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On July 7, 2010, My wife and I, children, and others went to Coki Beach, USVI. We only went to Coki Beach because we were traveling as a group in separate vehicles, and the other parties had tickets to Coral World. They did not know how to get to Coral World, which is adjacent to Coki Beach, and I had a GPS. The appearance approaching Coral World and Coki Beach should have been our clue to turn around and leave, but we gave it the benefit of doubt and stayed. As the day progressed, we all met at Coki Beach and actually had a great time until we returned to our car. We discovered person(s) unknown had broken into the trunk of our car and stole all our valuables. In hindsight, we should have been more conspicuous when we placed then there, but none of us imagined the trunk would have been broken into. Needless to say, our trip to Coki Beach and St. Thomas was practically ruined from that point forward. Unfortunately, it was a (costly) lesson learned, but nobody was physically hurt. The day after we left 2 people were killed during a senseless criminal act. In response, the USVI Governor stated he and the people of the USVI are in shock by this incident. I remember watching a crime solving reality show several years ago when Dr. Henry Lee was called to investigate because murder in the USVI was non-existent, and the police did not have any experience investigating murders. Anyhow, those days are gone!!! I will never return to the USVI...too unsafe for me and I value my life!!!
I would not encourage all those concerned about crime in the vi to go elsewhere, it is a visitor forum and it is only prudent when visiting a new place to ask about things like crime. I am concerned about crime in the vi (but will still visit regularly). Had STM11 searched out this forum before visiting instead of after the fact, and asked about crime, he/she would have learned not to leave valuables in their trunk at the beach and would have enjoyed their vacation much more. I understand the exasperation of dealing with the impressions of others and folks who post with little experience (a two minute visit from a ship) or misinformation ( I heard ...). St.Croix ,to me, is a wonderful place that has had to deal with people's misconceptions for years. Hopefully STT will not go through a similar experience. That said, there is crime in the vi, and I believe for the most part it can be easily avoided, but making believe that it does not exist only allows the gov. to make believe as well and do nothing about it.
-D
When we visited in May, we had a wonderful week-long visit all over STT and SJ. However the only time I felt nervous for our safety was when we visited Coki Beach Dive Shop on Memorial Day to rent some dive tanks. On the way into the Coral World property, we ran a gauntlet of apparent grifters and young men looking for easy marks. There was a strong police presence which only seemed to add to the tension. We got in and got out and only spent twenty cautious minutes on the beach keeping my eyes on our beach bag every moment. With Coki such a beautiful beach and swimming opportunity, I don't know why the STT govt. doesn't put a higher priority on "bad crowd" control and the image that the Coki Beach scene portrays. Perception may not be accurate, but perception spreads like wildfire in this digital era.
blaze - great comment about perceptions, right or wrong, spreading like wildfire. I read a quote this morning credited, I believe, to Winston Churchill. Forgive me if its not verbatim, but somthing like "a rumor gets halfway around the world before truth has a chance to get its pants on."
