Future aka New Normal

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Indah

Contributor
Messages
1,267
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992
Location
Lembeh
# of dives
5000 - ∞
I wonder how all of you see, or want to see, scuba diving in Indonesia after all travel bans are gone. Assuming that there is not a 100% protection by a vaccine yet. What would you demand for the flights getting here? What would your requirements for the set up of the meals be? How should the diving be organized? What would be do do' s and dont' s? Thanks a lot for any input.
 
I just would not go without a good vaccine. Too many plane flights, transfers, layovers in crowded airports. Less worried about the boat than the travel and possibility of getting sick at destination or upon return.
Buffets in general are spreaders of many gastrointestinal diseases, would be just as glad to have them served not self service. I'd want to handle my own gear.
 
I just would not go without a good vaccine. Too many plane flights, transfers, layovers in crowded airports. Less worried about the boat than the travel and possibility of getting sick at destination or upon return.
Buffets in general are spreaders of many gastrointestinal diseases, would be just as glad to have them served not self service. I'd want to handle my own gear.
A good vaccine might be wishful thinking: Why we might not get a coronavirus vaccine
 
I would go as soon as I can, my work allowing.

I'm now waiting for Bali to open up, since it's the hub for many domestic flights to destinations I'm longing for until October (Alor, Komodo, etc.). after that I plan to go to the Phils at Xmas time.
I'll try to book a SIN-DPS flight that doesn't land DPS at 10PM, meaning 2hrs queuing at the immigration altogether with Emirates, Qatar or Lufthansa passengers.

The only places I should tend to avoid are cities like Kuta, downtown Manado or flocking with foreigners on tourist attractions, that's where I think the risk is. I don't think resorts will be overbooked, so I guess there will be plenty of space around.

I've already had bad cases of "sambal revenge" a few years ago so I tend to avoid warungs and won't pick into the small red hot plate on the side, therefore I wouldn't care much more about food if I can eat not too spicy and have clean water.
I have my table reserved every night in Tulamben and even on peak season there's enough space between the tables, the small size of the resort I know allow them leaving plenty of space for the guests. Once again I think selecting smaller resorts is key.

Divingwise I have my own dive gear, no problem with that, not afraid either with other divers on the dive boat : I either hire a private guide or stay at small resorts, hence lesser divers.
 
Good topic. Thanks for the link to the article in the Guardian.

I would be very reluctant to go on any long distance air travel for vacation without some sort of immunity, whether acquired naturally or through vaccine, or without the virus substantially disappearing like SARS/MERS. As for management of the resort, LOB, meals, diving boats etc, I'd rather not go if the "vacation experience/atmosphere" is undermined. Meaning that if I'm not comfortable mingling with a limited amount of strangers, given that they too have been travelling through airport and airplanes, then why bother going on the vacation?

What measures would people want? For example, if a tourist or resort worker sneezes or is feeling unwell, should we be wanting to make that person quarantine? Are test kits suddenly going to be available and reliable in remote, hot, humid conditions? Setting up one's own gear is one thing, but are we going to want surfaces of the boats to be disinfected? At home, we do what we have to do, we take the precautions we have to take, because we have to go about our daily lives. But I would not want a vacation under those circumstances.

That's my thinking in the short run, based on what we know at present. But I'm open to ideas from others. And if this continues without a good solution, in the long run, I may have to change my mind, and be willing to consider a vacation under changed circumstances.
 
For me, it's more about an insulation of the business model. I don't want it to be a race to the bottom price for dive businesses and then them complaining about it. I understand how daily tourists operations may struggle to comply, but i would like to see:

1) Dive operations to have proper insurance coverage and be registered licensed entities. You don't get a license if you don't have the proper business interruption insurance to protect your guests in the event of another covid. This may be escrow type of funding etc.
2) Mandetory/Clear policy around cancellation/reschedule as opposed to 'go speak to your own insurance' etc. (similar to the UK Atoll scheme)
3) DMs are paid properly, no more of this 'dependant on tips to survive' crap.
4) DM's are locals
5) an end to the 'do you honestly think that will really happen/do you honestly think people will pay more' excuse whenever anyone suggests improvements. Every country was the wild west until it wasn't....

Personally i'm happy to pay more for this. i'd also be happy to see a thinning of the heard if it means that there is more protection for all included.


i personally don't care about the meals etc. i don't think changes in any of that is going to make much of a difference to anyting.
 
I am currently planning to be in Indonesia in October. Not sure if it is happening so we will see. To me the biggest concern is the availability of travel medical insurance. At the moment this trip is covered under an annual plan but after that I am not even sure you an buy medical insurance that will cover the cost of a COVID related hospital stay. I am a little reluctant to travel internationally without some kind of medical insurance. This is particularly true in the US where a hospital stay can bankrupt you.

Next on the list of concerns is air travel. A trip to Jakarta takes about 19 hours, the return 30 hours - then another regional flight to get to the resort or liveaboard. That is a lot of contact with random strangers.

The actual resort or liveaboard, how guests are served food and how the diving is organized is way down the list of concerns.

One of my last liveaboard trips had the flu as a feature. Almost everyone was sick to some degree. I managed to avoid it, but to do so took most meals alone out on the sun deck and practiced social distancing. Didn't make me popular but I did not miss any dives.

I think that as a resort you are going to need to be very flexible as everyone has very different ideas about what risks they want to take and how to avoid getting sick in these times. Making sure staff does not come to work sick would be high on my list of priorities. Screening guests so they don't arrive sick might be another. Hard to deal with someone that arrives in a remote location after a couple of days of travel however What do you do with them? Providing space so that those that want to social distance can do so would be important to me. A plexiglass shield above the buffet might be a low cost but reasonably effective option against this particular disease . Individual meals would be better, but there is a significant cost as well as time constrains on that.
 
took most meals alone out on the sun deck and practiced social distancing.

i have to say that i do this on every boat i have been on. I just can't eat food in close quarters in a moving boat. i'm always the antisocial weirdo who takes his food outside..:wink:

also the annoying guy who asks the staff to hold dinner for him until after the nightdive.. i don't mind eating cereal, but since my 11 years at boarding school, i'm not very good at being told when to eat in close quarters sitting too close to someone who might be a bit loud...
 
Sulawesi came out of lockdown yesterday, and Changi Airport is opening for transit passengers on June 2nd. I am traveling to Manado and Lembeh in September, and will be making my trip. I won't get a flu vaccine, so no chance of me getting a Covid flu vaccine.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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