I know this one's been done to death and I've read lots of messages about leaving cars empty and unlocked when you're diving, but what about towels, clothes etc.? I don't really want to have to drive home in a wet swimsuit. What do others do? Lindsey

I tend to wear this raggy coverup when diving. My husband just shorts and a tee, but nothing particularly attractive. We also wear floppy, utilitarian and hideously ugly hats, and Tevas (him) or generic well-worn flip-flops (me).

We've also brought a hotel-provided dive towel (the seats can get pretty hot and it's nice to have something between your thighs and the naugahyde).

All of which have always been in the car when we come back.

The sun and wind tends to dry you off pretty well in the time it takes to take care of all your gear.

We do the same thing, doors unlocked and windows down with old shoes, hotel towel and t-shirts thrown in the bed of the truck. So far no one wanted them.

Lindsey,

We took trash bags to cover the cloth seats of the car and took the quickest route back to our villa to rinse off and change.

Belinda

Has it gotten particularly bad in the past couple of years? I don't remember the feeling of general paranoia when I went to Bonaire in '01. I am going down for 2 14 day trips this year and do plan on diving. ;) I followed the advice of the time, nothing in the car, doors unlocked, etc and had no problems.

Is the threat level the same as in '01 or has it escalated?

Yikes Belinda, that sounds awful! You know, if you just stand around after you rinse off for, oh, 2 minutes, you are basically dry. I usually bring my little sport towel to dry off with, and we have towels for the seat.

Lindsey and all,

We bring tattered towels, ratty shorts, 2 2-liter bottles of water to rinse our faces and bodies with, worn-out shoes, and old sunglasses.

On one trip we had a spare tire stolen; last year we dove at Invisibles and forgot to take the keys out of the ignition. The car (and everything in it) was there when we came out of the water.

We now lock up the spare tire with a length of chain and a sesame lock wrapped in a baggie to keep sand and moisture out; and we double check to make sure we take the keys out of the car.

On another occasion, after a shore dive at Andrea II (before the new road was built) some kids took some licorice candy and 3 guilders from the ash tray. We noticed the kids on their bicycles before we got into the water and thought nothing of it...

To sum it up, we bring a positive attitude and don't bring anything along that we would miss if it were taken.

Hope that helps,
-MaryW

Seb,

It really wasn't bad - we were wearing Lycra Dive Skins and with the top pulled down (I wore a swimsuit underneath) they are not at all uncomfortable. And it was never more than 10-15 minutes back to our villa from any site we went with the exception of Lac Bay and we both took dry clothes to change into there - old shorts and t-shirts. And the lycra suits were much easier to rinse if we still had them on and PUTTING on a wet lycra suit is much harder than LEAVING it on :-) I guess swimming is such a rare commodity for us in February (being from the cold midwest) I just don't mind being a little wet - with the windows down made for some great natural air conditioning.

Belinda

Thanks all - I'll leave the Burberry at home then!!

Seriously, this is our first visit (16 nights from mid June) and whilst a lot has been posted about theft from cars, it's probably not a major problem - let's hope it's not, anyway!

Lindsey

Just returned from Bonaire; and did 7 days of shore diving; had a $20 bill in my wet suit, and just t-shirt, hat and 1 gal water jugs in the truck. No problems! Just leave your vehicle unlocked.

Folks before anymore fear strikes here is an idea find the biggest stray dog you can in Kralendijk, adopt him or her while your there and leave the dog in the car while you're diving. The best theft preventative has teeth.
P.S. crack the window while you're gone

Water jugs.....grand idea
Get a couple of gallon jugs and keep em filled and in the back of your truck (i take it your planning on a truck). A nice sunwarmed rinse off after a dive does wonders. I wouldn't travel without it

el cheeser

Jerry,

Please tell me you are kidding! We left the windows on our car completely down and it was still terribly hot inside when we returned to the car. I can't believe you would sanction leaving a poor animal closed up in a car for an hour or more in that heat. So PLEASE tell me you were kidding!!!!

Belinda

We just got back after 3 weeks in the glorious sun(our second trip to Bonaire). We too had no problems this time but last trip - yes but only the licence plates, go figure! However after all the warnings, I still saw people with their expensive dive bags and leaving good clothes on the seat. They've just been lucky I guess. We use old T-shirts and use dive booties which we rarely take off. Tip: Freeze your small bottles of drinking water and leave them in the glove compartment - they are just nicely thawed after the dive.

Just kidding

Jerry,

Thanks :-)

Belinda