Opening Of Indonesia pushed to end of 2020?

[outofofficebrb]

Doing well and thanks for asking. I am not an AI guy and I am always a stay downtown guy. I enjoy the downtown vibe and going out to enjoy all of the great restaurants/bars at night after a day of diving; walking a couple of blocks to my preferred dive op, etc.

Given the current nature of things in Cozumel with limited downtown food/restaurant options and also limited hotels, it seems like an all inclusive might be a safer and better way to go for the time being. Particularly for a first timer. Based on the feedback from those I trust that do stay at AI's, Blue Angel would fit the bill for me. Still close to downtown, sounds like the food is adequate, boats aren't cattle boats, reputation on the Board is super solid. Scuba Club Cozumel might also interest me given their location, reputation and the on site shore diving, but I think Blue Angel would be a better fit for me if I had to go in that direction. I have been toying with an October trip myself. My preferred places to stay are not open yet or so it seems. I am monitoring things daily.

Good to hear!

This is super insightful and helpful; these are all great considerations.I will file this one away upstairs for future reference. Thank you!

 

[scubaNYC16]

Doing well and thanks for asking. I am not an AI guy and I am always a stay downtown guy. I enjoy the downtown vibe and going out to enjoy all of the great restaurants/bars at night after a day of diving; walking a couple of blocks to my preferred dive op, etc.

Given the current nature of things in Cozumel with limited downtown food/restaurant options and also limited hotels, it seems like an all inclusive might be a safer and better way to go for the time being. Particularly for a first timer. Based on the feedback from those I trust that do stay at AI's, Blue Angel would fit the bill for me. Still close to downtown, sounds like the food is adequate, boats aren't cattle boats, reputation on the Board is super solid. Scuba Club Cozumel might also interest me given their location, reputation and the on site shore diving, but I think Blue Angel would be a better fit for me if I had to go in that direction. I have been toying with an October trip myself. My preferred places to stay are not open yet or so it seems. I am monitoring things daily.

I’m in Cozumel now and there’s plenty restaurant options in town. Many of the favorites have reopened as of last month. All the restaurants check your temperature and give you hand sanitizer before you walk in and all the tables are spread out and the waiters are wearing facemasks and some have have shields on as well.

 

[tursiops]

Perhaps all this Cozumel talk ought to go in a Cozumel thread, and not be buried in a thread on Indonesia?

 

[Mod63]

I agree, but I was thinking how regulations changed completely, sometimes overnight. Numbers of people flying went up....and dropped again.

As I said, it's complicated but for most of Europe the rules have been stable. At lot of countries have move to a more local response, for Germany this means possibly 401 different rules .

 

[WetPup]

I think what Australia has done regarding their border is great. If Indonesia states they want to restart tourism travel with Australia, how does Australia feel about it? Do they feel the same way? My guess is that Australians contribute to Indonesia's tourism industry and economy significantly, hence their desire to want to restart tourism with Australia, but the tourism dollars spent in Australia from Indonesians is probably not nearly as much. Given the poor testing rate, I don't think the current data is an accurate or good snapshot of what may actually be happening so the incremental benefit of tourism dollars vs risk does not seem to play well for Australia supporting tourism and borders to open up to Indonesia. That is my hypothesis.

I have a friend who lives in New Zealand and it sounds like getting flights out is the bigger problem even if one wanted to travel. @WetPup

So I am an Australian living in NZ. As a non-citizen on a special category visa I have to apply for permission to leave NZ, and also have to apply for permission to return. It is unlikely I would be granted permission to depart NZ for anything but a family emergency or a permanent move back to Australia (at least for the duration of this mess). Getting the right to return to NZ as a non-citizen afterwards is even harder.

Which doesn’t even take into consideration the lack of flights. And what is being charged to get on one. Or the mandatory quarantine, which I would be liable for the costs of.

Lots of countries are saying “our borders are open to Kiwis!”. But it isn’t reciprocal. And I understand that. And I support that. I quite like life here with the few restrictions we have in place. Life is almost normal. I don’t want to go back to hard lockdown.

Overseas holidays aren’t even on the radar right now. And I was meant to be flying to Bali...right now

 

[Wingy]

Further to what Wetpup said.. getting out of Australia is damn near impossible unless a direct family member (not grandpa, not your cousin or brother in law) is terminal and time is not on their side and there are zero return flights available until earliest next year feb - march where my sons join a queue of 23,000 waiting to get on a list for flights home and then face 12K of quarantine. There are no business class tickets available, people are being bumped from business by first class passengers so no, its not time to go for a holiday

Its not a geopolitical issue its there are no bloody planes available for people stranded overseas...shouldn't they get priority to return to Australia before we rush off to support Indonesian Tourism.....GRRRR!

 

[outofofficebrb]

So I am an Australian living in NZ. As a non-citizen on a special category visa I have to apply for permission to leave NZ, and also have to apply for permission to return. It is unlikely I would be granted permission to depart NZ for anything but a family emergency or a permanent move back to Australia (at least for the duration of this mess). Getting the right to return to NZ as a non-citizen afterwards is even harder.

Which doesn’t even take into consideration the lack of flights. And what is being charged to get on one. Or the mandatory quarantine, which I would be liable for the costs of.

Lots of countries are saying “our borders are open to Kiwis!”. But it isn’t reciprocal. And I understand that. And I support that. I quite like life here with the few restrictions we have in place. Life is almost normal. I don’t want to go back to hard lockdown.

Overseas holidays aren’t even on the radar right now. And I was meant to be flying to Bali...right now

Pup - what are the restrictions for a citizen? Are they drastically different? Thanks for sharing your insight. I know...I was supposed to be meeting you in Bali...right now.

 

[WetPup]

Pup - what are the restrictions for a citizen? Are they drastically different? Thanks for sharing your insight. I know...I was supposed to be meeting you in Bali...right now.

Citizens at least have the legal right of return to NZ. As a permanent resident under the Trans-Tasman agreement, I do not automagically qualify for this.

Getting a flight is difficult though. Strictly speaking, I don’t think citizens have to ask NZ govt permission to depart/return, but the airlines will request a reason when you try to book. They are prioritising passengers with certain circumstances, so getting a flight to go on holiday? Not impossible, but difficult. There are of course those who flat out lie to the powers that be about their reasons for travel. I won’t be one of them.

There are very very few international flights operating to/from NZ at the moment, and certainly none to Denpasar. The earliest flight I could get back to Australia at the moment is early 2021. Even if something happened to my mother, I literally could not get a flight back. Australia has capped incoming international passenger arrivals to 4000 a week nationally due to limited quarantine facilities. And quarantine is mandatory. Most flights are arriving with max 30 pax on board. The waiting list has a waiting list.

 

[Wingy]

I Would like that post Wetpup but...my kids are going to be at the end of the wait list for the wait list...Fares to LHR when they existed cost me triple the usual return for one way tickets. Given they are waiting to get back into Perth so they don't have to isolate in a hotel in another state before they can to W.A and isolate again. Getting them there and putting the money for Iso away for when they do get back 38K ... there is no emoji for how I feel at the moment.

 

[Germie]

I had now to be on my way to Bali. It is horrible that we lost our freedom completely. A life with wearing masks is no life. We need a normal life back asap. I hope, but I am afraid not that we can travel to Indonesia normally in 2021. No masks, no socialdistance ********, just normal life is needed again.

Here nothing is possible, almost every country has a travelwarning which is a lie. The chance of getting ill is almost zero. I had booked a flight to Bali, then it would be Croatia, also not possible. Let's go to Malta then, booked an airbnb, also travelwarning then. Try Slovenia, not possible. Hmm, wreckdiving in Marseille, I got answer from a divingcenter and just 1 hour later, Marseille had a travelwarning. Maybe Bonaire? Travelagency adviced not to do it becuase a pcr test not older than 72 hours is needed and here they cannot promise that you get the answer within that 72 hours due to lack of test capacity. There is no real lack of capacity, but too many people want a test for nothing. We have a lot of false positives and they calculate them on the positives. But people are not ill. Some topsport people test positive, but are able to compete. 2 hours later they test negative. It is the same as testing a papaya positive.
So holiday possible here? Almost no choice.
I really hope, but I am really afraid that it will not be possible again, that we can travel to Bali and Mexico again. That are the destinations I want to visit now.