Bonaire Crime - Our experience - Looking for input to share

[DustyC]

Thank God 'less than average', that's wonderful.

It really is. I'm a firearms manufacturer and my shop is at my house. So 24/7, I have security armed with machine guns. And we test a lot, so the entire area knows. And I'm also a firefighter in the area, and my wife is an LEO. So we have our fingers on the pulse of the neighborhood. Nobody is coming after us.

 

[Pedroinspain]

Here you go, Real facts... This is world wide... Bonaire isn't even on it... and More facts that you didn't read from page 24... Eastern Caribbean 2015 Crime and Safety Report

1 Venezuela 84.44 15.56
2 South Sudan 81.32 18.68
3 South Africa 78.43 21.57
4 Papua New Guinea 77.58 22.42
(brevity snip)

Jim..

And why, Jim, do you think that Bonaire is not on that list of countries?

Hint: 'mmmbelows' knows more about Bonaire than you do, and he kindly provided you with the correct information.. And in response you called him a troll. Not very nice against someone who is trying to educate you about Bonaire. That is a personal attack with zero basis, Jim. Do you and Dusty specialise in 'ad hominems' when the other guy has better info than you do? Seems so. So who is the troll, Jim? Here's your own mirror, so that you can find out.

[Here is a link that works: http://www.numbeo.com/crime/rankings_by_country.jsp]

 

[Pedroinspain]

Now, I wonder, why are you here? You pretty much hate on everything about Bonaire.

According to you, the place sucks. Yet you hang out in the Bonaire forum nothing but crying about the place. I don't know what they call that in Spain, but here, we call it trolling. And you're not very good at it.

Dusty, where did I state that Bonaire sucks? I said its snorkelling sucks. Can you tell the difference? I said that the police and local administration's attitude to tourists suck. Can you tell the difference?

Apparently not. And you too seem not to like hard facts with verifiable source references, and call the posting of those, "trolling".

You have started a personal attack, supported by zero data. You are good at that. Therefore who is in fact the REAL troll, Dusty? Here's a mirror. Off you go. And cut the 'ad hominems', OK. Because they show such poor communication and forum politeness and respect skills. Firearm guru, did you say? Hmmm .... OK.

 

[Pedroinspain]

Hard to argue when confronted with facts.

Thanks for recognising that facts and photos are more telling than hand-waving and name-calling.

My wife and I spent 2 weeks in Egypt in early February. I'm going back for 2 weeks of liveaboard next week. Many people express that I am nuts to go to Egypt. Sometimes you take a calculated risk to enjoy the benefits or miss out entirely. Any place can be unsafe these days, Paris or Brussels for instance. Do all you can to stay safe but don't let fear paralyze you.

I have been to the Red Sea three times, Scubadada. I applaud your choice - for the reason shown in the photos below. Both are average (common) snorkelling photos; One was taken at Andrea 1 in Bonaire; the other is from Marsa Alam (Egypt). See if you can figure out which is which .

The few coastal attacks that there have been on tourists were confined to the Sinai area, also known for its bandits. Marsa Alam, for instance, is 400km away. Not going to the Red Sea because of safety is worse (further away) than saying - don't go to Alexandria because the Israelis are bombing Gaza. We were there during the November 2012 conflict. There was not a ripple on the Red Sea coast.

 

[mmmbelows]

It really is. I'm a firearms manufacturer and my shop is at my house. So 24/7, I have security armed with machine guns. And we test a lot, so the entire area knows. And I'm also a firefighter in the area, and my wife is an LEO. So we have our fingers on the pulse of the neighborhood. Nobody is coming after us.

So the comparison that makes Bonaire safer than your neighborhood is that you live in a crapy neighborhood with high crime at home, but you're armed to the teeth and have a ton of security, have connections to the local law enforcement. Don't really see how somebody living in a high crime situation at home but has unusual circumstances to combat it makes a comparison to an island where everyone lacks any of that, including a connection to local law enforcement that is indifferent to you anyways.

Too bad you can't bring any of that with you, well the bars on the windows I guess are coming sooner or later to Bonaire.

 

[DustyC]

So the comparison that makes Bonaire safer than your neighborhood is that you live in a crapy neighborhood with high crime at home, but you're armed to the teeth and have a ton of security, have connections to the local law enforcement. Don't really see how somebody living in a high crime situation at home but has unusual circumstances to combat it makes a comparison to an island where everyone lacks any of that, including a connection to local law enforcement that is indifferent to you anyways.

Too bad you can't bring any of that with you, well the bars on the windows I guess are coming sooner or later to Bonaire.

Try to keep up. I live in Little Rock, where crime rates are higher than those that Pedro posted. I have zero concern about violent crime there. I have zero concern about having anything stolen from my truck, because I follow the same rules that all smart people do. I'm not worried. If someone wants to be worried and not go, and talk about how all these other places are better, awesome. Less divers on the reef, more peace and quiet for me.

 

[mmmbelows]

Try to keep up. I live in Little Rock, where crime rates are higher than those that Pedro posted. I have zero concern about violent crime there. I have zero concern about having anything stolen from my truck, because I follow the same rules that all smart people do. I'm not worried. If someone wants to be worried and not go, and talk about how all these other places are better, awesome. Less divers on the reef, more peace and quiet for me.

I keep up just fine. Now you're specifying 'violent' crime. Secondly you're saying that only dumb people lock their cars or put any items in a locked car trunk or get their batteries stolen. Let's face it you don't really care one way or the other in regard to yourself and your loved ones about Bonaire and that's fine, you're going to go no matter what, you'll conform in whatever way you have to because you're used to far worse at home. That's a fine attitude and nobody can fault you for making your own choices. However, your choices don't make everyone else's dumb for having a different outlook and a different indifference of crime than you do, especially when your perspective is so skewered in the opposite direction since you live in a high crime area and take draconian steps to combat it. Many of the rest of us come from low crime homes and have different expectations of security and victimization, especially when we are spending thousands of hard earned dollars for getting away from it all for relaxation and enjoyment.

 

[Lemuzzon]

It really is. I'm a firearms manufacturer and my shop is at my house. So 24/7, I have security armed with machine guns. And we test a lot, so the entire area knows. And I'm also a firefighter in the area, and my wife is an LEO. So we have our fingers on the pulse of the neighborhood. Nobody is coming after us.

Kinda off topic, but this is why the rest of the world thinks the US is F*&K#$.

 

[DustyC]

I keep up just fine. Now you're specifying 'violent' crime. Secondly you're saying that only dumb people lock their cars or put any items in a locked car trunk or get their batteries stolen. Let's face it you don't really care one way or the other in regard to yourself and your loved ones about Bonaire and that's fine, you're going to go no matter what, you'll conform in whatever way you have to because you're used to far worse at home. That's a fine attitude and nobody can fault you for making your own choices. However, your choices don't make everyone else's dumb for having a different outlook and a different indifference of crime than you do, especially when your perspective is so skewered in the opposite direction since you live in a high crime area and take draconian steps to combat it. Many of the rest of us come from low crime homes and have different expectations of security and victimization, especially when we are spending thousands of hard earned dollars for getting away from it all for relaxation and enjoyment.

You're not keeping up at all. Violent and non violent crime rates where I live are higher. I spoke of violent crime in the post you quoted, because it's something that I don't worry about. I spoke of theft, because it is a concern there, and stops being a concern if you're smart and prevent it from happening. It's quite easy to keep things from being stolen from your vehicle.

As far as keeping one's room/bungalow/etc from being broken into, again, easy to lower the chances.

Obviously these steps are too much for many. If so, the solution is quite simple.

Don't go.

 

[DustyC]

Kinda off topic, but this is why the rest of the world thinks the US is F*&K#$.

They have every right to an opinion. And like people scared of Bonaire, they can simply not come to the U.S. and have no worries.