Warning About Bahia de Las Aguillas

BPL888

Active member
Sep 7, 2004
468
16
38
I took the boat trip out to Bahia de Las Aguillas last Friday from Las Cuevas and thought I should share a few warnings. The little insects (no-seums/sand fleas?) at the restaurant at Las Cuevas were brutal. We sat at the table for a while and I got chewed up pretty good. Make sure to bring bug spray. I did not notice any while at the beach at Bahia de Las Aguillas--- BUT-- We went out to the beach alone, just two of us. Once we landed at the beach we noticed one other couple about 1/2 to 3/4 miles away. It was an American couple we had met the day before. The beach is absolutely beautiful but very hot at midday. The only other person we saw was a spear fisherman in the other direction about 1/2 mile away. Other than that the whole beach seemed to be completely deserted. It was gorgeous!! There was a pavilion there with a roof and 6 picnic tables so we put our bags there and went for a swim. We were enjoying ourselves complely, but watching our possesions, realizing that we were still in the DR. After about an hour my girlfriend started walking down the beach looking for shells or whatever. I got up and started walking after her. She notice me and reminded me that we should be watching our bags so I offered to return to the shade. I had turned my back on our bags for perhaps 4 minutes and was no more than 30 yards from them. When I got back to the bags nothing looked amiss so I just sat enjoying the scenery. In a little while I decided to check my watch as we had the boat scheduled to pick us up at 2:30. I could not locate my watch but everything else, camera, wallet, bags etc seemed to be there so I just thought I had misplaced my watch. After more seaching I opened my wallet and discovered that all my money was gone (US$150-$200) but all my credit cards etc were still there. Apparantly someone had been watching us from the nearby bushes and waited till we walked away to go through my bag and take my cash and watch. In a way I chalk this up to my stupidity for not being more vigilant, but I truly felt like we were alone. Indeed this could have been a lot worse if they had taken the whole bags with the rental car keys, credit cards and camera, so in a way I felt fortunate. I guess I am poorer but smarter. We reported the theft to the boat operators and and they seemed genuinely upset about it and summoned the park ranger. It seemed that since we did not see who had done it it would be hard to catch the thief. They felt that it was probably one of the four spear fishermen that work within the park. They seemed worried that if they did not find a way to stop this it would endanger all thier business and thier livelyhoods. They also said that it the same thing had happened twice before. I did not allow this to ruin my trip as it was one bad exprience in an otherwise great vacation. I hope this warning helps others avoid my missteps.
 

mariel

Dominisueca
Apr 7, 2004
514
6
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Yikes mate, sorry to hear that, but I'm glad you guys enjoyed the beach anyways.
 

Marilyn

Bronze
May 7, 2002
728
22
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Wow, sorry about this bad experience. We made the trip to BDLA about two weeks ago and all went fine, but there were 10 of us and we never moved far from where our bags were. This is very bad for business since those people in Las Cuevas make their living by bringing people to the beach so they should report that to the authorities so they are more vigilant.
 

BPL888

Active member
Sep 7, 2004
468
16
38
They mentioned possibly posting a guard at the beach. I think having an armed guard behind me would detract from the appeal of BDLA. I would hate for something more serious to happen if someone caught and confronted the thieves. It is very remote and our boat did not return to get us for 2 1/2 hours. It seemed that the park ranger and the other fishermen had an idea who it was but catching them red-handed was another matter. I hope they put a stop to it soon for thier sake as well as the visitors.
 

minerva_feliz

New member
May 4, 2009
458
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0
Was any of this ever reported to the police or tourism? I know in terms of actually catching the person or getting your stuff back it's not an effective action, but to prevent it from happening again it might be good for any folks who have had a problem at Bahia to at least make a complaint so that they feel the pressure to keep it secure because it could hurt them where it counts (wallet!).

I am going there in a few weeks with one other person, any tips other than do not leave your bags at any time (seems kind of hard to do with just 2 people)?
 

BPL888

Active member
Sep 7, 2004
468
16
38
Reported to Park Ranger

We reported the theft to the boat operator who summoned the Park Ranger. We gave him a detailed report. We had a long discussion with him and he seemed very concerned, but since we did not see anyone it would be difficult to charge anyone. To make a report to the police we would have had to wait for them for possibly several hours, or go back into Perdenales to make a report. The Ranger said he would make the police aware that there was a problem. As for avoiding the problems I had you should not bring anything worth stealing with you. Leave any money or valuables locked in the car or better yet at the hotel. The car park seemed pretty secure with employees constantly around the cars. If you bring a camera keep it very close by. Be careful not to put your stuff to close to the bushes as it seems that's where they were hiding. Enjoy yourself but keep your eyes open. I would think twice about confronting anyone because as I mentioned earlier you are very isolated out there and a long way from any help. That being said it is a beautiful trip and very enjoyable as long as you are vigilant. Go and enjoy youself but remember where you are.
 

pyratt

Bronze
Jan 14, 2007
690
100
0
Perhaps someone could suggest to the park officials/police that they set up a sting...have a LEO show up in plain clothes on the boat, leave an inventoried bag in a conspicuous place while another officer watches "the bait"....when the "mapache" crawls out of the bushes to rummage the bag, make the the arrest.

Since the place is remote, it sounds like a good place to catch, convict, and execute some island justice upon the perp.