone break in WHILE YOU ARE THERE WITH YOUR FAMILY that is a different story, this scales to another level, and believe me because I live in that reality, it will get worse. It will not be long until someone is shot, stabbed, raped, etc while people break in to steal valuables. Quite a few number of people do it while under drugs and/or alcohol, add to that the sense of impunity and there is a recipe for something really bad.

The local police knows exactly who the thieves are, believe me, they know their first and last names, their addresses and even have talked to them before. I live in a 2 million people city in Brazil and the local police know most of the offenders (by region), but just like Bonaire they do not do anything.

This will only change when the ones who really make money with tourism (not the poor waitress or the custodian) feel that in their pockets (restaurants, dive shops, hotels, etc.) because they have an active voice at the community and they can drive changes. So unless people really stop going to Bonaire and hurt the overall economy, nothing will happen.

Now a short story to enlighten what I have just said. I live 2 hours away from the coast and there is a remote place by the coast very famous in here due to its landscape, quiet beaches, nice weather, etc. That place had a small local community of maybe 10 to 15 thousand people, but far more than that would visit this place every summer vacations or so. Pick pocketing and stealing unattended items at the beach was something very common and people were used to that. Police and Government never did much to address the root cause of it. About 15 years ago a girl was raped inside a rented house. She was there with her boyfriend, they beat up the guy real bad ,raped her and stole their valuables and the TV. No one did anything. Couple months later an elderly couple was murdered at night and had everything robbed at the rented house their were staying. No one did anything. A month later about 10 people were staying at a house in there and they were made hostages for hours while 4 armed man (with rifles and shotguns) robbed everything and raped 2 of the girls. No one did anything.....and after a while tourists realized things would not get better and people decided not to spend their vacation dollars in there anymore. In less than 3 years both hotels there were closed and up to 80% of their business closed as well. Government decided to intervene, a new police chief took over and investment was made in order to have an efficient policy force. Now, 15 years after that, when you go there there are more police officers than citizens walking around the town, one of the hotels is back and running, but it is not even close as to what it was. The place might fully recover, but for sure it will take them decades....and all of that started with wallets being pick pocketed...

I have to sleep with one eye open where I live, I for sure do not want to do the same while on vacations. Bonaire, it was good to meet you, but I do not have plans to return.
 
@Ipera's story is on the mark. If the crime reaches some threshold tolerance that each of us tourists have, we will shun Bonaire, the economy will suffer, and the authorities might finally be prompted to do something. Until it reaches my personal threshold, I will continue to visit Bonaire and take normal security precautions as I would in many other places in the world. The situation will either correct itself through this economic mechanism or it won't.
 
@Ipera - Obrigado for your comments. Muito interessante.

Obviously there is the risk of escalation. Just like a child who does not get punished, and then reaches toward more testing actions, so the assaults can grow in gravity. Maybe they will. Maybe they won't. Who amongst us is willing to risk their lady as the first one? OK, that may be a very distant likelihood, but given:

# the high accomodation and dining cost
# the high tourist/dive taxes
# the police lethargy
# the local "shrug it off"/ protect "us" culture
# the utter indifference displayed to date by the authorities
# the seemingly ingrained nepotism/cronyism
# the poor quality snorkelling viz and backdrops

.... I need to evaluate whether I side with Ipera and others and conclude that I have other very valid options for diving vacations, with infinitely more attractive snorkelling. But having to forgo my Caribbean favourite comes at a cost.

I will wait another week or two to see how the authorities react. I know for a fact that they have received the communications. So far their response has been so indifferent as to verge on the pathetic.
 
BTW not going to Bonaire it is not an easy decision. Yesterday my wife was like: "hey what about if we use our flights miles and go to Bonaire again?"..we love diving and the freedom that Bonaire offers is something that not other place can match, and maybe that is why people will not do anything to make it better, because this destination is so unique that people will come back again.

I really hope to see improvements on this, I even challenged myself to retire in Bonaire when time comes. But right now I am not sure I want to go to all this hassle.
 
# the high accomodation and dining cost
# the high tourist/dive taxes
# the poor quality snorkelling viz and backdrops

Seriously??????????????????????

I'm going for 2 weeks Nov 26 to Dec 10 - apartment with full kitchen, truck rental and unlimited air/nitrox - just under $1900. Roatan cost me over $3,800 for two weeks, and that was before tips.

$25 for STINAPA - high? Guess what, on Grand Cayman they charge you for your weights and a tank rental is nearly $16. Roatan has a 19% tax on everything. What tourist/dive taxes are you talking about?

Poor quality vis and snorkeling - again, ever been to Roatan? Some of the poorest vis anywhere I've been. There are good snorkeling places - you just have to know where.

To me it looks like you are looking for excuses to not go back. So - don't go.
 
@Kharon. I couldn't agree more with you. In general, over the past 20 years the quality of Caribbean diving has gone into the toilet. Belize is a mess. Costs are through the roof. After 5 visits to Bonaire since 1996, I have seen a serious decline. Where are the big groupers? For my wife and daughter-in-law, the snorkelling is a trip over rubble and fire coral. But it remains the best close to the US. If you go for 2 weeks or longer you should consider beyond the Caribbean --- well beyond.

My current choice would be Sulawesi in Indonesia; perhaps NE Bali if you need more night-life and have to have shore diving. $1900 (= €120 per night) will get you 12 nights accommodation, 3 boat dives per day, all you meals and non-alc beverages, and you will have about €250 left over for the extra flight cost. For that you will get +4x the fish species density and infinitely better corals than on Bonaire. Beware - alcohol is expensive. The Siladen island west reef has the best instantly available snorkling that I have yet come across - you walk across sand to a channel leading 10m to the wall. Otherwise the Philipines, if you can deal with an occasional leech.

But regarding your detail. Yup, Gran Cayman prices are wicked. Taxes are high and exchange rate is crabby. Overrated fish life. Really good (I mean REALLY good snorkelling places can be counted on one hand). Used to go there but then found better fish, corals (2002-2006) and value in Cozumel. Roatan has prices everywhere from Mayoka at €434 per night to Coconut Tree Cabins where I stayed for absolute peanuts (nice deck; good airco; don't plan on cooking a 4-course meal in the kitchen, and don't go in May or the sand flies will carry you away). OUCH - $3800 per fortnight!! Where was this? At Anthony's? Roatan annual dive fee $10. Roatan rental equipment $5 per day. Bonaire - $24+.

Bonaire charges $5.50 per tourist per day. 4 peeps and that is $22 to add onto the $120 for the apartment. (= almost 20% extra). Snorklers tag costs $15. Free most other places. Then add the theme of this thread.

So, you see, you were wrong, Kharon. Or overly sarcastic at best. I don't need excuses. I have ample experience not to need them. And if you have to search for the good snorkelling spots ..... say no more.
 
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