Trip Report East Bay Resort: South Caicos Oct 2 - 9, 2021

[tridacna]

Make sure all you test information is correct and matches your passport as far as name goes.

We did have one guy get denied boarding at his home airport because his test didn't have the word "Nasal" printed on it even though the test listed was a nasal swab and could be confirmed by a quick google search. This was at his home airport in the US.

It took a lot of hassle on his part to get that straightened out before being allowed to fly to MIA. He got his test through one of those Any Test Now, diagnostic clinics.

United pre-approved everything in their mobile app. Nothing was checked at the airport. T&C is a perfunctory check of your docs before Immigration. Complete joke.

 

[d^2b]

Dumb list - they need to update. NAAT includes PCR tests. All lab antigens are naso swabs.

Unfortunately, I’ve been down this road with them. Worst part was the waiting for approval. Now it’s getting the results in time!

Maybe it's a Canadian thing, but the local lab gave me a definite no on the swab type for the antigen test. Maybe they were just confused.

 

[tridacna]

Great report! Are there many beach diving or snorkeling sites for people who don't dive? I've been interested in that area. My wife doesn't dive but loves to snorkel.

Not at or near the resort. There is a beach - I suppose that you could snorkel but nothing to see but white sand.

 

[mddyver]

What day of the week are you arriving and departing?

We arrive on a Monday, depart on a Saturday.

 

[mddyver]

Neither. Antigen test is all that's needed. I went to CVS. Result in 20 mins. You can do a PCR test too but I'm not sure why anyone would do that.

T&C is clear. From their tourism page:

The accepted test types are as follows:

A Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction Test (RT-PCR)
A Nucleic Acid Amplification test (NAA)
An RNA or molecular test
An Antigen test completed via nasopharyngeal swab

Just called our lab and asked about test documentation and whether or not the document for the Antigen test will show "completed via nasopharyngeal swab." After a short hold the receptionist explained that the document will not state that as they "don't swab all the way in the back." We're now rescheduled for a rapid PCR test with "guaranteed" 1 hour results.

 

[tridacna]

Do as you please. None of our tests mentioned “naso”. You can email the T&C authority with questions - they’re pretty good at responding.

 

[tridacna]

We arrive on a Monday, depart on a Saturday.

You’re lucky. Monday departure should assure a rapid approval process.

 

[Cornellxc]

+1 on the experience of @tridacna. Though I never thought of using DAN for the insurance component. I've been down 6-8 times since the controls went in place and I've always bought supplemental covid insurance (SevenCorners, costs me about 30/week). I'll definitely check out using dan when I go at the end of the month.

There's really nothing you can do with the assured process ahead of time as the test is the limiting factor. One thing, PDF and JPEG do both work but you need to make sure you are saving files that are small enough. If they are too big you will get an error message that is unrelated to the file size and probably get frustrated as to why. When saving your test result, insurance and tax card make sure to slim the file size down. Also, have hard copies printed of your approval and the docs it took to get approved. You'll be asked for them a few times during the trip and bringing them up on your phone is a drag.

Have fun, whales are there now.

 

[mddyver]

+1 on the experience of @tridacna. Though I never thought of using DAN for the insurance component. I've been down 6-8 times since the controls went in place and I've always bought supplemental covid insurance (SevenCorners, costs me about 30/week). I'll definitely check out using dan when I go at the end of the month.

There's really nothing you can do with the assured process ahead of time as the test is the limiting factor. One thing, PDF and JPEG do both work but you need to make sure you are saving files that are small enough. If they are too big you will get an error message that is unrelated to the file size and probably get frustrated as to why. When saving your test result, insurance and tax card make sure to slim the file size down. Also, have hard copies printed of your approval and the docs it took to get approved. You'll be asked for them a few times during the trip and bringing them up on your phone is a drag.

Have fun, whales are there now.

We purchased an international health insurance policy from DAN this year in addition to dive accident insurance. Our private health insurance does not cover us outside the US. Thanks for the heads up on file size. The error messages are very confusing.

One other issue I'm having is when it asks for information about companion travelers. When I enter information for my wife, I get an error message informing me that the information I just entered for my wife does not match the information previously entered about me.

 

[tridacna]

We purchased an international health insurance policy from DAN this year in addition to dive accident insurance. Our private health insurance does not cover us outside the US. Thanks for the heads up on file size. The error messages are very confusing.

One other issue I'm having is when it asks for information about companion travelers. When I enter information for my wife, I get an error message informing me that the information I just entered for my wife does not match the information previously entered about me.

One form per person.