U.S. Embassy in Nassau advises Americans to avoid jet ski rentals in Bahamas over safety and assault concerns

U.S. Embassy in Nassau issued a security alert on Monday urging American tourists to avoid Jet Ski rentals in the Bahamas. The advisory cited a pattern of fatalities, injuries and sexual assaults linked to unlicensed watercraft operators.

Ambassador Herschel Walker released a public service announcement with the alert. “I need to warn you about some serious dangers associated with renting jet skis and small watercraft and swimming at beaches where jet skis and small watercraft are being operated in shallow waters, particularly around Nassau and Paradise Island,” he said.

The embassy said rogue operators described as unlicensed, uninsured and operating unsafe watercraft actively solicit tourists on Cabbage Beach, Junkanoo Beach and Saunders Beach.

Oversight of rental areas on Nassau’s most popular beaches is sporadic at best, the embassy stated. “We’ve lost American lives to preventable accidents. Multiple visitors have been hospitalized,” Mr.

Walker said. S. citizens have been hospitalized from Jet Ski accidents in the Bahamas, the embassy reported. Three of those six required emergency medical evacuation to the United States.

Two American women reported sexual assaults by Jet Ski operators in 2025, and two more such reports have already been filed in 2026, following three in 2024, according to the embassy. The warning follows the August 2025 death of Alaska Air National Guard 2nd Lt. Robert Rosa.

An unlicensed operator driving an unregistered boat struck his watercraft off Paradise Island during a Nassau vacation. S. government employees stationed in the Bahamas are already prohibited from renting or riding Jet Skis on New Providence and Paradise islands.