i had to post this.
i seem to read uninformed, exaggerated forum posts mentioning murders etc. every other week here and on other online forums pertaining to roatan and the bay islands.
people seem to be confusing the problems of mainland honduras with the facts re. the bay islands.
eg. robint comment yesterday that its "too dangerous to leave your hotel on roatan".
i have no business' or investments on roatan to protect (i have a home on utila) but i still feel its necessary for someone to clear up the constant misconceptions passing for fact online. here are the latest statistics:-
2013 murder rates in the caribbean
u.s. virgin islands 39 murders per 100k of population
trinidad & tobago 35
belize 30
bahamas 27
puerto rico 26
dominican repub 25
st. lucia 25
dominica 22
in 2013 the bay islands had 18 murders (roatan 16, utila 1, guanaja 1) with a combined islands population of 100,000+/-5%. so
bay islands 18 murders per 100k of population
the bay islands murder rate is less than half of that in the u.s. virgin islands and less than all of those above. its also lower than several cities in the u.s.a. (chicago, baltimore etc. etc.).
crime is on the rise (especially petty theft), the police do a lousy job at catching thieves and people in the bay islands are very concerned about it but lets put it in context with other places we divers visit.
i seem to read uninformed, exaggerated forum posts mentioning murders etc. every other week here and on other online forums pertaining to roatan and the bay islands.
people seem to be confusing the problems of mainland honduras with the facts re. the bay islands.
eg. robint comment yesterday that its "too dangerous to leave your hotel on roatan".
i have no business' or investments on roatan to protect (i have a home on utila) but i still feel its necessary for someone to clear up the constant misconceptions passing for fact online. here are the latest statistics:-
2013 murder rates in the caribbean
u.s. virgin islands 39 murders per 100k of population
trinidad & tobago 35
belize 30
bahamas 27
puerto rico 26
dominican repub 25
st. lucia 25
dominica 22
in 2013 the bay islands had 18 murders (roatan 16, utila 1, guanaja 1) with a combined islands population of 100,000+/-5%. so
bay islands 18 murders per 100k of population
the bay islands murder rate is less than half of that in the u.s. virgin islands and less than all of those above. its also lower than several cities in the u.s.a. (chicago, baltimore etc. etc.).
crime is on the rise (especially petty theft), the police do a lousy job at catching thieves and people in the bay islands are very concerned about it but lets put it in context with other places we divers visit.