The U.S. Embassy in Nassau has issued a direct warning to American travelers: do not rent jet skis in the Bahamas. The June 15 security alert follows a pattern of serious incidents tied to unlicensed and uninsured operators working Nassau’s most popular beaches, incidents that have resulted in sexual assaults, hospitalizations, emergency medical evacuations, and at least one death.
The embassy flagged rogue operators as the central problem. These individuals actively solicit tourists on Junkanoo Beach, Saunders Beach, Cabbage Beach, and near the Cruise Port, as well as on small islands east of Paradise Island. Law enforcement oversight of these areas is described as sporadic at best, leaving tourists with little protection if something goes wrong.
U.S. government employees working in the Bahamas are now banned from renting or riding jet skis on New Providence and Paradise Islands. All American citizens are advised to follow the same caution.
The incidents behind the Bahamas warning
The scale of what has been reported makes the warning difficult to dismiss. Since August 2024, six U.S. citizens have been hospitalized with injuries from jet ski accidents in the Bahamas. Three of those six required emergency medical evacuation back to the United States.
The most fatal incident involved Alaska Air National Guard 2nd Lt. Robert Rosa, who was killed in August 2025 while on vacation in Nassau. Rosa was struck by an unlicensed operator driving an unregistered boat in the waters off Paradise Island.
The sexual assault reports are equally alarming. Three American women reported being assaulted by jet ski operators in 2024. Two additional cases were reported in 2025, and two more have already been reported in 2026. According to the embassy, the pattern involves operators soliciting tourists for rides and then taking them to isolated islands where the assaults occurred. At least one man has been charged in connection with the incidents.
What the Bahamas has done in response
Bahamian authorities implemented a new law in March 2026 prohibiting jet ski operators from riding with guests, a direct response to the mounting sexual assault allegations. The regulation was designed to eliminate the opportunity for the kind of misconduct that had been reported.
Whether that law meaningfully changes conditions on the ground remains to be seen. The U.S. Embassy’s June 15 warning came months after the law took effect, suggesting that concerns about enforcement and operator behavior have not been resolved.
The Bahamas currently holds a Level 2 travel designation from the U.S. State Department, which advises visitors to exercise increased caution due to violent crime including armed robberies, burglaries, and sexual assaults as well as swimming-related risks connected to jet ski and boating activity.
What travelers should know before visiting the Bahamas
The warning does not tell Americans to avoid the Bahamas entirely. The island nation remains one of the most popular cruise and vacation destinations for U.S. travelers, and the embassy’s guidance is specifically targeted at jet ski rentals and solicitations from operators near the waterfront.
Travelers are advised to avoid anyone approaching them near the Cruise Port or on Nassau-area beaches offering jet ski rides, to follow local weather and marine alerts, and to contact the embassy immediately if they need assistance.
The U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas, Herschel Walker, delivered a public video message alongside the written advisory, emphasizing that American lives have already been lost to what he described as preventable accidents, and that visitors should carefully weigh all risks before getting on a jet ski anywhere in the Bahamas.