Trip Report URGENT NEWS FOR ENTRY TO GALAPAGOS

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Dom@DiveAdvice

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Location
South of France
# of dives
2500 - 4999
New rule effective August 27:

All people entering Galapagos need to be fully vaccinated and have a negative PCR within 72 hours before entry.

To enter Ecuador is still vaccination or PCR.

Galapagos is both and at this time they are not accepting antigen.

Please let me know if you have any questions. If you cannot get the test before leaving your home country, if you have time in Guayaquil or Quito before the trip we can help you organize a PCR .

Dominick Macan
Dive Advice Travel
dom@diveadvice.com
www.diveadvice.com
Tel: +33 492 94 02 99 (France)
SKYPE: adventuredom

http://www.diveadvice.com/liveaboard-availability … for up-to-date liveaboard availability worldwide

"In Partnership with Amazing Adventures Travel of Mill Valley, California"
 
I just got an update with an official document from the Ecuador ministry of tourism stating that the new entry requirements are as of August 31, so hopefully that means you will slip under the door if you will be entering Galapagos prior to that. The original ruling was Aug 27 but it appears that they got some feedback that it was being enforced too quickly ! It does however mean that from Aug 31, only people who have been vaccinated at least 15 days earlier and who can show proof of a negative RT-PCR test taken within 72 hours of boarding the flight to GPS, will be allowed to enter. According to the information I currently have, the requirement to enter Ecuador is either vaccination more than 15 days prior, or PCR test, but I understand you are not permitted to enter Galapagos without being vaccinated. You must also complete the digital health declaration found at https://bit.ly/3mka9tl
I will try and find an official website to direct you to. Dom@diveadvice.com
 
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It appears that arriving in Ecuador until Aug 31, you are only requited to show proof of vaccination or PCR test and the same to Galapagos. From Aug 31, you can still arrive in Ecuador with just one or other, but in order to continue to Galapagos they require you have both. I understand that the Turks & Caicos also require proof of full vaccination and negative Covid test but it can be PCR or Antigen, to enter from Sep 1. I expect many more countries will follow that regulation.
 
Good information from Dom. I am advising my divers going to ANY country to be fully vaccinated. I have had to arrange PCR tests for some divers on Socorro trips later this year and have found a number of hospitals and clinics in Cabo San Lucas able to perform both antigen and PCR tests on any day but Sunday.
 
Speaking of antigen/ PCR test. I notice the test costs are all over the place from $0 to $200+ depending on where you get it, what type of test and how quickly you need it. I know where to get free tests in US and Nautilus would provide free antigen test for Mexico destinations. How about Galapagos?
 
Hi guys - as you say, the rates seem to be all over the board but i think they will come down in time as demand increases. The agent I use for my clients in Ecuador now works with a laboratory that will do PCR tests at any hour in GYE and UIO and get results within about 3 hours. Right now the cost for 3 hours is $120 so not too bad. $100 if they have more time available- like 12 hours. I have heard costs of $250 and 24-36 hours bandied around so that does not sound so bad. I understand that one can also get tested in Puerto Ayora the day before you leave but I believe that maybe only antigen rapid test, which is all the US requires. At Quito and GYE airport the cost for antigen is about $40 but I have heard of groups getting tested at their hotel for as low as $25 pp. I expect that it is all about numbers. Sending a nurse to test 15 people at a hotel for $25 pp may take no more than an hour so $375 income may cover costs and give them a profit. If I get more details of costs then I will update this forum but it seems all is possible at a not unreasonable cost.
 
I agree with Dom. Basically, it's a free market and I don't mean free of charge. When Mexico first opened up I had a spreadsheet that listed nearly every resort in the Playa del Carmen / Cancun area as well as other places. They all offered tests and some even offered quarantine rooms if you tested positive. The costs went from $0 to $200 USD, rooms were generally free. Tests in Cabo can be 3-4 hours to as much as 48 hours. And remember some places are requiring a test after you have been in country for 5 days.

I know some folks who are buying test kits for their kids going back to school. In the UK and Europe, the kits are either free or minimal cost. The same identical kit in the US is $25 to $30 each.

Common sense tells me that the kits and the technicians and the labs are not free, so I do not encourage the idea that tests by a liveaboard or resort should be free. You are getting valuable health services.

My advice is to give yourself added travel time to allow for any potential test delays and consider what you will do if you test positive. It is probably a good time to consider travel insurance if you have not bought it in the past.
 
Bravo - thanks Greg - I support his recommendation to take out travel insurance to cover one if you are tested positive. Not all of them offer it but enough do and the rates are falling. FYI - several of our clients who were vaccinated, were diagnosed with Covid when they came to get the test to return to the US. One was forced to spent ten days in a fairly expensive Costa Rica hotel and two others at the Marriott in Hurghada. Fortunately none of them got sick or even showed symptoms, and they had taken the advice to take out insurance, which covered their whole not-inexpensive bill. It happens and is risk of travel at the moment. I also had clients who asked me if they take their own self-testing kits, is that acceptable. The answer is clearly no, as the test must be performed by a professional lab where ever you are. The kits are great for letting yourself know if you might be concerned, but the information I have been given is that they are not acceptable as proof of test. We may have to keep doing this for awhile but we'll get better at it :) Safe travels.
 

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