Have heard stories of higher than usual theft in Bonaire - cars being broken into, etc. Is this true? I know every place has some crime, but is Bonaire's higher than usual? thanks for any info.

Bonaire's crime rate is lower than almost any other inhabited island in the Caribbean. Vehicles are broken into when people park them at remote locations, leave items of preceived value in sight then go diving for 1/2 hour or so.

Vehicle "break-ins" are a re-occuring topic here because there is little else, in way of crime, to talk about.

Cruisintigger...C.K. is right on. If you want to read specific threads on the topic, do a keyword search on "crime" and you will find that 99.999% of the crime is just what C.K. refers to. Folks go to a remote dive site, leave valuables in the car (this includes nice sunglasses, flip flops, clothing, all the way up to cash and passports). Those folks MAY return to their vehicle and have windows broken and their goods gone.

Leave your windows down (unless it's raining), doors unlocked, and nothing of value in the vehicle and you should be just fine. You may also want to buy a lock and chain for the spare tire...that seems to be another thing that the thieves like to take...

Cruisintigger. Here is the text from a letter that we sent to various officials on the island after our 2003 trip. Note that the group has dozens of trips to Bonaire over the last 10 years.

The purpose of this letter is to highlight a number of concerns that arose during our recent two week visit to the island of Bonaire.

We are a group of eight SCUBA divers from Toronto, Canada. Everyone in the group has been to the island at least once before, some in the group as many as nine times in the last 10 years. We have always enjoyed all Bonaire has to offer including the hospitality of your people. Your investment in the preservation of the marine park and maintaining the overall natural beauty of the island is what keeps us coming back. I know this is true for many of your tourist population.

Our visit this year took place from March 15 – 29. It didn’t start off very well primarily due to the inconvenience resulting from our luggage, including a walker for one of the group, not arriving when we did. We now understand what is happening with Dutch Caribbean Airlines and the use of the Twin Otters for the flight from Curacao. It would have been preferable had we known in advance that our bags wouldn’t accompany us. We could have then been prepared and our expectations would have been set in advance. The DCA agent at the Flamingo Airport did not provide us with any information and seemed quite uninterested. The DCA service in Curacao was appreciably better.

However, this is not the primary purpose of writing this letter. As a group, we were very disappointed in a number of other things which served to distract from our holiday:

1. The most significant and important issue we want to highlight is the one of crime. We come from a big city and are not strangers to the fact that some among us are less than honourable. Bonaire is certainly not exempt from a certain amount of criminal behaviour. Clear warnings have been made for years to be vigilant around dive sites. It is unfortunate but a reality. We did have an incident at a dive site where the culprits operated from a small water craft using mask, fins and snorkel to swim in over the divers and stealing what they could find.

But this year, we were quite surprised at what appears to be an escalation in the level of petty crime and theft. Our group was affected multiple times during our two week stay. After dining at Pirates Den on Thursday, March 20th we returned to our vehicles, parked in the lot to the south of Harborside Mall, to find the battery had been removed (stolen) from one truck. Fortunately, we had the second truck and were able to borrow a tow rope which meant we were able to bring the disabled truck back to the Caribbean Court. Had we left it there, we suspect we would have found nothing there in the morning or at least a shell of a vehicle with the major parts removed. While waiting for our friends to return, we were able to flag down two police officers and a report was filed. This incident cost us Naf 116 to replace this battery (which we removed from the truck every night afterwards to avoid a repeat occurrence).

That same night, one member of our party was awoken by a prowler attempting to access a second floor sliding door. This individual, a retired police officer, was astute enough to get up to investigate waking another housemate. He believed this attention was enough to scare the three prospective intruders away, only to find in the morning there had been a number of thefts from other units in the complex, including removal and significant damage of a truck (not ours). In the morning, another hour or more was consumed discussing this matter with the complex management and filing yet another police report. Beyond the intrusion and loss of personal effects of more importance to us is the infringement on our privacy and peace of mind. We travel to places like Bonaire to get away from our stressful lives. We do not travel to be subject to stressful situations such as theft. We all commented that we were very uneasy going to bed at night living with the knowledge that there is clearly a problem with night prowlers. A regular topic of conversation in the following days that of not returning to Bonaire in future years.

While the police did attend to these incidences, we are only minimally confident anything is being or will be done to address the problem. We were hearing excuses about being short staffed on the police department. If Bonaire is serious about making improvements, there is a way. It is a small island with a relatively small population. The individual who witnessed the attempted break-ins was able to give very detailed descriptions of the perpetrators to the police. In fact, he subsequently saw two of the three hanging around Julio’s on Kaya Grande. You have what is becoming a serious problem and we believe you have the means and backing of the business community to take solid steps toward improving the situation should that be your desire. We certainly hope that the feedback you are receiving from us and others will be taken to heart and acted upon. It is not acceptable to ignore the problem and hope that it will go away or be overlooked by your residents and guests. The future of your country depends on it. We would like to be able to consider Bonaire in our future travel plans but we will be closely watching for improvements to be made.

2. There are a significantly greater number of motorcycles on the island. What is of particular note is the way these bikes are being used. We all understand young people want to race their cars and bikes but we found this to be a major annoyance. It seemed every meal we had in the downtown area, we would shudder frequently with the sudden revving of the primarily motorcycle engines going by the outdoor cafes and restaurants. Something must be done to curb this behavior which destroys the restaurant ambiance and is dangerous to pedestrians and other vehicles.

3. Six of our group stayed at the Caribbean Court where we have stayed on previous occasions (Ms. Lister and Mr. Yip stayed at the Plaza Resort Bonaire). Imagine our surprise to be suddenly awoken at 3:30 a.m. to the sound of jet engines which seemed to be coming directly overhead. And again at 5:30 a.m. the noise was deafening. This we were to find, was to become a daily occurrence. We learned that Bonaire has now become a stopover refueling destination for KLM enroute from Holland to South American destinations and return having assumed this role from Aruba. While we understand the value this has to the economy of Bonaire in terms of revenue from KLM, you must be aware that the environmental and tourist impact is very negative. As you may be aware, most airports have curfews in place especially where there are residential or tourist areas in close proximity. We would suggest that attempts be made to negotiate improved times for these stopovers.

4. We would like to offer some feedback to a number of the restaurants as far as payment processes are concerned. Overall, a better job could be done of providing for separate checks for individuals in a party. Equally important is for restaurants to have an adequate amount of currency available for change. On one occasion, the process of settling the bill for our party took in excess of forty-five minutes. While we are on vacation and happy to enjoy the process of dining, an excessive amount of our day was consumed in restaurants taking away from the time we wanted to be diving or visiting the sites of Bonaire.

We would like to thank you for your continued hospitality. We respect and value what Bonaire has to offer and want to support you and your tourism while enjoying all Bonaire has to offer. Please accept this feedback as it is sincerely intended.

Hi Cindylou,
I can't quite sympathize with your gripe #4. To put this in perspective, picture five couples from Bonaire having dinner at a nice restaurant, in Toronto and attempting to pay the bill with NaF. I'll just let your imagination work on that as you figure out how long it might take to settle "separate checks and the proper change".

It's really no problem to convert your currency to Guilders and spend those while your on the island. You can always cash in before you return home, or if its a small amount you might want to donate it to the donkey preserve when you're leaving at the airport. Try it on your next trip, the benefits far outweigh the small inconvenience of a trip to the bank.
Bob

With all due respect Bob, being frequent visitors to Bonaire we, for the most part, use Naf and have still experienced the problem. In fact, we use the bank at the airport to convert our US$ for the convenience and proximity to where we normally stay. In the instances to which I refer, the restaurants actually acknowledged they didn't have enough change in either currency to handle our group but were a very long time coming out to tell us. Some of us switched to cards to help get ourselves on our way.

Regards, Cindy

Carnaval is over, so we should see a drop in crime again now... The next "wave" is expected from mid till end of April.

Cindy, I can relate to item number 2. Both Kelly and I noticed the increase in the motorcycles cruising the waterfront where the restaurants, and you're right....it was VERY annoying and difficult to enjoy your meal. The same group just kept cruising back and forth, and it did indeed ruin our meals (from a relaxation point of view). In 2001, there were none, last July, it was out of control....

As far as number 3, I don't think you will see a change happen, best bet is to stay at a place away from the airport so you don't have to deal with that inconvenience....

Cindy,
I stand corrected.
Bob

Marc: What's happening in April? Regatta?

Dia di Rincon (and Koninginnedag) on April 30

Marc, does the "activity" also pick up for Dive Festival week? I hope not.....Carole

PS Does anyone have any idea whether or not the "bad guys/gals" access this board??? cb

Of course a better job could be done providing separate checks. I think there ought to be a mandatory 25% service charge to do it though, it's a restaurant, not a bank. Every waitperson hates separate check people. And any civilized diner is aware that a table of six or more should tip a bit more for the trouble involved in serving them all equally well. Maybe your group should bring a piece of paper to figure out your individual totals and a reasonable amount of change with you if you want to speed up the process? We long ago realized that if wanted to "get along" after dinner we should bring change so we could leave our money in the box and scoot out to get ready for that night dive.

My primary purpose for posting the text of the letter we sent to various Bonairean authorities was specifically point # 1 given the subject of this thread is 'Theft in Bonaire'. The remaining three points were thoughts that came from our group that we thought were valuable general feedback.

I would like to encourage continued dialogue around the crime, theft, etc. that has been experienced in the last few years. We love the island and don't want to be kept away by fear. I can only hope that continuing to highlight the issue, if in fact it is still an issue, will prevent the matter from being swept under the carpet, so to speak.

I should also add that, relative to point #1, car theft and break & enter are not considered petty crime in most jurisdictions. This is serious stuff and often things escalate from there. For what it's worth ...

Hi Carole,

No, not very likely, as that is not a local event. With Carnaval and such, "they" need money for partying.
Of course, the risk is always there; I'm not saying it doesn't happen at all in other periods. But there is a correlation (based on experience).

We just returned yesterday from our first visit to Bonaire. Thanks to this forum we knew not to take anything we can't live without to the dive sites with us so we didn't have anything stolen out of our vehicle.

However, we rented Crown Courts 44A in Sabadeco and we maybe got a false sense of security from being "safely" hidden behind locked gates. None the less, I still made it a point to take everything inside off the terrace each night. Then on Thursday night we got careless and in our haste to get to dinner we left our snorkeling equipment on the terrace behind the locked gates. Friday morning we were missing two pairs of fins, my husband's dive boots and our DEET insect repellent. The fins were Scuba Pro Twin Jets that we had gotten each other for Christmas.

I cursed the thieves and kicked myself for being careless. It is truly sad that you must be so diligent in an otherwise wonderful place. Not to mention that I was a bit nervous that the thieves had maybe been outside our windows while we were sleeping - not a comfortable feeling!

We weren't going to file a police report but Bruce at Caribe Inn encouraged us to do so because he said if people stop reporting the thefts then the crime statistics will go down and the police will assume the problem doesn't exist anymore.

We wondered if the thieves specifically targeted tourists and when we took the sunset cruise on the Woodwind we spent quite a bit of time talking to Aminah - an absolutely lovely young lady who helps out by serving drinks and snacks. As it turns out, her house had been broken in to a couple of days before - they came home and scared off the thieves. So this is not just a problem for visitors.

Belinda

You did good in reporting it Belinda, because Bruce is absolutely right. Statistics are very important to get things to change. And you're right, it's not just tourists; there have been a number of burglaries in local homes too in the last few weeks.

A little something we found interesting that I will share ...

We have been traveling to St. Martin (mostly the French side) for the past 1/2 dozen years. When we were there in April of 2004, we noticed several 'Gendarmes' around the resort. We were to learn that they weren't there on holiday or on training as we had thought. The French officials on the island and the 'mother country' were extremely concerned about the increased theft, vandalism and crime on the island. They choose to beef up the population of police on the island for a period of six months during the peak tourist season by sending a few dozen officers. We were told they sent a team for 3 months and then another team for the next 3 months. They were being housed at two different resorts. They worked the night shift, slept during the day and socialized around the resort during the evenings. Apparently, the added presence did serve to improve the situation markedly and I for one, felt much better.

I read elsewhere on Bonaire Talk where the control for Bonaire policing resides on Curacao. I don't claim to understand their processes but it would seem that with the Bonaire and Curacao relationship to Holland that it would be prudent for Holland to step in until this situation improves significantly. It is clear (to us anyway) that the Bonairean police are ill-equipped to provide not only the level of service necessary but lack the skills and experience necessary to deal with the situation. We also suspect that we may have a situation where many of the police are related to Bonaireans.

The responsible official must do something and soon. The island's future and livelihood depend to a large degree on tourism and the dive industry.

Marc, I appreciate your candidness here. Thank you.

Cindy, there is a big difference between the dutch and french situation in this. St.Martin (the french side) is a part of France and falls under the control of the French government.
The Netherlands Antilles, as well as Aruba, are separate countries in a commonwealth structure with Holland. They have their own government and own police force. So not only is it not possible for Holland to "take control" just like that, it's also a very sensitive issue, especially with the Antillian population.
Borrowing police officials from Curacao is also not an option, as crime is much, much heavier there than on Bonaire, so they need all the officers themselves.

Mind you, we may come to a situation where the Antillian government may ask Holland for help, but I don't see that happening any time soon.

Hi Marc

I understand. It is still a shame that the NA governments don't reach out for help some how or another. I know of a few very experienced senior police officers who could be engaged for consulting services. That might be enough to provide the training and coaching that would make a difference. Just a thought. It's clear that what is being done the past few years isn't working. I sure hope something can be done as I very much want to be able to return to Bonaire in the years ahead.

In addition to Marc's comments, a main problem is that the police are not a Bonaire-controlled department, as our town or provincial/state police are in Toronto, in Ontario or in the US. Their administration is from Curacao, including the inadequate number on island and their level of industry. That is one reason why the on-island BT'ers also express vast frustration with the situation. They live with it every day.

With crime worse in Curacao why can any of us expect Curacao to control it better on Bonaire than they do at home. There is apparently not enough money for either place. Depressing but...

In addition, as someone else has pointed out here and has been explained in the Bonaire Reporter recently, there are no juvenile holding or long term jail facilities in the Antilles let alone on Bonaire so perpetrators are simply put back on the street, with the result you reported. And they are well aware of this, of course.

Your concerns are real and your letters are eloquent but I think better addressed to the Central Government on Curacao with copies to Bonaire officials and to Holland.

Fortunately, for all these words of ours, there are far worse places: the 'glass' on Bonaire is still quite full. If we only had a few magic wands.... :–)

As always, it's also a money issue. It's very easy to say "yeah, but if crime hurts tourism it will win more money than it costs". That doesn't take away the fact that you still need money to spend in the first place, money this government and council just don't have.