On no island like Bonaire

[ScubaSteve]

Since it seems some :baby: reported my post, I will claim it back from an open browser and clean it up.....

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Every time you post it seems your experience about Bonaire grows. You have all the sudden talked to more people, read more posts yet you cannot link to any of them OR identify who the people are that were directly involved in the crime.

You and your friends refuse to read.......almost nobody has said that crime does not exist on Baonire. There is no white washing of crimes or trying to bury the truth. The truth is that there is crime on Bonaire. There is crime in Roatan. There is crime in Cayman. There is crime in PR. There is crime in DR and Barbados. Nobody has said there is not. You are unwilling or incapable of interpereting those words but instead choose to make claims that we "Pro-Bonaire" crowd believe zero crime happens.

You and your chicken little friends are trying to paint a dire "the world is ending" picture of Bonaire. We are painting a realistic picture of a vacation spot that has some crime that is for the most part avoidable with some pretty simple precautions.

Originally Posted by pilot fish
There is a very solid reason Boniare keeps its growing crime problem and stats a secret -it would adversly effect tourism. If divers had an accurate picture of just how bad it really is, they would find safer areas to spend thier dive dollars. The pro Bonaire crowd foolishly think since there are no stats on Bonaire crime, it must not exist. Wow! That's hard to believe.So what do we really have to go on?

Well, there is Bonaire talk, there is word of mouth from the many victims, there is Scubaboard, all good sources of truth. Every dive site I've gone to in the Caribbean I have run into one or two people with a horrible tale to tell about crime on Bonaire and getting ripped off by theives, car rental agencies, condo owners, etc and how little the police do. Now, you pro Bonaire crowd dismiss that. Fine. I do not. Since there are no crime stats on Bonaire, your claim of a perfect island ,where crime is the exception, holds as much weight as the reports of crime as a general rule.

In short, you don't believe what you read and hear, I do believe it. I see no reason for people to lie. How many stories have you read, here on this board, where after a crime is committed the Bonaire police are very slow to respond and once they do, nothing gets done? You have to ask yourself, why is there so many personal reports of crime on Bonaire that you do not read and hear about on other islands, but when you check it on the internet, on Offical Bonaire sites, you see no mention of it or any crime stats that reflect the reality of what is going on?

Where ther is a lot of smoke............................................. ..............

So what tactic do the pro Bonaire crowd employ? Attack, vileify and ridicule the people that try to bring out the truth.

 

[mike_s]

You chaps remind me of the people that keep saying, the Titanic is unsinkable and there is nothing at all to worry about. You call my views based on hearsay but the hearsay you get is more accurate and reliable? Interesting. Funny, actually.

You also remind me of what I learned of Chamberlain prior to WWII. "Herr Adolf has given me his word. There will be no war. Rest easy lads. Nothing to worry about." Right!

Time to face the reality and try to make things better.

reality? here it is....




so this is the facts that I can see


1.) Pilotfish hasn't been to Bonaire in over 5 years. so he has no recent experience.

2.) On Pilotfish's trip to Bonaire, he never said he was robbed.

3.) Pilotfish can't provide proof of any of this "mass amount of crime" that is happening in Bonaire.

4.) Pilotfish has a lot of "hearsay" from about 8 people over the last 10 years that say they had something stolen.

5.) Pilotfish, when asked to provide facts, police reports, etc.... all the sudden has amnesia.

6.) Pilotfish won't answer any direct questions about it... just says "this has already been covered", etc and other hogwash to avoid the question.

7.) Pilotfish won't even acknowledge Cave Diver's posts/questions.

8.) Pilotfish is "full of it."


Seems pretty simple to me.


I think I can delete #1-#7 and just keep #8

 

[Cave Diver]

You chaps remind me of the people that keep saying, the Titanic is unsinkable and there is nothing at all to worry about. You call my views based on hearsay but the hearsay you get is more accurate and reliable? Interesting. Funny, actually.

You also remind me of what I learned of Chamberlain prior to WWII. "Herr Adolf has given me his word. There will be no war. Rest easy lads. Nothing to worry about." Right!

Time to face the reality and try to make things better.

Here we go with Godwins Law.

Pilot Fish, would you please point out a single post I've made saying there is nothing to worry about? How about pointing out any hearsay I've posted that I'm unwilling to cite sources for or quantify?

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

Here we go with Godwins Law.

Pilot Fish, would you please point out a single post I've made saying there is nothing to worry about? How about pointing out any hearsay I've posted that I'm unwilling to cite sources for or quantify?

Welcome to the frustrating round-n-round some of us have been going through for some time now

It goes on like this until you get down to a single question and then, the subject is started again from the beginning and the question is completely ignored... It makes for a very long and useless thread....

 

[Cave Diver]

Welcome to the frustrating round-n-round some of us have been going through for some time now

Thanks! It's been a while since I've been on a merry go round. I figure it's time for me to get a little dizzy.

 

[Jax]

So, tell me, PF, if you were going to travel somewhere, from where would you get your information on the local situation?

 

[Jax]

In Reply to your post [post=5145216]#5145216[/post]

What is the question? If somebody has a question that I am supposed to answer, please address it to me directly using my name so I know you are asking me.

Okay, Mike, I ask you the following in blue:

As I posted in another thread, based on a whole lot of time searching the internet, what my unscientific finds What number of "finds" did you discover, please? 5? 10? 50? are that the drug trade from South America is the biggest factor influencing crime on the ABCs with different variations and intensities of drug related crimes.
Please, tell us your top three sources?

There, now. I have limited my questions to two. Can you handle that? Do I need to address them one at a time? I really don't want to generate any performance anxiety on your behalf. Please let me know, and I will break it down further.

 

[mike_s]

So, tell me, PF, if you were going to travel somewhere, from where would you get your information on the local situation?

he doesn't...


he just hears something from someone else and rants about it.

 

[Roelf]

so this is the facts that I can see


1.) Pilotfish hasn't been to Bonaire in over 5 years. so he has no recent experience.

2.) On Pilotfish's trip to Bonaire, he never said he was robbed.

3.) Pilotfish can't provide proof of any of this "mass amount of crime" that is happening in Bonaire.

4.) Pilotfish has a lot of "hearsay" from about 8 people over the last 10 years that say they had something stolen.

5.) Pilotfish, when asked to provide facts, police reports, etc.... all the sudden has amnesia.

6.) Pilotfish won't answer any direct questions about it... just says "this has already been covered", etc and other hogwash to avoid the question.

7.) Pilotfish won't even acknowledge Cave Diver's posts/questions.

8.) Pilotfish is "full of it."


Seems pretty simple to me.


I think I can delete #1-#7 and just keep #8

Excellent summary. Couldn't have done it better. Except that I would leave out #8. We should maintain some etiquette here and leave the raging to, well, others.

Mr P-Fish claims to have heard his stories at every dive site he has been or so. In my experience there is a lot of bragging going on at dive sites. Tell me some real bad story, I'll tell you one that's even worse. You were robbed on Bonaire? I was there when a diver was shot entering the water! Nothing compared to what I witnessed!! White shark coming out of nowhere, eating up some little child nearby!!!
Now don't tell me to take everything for granted I get to hear at a dive site, Mr P-Fish. You can't be serious about that.

"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about answers." (Thomas Pynchon)

I have a friend that owns a house up in Santa Barbara, and he spends about 12 - 13 weeks per year on Bonaire. He says that during the last 10 years there have been 3 break-ins into his house and 5 of his guests, including me in 2009, have had their cars robbed at some dive sites. No substantial rise during the last few years. Nothing else that he personally has witnessed. Everything else might be hearsay, and I wouldn't want to throw in some numbers or tales from persons I do not know, not speaking of trust. That's not serious.

Now judge for yourself if this is a sign for a high crime rate.

Sorry Mr P-Fish that my numbers are not from an official stat but as you acknowledged earlier there aren't such at all.

Ooops, just to be correct, I've been to Bonaire in 2007 and in 2009, five weeks total, I hope that is sufficient experience in your eyes.

 

[DiverVince]

Every dive site I've gone to in the Caribbean I have run into one or two people with a horrible tale to tell about crime on Bonaire and getting ripped off by theives, car rental agencies, condo owners, etc and how little the police do.

.

Wow PF, you've really outdone yourself with this statement! Every dive site? Well I don't know where you've been, but I certainly know where I've been for the last 30 years spent diving the Caribbean and funny no one has ever said anything to me about Bonaire which was horrible in any way, shape or form. On the contrary, the folks that I've spoken to who have been there loved it and those who have not expressed their desire to visit Bonaire soon. I wonder exactly where oh where have you been diving?

Personally, I think the veracity of your statements are highly questionable. Now really, what type of chicanery is going on here? Oops I forgot..Since I own property on the island I am "biased" from your point of view and everything I post is "pixie dust" (to use your words).

I am curious though, I thought I was well traveled in the Caribbean region. So, please enlighten me. If Bonaire is as terrible and dangerous as you depict, then what islands can I visit in the Caribbean to dive in peace from the beach and not have to worry about anything? Apparently I haven't been there yet but I suspect you have, otherwise you wouldn't be so persistent.