I do think it is only reasonable that if you become sick with anything on a LOB that you isolate yourself. I am sure the boats would be more than happy to help you with this by bringing food to your room and other necessities to keep you away from the other passengers, as much of the crew as possible and of course, from contaminating the other boat surfaces.
Liveaboard and social distancing for Covid-19
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DazedAndConfuzed
Contributor
I went on the Roatan Aggressor liveaboard around the end of Oct, not too much after the country opened up. They did require a negative covid test with a sensitivity of 98% or higher 72hrs prior to landing in the country. Long story short, I eventually got a rapid test that was actually the PCR kind and in compliance with the requirement. Aggressor had an extensive covid-19 policy, and it was very strict, including no pre-boarding stays or excursions, pickup of passengers by their own hired van from the airport, mask indoors and social distance all the time, etc. During the onboarding orientation, they said they take it very seriously, and all it takes is one outbreak and they will be done with. But in reality, some of them are followed, while others are not (no van came to pick us up, other passengers seem to have had braided hairs, indicating a visit to a braider, no masks requirements for the passengers, and on some other reviews, they went on land tours on the day before disembarkation.) I presume they get more and more lax based on what they think is more of a risk, since on some earlier reviews, there were mentions of wearing a mask while masking up. We had some anti-maskers that did not wear their mask on the van trip back to the airport until demanded by the driver.
As for if you think you should isolate yourself if you become sick, it is probably too late for everyone else. And they won't just put you in a room, but the whole trip will probably be aborted.
Even with the requirement of a negative covid test, it is not foolproof. We felt concerned when we were all jam packed into the little airplane flying from the mainland to Roatan, and many people in there were locals that did not require the covid test, nor were most of the passengers on our NY to miami leg of the trip. You can also look at the first ever post shutdown cruise (they called it chartered yacht) sailing in the Caribbeans. Their protocol was much more extensive than any liveaboard, including pre-flight testing, pre-boarding testing, pre-disembark testing, daily temp check, complete bubble from airport landing to takeoff, passengers count so low that they can easily social distance. The only non-requirement was masks. They have also been sailing successfully all summer in Europe. All it took was some selfish group from the US that partied like there was no tomorrow on their stayover in Miami before boarding, and they whole group, along with another party of 2 and some crew members got sick/caught it, thus cutting the whole trip short, and literally shutting down that industry in the Caribbeans for the next year or so. I don't know if it was the 'no-masks' requirement that attracted the non-compliancers to that trip, thus along with people not taking precaution. But on my liveaboard, we had passengers and crew who believed that too.
As for if you think you should isolate yourself if you become sick, it is probably too late for everyone else. And they won't just put you in a room, but the whole trip will probably be aborted.
Even with the requirement of a negative covid test, it is not foolproof. We felt concerned when we were all jam packed into the little airplane flying from the mainland to Roatan, and many people in there were locals that did not require the covid test, nor were most of the passengers on our NY to miami leg of the trip. You can also look at the first ever post shutdown cruise (they called it chartered yacht) sailing in the Caribbeans. Their protocol was much more extensive than any liveaboard, including pre-flight testing, pre-boarding testing, pre-disembark testing, daily temp check, complete bubble from airport landing to takeoff, passengers count so low that they can easily social distance. The only non-requirement was masks. They have also been sailing successfully all summer in Europe. All it took was some selfish group from the US that partied like there was no tomorrow on their stayover in Miami before boarding, and they whole group, along with another party of 2 and some crew members got sick/caught it, thus cutting the whole trip short, and literally shutting down that industry in the Caribbeans for the next year or so. I don't know if it was the 'no-masks' requirement that attracted the non-compliancers to that trip, thus along with people not taking precaution. But on my liveaboard, we had passengers and crew who believed that too.
So how did the other passengers feel about the level of compliance with the rules on the Aggressor trip? Did the rules or lack of compliance to them create an unfriendly atmosphere on the trip?
Did anyone come down with covid that you know of?
Overall, how was the trip? Would you do it again or was there so much anxiety that you could not have a good time no matter how good the diving was?
Did anyone come down with covid that you know of?
Overall, how was the trip? Would you do it again or was there so much anxiety that you could not have a good time no matter how good the diving was?
DazedAndConfuzed
Contributor
I got to the Aggressor boat last as my group seem to be the only one that had to take the extra domestic flight. When we boarded, no guests seems to be wearing mask and such. We wore our mask through orientation and the wife said she was going to wear it throughout the trip, but with no other guests wearing it, she probably felt like the odd person out and stopped wearing it after the first day. I guess it was just a drastic change from fully masking as soon as we left home, even seeing the locals in the streets of Roatan being pretty much 100% compliance on masking, then getting on the boat and seeing the guests treating it as if it never happened.
Since the boat was roughly half filled, they set each group in their own dining table. We had to buddy up with a single diver since we were only 2 people. Some things the crew thought that were high risk were maintained, such as drying the towels individually, which lead to really cold damp towels after the night dive. They gave in somewhat by drying towels from the same rooms together.
I didn't just jump into the trip blind. I weighed between going to Cozumel or this liveaboard, Mexico might not have required testing, but that just meant they were more lax on handling the situation. I also looked at Honduras' infection/death rate per population, specifically for the bay islands, and those rates were on par with NYC, which at that time were much lower than most other states. Granted I thought it woudn't have lasted this long given I have though about liveaboards that were advertise for Bahamas in may and Komodo in Sept. I don't think I would have made it to any of them.
Overall the trip was good, it was a good escape from it all, especially after a few days where nobody had symptoms showing up and we lived like it was normal times again. The crew soon only wore masks only when serving us food, which was the only reminder that there was a pandemic going on. The most anxiety occurred on the planning part. For the flight, since we booked the trip with relatively short lead time, much of the most direct flights were sold out and I had to do some unconventional booking to get the best out of it. The covid-19 test was also a big concern, with the short timeframe and sensitivity requirement. After I took my test and it didn't indicate the sensitivity, I called Aggressor and travel agent to no avail, I was just told that I should take a PCR test. I also called the US embassy in Honduras and eventually got clarification on what they are looking for, which was the term 'molecular', which luckily, my rapidtest result indicated. If I booked any of the other locations that offered rapidtests, I might not have been able to get in since now I know, they were antigen tests.
I read more recent Roatan Aggressor captain's log and one had a land excursion on the day before they disembarked, but subsequent trips, they made excursions between disembarkation and heading to the airport. We didn't have either option, maybe those places hasn't opened up yet. They probably were in no hurry because their main business seem to be cruise ships and none were arriving.
Since the boat was roughly half filled, they set each group in their own dining table. We had to buddy up with a single diver since we were only 2 people. Some things the crew thought that were high risk were maintained, such as drying the towels individually, which lead to really cold damp towels after the night dive. They gave in somewhat by drying towels from the same rooms together.
I didn't just jump into the trip blind. I weighed between going to Cozumel or this liveaboard, Mexico might not have required testing, but that just meant they were more lax on handling the situation. I also looked at Honduras' infection/death rate per population, specifically for the bay islands, and those rates were on par with NYC, which at that time were much lower than most other states. Granted I thought it woudn't have lasted this long given I have though about liveaboards that were advertise for Bahamas in may and Komodo in Sept. I don't think I would have made it to any of them.
Overall the trip was good, it was a good escape from it all, especially after a few days where nobody had symptoms showing up and we lived like it was normal times again. The crew soon only wore masks only when serving us food, which was the only reminder that there was a pandemic going on. The most anxiety occurred on the planning part. For the flight, since we booked the trip with relatively short lead time, much of the most direct flights were sold out and I had to do some unconventional booking to get the best out of it. The covid-19 test was also a big concern, with the short timeframe and sensitivity requirement. After I took my test and it didn't indicate the sensitivity, I called Aggressor and travel agent to no avail, I was just told that I should take a PCR test. I also called the US embassy in Honduras and eventually got clarification on what they are looking for, which was the term 'molecular', which luckily, my rapidtest result indicated. If I booked any of the other locations that offered rapidtests, I might not have been able to get in since now I know, they were antigen tests.
I read more recent Roatan Aggressor captain's log and one had a land excursion on the day before they disembarked, but subsequent trips, they made excursions between disembarkation and heading to the airport. We didn't have either option, maybe those places hasn't opened up yet. They probably were in no hurry because their main business seem to be cruise ships and none were arriving.
I was on a Nautilus liveaboard in November 2020, and even though masks were required to be worn when social distancing was not possible (which is virtually always on a liveaboard), I was the only guest out of 23 people to wear a mask. I'm not one to follow pack mentality. I'm the only one that can save my own life in taking the proper precautions given that I've accepted the risks of dive travel by liveaboard. Thankfully, I did not get COVID from that trip.
Is the "no preboarding stays or excursions" rule unique to Honduras or is that an Aggressor thing? I poked through all my stuff for T&C and can't find anything that lists that as a requirement and I have a couple of days of boat diving booked before departure. Also, did you purchase any additional medical insurance beyond what you already had? Aggressor lists one requirement as being "Medical/Travel insurance that covers COVID-19 medical costs, full hospitalization, doctors’ visits, prescriptions and air ambulance/medevac" but I have never carried anything beyond my normal health insurance plus DAN Guardian. Thanks!
Dan
Contributor
I was in Okeanos Aggressor 1 on December 1-11, 2020. Diving in Cocos Dec. 2020 Trip Report | ScubaBoard
Cocos required guests to get a negative PCR swab test result 7 days before boarding the boat and Costa Rica required travel insurance that covers $50,000 on COVID-19 related medical expenses, including $2000 for 2 week quarantine expenses. I felt safe there than in my own neighborhood. I felt that we were in a COVID-19 free boat during the 11-day boat trip.
I'll be in Sorcorro on Nautilus Belle Amie on January 7-15, 2021. Nautilus liveaboard is also requiring guests to have a negative PCR swab test result before boarding + a log sheet of my body temperatures, twice a day for 7 days before boarding. I have my fingers crossed and followed the COVID-19 protocols between now and then. My most worries are in Houston airport and in the 3-hour nonstop flight from IAH to SJD, especially being next to those mask wearing deniers who are wearing mask on their chins.
Cocos required guests to get a negative PCR swab test result 7 days before boarding the boat and Costa Rica required travel insurance that covers $50,000 on COVID-19 related medical expenses, including $2000 for 2 week quarantine expenses. I felt safe there than in my own neighborhood. I felt that we were in a COVID-19 free boat during the 11-day boat trip.
I'll be in Sorcorro on Nautilus Belle Amie on January 7-15, 2021. Nautilus liveaboard is also requiring guests to have a negative PCR swab test result before boarding + a log sheet of my body temperatures, twice a day for 7 days before boarding. I have my fingers crossed and followed the COVID-19 protocols between now and then. My most worries are in Houston airport and in the 3-hour nonstop flight from IAH to SJD, especially being next to those mask wearing deniers who are wearing mask on their chins.
Dan
Contributor
DazedAndConfuzed
Contributor
It was not like we were sheeps, just going along with what everyone else were doing. We assessed the situation, with only 8 passengers out of 18 capacity, it wasn't hard to social distance. And everybody had to have a negative covid test before entering the country. The risk would never be zero, but it seems lower than many of the daily routines that we have to encounter, especially after a few days in that bubble.
It seems to be a supplemental to the Roatan Aggressor Know Before You Go document that indicated discouragement of pre-boarding activities (unless one goes through additional testing), no going outside the bubble once one arrives at the airport to disembarking the boat:
https://aggressoradventures.sharepoint.com/sites/ADRC2/Shared Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx?id=/sites/ADRC2/Shared Documents/KBYG Supplements/KBYG-ROA-Supplement.pdf&parent=/sites/ADRC2/Shared Documents/KBYG Supplements
The T&C KBYG suppliment doesn't seem to indicate that
https://aggressoradventures.sharepoint.com/sites/ADRC2/Shared Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx?id=/sites/ADRC2/Shared Documents/KBYG Supplements/KBYG-TCA-Supplement.pdf&parent=/sites/ADRC2/Shared Documents/KBYG Supplements
I didn't get any additional insurance, nor did they seem to require me to have it. My DAN membership lapsed not too long before that and I did not renew. I was concerned about abrupt cancellation of the liveaboard (seeing the 2 prior one that was looking at booking never could have taken place) or us having covid before going, but from all I read, pretty much everybody allows for rescheduling or cancellation if any circumstances arises (except for the domestic flight to Roatan).
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