Been to Bonaire 10 times but this trip got some stuff stolen..

[sasscuba]

I have been to Bonaire now 10 or 11 times since 1984 and we just got back tonight from 10 days of awesome diving. I have never had a problem with theft until this trip. It was very discouraging to see broken glass on the ground at about 6 dive sites during our trip. We seen it from Karpata all the way down to invisibles.

We never left anything in the truck we did not care if it got stolen but still it was a weird feeling having out truck gone through at 3 different dives sites.

Stupid really. They stole 2 collapsible coolers, the freeze packs inside, a bag of chips, 2 apples and the one that made me mad.......my copy of Bonaire shore diving :shocked2: was in one of the bags.....how stupid really.

They broke open the locked glove box that had a cheap camera tri-pod in it and left the screwdriver in the truck.

They broke the ash tray looking for money I guess.

We had the truck gone through 3 times at Invisibles, yellow submarine and pink beach.

The small thefts will not keep us away as we will go back it just was pisses you off when it does happen to you.

 

[StreetDoctor]

That's sad to hear. We noticed broken glass at andrea I and II two weeks ago. Never thought we had our stuff gone through though and left a guide book in the truck at all times. Sorry to hear

 

[reefdiva]

Sorry to hear that. We have been going to Bonaire for ten years and have had someone go through our truck twice -- we have lost a bag of lemon drops and a cheap pair of flip flops. Nothing big, but still annoying. Not enough to keep us from returning again this week. Similar things are happening here in our home town in New England as "someone" looks for money, electronics, etc. Sad indeed.

 

[Mayor]

I was never there but would it make sence to bring a small dry bag with you? This way you can put everything in it and drop it in 20 feet of water. Then on the way back pick it up. I understand the coolers etc would not work but everything smaller should.

 

[donnad]

since we are going to bonaire in only 3 days now......yippee!!!........i have been reading about bonaire for MONTHS!! and from everything i have read.......it does seem that petty theft occurs on a regular basis, (not that it doesn't occur elsewhere)......but it has sounded like the local authorities aren't actively trying to curtail it. At least that it how it appears from my huge amount of reading in different places. Sounds like there may be a "good ole boy" kinda thing going on there or something. But as long as it not hitting them in their pocketbooks from reduced tourism, I would think it's going to continue. Perhaps it hasn't affected tourism enough to feel it yet. I suppose if you really wanted to avoid the theft, you could dive in groups larger than 2, and take turns diving/having surface interval hanging around the truck.........but that wouldn't be exactly convenient, and i'm sure it would be hot sitting there "guarding" the truck. For now our plan is like everyone else........leave nothing of value in the truck, leave unlocked,windows down. But jeez..........people steal your lemondrops? or an apple? that would tick me off too.

 

[Walter]

It shouldn't happen, there's no excuse, but we all know it does, so don't leave anything in the truck.

 

[siegelreptiles]

jesus--I mean will they steal towels and stuff? I am leaving for a week on saturday.

 

[gypsyjim]

Thanks. In 5 or 6 trips we have experienced no problems, but it does sound as if there has been a recent increase in truck break-ins.

We'll be returning in 26 days, and will have to be a bit more cautious than we've had to be in the past, I guess. We had been letting our guard down because there had been so much less of this crap in recent years!

 

[sasscuba]

jesus--I mean will they steal towels and stuff? I am leaving for a week on saturday.

No they did not steal our towels. What is funny is I would put my cheap sunglasses under the seat just to be less visible and one time they removed them from under the seat and put them inside my wife's old worn out ballcap...

We also kept cheap water bottles filled with ice to drink after the dive and they did not want those either.

 

[StreetDoctor]

Does anyone know how many police are actually on duty at any give time? Two weeks ago when we were there we seen two police officers our entire trip, both on foot. We did a lot of driving around and exploring, we were suprised not to see more.