Who has had something stolen in Bonaire

[dvrliz1]

Not to be nasty Liz, but please recall what happened in February 2006 at GRI. The couple in the room next to us had a few items taken including a digital camera. I know that you told us that it was probably people from another island, but theft is theft.

They also experienced a second incident where some items were stolen from their truck at a dive site along with items from a few other vehicles. They managed to get video of the thief's vehicle, including a clear shot of the licence plate number. AFAIK the local police did nothing about this.

You are not being nasty, but are leaving out a few things. One this was the ONLY time we had a problem in over 12 years of renting properties out on Bonaire. Second, regarding the "common sense" issue, these tourists left all their windows open, blinds drawn and items all out in open view and did not utilize the in room safe. That is no excuse though, but I like I said, it happens here on Bonaire. We have since taken special measures such as hard wire alarm system, bars on the windows, etc.

You are incorrect in the police doing nothing about the video. I happened to view it, took down all the pertinent information. I saw the video the morning they were leaving. I then spoke with Detective Abdul, provided this information, identified the vehicle in town and they arrested the people for that theft, and others. They did recover quite a bit of items. They were NOT Bonaireans, but like you said theft is theft. Once again, it does happen on Bonaire, just not as often as people think it does.

 

[Boat Chick]

OK, I have to chime in here. As a moderator of BonaireTalk, and a Board Member of Bonaire Talk Community Inc., about a year ago, we added to our terms of service agreement, that if you posted about a crime, you have to send a copy of the police report to the moderators for verification. It has helped tremendously in stopping folks posting "hearsay" and not facts.

Crime is an issue on Bonaire, however, we do have a lot of people who make their first post on BonaireTalk, a crime report/post. It does make me wonder if they researched the issue and took necessary precautions (like leaving the vehicle unlocked, putting all valuables in the safe).

 

[dvrliz1]

Otoh, problems like the recent Plaza theft, where the thief stole items while the people slept in their room is something that the Bonaire authorities should be very concerned about. That's something BONHATA should pressure the authorities to publicly resolve. God forbid that someone from the Netherlands or the U.S. gets killed if that situation goes bad - look what the Holloway case did to Aruba tourism...

And frankly I think there's more of a problem than BONHATA will acknowledge publicly, why else are there security guards at the dive resorts at night? Not that that doesn't also happen in the Bahamas and most other places I've been.

Steve,

BONHATA is in discussions with the police as this is being written. The resorts are not happy about the theft that is going on, and what is worse is the "buzz" that it is causing. BONHATA is well aware of the problem, as we are made up of the resorts and hospitality industry.

 

[NDH]

What do they do with people that commit crime on the inland if there not a citizen of Bonaire?

No one in there right mind wants to stop going to Bonaire to dive. I haven't even been there yet but there has to be a reason it keeps coming up #1. It's just after talking to several dive shops here in Houston I keep getting the same respones about crime.

Sometimes its not bad to talk about issues that are unpopular if it help resolve them, but trying to sweep things under the rug is not going to stop crime or slow it down.

Bonaire is in a great position if acted upon, you can ask for a little more money ( $5-$10 per diver) for the park fee's and add secuity at dive sites. Just make sure that the security has the authority to arrest people.

 

[dvrliz1]

NDH,

I agree its good to talk about these things, we just need to be careful about not blowing them out of proportion. The government will be changing over the next year and we will fall under the Netherlands as a "municipality" with exceptions because we a Caribbean island. We will now also have "Dutch" police on island.

People that are not "Antillean" that commit crimes are jailed and prosecuted just the same. The "guilty" rate is very high on Bonaire as cases are tried with a large amount of evidence. Basically they are normally caught with goods in hand and don't have a leg to stand on. The "home" country is notified and the assailant's passport is confiscated and sent back to the home country. After release, they are shipped back to their home country.

As an American, I would have NEVER moved or started a business on the island if crime was really as bad as some say it is.

Basically when it comes down to it a lot of points in this thread are what need to be done when staying on Bonaire, or anywhere else in the world, are the common sense points.

Unless you want to live in a "plastic bubble", no matter where you go, you may or may not encounter crime...but who knows...thieves, world wide will probably find a way to "burst the bubble!

That's all I have to say about that....in the words of Forrest Gump.

Liz

 

[tedtim]

You are not being nasty, but are leaving out a few things. One this was the ONLY time we had a problem in over 12 years of renting properties out on Bonaire. Second, regarding the "common sense" issue, these tourists left all their windows open, blinds drawn and items all out in open view and did not utilize the in room safe. That is no excuse though, but I like I said, it happens here on Bonaire. We have since taken special measures such as hard wire alarm system, bars on the windows, etc.

Well, I guess that the coin has two sides. I would suggest that you also left out the part about getting an alarm system installed the day after this happened. If crime is not a problem, and this was the first time in 12 years, then one has to ask why would the alarm system be required.

You are incorrect in the police doing nothing about the video. I happened to view it, took down all the pertinent information. I saw the video the morning they were leaving. I then spoke with Detective Abdul, provided this information, identified the vehicle in town and they arrested the people for that theft, and others. They did recover quite a bit of items. They were NOT Bonaireans, but like you said theft is theft. Once again, it does happen on Bonaire, just not as often as people think it does.

You are correct on this part. That is why I wrote AFAIK (as far as I know). Nothing had been done in the two weeks or so since they had the second incident. We spent a few evenings on the porch with these folks. At the time they were resigned to believe that nothing would be done.

At no point did I say crime occurs as often as people think it does. I was responding directly to your comment that:

... I have kept a constant watch on the crime situation. Luckily, we have never had a theft problem now or in the past.

We enjoyed our time on Bonaire and will return some time in the future. We did not have anything taken while we were there either from our room or vehicle because we did not leave anything out in the open in the room or in the vehicle.

 

[S_SIMON]

I have been there 5 times and never had an issue. I always keep the truck/car unlocked and windows down and leave nothing out that is worth anything to me.

 

[ianr33]

In a way it does not matter if Bonaire has a significant crime problem or not.The fact is that many people (myself included) have the perception that it does.

I have been diving in 4 Caribbean locations. Aruba,Bonaire,Caymans(many times) and Saba.
In Aruba I had the spare tire stolen from my rental Jeep.
In Bonaire I saw broken Automobile glass at many dive sites and was told not to lock a vehicle and to wind the windows down.
Never had any problem in Cayman,never heard of any problem,will leave a parked,locked vehicle anywhere.
As for Saba,well, the hotel did not even have keys to lock the room

So my perception,from what I read and from my own experience ,is that Bonaire and the ABC islands in general have more crime than do Cayman and Saba.

Guess which of the above are on my list of places to return to?

 

[DiverVince]

We've been going to Bonaire for the last 20 years. From personal experience we have never had a problem. However I am diligent. I have the car rental agency put a lug lock on the spare tire, I drive a vehicle which can't be locked (Suzuki Jimmy) and is open, I never leave items out in the open unless I'm there to watch it.

We have always felt safe on Bonaire but rarely do I ever let my guard down.
More often then not I'll rent an upper floor unit (I feel more secure) & will ALWAYS insist on a room safe for my valuables.

I've traveled extensively in the Carib & Bonaire is one of the safest islands I've ever been on. Used to live on St Croix back in the 80's, but sold because of the crime issues there. I guess that's where and how I developed my "never letting guard down posture"..

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

We have had zero issues with theft on either of our Bonaire trips. We took note of the increased police visual presence during our November 2006 Bonaire trip vs. our May 2004 Bonaire trip. We didn't ask anyone, but I had figured this may have to do with the cruise ship traffic.

I was hopeful one of the 'good' thigs that would spin off from the cruise ship traffic on Bonaire would be enough incremental non-local funds coming to the island via visitors to end the issue of locking your vehicle or not when diving. This is apparently not the case, showing the petty theft is not likely tied to any economic need (just one more piece of data).

There is no destination we've visited that I have, or would, leave my vehicle unlocked. Our vehicle insurance package on Bonaire specifically stated the vehicle must be locked with no valuables in sight to be valid, which we did with zero problems each visit, so the 'keep the vehicle unlocked' rule isn't universal.

But, in this day and age of identity theft, my driving documents concern me somewhat. I suppose I could put the IDP in a Ziplock bag and take it U/W but that's a hassle, and I vacation to minimize hassle as we have enough of that during our non-vacation time.

The suggestion for private security services patrolling the dive sites augmenting police presence has been raised in two forums that I've seen. I still think this concept has merit, even with the increased police visibility. There are folks who lock themselves out of their vehicles, and motorist assistance could be part of the services provided. Has this been discussed in BONHATA, and if so, what was the result and reasoning of the discussion (just curious)?

We always use room safes when available, and have had zero problems anywhere. For accomodations that don't have room safes, the TSA locks we use serve a decent function to keep honest folks honest, still with zero problems.