Roatan dive resorts that won’t survive

[Hoag]

Remind me, when is that please? Are there direct flights out of Toronto or YYC?

I haven't seen anything yet for this winter, but last year WestJet, AirTransat & I think SunQuest all flew non-stops YYZ-RTB. The big problem last year was that none of the airlines flew those routes on Saturdays when most of the resorts ran their week (CCV is based on Saturday to Saturday bookings) so you wound up flying on less than ideal days.

This year will no doubt have a whole new group of challenges.

 

[laurenceh]

The Honduran government announced yesterday that internal flights will resume August 11th and international flights will resume August 18th.

 

[Scraps]

Maybe my November trip will happen. Not counting on anything. Money for hotel deposit and airfare has been spent for a long time.

 

[Simran]

I have a Roatan trip on the books late October. Anthony's Key will be open and are taking sound steps to prevent Covid. Still, I'm taking a wait and see approach since Honduras just opened international flights yesterday. My biggest concern is being on the island at an untimely shift in the pandemic and not being able to get back.

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

We really enjoyed our stay at Turquoise Bay 2 years ago...so much, we booked again this year. We had 3 trips postponed and finally just canceled it when Delta canceled our flight again. They are a smaller resort so I hope they can survive. Subway Watersports is one of the best dive ops I have ever dove with.

Between canceled vacations, kidney stones, dental work, major car repairs, and a serious downturn in business, I'm ready for 2020 to be over.

Finger crossed for Curaçao in November.

Safe travels to all,
Jay

 

[ReefHound]

Roatan (or most Caribbean countries) doesn't seem the kind of place where businesses take out big loans to start up. I would think most places own their land and buildings so what overhead is there while they are closed?

 

[dmaziuk]

We really enjoyed our stay at Turquoise Bay 2 years ago...so much, we booked again this year. We had 3 trips postponed and finally just canceled it when Delta canceled our flight again. They are a smaller resort so I hope they can survive. Subway Watersports is one of the best dive ops I have ever dove with.

We escaped from TBR 2 days before US announced every American should return home and started checking temperature at passport control.

This year they were carting in cruisers from the other side to their much improved beach -- a bit of a turn-off these days, but hopefully the beach bar built them up enough cushion to survive.

 

[diver0008]

I really like Roatan, Coz, etc., and have some airline credits for cancelled trips, but am not booking or even thinking about booking anything until the dust settles on all this. Took up skydiving in the meantime. Still confused as to why monkey-see monkey-do governments globally opted for lockdowns instead of advising the vulnerable and herd-immunity for everyone else. There must be something we are not being told.

 

[Mark IV]

......There must be something we are not being told.

There definitely is, but much of it is ignored or downplayed by the mainstream media, or actively censored by other interests. But enough info is getting through that all but the most committed Kool-aid drinkers can see that there's something seriously hinky with this whole charade.

 

[Outbound]

I really like Roatan, Coz, etc., and have some airline credits for cancelled trips, but am not booking or even thinking about booking anything until the dust settles on all this. Took up skydiving in the meantime. Still confused as to why monkey-see monkey-do governments globally opted for lockdowns instead of advising the vulnerable and herd-immunity for everyone else. There must be something we are not being told.

When outbreaks get bad enough, the only option is a lockdown in order to bring the local pandemic back under control. Herd immunity through natural infection is a very dangerous proposition with COVID-19. The reproduction rate of the disease is about 2.5 and might be as high as 5.0, meaning that the threshold for herd immunity is somewhere between 60% and 80%. With the current case fatality rate, that means a LOT of dead people if countries were to let the pandemic rip with no interventions. And remember, there are more outcomes besides "mild case and you will be totally fine" and "you're dead." As we are finding, many people end up in the hospital, and even though they recover they require fairly intensive treatments and will have long-term if not permanent health issues as a result. Let the pandemic run rampant and you will overwhelm the healthcare system, which in developing countries is already limited.

No one wants to bring out the ban hammer of lockdowns. They are socially and economically disruptive. But if people don't follow proper social distancing protocols, refuse to wear a mask while in contact with other people, and go around pretending like this is no big deal, then lockdowns are the only alternative means of enforcing non-pharmaceutical interventions until a safe and effective vaccine had be produced and distributed. If and when that happens, THAT'S when we try to get to herd immunity - through vaccination.