Cozumel COVID-19 updates

[flyboy08]

Thank you New....we took the plunge and booked the second week of August...facemask and sanitizer in tow...I can only hope other take precautions like we will....NYC amazingly surprises once again.....

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

Thank you New....we took the plunge and booked the second week of August...facemask and sanitizer in tow...I can only hope other take precautions like we will....NYC amazingly surprises once again.....

Good for you. I did just under 2 weeks in July. It was great. Interestingly I didn’t have anyone spot check my quarantine when I got back, just phone calls, but one of my friends did have 3 spot checks over the 2 weeks including one at 7am and one at 8:30pm....totally worth it. I know a few guys up here we’re planning to go but have cancelled as their employers are making them take unpaid leave for 2 weeks when they return, but those were firefighters and paramedics....so it’s understandable I suppose.

 

[deepsea21]

I second these points, and these emotions. I've been on the island since July 4. The level of mask compliance that I have seen is very high, 95%+ most days, but they seem to come off pretty quick at the local public beaches. Other than that, what I've seen overall is a level of seriousness with regard to safety that significantly eclipses what we're doing in the states, at least in my region (east TN, southwest VA). Masks are mandatory everywhere and as soon as you hit the sidewalk, the taxis won't let you in without one. The restaurants won't let you take a mask off until you actually reach your table, and if you need to hit the restroom you have to put it back on even for that short walk. Each taxi has a bottle of hand sanitizer and they give you a dollop, and the drivers take one themselves, before you go anywhere. Temperature checks are done before you can enter most businesses, and you get another squeeze of hand sanitizer there as well. One person at a time into the Chedraui, no shopping with your spouse or significant other. And one thing here that I haven't seen anywhere at home - they're sanitizing people's shoes. You'll have a plastic doormat that's filled with some kind of bleach liquid or something, you have to step in it and then onto a towel that's on the floor beyond it. What that accomplishes I do not know, but I can't imagine there's a downside to it, so my shoes haven't been this sanitary since they came out of the box new.

The divers appear to be coming back in decent force already, my operator (ScubaLuis) was dead in the water until late June, after which he's picked up enough bookings to be busy every day the entire month of July and into August. We started diving July 5, very few boats that day but we noticed an increase every day after that. Still not back to what it used to be, but there's a definite uptick. Talked to a Dive Paradise boat captain today, he said they're doing "OK" but have decent reservations the rest of the month as well.

That said, this island has taken a Mike Tyson punch to the face and is HURTING BADLY. I've lost track of how many boarded up businesses in downtown, a lot of which look like they're closed for good. The 7-11 on Melgar, Los Palmeras restaurant (the one on Melgar right across from the passenger ferry, that's been there a long time), the carpet and rug store on Melgar down by Guidos - are just a few that come to mind right now, all are closed, furniture and fixtures gone, completely empty. The latest word on when the cruise ships will be back? Depending on who you believe, its either the end of September or the end of the year. The pain is going to continue for quite awhile unfortunately.

So if you're on the fence, I say come on down as well. Bring your hand sanitizer and a bunch of masks, and IMHO you're probably going to be safer here than you will be in the states for the reasons stated above, and this place needs some money in a very bad way. And I forgot to mention that there's enough restaurants open to keep things interesting as well, even if some of them are only open Wednesday or Thursday to Saturday. We've hit Buccanos, Thirsty Cougar, Casa Mission, and Rolandis so far.

Still on the fence? Maybe this will help - the reefs look OUTSTANDING, the best by far that I've ever seen them and I've been coming here at least twice a year for the past 15 years. Vibrant colors and healthy coral abound, from what I can tell even the brain coral appears to be healing from the SCTLD or whatever it is they've been fighting. Lots of life around too, we saw 5 nurse sharks within about 10 minutes on Yucab the other day.

My opinion only of course, your mileage may vary. If I run into anything else material to report, I'll post further.

Thank you for the post. My wife and I have been visiting Coz for 15 years or so. Heck, we were married on Coz. On our travels we've been through 9/11, the Great Recession and have experienced our bouts unemployment but we always managed to keep traveling. However, this year is different. I have absolutely no fear of walking into a grocery store, a taxi, or grabbing take-out from a restaurant but getting on an AIRPLANE and being in that sealed tube is spooky. It is spooky to me because as others have stated here the people flying right now are the HIGH RISK TAKERS who don't care... They are the ones who cram the bars and restaurants and beaches and don't practice safe protocols. Do I want to be sealed in a plane crammed full of those people? I don't think so. These days with cases skyrocketing due to their behavior I hate to say it, but I don't think we'll be doing any travel that involves getting on a plane in the near future. It sucks for Coz and it sucks for us but we don't want to get this bug and find out if we just have a few sniffles or end up sick beyond belief or dead... It's not worth the risk at this point. I've always been one to say, "Do ya want to live today or survive tomorrow?" but this bug is SPOOKY and we know people who have been killed by it. For those who are willing and want to travel and accept the risk... By all means do. My wife and I are in our 50's and I just don't see us taking the risk of getting on a plane in the foreseeable future and should we get sick from that plane and develop symptoms we will be prohibited from boarding a plane to get back to the states and would be stuck in Mexico for who knows how long.

 

[flyboy08]

The air filtration system on planes are better than any grocery store! Wear a mask, hopefully no middle seating and go to CZM!

 

[ThatDogDontHunt]

Thank you for the post. My wife and I have been visiting Coz for 15 years or so. Heck, we were married on Coz. On our travels we've been through 9/11, the Great Recession and have experienced our bouts unemployment but we always managed to keep traveling. However, this year is different. I have absolutely no fear of walking into a grocery store, a taxi, or grabbing take-out from a restaurant but getting on an AIRPLANE and being in that sealed tube is spooky. It is spooky to me because as others have stated here the people flying right now are the HIGH RISK TAKERS who don't care... They are the ones who cram the bars and restaurants and beaches and don't practice safe protocols. Do I want to be sealed in a plane crammed full of those people? I don't think so. These days with cases skyrocketing due to their behavior I hate to say it, but I don't think we'll be doing any travel that involves getting on a plane in the near future. It sucks for Coz and it sucks for us but we don't want to get this bug and find out if we just have a few sniffles or end up sick beyond belief or dead... It's not worth the risk at this point. I've always been one to say, "Do ya want to live today or survive tomorrow?" but this bug is SPOOKY and we know people who have been killed by it. For those who are willing and want to travel and accept the risk... By all means do. My wife and I are in our 50's and I just don't see us taking the risk of getting on a plane in the foreseeable future and should we get sick from that plane and develop symptoms we will be prohibited from boarding a plane to get back to the states and would be stuck in Mexico for who knows how long.

Sealed tube?. Nope. Likely better quality air than in your home or car...

Airplane air: not as bad as you think

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Stay safe, Coz. I'm coming.

 

[DandyDon]

Sealed tube?. Nope. Likely better quality air than in your home or car...

Airplane air: not as bad as you think

All that sounds great, but I understood that the air coming from vents was about half treated outside air and half recirculated cabin air. Otherwise, air humidity would be even lower inside. What humidity there is in a plane cabin comes from cumulative passengers exhalation, unfiltered at that.

Wear a mask, hopefully no middle seating and go to CZM!

That would help, but American is selling every seat possible. Shoulder to shoulder with who knows, and they're not always enforcing the mask requirement.

 

[flyboy08]

All that sounds great, but I understood that the air coming from vents was about half treated outside air and half recirculated cabin air. Otherwise, air humidity would be even lower inside. What humidity there is in a plane cabin comes from cumulative passengers exhalation, unfiltered at that.


That would help, but American is selling every seat possible. Shoulder to shoulder with who knows, and they're not always enforcing the mask requirement.

Wrong. The air in commercial airlines are 100% outside air changed roughly 15 times an hour or so. Vote with your money, I’m not flying AA.

 

[ReefHound]

There always seems to be little or no air flow the ten minutes or more on the ground at each end.

 

[ggunn]

Wrong. The air in commercial airlines are 100% outside air changed roughly 15 times an hour or so. Vote with your money, I’m not flying AA.

That does not mean that every breath you take on an airplane is entirely air that has not been in anyone else's lungs recently.