Lyn

I'm very tired of all of the bashing. Who amongst us knows the actual statistics of crime committed against tourists in St. Martin (all others please refrain from posting your second hand knowledge)? Also, if you know, how does the crime in St. Martin compare to other islands?

Juststayhome

The question should not be who knows but who cares? If people are so afraid of crime in the caribbean or anywhere else in the world than they should just stay home where it's nice and safe - depending on where you live of course!

Yvette

You're NEVER going to hear the truth from any island, because the governments, chambers of commerce, and tourist boards certainly have a vested interest in downplaying crime. The St. Martin newspaper, for example, does not post crime stories on its website, because tourists visit the website.

So forget about the truth. All we tourists have is second-hand information, warnings from hotel employees, and advice from fellow travelers.

Gang rape of a tourist in St. Martin? It was reported by a Caribbean news wire, but it didn't get much attention -- except on boards such as this one.

Finally, forget about the "official" word from the State Department -- it's outdated and provided by the island governments.

hmmm

Yvette, which Caribbean news wire? Can you provide us with a link so we can read about it too?

Know what? Bet it never happened.

Yvette

It's an old story; I think 1999 (??). It was heavily discussed on another board, and an attorney posted the story from Lexis/Nexis.

Basically an American woman and her boyfriend/husband were returning to their hotel at about 2AM when their rental car was stopped by several men standing in the road. Both the tourists were pulled from the car; the man was beaten and the woman was raped by multiple assailants.

Is is old news? Yes. Was it swept under the rug to protect tourism? Of course. That's my point, and nothing else.

Jeremy

All I know is that 1 rape case in 99 should not hav a factor. I work in D.C. Im sure there is a lot of Crime!
also heard about a rape in St. Thomas from my TA. But whatever.
I went to SXm for 10 days, walked on the beach, walked around the 2 capitals, crime was not a factor.

Tex

Hang it up, Jeremy. Nobody's going to listen to you, everyone will continue to believe what they want to believe. You know it's a great place and so do millions of other people. The last thing SXM needs are these Fodors nerds running around.

Jeremy

your right.

Lyn

So far we have one rape case in 1999. I'm certain that crimes are covered up but word does eventually leak out. There are rapes, murders, robberies, etc. in every town in America every day and for that reason, I don't understand the bad rap that SXM gets on this board. People still travel to New York, Chicago, LA, but they make sure to be aware of their surroundings. The same can be done in St. Martin.

In my opinion, St. Thomas is worse for poverty than St. Martin. But, as long the poverty/crime aren't out of control, like any US city, if you practice caution, you should be okay.

Doc

Look you fools. This thread is ridiculous. Of course "there's crime everywhere." Stupid point. It's all relative, and the fact is, crime is relatively more prevalent in some locations than others. Downtown Detroit versus Boise, Idaho. Get it?

So is Grand Cayman "safer" than SXM? Yes. Deal with it.

ohliz

Those State Dept reports have changed somewhat, I've read them before and after and they are, as this article says, much more explicit and far less sunny now.

http://home.post-dispatch.com/channel/pdweb.nsf/4daa3d989dbce5e885256a0f005ee235/86256a0e0068fe5086256b3300352e14?OpenDocument

(I don't think that link will work after today, it's fro mthe St Louis Dispatch, 12/31/01, Page A1.

It begins:

'State Dept. sharpens its warnings to travelers

By Jon Sawyer
Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau Chief

WASHINGTON - Americans planning trips abroad can now look to the State Department for more explicit information on current crime threats in countries they intend to visit.

As recently as early this year, consular information sheets on other countries rarely mentioned murder or other violent crimes. Those for Honduras and Guatemala were updated only after Post-Dispatch articles in the summer detailing a rash of unsolved murders of Americans and complaints about inadequate response from U.S. officials.

Embassy officials privately conceded that they were under pressure, from local governments as well as business interests, to play down data on crime that might dampen tourism in countries dependent on the dollars spent by American visitors.

But the newly updated information sheets (available on the Web at travel.state.gov or by calling 202-646-5225) pull few punches. Colombia? "(O)ne of the most dangerous countries in the world."'

I think it's a copyright problem to post the whole article.
Liz

European

Perhaps you Americans should look at the tremendous crime rate in your OWN country! I have travelled a lot both in Europe, the Caribbean, and the US, and the most unsafe I have ever felt was on several occasions when I would up in a "bad" neighbourhood in a major US city (New York, Boston, Chicago). I have been to St.Maarten/Martin 6 times and have never felt unsafe at all. To compare crime on ANY Caribbean island to the US is laughable, in my opinion.

Yankee

Yes, I guess you Euros get plenty of time to travel, what with 8 weeks vacation and 30 hour work weeks. Must be tough.

But you're wrong, of course. Crime rates in most major US cities, especially NY, are much lower than many Caribbean vacation spots. YEs. Look it up. Oh, but that would require work, which you probably aren't accustomed to.

2010vaca

FYI on our first visit to St Martin last week, we were attacked in our condo bedroom while asleep at 4 am by 3 youths with knives and told to give them our money and jewelry and to be quiet or they would kill us. When they started rousting around our things I started to yell at them. One tried to tape my mouth closed which I fended off. He then covered my face with a pillow and pressed down with force while another held my husband down. My husband managed to get free and pulled the one off me, while calling for my brother who was in the downstairs bedroom asleep with his wife. They finally left after punching my husband 4 times and taking our cell phones and camera, rental car and some cash. My sister in law screamed out the window for help after my brother heard the commotion and realized what was going on. We think that is what caused them to go. Responding police only wanted to know how much cash they got and quickly towed the stolen car that the thieves used to get to our condo. We couldn't wait to get off that Island. Before we left we heard 4 other stories from fellow travelers of theft this same week. Is it a coincidence or is crime out of control on this island?

Rosa23

WOW!

Kristen1206

So sorry to hear of your experience. How scary. But are you aware that you posted on a thread from 2002?

gabriele

Not sure why the date of the original thread makes a difference. After reading 2010vaca's post I looked at other posts on the topic and wish I had read these before making my reservations for St. Martin next week. As a single woman traveling alone, I want to be able to walk around safely during my vacation and this seems very risky on St. Martin/Maarten. I went to SXM for the first time over 20 years ago on a cruise, and loved the beaches. Having wanted to go back for so long, it's sad that this apparently is not going to happen now. I'll be spending my time instead on St. Barth's, where the beaches definitely do not appear to be as nice and there is not as much to do. What a shame that the local government and police can't get this under control.

Kristen1206

Ususally when people post on thereads that are almost a decade old, especially crime threads, they don't seem to hold as much clout. There have been many similar threads since then, just wondering if the OP realized this. SXM isn't my favorite island but I never once did I feel unsafe there. If you want an island with great beaches(SXM can't compare), and comparatively much less crime, you may want to check out Anguilla.

2010vaca

So where should I post this to warn tourists to be extremely careful in St. Martin now? Gabriele, be very careful on your trip. I'd lke to think our experience is an isolated one. What a beautiful island to have such a serious problem. Stay safe.

welch

Gabriele: I can't imagine where you've gotten the idea the beaches aren't as nice on St Barths as St. Martin- or that there isn't as much to do. Although I guess the later depends on what you're looking for.
I think you'll find many people(myself included) consider St. Barths their favorite island. The beaches are spectacular, the food is beyond compare, the island is very pretty and so much fun to explore. I think you'd feel very comfortable doing so.
If you're interested in St.Barths take a look at sbhonline.com, a website devoted solely to the island.
I think you'll be very pleasantly surprised!