The U.S. Embassy in the Bahamas warned Americans on Monday to avoid renting jet skis in The Bahamas, saying rogue operators were soliciting tourists on Nassau’s busiest beaches and putting visitors at risk on the water. The warning was blunt: skip the rentals entirely, watch for solicitors near the Cruise Port, and pay attention to weather and marine alerts.
Herschel Walker used a PSA video to drive the point home, saying he had “an important message for Americans visiting or living in the Bahamas.” He said there were serious dangers tied to jet skis and small watercraft operating in shallow water, particularly around Nassau and Paradise Island, and added that “We’ve lost American lives to preventable accidents. Multiple visitors have been hospitalized.”
The embassy said the operators it was describing were often unlicensed, uninsured and running unsafe watercraft, with law enforcement oversight “sporadic at best.” It named Cabbage Beach, Junkanoo Beach and Saunders Beach among the areas where tourists were being approached. The warning also said U.S. government employees are banned from renting or riding jet skis there, a sign that the risk has moved beyond routine caution and into a formal government restriction.
Walker went further, saying American citizens had been sexually assaulted by jet ski operators who allegedly took victims to isolated islands. That allegation is what gives the warning its edge: this is not only about reckless equipment or a bad afternoon on the water, but about crimes officials say have been tied to the rental trade. The embassy said the United States is working with the Bahamian government to address the problems, though it gave no timeline for any change on the ground.
For now, the message to Americans is as direct as it gets. The Bahamas jet ski safety warning is not a caution to bargain harder or pick a different operator; it is an instruction to stay off the jet skis, keep an eye on the shoreline, and treat the beaches around Nassau and Paradise Island as places where a casual rental can turn into a serious emergency.
