Bonaire dive trip

[mosd]

just returned from bonaire. was our second trip. first trip was great. diving was outstanding, the people were friendly, and our condo at den laman was great. this time we decided to take our three kids and we rented a house in a bungalow park. the third morning we woke up to find 3 sets of regs, my sons mask, fins, boots and snorkel, and some other personal items missing from the porch of our house. we stupidly left them outside to dry as we had done a night dive the night before. we called the police and the officer wrote down our information. he said he would stick the report in the mailbox of the house. 2 mornings later as we were getting ready to go for a dive we found a woman's purse on the ground next to our truck which was parked inside the gates to the house. he had also taken a used phone card from our truck. we again called the police to come pick up the woman's purse to return it to her.
we went to the police station to pick up our report the day before we left and they said they had not filed the report and the officer was asleep because he had worked the night before. they said they would e-mail it to us. that was more than a week ago and still no e-mail. the only e-mail adress i can find for the police returns my messages. although the fault of the theft lies only with ourselves, the thought that someone was at the house more than once made me uneasy the rest of the trip. if anyone knows how i can contact the bonaire police we would appreciate it.
although the diving was good bonaire is definately someplace i would never go back to. hopefully anyone thinking of renting a house on bonaire will think twice.

 

[dvrliz1]

MOSD....

contact me via PM with your information, I will pass it on to the police.

Thanks.

Liz

 

[DiveMaven]

That really stinks that you got ripped off!! Unfortunately this type of theft is all too common in any vacation destination it seems (Hawaii, Mexico, Colorado, Rome, London, Indonesia.......etc., etc., etc.), spoiling trips for many folks.

We're heading to Bonaire in a couple of weeks and one big reason we initially picked Den Laman is that all the condos are on the 2nd and 3rd floors, thus naturally safer from thieves than a ground floor unit. The fact that Den Laman also has everything else we wanted helped solidify our desire to stay there.

 

[mosd]

we stayed at den laman nov. 2007. the people were great and the condo was really nice. they all have private balconies. the main door upstairs can only be accessed by a pass card and also the rooms. the dive shop and the restaurant are both really nice too. would have stayed there again but thought we would save some money by renting a house. saw the biggest green moray eel I have ever seen on a night dive at bari. also a huge grouper, big tarpon, and a turtle. was a great night dive. have fun on your trip!

 

[ScubaSteve]

I was at Den Laman last November and am booked for this October. I am hooked on Bonaire. Unfortunately, crime is a significant part of vacationing on Bonaire (as with any other place in theory) and is compounded by the sometimes less than eager attitude of the police. I truly hope that you get something back MOSD; even if it is an insurance pay out of some sort. I hate to hear of anybody's vacations getting ruined for anything.

As for Den Laman, they are great. I was impressed with them last time and therefore booked there again. The Bari reef is an amazing place to dive (I got to film an octopus on a night dive there) but there is a downside. The dive operation on site leaves much to be desired. Oh well, I booked there again so a terrible dive operation is apparently not enough to push me away.

Enjoy your trip DiveMaven and reconsider going back MOSD, but knowing what you can and cannot do on the island. Think of the shore diving you are giving up. Dive safe always.