The State Department has issued travel advisories for the Bahamas and Jamaica, warning about crime and water safety in the islands.
The advisory for the Bahamas was Level 2, meaning “exercise Increased caution.” The advisory for Jamaica ratcheted up to Level 3, meaning “reconsider travel.” The top level is 4, which basically means don‘t go there.
The Bahamas advisory mentioned gang-on-gang violence, but said that “violent crime, such as burglaries, armed robberies and sexual assaults occurs in both tourist and non-tourist areas.” It said travelers should “be vigilant when staying at short-term vacation rental properties where private security companies do not have a presence.”
It also specifically warned about dangers involving water tours and commercial recreational watercraft. “Activities involving commercial recreational watercraft, including water tours, are not consistently regulated,” it said. “Watercraft may be poorly maintained, and some operators may not have safety certifications…Commercial watercraft operators have discretion to operate their vessels regardless of weather forecasts; injuries and fatalities have occurred. Due to these safety concerns, U.S. government personnel are not permitted to use independently operated jet-ski rentals on New Providence and Paradise Islands.”
The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism downplayed the warnings, saying they “do not reflect general safety in the Bahamas, a country of 16 tourism destinations and many more islands.”
But a few days later two American women said they were drugged and sexually assaulted at a tourist water park in Freeport. They had been on a Carnival Cruise ship but had disembarked to spend time at the Pirates Cove Zipline and Water Park, where they had drinks that they suspected were spiked. They lost consciousness and later realized they had been assaulted. The Royal Bahamas Police Force arrested two suspects.
The State Department’s advisory for Jamaica was direct. “Violent crimes, such as home invasions, armed robberies, sexual assaults and homicides, are common,” it said. “Sexual assaults occur frequently, including at all-inclusive resorts.”
The advisory also noted that the homicide rate in Jamaica has been among the highest in the Western Hemisphere for several years.
For its part, the Jamaica Tourist Board said that crime among visitors “remains extremely low.”
Read the advisories at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/the-bahamas-travel-advisory.html and https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/jamaica-travel-advisory.html
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