Increasing crime in Bonaire

[Hintermann]

There have been quite a few recent reports on Tripadvisor and elsewhere about how crime is escalating in Bonaire. Apparently, it is now far more than simply nicking hats or T-shirts from parked cars; there were stories of hotel rooms being ransacked, room safes wrenched open with crowbars and in one instance even an entire safe being prised off and carried away. Worst of all, the local police were supposedly ineffective and unsympathetic.

I am going there in 2015 and will be staying at the Habitat. I will take the usual precautions of course, but is it right to assume that a premier resort like Captain Don's Habitat would be relatively safe, at least from being burgled? I have decided not to rent a vehicle myself and will try to use opportunities as they are available to go to out of the way dive sites.

 

[vladimir]

I wouldn't describe Captain Don's as a "premier resort," but I'll let somebody else judge their security (I have seen the rooms but have not stayed there).

If security is a big concern, Harbour Village Beach Club has guards on duty and a locked gate (with password access) to prevent unauthorized access. I'm sure it's not impenetrable, but it is good enough that stray equipment left outside my suite at night has not disappeared.

 

[phoenix31tt]

I recently visited Eden Beach resort... security was basically none existent for most of the week and we had no personal incidents and there were no reports of criminal activity as far as i understand.

I did hear some stuff about a serious breakin on the none diving half of the island though (Rincon)

 

[Lorenzoid]

Not renting a truck on Bonaire?!

 

[herman]

This is the same BS that have been around for years. Some of the reports are just too fantastic to be true....come on, someone removes a safe that is bolted (some are built in) into a concrete wall in broad daylight and no one notices. That would take some serious work and a lot of noise. Most of these post are written by someone with an axe to grind. Many of the reports are repeated over and over and were heard from a friend of a friend.

Bonaire is about as safe a place as you can go. Sure you do something dumb and you may get something stolen. I have been traveling to Boniare at least once a year since 99, many times 2 or more trips a year with groups ranging from just 2 to 24 people. My last trip was Feb this year. So far, I have had nothing taken, no trouble at all. One of my group several years ago lost a dive watch....he left it out in the open in the truck bed in a remote dive spot. It's bad that it happened but tell me one place in the world that was not likely to happen. We have no way of knowing if it was a local or another tourist. I don't have any property on Bonaire or any economic interest so there is no reason for me to cloud the truth. I do however get irritated by the reports of massive crime by those who have never been to the island or are repeating hearsay. We had a member of this board years ago who constantly ranted about how dangerous Bonaire was...he had been there once, never left the resort and had no issues himself yet continued to argue how bad it was.
One item of "proof" that some of these people site is glass at some of the dive sites. Has there been breakins, sure but the simple presence of glass does not prove anything but a window was broken there. Also, glass does not decay or wash away so a window broken 10 years ago is still laying around although some what more scattered. Several years ago during one of the
"Bonaire is dangerous" posting I made it a point to study each site I visited. I saw old glass, based on how scattered it was and dirt but not a single obvioulsy new site. Most sites had no glass (window) at all.

 

[TSandM]

Some friends of mine went to Bonaire last year, and had batteries stolen out of a truck, and a truck stolen and later found, burnt. The problems there may not be as bad as some of the reports indicate, but there is definitely a major theft problem.

 

[drbill]

Isn't the crime on Bonaire the reason ScubaBoard is staging an invasion there next month... or am I mistaken?

 

[wedivebc]

Some friends of mine went to Bonaire last year, and had batteries stolen out of a truck, and a truck stolen and later found, burnt. The problems there may not be as bad as some of the reports indicate, but there is definitely a major theft problem.

Did the car rental hold you liable for the theft?

 

[djtimmy77]

South Florida, where I live, has a much, much, much worse crime problem than Bonaire.

 

[Hintermann]

This is the same BS that have been around for years. Some of the reports are just too fantastic to be true....come on, someone removes a safe that is bolted (some are built in) into a concrete wall in broad daylight and no one notices. That would take some serious work and a lot of noise. Most of these post are written by someone with an axe to grind. Many of the reports are repeated over and over and were heard from a friend of a friend.

Somehow, I don't think all these people has "axes to grind". Even tourism guidebooks advice on how unpleasant crime is becoming in Bonaire.

Crime in Bonaire - Bonaire Message Board - TripAdvisor