The U.S. Embassy in Nassau warned Americans on June 15 to stay away from jet ski rentals in The Bahamas, citing assault reports, serious injuries and a lack of enforcement that has left riders exposed to danger. The alert told travelers to avoid accepting rides from operators and to be cautious around popular tourist spots tied to the complaints.
The warning is landing now because Americans keep heading to Nassau and Paradise Island for cruise and beach trips, even as the embassy says the risks have only grown clearer. In the alert, officials pointed to solicitations near the Cruise Port, Junkanoo Beach, Arawak Cay and the islands east of Paradise Island, areas where some visitors were approached for rides they later said turned into assaults or dangerous outings.
The embassy said it had received multiple reports since 2024 of Nassau-based jet ski operators sexually assaulting women who are U.S. citizens. It said two American women reported sexual assaults in 2025, after three other American women made similar reports in 2024. In one April 2025 report, two U.S. women accused local jet ski operators of rape after being taken to isolated islands; one of them was a 23-year-old cruise passenger. The man in that case has since been charged.
The safety concerns were not limited to the assault allegations. The State Department had already flagged similar risks in a travel advisory last year, saying there were concerns about unlicensed or uninsured operators and others who ignored weather warnings and still took people out. The embassy said the lack of regulations and enforcement had also led to accidents, including a death in August 2025 after an unlicensed operator driving an unregistered boat in the waters of Paradise Island struck an American riding a jet ski. Since August 2024, six Americans have been hospitalized with injuries from jet ski accidents, and three of them needed emergency medical evacuations to the United States.
That gap between the warning and the beach scene is the problem. The Bahamas remains a major vacation destination for Americans, and the same waters that draw cruise passengers are the ones where the embassy says repeated assaults and injuries have happened. Acting Port Controller Senior Commander Berne Wright said a new law that took effect in March 2026 was intended to reduce the opportunity for unwanted sexual misconduct by prohibiting jet ski operators from riding with guests. What remains unclear is whether that rule will be enforced in a way that changes what travelers actually face on the water.
As of June 15, the Bahamas was already under a Level 2 U.S. travel advisory urging increased caution because of violent crime, including armed robberies, burglaries and sexual assaults. The embassy’s message added a sharper warning for Americans headed to the beach: in Nassau, the danger was not only in the sea, but in who is allowed to take people into it.
