44 replies to this topic

[WreckWench]

Hey....a number of people have been worried about the known small theft issues of Bonaire and worry about places overseas that they feel are unsafe to dive. Others have decided since 9-11 to NOT travel overseas at all.

How do you all feel about diving in places reported or known to have safety issues and do you dive them anyway just more cautiously or do you avoid them entirely? If you dive them at all...what do you do differently to increase your safety???

[Walter]

I was in the USSR the week after the failed coup for a dive trip. During the coup, my only concern was would they still let us in. Jack said we could parachute in if worst came to worst. I wasn't ready to go that far. I wanted to get out after the trip.

My blood bank makes me wait a year after traveling to some areas before they'll accept my blood. I don't travel to those places, other than that, I'm pretty open.

[stanner82]

Due to the current geopolitical climate, I reluctant to hit the Red Sea. Also, due to high-seas piracy, primarily in the Straits of Malaca [sic?], and anti-Western Islamic terrorists, parts of the S. Pacific are also off limits.

[triggerfish]

i guess i have no common sense.

my very first trip (not diving) was to egypt in '79 during (one of ) the war between egypt & israel.

went to went to fiji during the hostage thing (those rebels woulda been paying US to take me back, believe me!!!! let some moron ruin MY trip????? HELL NO!!!!).

travelled right after 911.

i wouldn't seek out trouble (contrary to popular belief). active warfare would be a deterrent, i guess; purported crime in the area? nah. hell, there's more crime where i work. but, then again, i'm very much a city girl and very street smart; there are probably a lot of members here that are not from the same environment and would be more skittish about being in a foreign country ....

[canuckdiver]

I'm more worried about irreputable dive operations than crime and so on where I go, but then, like TF, I've lived in some rough spots.

[triggerfish]

you're CANADIAN, fer crissakes, how rough can THAT be??????????????????

what...live in the SNOWMAN ghetto???

walk by a gang of canucks and they hurl MOOSE CRAP atcha????

oops! that was out loud. lamictal time!!!!!

[canuckdiver]

you're CANADIAN, fer crissakes, how rough can THAT be??????????????????

what...live in the SNOWMAN ghetto???

walk by a gang of canucks and they hurl MOOSE CRAP atcha????

oops! that was out loud. lamictal time!!!!!

number one, I haven't lived in canada ALL my life dear!

and number two, Toronto is a big city, and like most big cities, has some rough areas.
( I know, nothing like chicago, but...)

[triggerfish]

i was KIDDING, sweetie!!!!

except about the lamictal.

[Walter]

One of my dive buddies was a street cop in Toronto for 15 years. She has the same stories that cops in any major US city have.

[triggerfish]

except they use hairdryers instead of bullets to shoot the snowmen.


KIDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[WreckWench]

except they use hairdryers instead of bullets to shoot the snowmen.


KIDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey...I just lost my power again and so am on some serious borrowed time for limited internet access but I couldn't help but laugh my arse off about the snowman thing....tanks for the only bright spot in my day so far!!!

[Diverlady]

you're CANADIAN, fer crissakes, how rough can THAT be??????????????????

what...live in the SNOWMAN ghetto???

walk by a gang of canucks and they hurl MOOSE CRAP atcha????

oops! that was out loud.  lamictal time!!!!!

It's not the snowmen, it's the polar bears! They roam the streets of Toronto hunting for food 'cause that's where all the baby seals live - downtown Toronto!
The Toronto Police Dogsled Patrol (TPDP) does try to take care of the violent ones but it's still a problem. And at this time of year the Millbrook Ice Jail is starting to melt so the bears are escaping!
Moose crap is a good thing!! It's a natural deterrant for polar bears. Everyone in Toronto wears the eau de parfum version of it.

Sheesh! Don't you Americans know anything about Canada????



Anyway, back to the original question. I don't see the point in travelling to countries where there is current political unrest in the area I'm to visit. There are so many other fantastic places to dive that I can go somewhere else. As to small crimes such as theft, you get that everywhere anyway it's just a matter of how publicly it's reported and advertised as to whether you hear about it or not.

Diverlady

[coppermaus]

Crime probably wouldn't be a deterrent, though I'd probably want to avoid a place having some kind of deadly epidemic since I'm a magnet for whatever's going around.

Dunno about places with armed snowmen. That could be a bad trip.

[Diverlady]

Dunno about places with armed snowmen. That could be a bad trip.

If you're seeing armed snowmen, you're definitely on a "bad trip"! Time for a change of recreational drugs!!

DL

[drbill]

Definitely would NOT dive Los Angeles Harbor (although I know some who have had to for work)!

Although I was footloose and fancy free before 911, I'd be much more cautious today in Moslem countries (although not totally hesitant to dive in them). And I'd probably be real careful about diving in Texas (just kidding all of you).

Dr. Bill