Bay Islands, Belize, Mexico or Egypt in February

[-Kira-]

Hey Everyone,

I´m planning my month long trip starting next month and due to covid I haven´t booked any flights yet.
My plan is to do about one week of land-based diving and than 3 weeks of non diving holiday, I haven´t been to any of the mentioned places and never anywhere in Latin America.
In 2019 this forum helped me out so much to find a very good place for my scuba holiday aka the Philippines and exactly where to go in the Visayas.
Since being from Germany most North Americans would probably advise going to Egypt because of the short distance from Europe and there is so much to explore in Egypt on land and I would combine it with a trip to Dubai or Istanbul. Only thing that keeps me off are the water temperatures right now.

Due to the amazing tropical weather in Mexico and Central America and one month time, I´m really tempted to go there. (I know that Feb is still rainy season in the Bay Island but travelled a lot in the rainy season in Asia and that doesn´t keeps me off that much, if the sea isn´t too rough)

I do a few dives in Germany during the summer months and also learned how to dive here, with now about 60 logged dives, a AOW Brevet and spend my first dive holiday in the Philippines, as mentioned above.

Had been tested positive before with very mild symptomes and I don´t need a test to fly home, only if the Airline requires it. So I´m only worried if I have to do a test during my travels or being a contact person and have to quarantine somewhere.

Or is there any other place in Central America or the Caribbean that I forgot that is easy to combine with a trip to that region?

Other than scuba diving I´m thinking of going to either Mexico City, Oaxaca and Chiapas or Nicaragua because I´m expecting Costa Rica and Yucatan to be very crowded


Thanks a lot!

 

[rongoodman]

Given the dynamic nature of the current spread of the Omicron variant I would be skeptical about planning a trip like that in the near future. It's only been about six weeks since it was first identified and it has since altered the entire pandemic and various nations' responses to it. At the very least, make sure you're fully vaccinated and can prove it to the satisfaction of whatever countries you plan to visit.

 

[-Kira-]

Of course, it´s important to take all precautions, but I just want to indicate that my chances of getting it again are much lower than just having the vaccine . Also I don´t have any sort of health risk if testing positive again because of not being in a risk group and I just had the mildest cold of my life after testing positive.

All immunised Germans and Residents of Germany don´t need a test to go home, so that puts a lot pressure off, if I fly into Mexico with Lufthansa or Condor and not having to do any tests if only staying in one country when Omicron hits very hard in the next weeks. It´s currently the same in Honduras but Belize requires a test. I´m just very optimistic that the entry requirements aren´t going to change anymore in Mexico.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I just returned from Yucatan. How does one define "crowded"? Yucatan is a tourist destination, sure, but it doesn't feel crowded to me. In contrast, Mexico City is a crazy crowded place--very densely populated--and I would avoid it until the Omicron wave is over. But I am biased toward Mexico--I just love the country. Cozumel is one of the nicest diving destinations in the Caribbean, and for non-diving holiday there are many Maya ruins sites to explore. I flew in and out of Cancun and noticed there was a nonstop flight to Frankfurt.

Covid concerns me, even though I am healthy, triple-vaccinated, and therefore able to take some risk. I bought insurance in case I tested positive and needed to quarantine in a hotel.

Whatever you decide, good luck, have fun, and stay safe!

 

[-Kira-]

I´m expecting the upper Yucatan to be very crowded with tourists and people not sticking to the covid rules since being in a party destination for some like Tulum, Playa del Carmen and so on. Just don´t want to be somewhere where all the Mexicans follow the rules, but the Tourists don´t. Also Oaxaca and Chiapas seem more exciting to me after the diving in Cozumel.

Had been exposed to a high SARS Cov2 viral load and nothing really happend and there is no hint that it gets worst when reinfected plus even our Dr Fauci (Prof.Drosten) mentioned that in my age group the seasonal influenza is more dangerous.

But I make sure to do my best to protect others aka wearing a N95 mask and so on.

After doing my research on this forum Cozumel seems like a great choice, so thank you for another encouragement!
I´m just so excited to check out Teotihuacan and thinking that Cancun is one of the busiest Airports in the World, so it makes no big difference

Direct flights go to Mexico City and Cancun,San Jose and Panama City plus a few Caribbean Islands.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Just don´t want to be somewhere where all the Mexicans follow the rules, but the Tourists don´t.

I feel the same. I spent my week in only a small area (Puerto Aventuras), but the people there appeared to take masking more seriously than here in the part of the US I live in (state of Georgia). The businesses, restaurants, and supermarkets I visited required masks, and the tourists as well as locals appeared to comply. I saw very few tourists blatantly flouting the rules. (My wife and I made a game of spotting those few tourons.) However, in line with your suspicion, in places where the rules were not posted or otherwise clear, the extent of (voluntary?) masking that I observed seemed to correlate with how touristy or non-touristy the place was. In the least touristy places, locals (and conscientious visitors, such as most divers) seemed to prefer KN95s. At the supermarket there was an employee pointing a thermometer at each person who entered, although we quickly realized it was mostly for show--the readings were WAY off, and the guy with the thermometer said nothing.

On my return to the US, the difference was apparent to me as soon as I landed. I saw many fewer KN95s; most of my fellow Americans in the airport were wearing the standard blue paper surgical mask that apparently does not work so well against Omicron.

Oaxaca and/or Chiapas would be great if you have the time. I haven't been there since my backpacking days (now long behind me).