Bonaire Dive trip

[gypsyjim]

Geez..just the mention of Pilot Fish makes me want to hurl!
Have a great July trip folks! I am long overdue..but its a haul and $$ from the west coast dang it!!

Hey, I had a lot of fun with PF! Easy to wind him up like a toy, and watch him go.

He provided me with hours of entertainment over a few years.

 

[Ben Prusinski]

Ben did you actually SEE, with your own eyes the trucks with broken windows

YES, in fact I met a few different divers and witnessed first hand the smashed window on drive side by thieves. Fortunately, even though I lost cheap replacement gear like when thieves stole the water and granola bars from our Buddy Dive truck last week while shore diving Oil Slick site in Bonaire, I did not lose expensive gear. Bonaire is a thieves paradise. The cops do NOTHING and most likely involved in the massive number of ongoing thefts. I had fun overall and enjoyed the diving but the crime was eye opening compared to other places I have traveled worldwide.

 

[TampaJack]

Bonaire is a thieves paradise.

Okay, I think your point has been made. Many others feel differently, as you've seen.

For the record, folks, to any readers of this thread who have never been to Bonaire, it is one of the safest places you'll ever visit. The reason that thievery sometimes occurs is that people park their cars in remote places, untended, for an hour or more at a time. (Naturally, in the shore-diving capital of the world, more people park in remote places than anywhere else.) So, duh, just leave the car unlocked with windows half open, and don't leave anything attractive in it.

Here at home in Clearwater Florida, I never lock my soft-top convertible IN MY OWN DRIVEWAY because I've heard of people who have had their top ripped when someone broke into their car in the middle of the night. Because... well, Clearwater must be a thieves' paradise!

I like to hike in Lake Tahoe when visiting relatives. I park at fairly remote trail heads. I don't leave anything valuable in the car. Because....Lake Tahoe must be a thieves' paradise!

I don't leave my wallet at my table at restaurants when I use the restroom. Because... restaurants must be a thieves' paradise, too!

In other words, just be somewhat intelligent and Bonaire is among the most crime-free tourist areas you'll ever visit.

 

[gypsyjim]

I was on Coz in Feb, and there were all sorts of warnings about crime, including violent assault type crime. Folks don't seem to make as much of a big deal of the higher crime rate on Coz, because you really expect it, being larger and so heavily populated, and being a part of Mexico, while they do make an issue of a much lower crime rate on the island of Bonaire, because they simply weren't expecting to see any crime on such a small island, that depends so heavily on the dive trade.

It's all in your expectations and perceptions.

 

[zihuatcat]

I'm confused. First you say that you have nothing stolen yourself by thieves.

I did meet several teams of divers who had their truck windows smashed by thieves. Fortunately, our truck windows were left open and unlocked and we did not suffer this fate.

Then you say that you did.

YES, in fact I met a few different divers and witnessed first hand the smashed window on drive side by thieves. Fortunately, even though I lost cheap replacement gear like when thieves stole the water and granola bars from our Buddy Dive truck last week while shore diving Oil Slick site in Bonaire, I did not lose expensive gear.

Or are you just saying that you had something stolen but no windows smashed?

And who are all these people with smashed in truck windows you talked to? Obviously they are people who paid NO attention whatsoever when they were told NOT to lock their trucks and to leave the windows down. If they had listened, the perps wouldn't have had any reason to smash windows. I'm not blaming the victims here. Theft is inexcusable. But when you're warned over and over about something and then you ignore those warnings, don't whine about it.

I don't know how much traveling you've done but most Caribbean islands are a thieves' paradise. I was warned of the same thing on Provo in Turks and Caicos and in Cozumel as well. Just go on Trip Advisor and read thru the message boards for the Caribbean. This is not an issue particular to Bonaire. Do you plan to leave valuables in your car in Cayman? You'll have the same issue. Why don't you ask Testudo (the most popular snorkeler on the Grand Cayman forum) about the time he was violently robbed and assaulted at a shore snorkel site in Grand Cayman. By the way, if you think Bonaire has expensive food (which I disagree), wait until you see how expensive Cayman is.

 

[Craig66]

YBonaire is a thieves paradise. The cops do NOTHING and most likely involved in the massive number of ongoing thefts. I had fun overall and enjoyed the diving but the crime was eye opening compared to other places I have traveled worldwide.

I wonder if the thieves kept the water bottle and the police the granola bar or if it was visa versa. I wonder what happens with the flip flops that get stolen - do the police get the right foot or the left foot. Whilst I am anything but naive I am almost certain that the police are not in cahoots with the criminals but rather prefer to concentrate on real matters rather than the missing flipflops of someone who chose not to obey the very well advertised requests to leave nothing in their truck and the windows and doors unlocked.

Sorry if this sounds harsh but like the others I find it hard to believe that none of us have seen the Bonaire that you saw.

I will be travelling there with my family this summer and look forward to introducing them to a welcoming and safe island

Craig

 

[drrich2]

Here's another possibility. The Police may realize that even with sting operations the problem will persist and the answer is for people to leave doors unlocked, windows down, no valuables in the trucks. Why people don't do this I don't fully understand. In this thread, Spyfish posted:

My husband even left his brand new Tilly hat in the truck when we were diving Andrea II and it was still there when we got back. I left several masks in the trucks too at various sites- since I still haven't found one that fits!

I don't know what a Tilly hat is, but I know even cheap scuba masks cost some money.

Would you leave money laying out in your front yard while away from home in an urban or suburban neighborhood? It's like the old saying 'Don't help a good boy go bad.' What we see as law enforcement the police may see as enabling (tourists to cast due caution to the winds and leave themselves open to victimization).

I certainly don't like the crime problem on Bonaire, but there is a pretty straight-forward solution to most of it (with exceptions for a minority of reports, such as room break-ins or theft of battery, spare tire or gas).

Richard.

 

[gypsyjim]

Here's another possibility. The Police may realize that even with sting operations the problem will persist and the answer is for people to leave doors unlocked, windows down, no valuables in the trucks. Why people don't do this I don't fully understand. In this thread, Spyfish posted:

I don't know what a Tilly hat is, but I know even cheap scuba masks cost some money.

Would you leave money laying out in your front yard while away from home in an urban or suburban neighborhood? It's like the old saying 'Don't help a good boy go bad.' What we see as law enforcement the police may see as enabling (tourists to cast due caution to the winds and leave themselves open to victimization).

I certainly don't like the crime problem on Bonaire, but there is a pretty straight-forward solution to most of it (with exceptions for a minority of reports, such as room break-ins or theft of battery, spare tire or gas).

Richard.

I did spring the extra$ for ins to cover the truck last year, just in case. Tires and such have recently been taken more than they had been.

One factor that may be in play, from something I read, is the new jail is not yet complete and the old is at or past full.

Now that the island is directly under Dutch oversight the police also fall under their control. Not sure how that will effect the crime problem, but it may help.

 

[vladimir]

I don't know what a Tilly hat is

~$80

Would you leave money laying out in your front yard while away from home in an urban or suburban neighborhood?

No, but I would leave valuables in the glovebox of my car, roll up the windows, lock the doors, and be pretty certain of finding my windows intact and my valuables in the glovebox when I returned.

 

[drrich2]

No, but I would leave valuables in the glovebox of my car, roll up the windows, lock the doors, and be pretty certain of finding my windows intact and my valuables in the glovebox when I returned.

At home in a nice neighborhood in the U.S., so would I. But when in Rome, do like the Romans, as they say. Windows down & doors unlocked is a way of life in Bonaire.

On a related note, there are areas of rural American where many people don't bother to lock their house doors. In the suburbs, on the other hand, I believe most people do. In Pine Bluff, AR, years ago 2 bikes were stolen out of garages from me, and my grandmother's lawnmower was stolen out of the garage while the garage door was up on a bright, sunny day near noon during a family reunion. And this was not some squalid inner city area.

People from isolated rural areas who travel to suburban or urban regions in the U.S. might initially think 'Gee, this place must be thug land if you've got to batten down the hatches every time you walk out the door.' Yet most of us don't avoid such areas because they don't do things like it was 'back on the farm.'

Richard.