I found it a bit discouraging on reading today's edition (Sat/Sunday Feb 25-26) of the Wall Street Journal front page article entitled "Island Traffic Jam". The article discussed the cruise ship business & how it's becoming more & more congested & gave the cruise statistics on many of the islands in the Carib. However what struck me was of all the islands discussed, the ONLY one linked to crime was Bonaire! Quote..

"Bonaire adds manpower when the cruise ships are in town to protect tourists from thieves looking to nab scuba gear."

How's that for publicity!

disappointing when there is so much good to say and that we hear so much about crime on other islands...

but let's look at the positive, i.e. it points out that Bonaire takes action to prevent potential crime whereas it apparently does not say that about other islands

Yikes! Vince, thanks for posting that. That is sloppy journalism. Whatever happened to fact checking?
Right, Denise. We can read it as a positive spin.

Ironic. I've lived here 15 yrs, and the only time my gear was stolen (mask, fins, snorkel & bag) was while I was on-board a NCL cruise for our KFC Caribbean-Region Convention (our convention was held on the ship). The NCL policy was: last night you must leave your bags outside your cabin door, they'll be delivered to you on the shore. I don't know if another passenger or cruise crew stole my stuff--I filed a complaint, but after much time/many complaints, NCL wrote it off as "lost & found" i.e. no re-imbursement/admission of responsibility. Guess they didn't want their stats to look bad. And I've never found another mask I liked so much. At least they didn't lose my spouse...

Ruth - did you have to leave him outside the door too?! ;)

That's a pretty nasty one liner....

I agree with Gail...pretty nasty one liner...particularly, when in St. Maarten as I've said several times before, there were 4 or 5 cruise ships in port daily, and you had to hold your purse/bag close to your chest because Phillipsburg was a mess and crowded and we were warned of pick pocketers. We were also told to not stray off the main roads during the day, or at night. We did get off road one day by mistake, and I can tell you we were very very nervous. We also strayed by accident one night getting lost again and were sweating bullets trying to find our way back to the hotel (it was obvious by the locals hanging out on the streets that we were not in the right place, nor did we feel safe).

I can honestly say I have NEVER felt that way on Bonaire.

I am posting this, which I received from a friend.

Caribbean Tourism Destinations at the Bottom of The National Geographic World Score Card for Sustainable Tourism:

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Feb, 10, 2006, CaribbeanINVESTOR -- Only 13 places in the Caribbean are on the latest Destination scorecard issued by the National Geographic Traveler Magazine and none of the 13 are in Puerto Rico. The scorecard lists 115 destinations worldwide.

Attending the recent Caribbean Media Exchange (CMEX) in San Juan was James Dion, associate director of the National Geographic's Center
for Sustainable Destinations in Washington. The event was hosted by the Puerto Rico Tourism Co.

The 115 destinations worldwide of the Scorecard are divided into Top Scores, Middle Scores and Lower Scores. In the top group only Bonaire, renowned for its scuba diving, placed 31st for its environmental conditions and social cultural integrity.

In the middle category there are five destinations in the Caribbean. They range ranging from St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands (36th) which has a good rating for environmental conditions but also a warning for outlook. Then No. 46 is the British Virgin Islands with
warnings on environmental conditions and tourism management and a good rating on outlook. Next came the Bahamas Out Islands (45th) also with warnings on environmental conditions and tourism
management.

St. Lucia ranked next at 59th with warnings on environmental conditions and tourism management and a good rating for outlook.

Barbados was ranked 75th with warnings for environmental conditions and tourism management. Ranked 77th was Havana's Historic Center
with a warning on environmental conditions, a good rating on aesthetics but a warning on tourism management.

It is in the lower score category where the remaining six Caribbean destinations are. They range from Aruba (80th) to the Quintana Roo
coast of Mexico (97th), the northern coast of the Dominican Republic (100th), St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (101st) and the north coast
of Jamaica (104th).

Aruba got a bad rating for environmental conditions and a warning rating for social and cultural conditions. Quintana Roo got a
warning ranking for environmental conditions, a warning rating for social and cultural conditions and a bad rating for outlook.

Negril in Jamaica ranked 99th with a warning on environmental condition and a bad rating on outlook. Next was the north coast of
the D.R. ranked 100th with a warning on environmental conditions and a bad outlook. St. Thomas in the USVI ranked next at 101 with a
warning on environmental conditions, a bad tourism management and a bad outlook.

At the bottom of the list is the north coast of Jamaica at 104 with a warning on environmental management. a bad rating on tourism management and a warning outlook.

National Geographic quotes Nature Conservancy which describes St. Thomas as "massive over visitation by massive cruise ships" and
quoted a recent photographer's description of St. Thomas as "hard to differentiate St. Thomas from an overcrowded Florida shopping mall."

"Maybe it's not so bad that Puerto Rico didn't make the list considering some of the brutal descriptions of other Caribbean destinations," commented an attendee from Puerto Rico.

Thanks for the info, Cynde, and I agree with you, I have never felt uncomfortable or threatened when we have been on Bonaire.
Last year we were in Belize City for a couple days before going out for a week on a dive boat and that was a scary place. We weren't more than a couple of steps away from the hotel and people were trying to sell us drugs. We walked around a bit and went back to the hotel and booked a day trip for the next day. We did go back out for dinner that night and I was very nervous, we walked quickly to and from. Not my idea of fun.
We love Bonaire for it's friendly people, drive through town and everyone waves and says hey! Love it!

As a Bonaire resident, I concur. it is safe to walk around at night alone. It is safer than any of the places I lived in the US. It is safer than other islands I have visited.

I will travel to Bonaire alone and never feel frightened or alone!!

Nah, that was a decade ago, when I still kept him inside.
;-)
I think you have to take the Medd. cruises to lose a spouse...didn't that newlywed husband disappear off the ship near Turkey (while the wife went to the gym)? They probably labeled him "lost" too...
:-0

Ruth...lol...there have been quite a few people that have disappeared off cruise ships. The bride of one was on Larry King a few months ago. He "disappeared" on purpose...kind of like skipping town...

Uh-oh,
Now where has Sebastian gone....?
OH! There he is.
Whew!

Mare, we would never let Sebbo get too far away from you --- I would personally hunt him down and return him to NYC.

Now, where did I put Steven????

Hi Kelly,

I know where Steve (ITHRN) is, Riley's got him!

Mare

Cynde,

I checked out those ratings from National Geographic Traveler magazine. The survey was actually published in March 2004 Destination Scorecard but was trotted out again earlier this month at the Caribbean Media Exchange (CMEX) in San Juan by James Dion, associate director of the National Geographic's Center for Sustainable Destinations. The CMEX presentation seems to have generated a number of incoherent news articles.

In the original NGT magazine article, the 200 "specialists in sustainable tourism and destination quality" who rated the destinations placed the Norwegian fjords at the top, with a score of 82 out of 100 possible. Bonaire was actually tied for 10th place, with a score of 70. The panel gave Bonaire high marks for "environmental conditions", but were concerned about "social/cultural integrity" there. Bonaire was the only Caribbean destination in the top group. St John, USVI, followed closely with a score of 69, BVI scored 65, St Lucia 61, Belize reefs and islands 58, Barbados 55, and Aruba 54. Cancun and environs, Negril, and the north coast of the Dominican Republic were tied at 46, St Thomas scored 45, and the bottom Caribbean rating was given to north coast, Jamaica, 42. (Of the 115 destinations rated, only Costa del Sol, Spain, with a score of 41, rated lower than St Thomas.)

Many destinations weren't included in the survey - Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe, Curaçao, St Martin, Florida except for Key West, Bar Harbor, etc., etc.

I hope this clarifies the matter.

David

Oops - The ratings paragraph above should have said, "Of the 115 destinations rated, only Costa del Sol, Spain, with a score of 41, rated lower than Jamaica's north coast." St Thomas, of course, scored a full 4 points higher.

David

Thanks all for your input on this. I echo the sentiments of the other postings on the safety on Bonaire especially vis-a-vis other Carib destinations many of which I've personally visited.. This is the reason I was shocked when I read the article.
But it's also a warning that petty crime issues have a way of getting overblown in the media. I have never linked the destination of Bonaire with the word crime.

David, thanks for the update. I didn't realize mine was from 2004. Glad to see Bonaire is still the top Carib destination! Not surprised about PR and St. Maarten..however, don't go over to the TTOL St. Maarten board and tell them...you would get pretty much the same battle you do here when you mention crime on "their" island

That 85 year woman with blue hair, coming off the ship might have some some nice dive gear in her dive bag.

LOL Jerry...how was Bon?