Did you know that the dangers you should consider when traveling to the Bahamas don’t just include weather and potential crime? That’s right, the U.S. government also wants you to worry about jet skis.
The internet, specifically social media, is having a field day after the U.S. Embassy in Nassau issued a safety alert warning visitors, particularly government officials, to stay away from jet skis.
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“The beautiful waters here are one of the reasons people love to visit these islands,” U.S. Ambassador Herschel Walker said in a video released Monday on X. “But, I need to warn you about some serious dangers associated with renting jet skis and small watercraft.”
He announced that U.S. government employees are entirely banned from renting jet skis while visiting the islands, adding that the Bahamas has seen Americans killed in “preventable accidents,” and “multiple visitors have been hospitalized.”
Apparently, jet skis are much more dangerous than people realized.
Walker, a former football star and friend of President Donald Trump’s who almost won a U.S. Senate race in Georgia four years ago, also warned of another risk posed by jet skis: sexual assault.
Social media… is loving this
As one would expect, replies to the post are filled with memes and commentary from people who aren’t taking the safety alert too seriously.
“Wait… jet ski rental poses a risk to sexual assault?” one user replied. “Does the jet ski have some kind of remote ‘pop-up’ toy built into the seats or something? I’m so confused with this post…”
Others simply shared memes, including one from “South Park” with the phrase, “Show me on this doll where the jet ski touched you.”
One user even noted the post “is a Saturday Night Live sketch falling right into their laps.”
Despite the response on social media, the embassy says renting jet skis in the Bahamas poses a threat. So, is there really some danger there?
Jet ski incidents in the Bahamas
Walker’s video mentions American deaths and injuries due to jet skis, and turns out, there’s truth there. So as funny as social media can be, it might also be important to know what’s going on.
In September 2025, a U.S. citizen was killed after being struck by an unlicensed operator driving an unregistered boat off Paradise Island.
And since August 2024, the embassy says six U.S. citizens have been hospitalized with injuries from jet ski accidents. Three of them required emergency medical evacuation to the U.S.
Finally, getting to the stats that have people on social media riled up: sexual assaults. The embassy says in 2025, two U.S. women reported they were sexually assaulted by jet ski operators. So far in 2026, two more have come forward.
“Rogue operators continue to solicit tourists on Nassau’s most popular beaches, including Junkanoo Beach, Saunders Beach, and Cabbage Beach, as well as near the Cruise Port and the small islands east of Paradise Island,” the embassy wrote in a statement Monday. “Oversight by the authorities of these supposed ‘official’ jet ski rental areas is sporadic at best.”
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