Who has had something stolen in Bonaire

[gator4798]

This island is only 111 Sq Mi with a total population of 14,006 (2006 Census, Wikipidia) and theft continues! 1 cop, one dive site, at least one arrest! They are just not taking any steps to stop these crimes! We used the room safe! We never left anything in the car! And still we come away burned!. I have dove the Caribbean, Florida, Central America, Nor Cal, SO Cal......I HAVE NEVER had anything stolen except the place where I was most careful. BONAIRE. You people believe what you like but I have been there once and got hit with a 300$ tire scam. I'm certently never going back and im going to do my best to talk my 30 Dive group members from going there as well. The worst part is how you defend the thieves! I don't care if you love the island. I loved it to! Great Diving! Loved it. Im still working on my video footage from the trip! But IMnever going back....mabey one trip you will get hit by the thieves and find out just how badly it screws up your vacation! But I hope you don't get hit by the thieves. No one ever should in a tropical paradise like that. Mabey someday the problem will go away. But until then you wont see me on that island.

 

[DiverVince]

Gator..I suspect this would have saved you a lot of heartbreak.. I have traveled extensively in the Carib for over 25 years & in fact have lived in the Virgin Islands for 6 years. Bonaire is the safest Island I've EVER been on.
Next trip, I recommend you buy the enclosed for $16 & also recommend it to the 30 dive group members you are purportedly affiliated with.
You postings remind me of the song by the Eagles.. "Get Over It".
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200310773_200310773

 

[pilot fish]

Gator, I could not agree with you more. For an island, for that matter, any place that size, with that sparse a population, it is mind boggling how the Police, who's job it is to deter crime and protect the people, can do such a miserable job and find as many defenders as are found on this Board? It is soooooooooooooo easy to catch these criminals by setting up sting operations. The fact that they do not, leads me to think the police are somehow involved. They are obviously passively involved. The rental car agencies need to be looked at too. This spare tire scam appears to be a nice cash cow for them.

One defender asks that you and your 30 divers group go out and "BUY" a spare tire lock for $14.95 to prevent tire theft. Hello? Why arent' the rental agencies doing that? I'll tell you why, they have transferred their loss and liabilty to YOU, the renter, and you all keep going back for more. Will it ever change on Bonaire? Nope, not as long as people act like sponges and keep absorbing losses and KEEP GOING BACK FOR MORE. AND THEN COMING ON THE SCUBABOARD AND DEFENDING A PLACE THAT TAKES LITTLE TO NO ACTION TO CURB CRIME.:11:

From Wikipedia,
Capital
(and largest city) Kralendijk
12°15′N, 68°28′W
Official languages Dutch
Government See Politics of the Netherlands Antilles
- Administrator of Bonaire Herbert Domacassé
- Governor of N.A. Frits Goedgedrag
Constitutional monarchy part of the Netherlands Antilles
Area
- Total 288 km²
111 sq mi
Population
- 2006 census 14,006
- Density 49 /km² (ranked as part of N. A.)
99 /sq mi
Currency Netherlands Antillean gulden (ANG)
Time zone -4 (UTC-4)
Internet TLD .an
Calling code +599
Bonaire is an island in the Netherlands Antilles, and as such, is a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Together with Aruba and Curaçao it forms a group referred to as the ABC islands of the Leeward Antilles, the southern island chain of the Lesser Antilles. While Papiamentu, Spanish, and English are commonly spoken, the official language is Dutch.

Bonaire has a land area of 288 km² (111 sq. miles). Bonaire's Afdeling Bevolking (census) office reported that the population was 14,006 inhabitants as of December, 2006,[1] which means a population density of 49 inh. per km². Uninhabited Klein Bonaire, nestled in the western crescent of the main island, is 6 km² (2.3 sq. miles). Bonaire is served by Flamingo International Airport.

The structure of the relationship between Bonaire and the Kingdom is being considered for change under proposed legislation.

This island is only 111 Sq Mi with a total population of 14,006 (2006 Census, Wikipidia) and theft continues! 1 cop, one dive site, at least one arrest! They are just not taking any steps to stop these crimes! We used the room safe! We never left anything in the car! And still we come away burned!. I have dove the Caribbean, Florida, Central America, Nor Cal, SO Cal......I HAVE NEVER had anything stolen except the place where I was most careful. BONAIRE. You people believe what you like but I have been there once and got hit with a 300$ tire scam. I'm certently never going back and im going to do my best to talk my 30 Dive group members from going there as well. The worst part is how you defend the thieves! I don't care if you love the island. I loved it to! Great Diving! Loved it. Im still working on my video footage from the trip! But IMnever going back....mabey one trip you will get hit by the thieves and find out just how badly it screws up your vacation! But I hope you don't get hit by the thieves. No one ever should in a tropical paradise like that. Mabey someday the problem will go away. But until then you wont see me on that island.

 

[gator4798]

And to all those people that are as we speak packing for Bonaire. I know that no matter what I say you will be going...The diving is outstanding....One of the best divesites is right off Capt Dons....But please avoid rental trucks.....and if you must...protect yourselfs...chain the spare tire.....dont leave anything behind....put a sniper on an overlooking hill....and hopefully you can have a great vacation!

 

[sasscuba]

Been to Bonaire now 6 times. Have never had anything stolen and always lock my rental truck. I buy the added $15 insurance and don't worry about it. One time in St. Croix I did not buy insurance and got hit with an extra $500 for a transmission pan when I hit a rock...allegedly. Learned a lesson and always buy the added insurance. Love Bonaire. They could steal my truck, towels and sunglasses from inside and I will still go back....give me a break.

 

[Luis H]

Just got back from Bonaire.
It was great!!

The spare tire in our truck came with a lock. We had an extra key for the lock. I think it is standard on all the rentals from Buddy Dive.

I grew up in the Caribbean and was very comfortable in Bonaire (my first time in Bonaire, but hope to be back many times).

 

[Drewpy]

All of AB trucks have locking spares as well...

 

[Spike_Digger]

We are heading to Bonaire in 2007. I was just curious on how many people have had
something taken from them in Bonaire.

If you don't mind let us know where it was taken from and what was taken.

This is not to point fingers at anyone, its just to give insight to future travelers.

Just got back from Bonaire last night. We had a great time. Everything I read about the fantastic diving and friendly people was true. What an amazing trip. We didn't have anything stolen, but we followed the instructions to leave our car windows down, and left only t-shirts, cheap sunglasses, and anti-fogger in the car when we dove.

We met some windsurfers that had some friends who were robbed while we were down there. They were staying in an apartment in Belnem. The thieves entered through an unlocked sliding door, and robbed them while they slept. Sorry, I don't have any other details beyond that. It just serves as a reminder that you need to leave your cars unlocked, and lock the doors/windows to your apartment when you go to bed at night.

 

[NDH]

Well we just returned this past Saturday. I ended up having our $5 magnet stolen when I put it down to look at a tee-shirt. Several times during the week we saw individuals that did not belong pulling up at dive sites and checking out who was watching them. These individuals were not snokelers, site see-ers, or divers. And they were not kids. For those who say that the kids are taking things, shame on you. The lady that took our magnet was in her 30's. Not that a magnet was that important, which we bought another, it is the principle of it. We also talked to another vacationer that said 4 apartments were broken into the week before our stay. All I have to say is there are wolfs in sheep clothing so don't leave things out that you don't want it to walk off. We did not have a problem at our apartment when we were there and I thought the night watchmen was a great person. I will try to post a report and pics in the coming days.

gator4798 I here your pain. There were somethings that happened to us that we are considering not going back. Diving fantastic, people I'm not so sure. They will scam you if they have a chance.

 

[pilot fish]

Well we just returned this past Saturday. I ended up having our $5 magnet stolen when I put it down to look at a tee-shirt. Several times during the week we saw individuals that did not belong pulling up at dive sites and checking out who was watching them. These individuals were not snokelers, site see-ers, or divers. And they were not kids. For those who say that the kids are taking things, shame on you. The lady that took our magnet was in her 30's. Not that a magnet was that important, which we bought another, it is the principle of it. We also talked to another vacationer that said 4 apartments were broken into the week before our stay. All I have to say is there are wolfs in sheep clothing so don't leave things out that you don't want it to walk off. We did not have a problem at our apartment when we were there and I thought the night watchmen was a great person. I will try to post a report and pics in the coming days.

gator4798 I here your pain. There were somethings that happened to us that we are considering not going back. Diving fantastic, people I'm not so sure. They will scam you if they have a chance.

A trip report would be helpful and tell us the present situation on Bonaire.