VIRGIN ISLANDS (19 Nov 2006) -- Scuba diving honeymooners Michael and Julie Marsh warned fellow travelers that dive shops and resorts are lying to their customers about escalating crime in the Caribbean. "People need to know that it's dangerous to travel down there," said Michael Marsh, who was severely injured when masked gunmen stormed into a St. Croix restaurant where the newlyweds had just sat down to eat. "As soon as the drinks came, two masked gunmen stormed the restaurant and started shooting in the floor and told everyone to get to the floor," said Marsh. Marsh suffered severely sprained ankles and a sprained knee during the robbery. According to local police, the robbery was the third in one week at St. Croix restaurants frequented by tourists. The Marshes complained that neither the scuba diving shop that arranged their honeymoon trip, nor the resort where they were staying warned them about the surge in robberies and violence in the area. "I feel like they had a responsibility to let us now, at least, tell us 'Stay at the resort at night. Don't go out,'" said Julie Marsh. Cyber Diver advises travelers to always be wary of resort and dive operator hype, and completely disregard industry promotion groups such as DEMA and the Cayman Islands Watersports Operators Association that exist primarily to conceal public safety and environmental problems that might have a negative impact on the bottom line. | | Michael Marsh on crutches after his Caribbean honeymoon turned into a nightmare. The Marshes warned tourists to get the facts about escalating crime and violence at popular Caribbean holiday destinations. "Better information leads to better choices," explained CDNN Industry News Editor Lamar Bennington. "We urge dive consumers to carefully review CDNN's travel, safety, eco and consumer alerts before spending money on scuba diving products and services." CDNN Related Topics CYBER DIVER ALERT - Hype-free, independent, no-nonsense travel, safety, eco and consumer warnings |
