As a family we have always hoped to dive Bonaire - and originally we were booked to arrive over Christmas. I am now considering cancelling as I am not sure Bonaire is safe for my daughters 18 and 20 years old as a result of the recent horrific kidnapping and murder of Marlies van der Kouwe. So two questions:

1. If I do come with my family - what precautions should I take - and what places should I absolutely avoid? What specific activities should I also avoid?

2. I have heard that cars left at dive sites should be left open to avoid damage due to break ins. Is this still an issue?? If yes - why is it not controlled by some ???? authority on the island??? I know that if i come I will have to pay a "Diving Fee" - why if I have to pay this - can my car still be vandalized?

Ronn

Welcome to BT Ronn, I'm just sitting here shaking my head on how to answer your concerns. My first thought is Dr Phil's response, "get real". Bonaire has had ONE kidnapping/murder EVER. Let's see you are from Philadelphia, let's do the math. Phili averages 27 violent deaths per 100,000 per year (more for rapes and violent crimes from here), Bonaire's rate is around 0.5 per 100,000. This means you are 60 times safer on Bonaire than Phili and that is probably an understatement.

As far as petty crime at dive sites that can happen but it is not really an issue.The island is small and there is no reason to bring anything to a dive site, but a towel, some water and a pair of cheap sunglasses. The sites are isolated, the people poor and they know you will be gone for a bit.

Nothing to avoid, go enjoy yourself and quite worrying you will have a great time.

Ronn I've been to Bonaire twice travelling with my mom. Neither of us has ever felt in danger or afraid on Bonaire. We've actually felt very safe walking around in town at night. That being said you and your family should use common sense as I'm sure you do in Philadelphia and all will be fine.

Same good common sense that you would apply at home, Ronn. If your girls go out at night, they stay TOGETHER. Never do they let one go off alone. (That was my rule here for my kids in Orlando.) Or else, if you are an especially nervous dad, you stay together as a family.....

When diving remote sites, just as Cecil said, leave nothing of value in the truck and there'll be nothing to take. Suit up at your hotel or Inn as much as possible, and leave nothing but a ratty towel and water bottles in the truck.

We'll be going on trip #10 in 2009, and my only personal loss was a beach towel that I left in the gear locker the night we packed. My bad!

Don't cancel! Go and enjoy!

Hmmm. I believe if you extrapolate the Bonaire figures, based on a population of 12,500, you will find that there are 8 incidents per 100,000. If the population is lower, then more per 100K. That still doesn't make Bonaire a dangerous place, though.

If the bad guy was still at large, I would worry...but they got the bas***d which means the island is once again peaceful and safe.

I worked and lived in Philly for 18 years and even there with the high crime rate (the hatchet guy on the bus in the 70s), I didn't worry about it much, if at all, just as you most likely don't worry either - much.

As Cecil said, go enjoy yourself and have a good time.

Activities you should avoid: I would recommend not diving too deep for too long.

Go have a great time, Ronn.

Ronn, welcome to BT. Take the advice of others. Nine trips, some solo without my husband. I go downtown at night for dinner and feel very safe. As others have recommended, use common sense. Keep valuables in the room safe (remember, you are going to a high tourist destination, just like any other high tourist destination around the world).

The "leave the truck unlocked and nothing in it" has been beaten to death. It's like others have said, you are at a remote dive site, in the water for at least an hour...you're a tourist...hmmm...maybe they were dumb and left valuables in the vehicle....same thing happens in Hawaii (Oahu). Nice big red letters on the trunk lid "do not leave valuables in vehicle."

I'm not making an excuse for the petty theft at dive sites (you wonder why it is not controlled). Logistics, not enough police to patrol all the dive sites 24/7.

We took our kids one year, 16 and 18. they had a BALL.

Go, dive, relax, enjoy Christmas with your family on bonaire...and use common sense...you will be in a foreign country.

Barry, if I made typos, spelling errors, etc...I haven't had my coffee bud and am late for work...lol!

Barry there are 13,000 locals but at least that many or more tourista's, so that 26,000 or so then throw in one incident per ten years and you end up with 0.25 per year. I actually over estimated the risk.

If he loved his daughters he would move to Bonaire to keep them safe .

Welcome to Bonaire Talk and Bonaire soon!

I moved to Bonaire when my child was 10. Never did I feel so safe as a Mom. My child went to town with her friends and had ice cream whilst I shopped in the area. Later as she grew a bit older I started dropping her off in town with friends for pizza and to hang out. They went to movies or bowling or hung out on the seaside. She is now 16 and spends time in town to listen to music and chill. I feel completely safe. Why? Because I feel Bonaire is very safe. Also because I am an abduction prevention specialist and a school counselor so she has heard the routine I taught hundreds over the years. She knows how to be safe. She knows never to travel alone be it the bathroom or in the street. She knows not to drink from open containers that are served from an unknown source. She knows how to protect herself and she knows that I am always a car ride away. I love Bonaire and it's been a great place for Maggie to mature. She has a lovely life experience with memories for a lifetime.

Rest In Peace Marlies

Hi Ronn,

Bonaire has the same petty crime to be found at ALL tourist destinations, and honestly much less than many other islands. It is FAR safer than my neighborhood here in Chicago, night or day.

The very same street smarts that apply in YOUR hometown apply on Bonaire.

Kids and booze (grownups and booze too) are a powerful force for stupidity and bad results, in YOUR hometown or on Bonaire.

I personally suggest you bring your sense of adventure, sense of humor and above all else common sense and you will have the time of a lifetime and return as often as your finances allow.

I must "ditto" Cecil here...
Geez, ever been to St. Thomas...whew go off from the resort and you may never come back!
Denver, CO...talk about gangs and violence.

I have felt safer and more welcome on Bonaire that ANYWHERE I have EVER traveled to.

There are bad people everywhere Ronn. Thats life.
Bon is wonderful and you will not regret traveling there.
Annemarie is 13 and if possible, she is coming with me next fall break. Will I let her go off alone at night...no....
But I feel more "safe" taking her there than I would downtown Denver at night...even on 16th street!

Ron, I am from Philadelphia myself. I have a vacation planned from the 29th of Nov, until Dec 7th, and there is absolutely nothing that could keep me away from Bonaire. Like everyone has said, do the math, Bonaire is an exceptionally safe and friendly island. Use your head, and you will be just fine.

ronn, welcome to BT. i agree with all of the above. we have never felt unsafe on bonaire, in any area, at any time of the day or night. we lock our house when we leave and leave nothing of value in the truck when we dive (except extra tanks and those aren't a high-theft item). when mary's sister and brother in law visited us a few years ago we had dinner in town and were walking back to the truck to go home. my brother in law said we should slow down to make sure they were safe and could catch up to us. i said there was nothing at all to worry about....and even after the recent tragic event i still feel that way about bonaire.

I returned to Bonaire this August for my 21st trip since 1987. This year I travelled solo with my two children ages 10 and 6. I have always felt safe and will continue visiting the island for as long as I can. I can't add much more to what already has been said other than don't miss out on an opportunity to visit one of the most peaceful islands with unmatched underwater beauty.

What happened to Marlies was a tragedy and hope we can prevent this from happening again. We, as Bonaire lovers felt the pain of having a young woman lose her life and the backlash that the island will face. Let's be level headed and show the people of Bonaire just how much we care by visiting as we always did.

Ronn. I'm going to assume that your first post on this board was meant to be in good faith. I'm also going to assume that you have not done much traveling in the Caribbean.

Having said that,I do find it a bit incredulous that you live in Philly & are really worried about Bonaire. There's absolutely no comparison in the area of safety between the two.

Please do me (& the readers of this board) a favor since you are receiving all these well intentioned responses to your posting.
Please provide us with a trip report when you return.

Have fun,that's what the vast majority of folks do. Take reasonable precautions & you'll be just fine.

Vince, thank you.

Wow - thank you to everyone for so kindly responding to my concerns. It seems that I am being overly cautious, and from all your assurances will definitely come and experience the island for myself. I really do want to see what it is about Bonaire that makes people return year after year.....

The only other place that I have visited in the Caribbean is Cayman, and they really try to promote them selves as being "Nearly crime free", but if you scratch below the surface there really seems to be a huge amount of crime driven mainly by drugs.

I will certainly post a trip report on my experience - both under, and above the water.

Again thanks to everyone
Ronn

Cecil....you are right !the average of crime in BONAIRE is so LOW if you compare with most of the cities of the U.S.A !

Ronn, IMHO there is no such thing about being overly cautious, especially in matters concerning our children. I hope you and your family enjoy your vacation as much as many of us have over the years.

Welcome to Bonaire Talk! Ask any questions you might have, that is what this message board is for.

We went twice this year. First time in May and read all about the stealing that goes on while you are diving. I never saw a thief or a cop. We went back in September for two weeks and never saw a thief and saw a cop one morning about 4 pm patrolling HH homes.

Will there be another crime in Bonaire? I would say the odds are about as great as your plane crashing on the way. "Zero"

Enjoy your visit and tell us all about your visit.

The fact that everyone knows everything about the one and only serious crime on the island says it all. How many crimes occur in our own cities that the media does not even bother to cover?

So people lose a camera or computer every once in a while. Big deal. Most of the time it is so petty that it is not even worth the time to fill out a police report.

i agree....there was a shooting a few years ago...it was a domestic thing. every restaurant we went to we had people asking if we had heard about the shooting. it was in the reporter for a few weeks. and as far as i know the guy who was shot didn't die. back home here it probably wouldn't have made the paper at all....maybe had the victim died we might have read about it for a day or so. but like people have said, crime like that is so very rare on bonaire that anything like that is big news.

I lived on Bonaire for 2005/6 and am desperate to return! I always felt "safe", and only had one case of the "petty" problems myself (my fault too).

knowledge + preparation + reasonable + rational + cautious = "SAFE"

Where I live now is statistically many thousands of times more "dangerous" than Bonaire, and I am safe here.
Knowledge is power though, so I think there is great value in hearing about these "rare" crime details in order to rationally prepare and protect yourself against them, ie."Leave your vehicle empty and open."
For your consideration, a student on Bonaire recent experience:
http://www.valuemd.com/st-james-medical-school/164115-warning-student-sjsm.html

For me, Bonaire is still one of the best places in the world, and I must return!!

IMHO Bonaire is a safe place. The problems that they do have are with the current police. Hopefully the Dutch will improve the police very soon.