Bonaire ??'s

[diverjane]

Going to Bonaire in August with fellow diver, rented a car for shore diving. Heard some horror theft stories. Have a new $700 digital camera I was hoping to bring and an underwater camera thats definately coming. Any suggestions to keep the land camera from getting ripped off? Does the Plaza have a decent size ( or any) room safe. Does travel insurance cover this stuff or would it be homeowners insurance?
Any good tips for staying in Bonaire and good restaurant picks?

Any advise appreciated!

 

[O-ring]

...when you are diving. Period. Even t-shirts (unless you don't care if they get stolen).

Mona Lisa has great food, Lovers has great ice cream. Watch out for donkeys..

 

[aquagal]

We stayed in the 'villas' at the Plaza. The master bedroom has a small safe you can rent for $4.00 a day. It is very small - I didn't see the inside but the safe itself was about 12x12. We didn't use it. One of the people I shared the villa with also had some very expensive underwater camera equipment that he kept locked in its pelican case. Of course, someone could have just taken the whole case but it wouldn't have been easy!

For the most part people with cameras didn't take them on our shore dives. We did dive where there were a lot of other divers and there seemed to always be a group that was gearing up or leaving so there was always someone around. We did have one non-diving adult who hung out and watched our stuff for us on two dives and that made the photographers comfortable enough to bring their cameras.

O-ring is so right about the ice cream - it's great!!

Happy Diving,

Luisa

 

[Epinephelus]

Like free diving, we use the "one up, one down" method for shore diving on Bonaire. The larger the group the easier, but the minimum is two buddy teams - we dive in shifts and the team that's topside watches the gear. As we usually go to Bonaire with a large (20-30) group, sometimes we'll have two or three pickups together at a site...
Sometimes we'll decide we all want to dive at the same time, and for those dives we leave everything back at the hotel.

 

[herman]

Here is another alternative for you. There is a bus that travels from site to site each day. They have snacks but I think they also rent small lockers for stuff you want to leave on shore. http://www.bonphototours.com/webenglish/duikbus.htm

The rooms at Buddy Dive have small lockers in them but not likely big enough to store a camera. I do know that at BD, you can leave items in their office safe. I would suggest that you email the resort if specific details on what they have.

The theft problem from what I can tell is not nearly as bad as some would have you believe. No doubt that if you are the victom, it's real bad. The best advise is to never leave anything in your vehicle that's worth stealing, leave it unlocked and the windows rolled down. So far I have had no trouble.

There are lots of good places to eat on Bonaire. A great local place not to miss is Gibi's. The rest does not look like much but the food is good and reasonably priced. The menu is hand written each day...kind of depends on what Gibi wants to cook.


Ice cream at Lovers is good but have you tried Prisca's? Totally different.

 

[SueMermaid]

herman once bubbled...
The theft problem from what I can tell is not nearly as bad as some would have you believe.

In my very own experience, we had to dive in shifts because at *every* dive site, we spotted men in VW buses scouting the area for unattended vehicles, esp at the Northern beaches, like 1000 steps. We had a 100% chance of having our stuff stolen, even t-shirts and hats, if we had left our car unattended.
At least in 99, crime was incredibly bad on the island. I can only hope it has improved some since.

 

[11B3Y]

I was in Bonaire Apr 12-19. I arrived there Saturday -- had my tools stolen out of my truck Sunday night! :upset: I was downtown with friends -- only like 3 hours from the time I parked the truck til my return.

Fortunately, I read about the theft problem before I went and came prepared. I purchased Amex "Premium Car Rental Insurance" for the truck rental. I submitted a claim as soon as I returned home. It has just been resolved and I was reimbursed.

I think it is some sort of scam --- why would anyone want to steal a tire jack and crow bar?? Is there a "black market" for these items??

Thomas

 

[Grajan]

My wife and I were really looking forward to a relaxed shore diving trip later in the year. We like to travel alone but I am not willing to deal with this BS. We will go somewhere else.

I hope the local gov realise how much this sort of reputation can cost them.

 

[jepuskar]

It really is not that big of a deal....

Roll all your windows down, put any towels, shirts, etc in the trunk, dont bring any valuables to the dive site....

I have never had a problem. Skipping out on your vacation to this island because of others' problems is kind of lame. Seriously, what do you need to bring in your car to a dive site that doesnt get to go in the water with you? If you must, buy one of those $5.00 watertight containers that fit in your BC if you want anything else with you.

JP

 

[herman]

I have been down every year since 99 and have a return trip planned in a few weeks. I have had no problems. I am also a member of an active Bonaire board since 99 and I see only an occasional report of trouble. I have friends who live on island and they don't seem to feel there is much of a problem. Guess I will see what happens this year.