Cozumel Drift - Special Edition
Hola Amigo !

Well, little by little, life is getting back to normal. Hopefully the same is for you, where ever you are in this world. Here, the state of Quintana Roo is working very hard to get things back to normal, whatever that new normal may be.

Information is now changing frequently. Just in the process of trying to put this newsletter together some of this information has changed like 8 times, I kid you not. Something you see on a webpage today may not be current in one or two days. We are going to continue to send out these weekly updates for some time. If there are major changes in-between we'll post those on Facebook. So please follow us on Facebook too.

There is a lot of info this week, so without further adieu.... please continue reading.
Another week has gone by and we now have 31 cases of Covid. Still almost nothing considering our population, but that was a bit disheartening. But, we are still pushing on. Curfew is still at 7 pm. The Mayor came out and acknowledged that some new cases were to be expected, due to May 10th, Moher's Day. The expected everyone to ignore the stay at home orders and visit mom and others.... and that we would see an increase. Fingers crossed that they are correct on this.
Did you see that article that was published yesterday by the Mexico Daily News?? " Quintana Roo government rejects June 1 reopening by hotels" OMG - what !?!?!?! Many of you did, and sent me messages....

Here is the back story to that article. On Monday, one of the largest Tour Operators in Quintana Roo, Caribe Mexicano, published a list of dates for the hotel openings in Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and a few from Cozumel. That was published without the approval of the government. Even though there is a ton of work going on with the target date of June 1, it is not the official published date for the entire state. Why is that ?? Well, the 3 largest cities in this state are Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Cozumel, in that order. Do all 3 cities have the same numbers per capita of Covid? No! Are all 3 of the cities enforcing very strict stay at home orders and curfews? No! Playa del Carment only began a curfew about 2 weeks ago, and Cozumel has had it for over 4 weeks now. So, that date CANNOT be the same for all 3 locations, as stated in that article.
Cozumel has been on a pretty tight lock-down, with a curfew , stay at home, only essential businesses open, etc. It has been rough... but with a good outcome. Our numbers are low. Playa and Cancun, not so much.

Last week there was a meeting with the Secretary of Tourism Federal , with governors as well as mayors from 50 of the largest cities in the country. Since our numbers are so low, thanks to the hard work of all Cozumel residents and the strict rules, Cozumel will be one of the first cities to be opening up. So that is EXCELLENT news. Again, way different from what has been going on in Playa del Carmen and Cancun....
So what is the open date?
I've been getting lots of emails and messages asking, "So what is the open date...?" Well that is the million dollar question. Cozumel is still officially looking for Jun 1, even though the other areas (Playa del CArmen and Cancun) are not looking good for that date. Is this going to be a possiblity? We don't know yet but are striving for it. We are still waiting for announcements on things, just the same as you are waiting for your state/city to open up completely. And you know that at your home, 2 weeks ago, you had no idea when you will be open, assuming that you are open.

So here is what I know right now.....
  • Cozumel is not closed. You can arrive here. There are condos open, and most of these condo complexes have pools, but you have to maintain social distancing, which is 4.5 feet here.
  • You can arrive here on an American Airlines flight any day of the week
  • You can go to the grocery store and buy food, you can order food for take out from many restaurants, you can drive around and look at the other side of the island.
  • You can probably get in the water and swim in front of your condo if you have an ocean front condo with accessible swimming.
  • You cannot lay out on the beach just yet.
  • The boats are not allowed to go out today, but we anticipate that happening soon. The MOMENT that we receive the notification, you will be receiving an email announcing this.

There are plans for the following -
  • Village Tan Kah along with 5 other hotels are planning to be open on June 1.
  • Every day more and more restaurants are opening for take out, which is good. It is nice to have some more variety.
  • We anticipate that we will be diving by June 1. They only gave us 1 day notice on closing, they will not give us more than 1 or 2 days notifice when it will open.
  • There will be new protocols for diving - we can no longer have a rinse tank. So we are trying to work out if we just have a hose for everyone to wash their own gear? Or separate boxes for each person to use.... What do you think? I am open to all ideas.
What is your preference for washing gear
The hose works for me
Individual rinse boxes would be nice
Do you have a better idea? Let me know
  • We have had to update our standard diver release form due to COVID. We will be sending you the new dive form to have it completed prior to your trip. Please make sure to bring the form with you. I'm working on finding out if the government here accepts electronic signatures or not. So until further notice, please bring your printed, signed copy.
  • There will be a reduced number of people allowed on the boats due to social distancing requirements. That means, you might have to pay a bit more for diving since there will be less people on the boats.
  • There are currently no cruise ships scheduled to arrive in Cozumel. Yesterday there was one scheduled for June 12, but just today we found out it is now canceled. What we do know is they are putting in a TON of precautionary sanitation measures in advance of cruise ships returning so we will be ready.
  • More hotels and restaurant will be opening in the coming months.

For mid June, into July and August and beyond -
  • Most restaurants will be open. I don't know the owners of every single restaurant but I do know they are chomping at the bit to open up and work again.

Just announced - the governor announced in a meeting today that Quintana Roo WILL be accepting toursits Jun 8. That does not mean Jun 1 is out of he questions for Cozumel. Stay tuned !
Of course, in order to do that, there will be new protocols to follow. There is a certification program that they have just announced that businesses are suggested to follow. How to disenfect the areas, hotel rooms, how to remain safe, etc. Scuba Shack and Village Tan Kah are in the process of completing the course so that we can get you guys back here safe and sound.
Airline Update
Want to get here? Well, we know things have changed, and so have some of the airline options for getting here, at least for the next month or so.
American Airlines - flying in daily from Dallas ***
Delta Airlines - Cozumel operations have closed. You can still fly into Cozumel with their partner, AeroMexico, via Mexico City.
Southwest Air - They have suspended their operations until early next year.
Sun Country - service from Dallas begins on July 2 , only Thu and Sun
United Airlines - daily service from Houston begins July 6

*** NOTE: The flight from Cozumel to Dallas departs at 4 pm, and is scheduled to arrive just before 7 pm. And there are almost NO connections that same evening. Meaning, you will probably have to spend the night in Dallas. Which sucks. Your other option is then to arrive to Cozumel, but depart out of Cancun. You just need to book a MULTI-CITY ticket. This can be done with any of the airlines. Or you just book 2 separate 1-way tickets. I have been doing that for the last couple of years now since there is NO price discount in booking a round trip ticket. In fact, most of the time I find that the RT ticket is $5 USD more than booking the 2 separate 1-way tickets.

THERE IS NOT A TRAVEL BAN FOR MEXICO - Lots of rumors and misinformation has spread saying there is a travel ban in effect either to Mexico from the United States, or to the United States from Mexico. This is FALSE, there is no travel ban. This right from the U.S. Embassy in Mexico webpage (NOTE it says land border). CLICK HERE to see the full site.
  • The United States and Mexico entered a joint initiative March 21 restricting non-essential travel along the U.S.-Mexico land border to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Non-essential travel includes travel that is considered tourism or recreational in nature.
If you are trying to plan your trip (which we hope you are), please get your information from official sources. Facebook and even news media sites are not "official" sources. Look at government websites, the airline website, or official health organizations (CDC, WHO).
A Caribbean Paradise Without Beer!?!?!
What !?!?! No beer? I am sure that you have heard...there is beer shortage in Mexico, as well as here in Cozumel. That WAS the case....... and the backstory is 2 fold.

1 - the 2 largest breweries in the country have shut down. Heineken Corp, which makes Sol, Dos Equis, among others, and Grupo Modelo, which makes Corona, Modelo and other brands, have stopped operations due to Covid concerns, which is really hurting the economy. Did you know that Mexico is the largest exporter of beer in the world? I sure didn't... wow, that hurts. Not sure when they will begin operations again.

2 - The governor of Quintana Roo, in order to promote social distancing, a few weeks ago ordered that no more beer was to be distributed from the warehouses. People should be at home, and buying food instead of beer. So about 2 weeks ago, the island ran out. But this past weekend they started distributing again. So, what happened then?? One of the largest grocery stores started selling it and a million people went to buy it. OK, not a million but a ton... and no one was enforcing nor respecting social distancing. So, it was closed down for that day. Most places have beer again on their shelves.
Covid and Scuba Diving
Stories have been circulating around social media for several weeks now that once you have Covid, there can be so much damage to the lungs that you can no longer dive. No longer dive... are you kidding me? Well, for some people that MIGHT be the case - MIGHT. For others, possibly not. It all depends on the severity of the case and where it affects you.

This gentleman, Douglas Ebersole MD is a medical doctor, a Covid survivor and a dive professional, teaching scuba and technical diving. And you can read his story and experience on DiveNewsWire article

Don't be dismayed, you do NOT have to stop diving !
New DAN Health Declaration Form
If you tested positive for COVID-19, and whether your symptoms were severe or not, and if you have DAN insurance, well then there will be more paperwork. Of course there is.... how much fun. The largest point to this is the fact that Covid-19 shares many of the same symptoms as other serious viral pneumonias that require a period of convalesce before returning to full activities - a process that can take weeks or months depending on the symptoms that were presented as well as the severity of these symptoms. There is some information at DAN.org on Covid. Here are just a few links. Click on the bullet point to be taken to that page.


Or just use the Search function on their website and type in "Covid", you'll get lots of hits.
Scorpionfish - The Sequel
In last weeks newsletter we had a couple different stories about our undersea friends and their ability hide and camouflage themselves. One those articles was on the Scorpionfish. If you missed that article, CLICK HERE to read part one. This week we have part two to that article that reveals the venomous defenses of the Scorpionfish, and some treatment tips should you come in contact with one.
The scorpionfish is a dominant predator with few natural predators. The schoolmaster, mutton snapper, sharks, rays, moray eels and occasionally sea lions have been known to make a meal out of scorpionfish.
Roberta's Scuba Shack


+52.987.872.4240 - Phone

+521.987.114-3568 - Cell and WhatsApp
Village Tan Kah


+52.987.872.4240 - Phone