Who has had something stolen in Bonaire

[adurso]

Just returned from Bonaire with nothing stolen from me, or my family. One member of the group we traveled with lost her prescription sunglasses from her truck.

Many folks involved in the tourist industry seemed to cater to the perception that crime runs rampant there; from the do not leave valuables bumper stickers in the rental vehicles to the advice from hotel people to use the lockboxes.

Had a great time and plan on returning soon.

 

[Scubafrnds]

Well...we had sandals, couple of bucks and some really great big shorts of one of my friends...we were forewarned....but we did not think they would really care about these silly items.....oops also some sunglasses..but we will go back but we will hide everything in the trees ......no where near our car... Shore diving is the way to go!!!
We really enjoyed our dives...

 

[scubadobadoo]

The proper attitude to take in Bonaire toward crime is to make it a game. One point for every dollar amount stolen during a dive and the winner picks up the beer tab at the end of the week. While this may sound silly or insulting to anyone who has been robbed in Bonaire, let me tell you, if you go just waiting to be disappointed then you will wreck your vacation over something that isn't likely to happen but to a few very unfortunates. Don't paint yourself a victim and worry away your precious vacation!

Now, back to the OP. I went the first time last year and never once had a problem and always dove remote sites alone with just my wife and we did leave basic things in the car. We never once set foot on a boat THANK GOD! Heck, one time, we left the truck keys and the dry box filled with credit cards, cash and other things on the seat of the truck after assuming we had both taken it. Not a single problem the whole week!

We will return in just over a month and this time if someone doesn't steal my stinky flip flops and cruddy dive t-shirt I will be very offended. What! Do I stink or something?

 

[scubaaaronh]

The proper attitude to take in Bonaire toward crime is to make it a game. One point for every dollar amount stolen during a dive and the winner picks up the beer tab at the end of the week. While this may sound silly or insulting to anyone who has been robbed in Bonaire, let me tell you, if you go just waiting to be disappointed then you will wreck your vacation over something that isn't likely to happen but to a few very unfortunates. Don't paint yourself a victim and worry away your precious vacation!


We will return in just over a month and this time if someone doesn't steal my stinky flip flops and cruddy dive t-shirt I will be very offended. What! Do I stink or something?

LOL we did something similar on our last trip....
I had a couple items i purposely left in the truck to see what would happen. One was an old pair of dive boots that looked in really good shape, but were kind of falling apart in the toe area. they were never even moved in the truck. I really didn't want to bring them home. Well guess what they are in my dive closet right now. In the two trips we were there we didn't have a problem.

 

[Wanna_Be_Tanked]

Well...we had sandals, couple of bucks and some really great big shorts of one of my friends...we were forewarned....but we did not think they would really care about these silly items.....oops also some sunglasses..but we will go back but we will hide everything in the trees ......no where near our car... Shore diving is the way to go!!!
We really enjoyed our dives...

Pam you have to admit that those really were some cool sandals (Keen Newports). I still have to laugh at someone taking T's shorts though.

 

[Vetdrm]

We returned from our very first trip to Bonaire last month.

We experienced no crime of any sort, nothing, nada.

We left some dive bags in the back of truck or on the shore at some southern dive sites. Nothing was taken. Nothing!

We brought water and orange slices in a little red soft sided cooler and even that was not stolen.

Always left the weights in the bed of the truck. We drove around all week like that. We went everywhere and those weights stuck with us!

All in all, I felt safe on this island. We usually maintain a somewhat low profile. Not sure if that helps us or not.

 

[gert7to3]

One thing which might be helpful here is if people named the specific dive sites where they had something stolen. Is this happening on the remote southern sites or the ones along the northern road? It could give everyone insight, especially if there was a pattern developing. I have been to Bonaire 3 times with no probelms. Though I took heed of the warnings about things left in the vehicle and always used the safes provided at hotels.

 

[Boat Chick]

Seven trips and nothing stolen. I think of it this way, if they want my crappy shorts and dime store flip flops, let them have them. If you leave anything in your vehicle you are particularly attached to, then don't leave it in the vehicle.

In regard to names of sites, it is very random. Obviously the most remote areas are probably more prone (just my opionin, I have no facts to back it up). I know that Witches Hut is a popular spot as you park up by the road, and you can't see your vehicle from the shore.

 

[Buc Chick]

Nope, nothing stolen here. As we were leaving the Invisibles, noted some divers going in who left their camera on top of their truck's cab. We chased them down and handed the camera to them. Not sure if it would still be there if they had left it. But it could happen anywhere.

 

[reefdiva]

Really ratty old flipflops stolen at Red Slave, a bag of lemon drops (that had already attracted bugs) at Witches Hut, the tail light of our truck at our rental unit and gas from our truck, also at our rental. Not all on the same trip and not a bad average for the number of times I have been there. Nothing that ruined my vacation and nothing that stressed me out as much as when my house was broken into in rural New England.