Is it safe to go there?

[DeputyDan]

I prefer to do a new dive locale with a group.

I agree with most of the comments above.

I have a couple of kids to raise so There is more than me to think about!

 

[Hank49]

Safety decisions? Bottled or clean water to drink. Everything else is doable as long as you have your ticket, passport and money.
The main consideration is the diving....the vis....or quality of the surf....

 

[Alex777]

I have spent a little time looking through the other end of this telescope - as a permanent resident of a common tropical diving destination. Knowing what I know now, what considerations would I pay attention to if I were a N American tourist diver?

In the Cayman Is., we unhappily experience about 1 death per month among tourists "in the water". That includes diving, snorkelling and swimming. Almost all of the deaths are due to heart attacks, and most of the victims are overweight and in poor physical condition. For the "average" tourist diver, this is probably the greatest risk factor of all. The question is simple, although a bit painful: "given my physical condition, should I undertake an activity (swimming, essentially) in which I do not engage regularly and which requires a certain aerobic capacity? Is the risk worth it?"

So, the first and biggest risk factor is heart attack. That is the only significant risk factor here related to water sports. Non-heart-attack deaths while diving here are uncommon - rare, in fact.

 

[Alex777]

As for crime levels, it is actually impossible to get an accurate read on them unless you have lived in-country for a while.

Most countries count crimes by counting those which are reported to the police. But, in many 3rd world countries, the police are distrusted to a degree which is hard to comprehend if you live in N America. So, crime is, to put it mildly, under-reported.

Of course, most diver tourists don't care a hoot about crime levels generally. What they want to know is: how many crimes are committed against tourists like me? I don't know any country which separates out "crimes against tourists", so the evidence is all subjective and anecdotal.

Tourist destinations know this, so they try to make you FEEL safe. For example, in the Cayman Is., night clubs are required to have numerous security guards largely because of the positive impression it leaves with visitors.

 

[Thalassamania]

When it comes to diving destinations, by the time something is known as a destination I hope to have been and gone long ago. I didn't really get off diving at EPCOT (even back before it was just another "E" ticket ride) and I don't care for dive sites that become little more than that. I'm truly sorry that I've missed some spectacular dive sites that have already been taken over by the "safe and sane" crowd, but I'm happy that some of the places I still go to have yet to be "discovered."

My preference is for a local B&B or Pension, and a local boat with a captain. I do not want a dive guide, a dive master, a local instructor, or any other such ... except, perhaps, for guidance on where we should take the boat.

 

[vetdiver]

I have a couple of kids to raise so There is more than me to think about!

V true - that would make a big difference!! We only have our dogs, and they'd be just as spoiled by my siblings

I am with Thalassamania - I am happiest when I have to explain to my coworkers where exactly (on a map) I am going next....they all think I'm crazy anyways, but I know you guys understand...

 

[miketsp]

You need to watch the film TURISTAS. Then you'll definitely stay at home.

Synopsis:
A group of international tourists seeking fun and adventure in Brazil get a lot more than they bargained for.

 

[Doc]

This has been very interesting. We have seen some great comments so far.

 

[FireDiver443]

I bought a t-shirt once that, on the back, said:

You can be hit by a boat and die
You can be attacked by a shark and die
OR you could fall off the couch and die
GET OFF THE COUCH!

I've been a public safety guy for 20+ years and if I've learned nothing else, I've learned that bad stuff can happen to folks ANYWHERE. We see it on the news all the time. It's not just in bad neighborhoods, but on college campuses, in elementary schools, hospitals and the workplace; It can be right across the street from where we live.

Last fall, I traveled with a group to Utila. We'd read up on Honduras, looked at the State Department warnings... somehow my wife and her sister STILL decided that our itinerary would include arriving in San Pedro Sula at 01:00 hrs local time with language skills I'd best describe as "combat spanish", getting a cab to our hotel, getting a motor coach (tour bus...not a 'chicken bus') to La Ceiba, an overnight stay at the Coco Panda Seaside Resort and catching the Ferry to Utila. And then repeating the process on the return trip.

Know what? We all survived (and had the added benefit of arriving on Utila with our dive gear... the members of our party who FLEW to Utila enjoyed the uncertainty of their dive gear spending 60 hours on the tarmac @ San Pedro Sula). We met wonderful people along the way and, with the exception of the uncertainty of the trip from San Pedro Sula airport to the City at 2 in the morning (if you've ever made this trip you know what I mean) enjoyed an adventure that added to the trip (FireDiver32 will disagree with me on that part but he doesn't travel so well anyway :-D).

Working in an economically depressed part of my City has demonstrated to me that the bad reports about an area are usually based on a very limited percentage of the population that resides there. Good people sometimes find themselves living in crappy places. Bottom line: Do your research. Keep your eyes open. Travel in groups. Trust your instincts. And, relating the the zip-line article that started the thread...CAREFULLY CHECK ANY LIFE-SAFETY GEAR YOU'LL HAVE TO USE THAT YOU DIDN'T BRING. I believe we're conditioned to think the entire world is dangerous because we're bombarded by 24-hour news that spends all it's time searching for these stories when in fact the incidents represent a small portion of what's going on.

When it's your time, it just is. Be smart. Don't sweat it.

Get off the couch.

 

[fdog]

Well, it's an old thread, but still worth contributing to.

We dove the Utila Aggressor last year. Based in Utila (Honduras), your travel plans are:

• Fly to San Pedro Sula (big city inland)
• Nice, big, airconditioned bus to the coast
• Small boat to the island of Utila
• Get on Aggressor

So, while in San Pedro Sula we were plesantly surprised to find out the franchise had replaced the 6 hours of bus/boat with a 45 minute ride in a Cessna 210! Woo hoo!

It wasn't until after the trip we found out why, from Utila locals: the week before, a busload of divers, while transiting to the coast, had been stopped, everyone gotten out and made to lay facedown, while the highway robbery proceeded. They took everything right down to their passports , wallets, dive gear and luggage. In the words of one local, the only thing they didn't do was leave them naked.

While I applaud Aggressor for immediately changing their arrangements and flying us to avoid the risk, this is a example of unneccessary risk that will divert me from a region. That and political instability.

A bit of research is always needed to elute the truth, however - as we departed to Fiji last month, we had folks that thought we were nuts. "Don't you know there's a coup going on?!?" We never saw a bit of it, and the locals said they had read about a change in leadership in the papers, but that's all.


All the best, James