Cozumel Drift - Special Edition
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Roberta's Scuba Shack
Dive ECO-cozumel
Village Tan Kah
Blue Bubble Divers
See you soon !
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Hola Amigo !
Missing this beautiful view? What a treat we had yesterday. Wish you were here to see it.
Wow - what a busy week. Have you been trying to keep up with it all? Me too. There are meetings, classes, creating presentations and videos to show how we are ready, or how to social distance on the boats, etc. So, my apologies that the newsletters are coming out a bit late, but we are doing our best.
So let's begin with the most important !
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Everyone is fully stocked and ready for you to come and enjoy a cold one at the beach, or in the sun, or in your hammack, or wherever you would like !!!
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The date has been set. The governor has announced that Quintana Roo will be opening Jun 1. You can read the full statement
HERE. We will all be following the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTC) Global Protocols, which is the stamp of approval for opening up tourism. With everything that has happened with COVID, there are new protocols that we are implementing for out hotel guests and divers. Here is a link to page from the World Travel & Tourism Council -
CLICK HERE
June 1 is a soft opening, with businesses beginning with 33% of staff each day. During this time, all employees will be learning and most importantly, mastering the new protocols. That gives evenryone a week to be ready, because Quintana Roo will begin accepting tourists in the airports on Jun 8.
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So to mark this, take a look at the beautiful promotional video for all of Quintana Roo, that the government is posting on the Mexican Caribbean Facebook page. Mexico and the Caribbean - you can have the best of both worlds here, and when you watch this video, you can almost feel the warm water and taste the salt air.
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So, what is that the date for Cozumel. Honestly, we don't know that yet.... Cancun and Playa del Carmen will be opening June 1/8.
There is no hard date for Cozumel. Why you ask? Well..... let me exlain it....
If you look at the number of cases per the population of the 3 biggest tourist cities (Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Cozumel) in Q.Roo, this is the data.
Cancun - population
628,306 (2010) with 1,305 Covid cases - Less than 1% infection rate, .2 to be exact. Don't miss the period before the 2!
Playa del Carmen - pop 149,923(2010) with 303 Covid cases -
Less than 1% infection rate - exactly .2 - exactly the same as Cancun.
Honestly, this is totally awesome. Especially if you compare this to the US. Population is 328.2 million (2019) with 1,804 million cases. The rate in the US is .5% - that is 2.5 times higher than what there is in Cancun and Playa del Carmen.
*** Note
- populations taken from Google.
Now, lets look at Cozumel. The population in 2011 was 100,000 and we have 42 cases of Covid-19. The Cozumel % then is
.04% - notice the point and notice the 0 before that 4.
That makes the infection rate even MUCH LESS than Cancun and Playa del Carmen. We have a fifth of that of Cancun and Playa del Carmen. And a tenth of the US. So we are totally awesome here.
BUT - there is always a but, right??? BUT - we have had 20 new cases since Mothers Day. That dang Mother's Day... everyone wanting to see MOM.
I was pleasntly surprised to hear the exact same thing happened in the US - cases increasing due to Mother's Day. So for Father's Day - love you Dad, but I'm staying here :)
Since we did such a great job of keeping the numbers so low, those additional 20 cases is almost doubling the total number of Covid cases. But the number of cases in Cancun and Playa have not doubled. Just so that you can see the info.....
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Cancun
May 8 - 777 cases
May 22 - 1139 cases
40% increase
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Playa del Carmen
May 8 - 161
May 22 - 254cases
42% increase
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Cozumel
May 8 - 22
May 22 - 35 cases
65% increase
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As you can see,
this % is much higher than Cancun and Playa del Carmen. And for that reason right now the Mayor is going to slowly open things. I wonder if the higher ups are pressuring him?
So, in order for Quintana Roo to present themselves to the world that we have this under control, the data "appears" to show that Cozumel is the worst of all 3 places. What are we doing? Well, they lengthened the curfew by 1 hour. But something is up....
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As you can see, the city is sprucing things up. I saw 3 different groups of workers on my way to work yesterday, and again today. They are going around and painting.... that can only mean that we are preparing. Looks good right?? Recognize this street?
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So, there is no absolute date yet. I know, time is ticking away... you have no idea how much I know this !?!?! What is Cozumel doing? We are taking it slow... with June 1 businesses and restaurants will be opening like the governor stated - at 33%. But at the same time, we will continue with stay at home orders. How will that work? Well, we can go to work, and then go home. No beaches yet, no parks yet, no parties, no large gatherings.... kind of like what is happening in the US. And that is OK, because at least for Scuba Shack, we don't have any confirmed reservations until Jun 12. I have one person ( Hi Ken ) who is wanting to arrive on Jun 8. Fingers crossed. We are still standing by for last minute instructions, and anticipating that we will hear something early next week.
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In the mean time, More and more restaurants are opening for take out/delivery -
Right by the Village Tan Kah - Paprika and Sunset Beach are open
In town -
Casa Cuzamil, New Especias, Casa Mission, Soy Gardel (the Uruguan resetaurant), Ohana, Guido's, Chi, Asadero el Chino, K'ooben Laab, La Mission, Corazon Centento, La Choza, Fratelli' La Cuisine,
Taco Places
- Los Seras, El Pique, Los Arcos, El Foco, Super Hit
Burgers
- Burger House, Monkey Burger, El Tio Memo
Roasted Chicken places
- all of them are open including Asaderos El Chino Bill
Pizza Places
- Ninos, Dominos, among others
So, please give me some time, I am hoping by next week, we will have a more information and definite answers.
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Unfortunately, we do not have a set date for dive boats. We have requested and were supposed to receive a response yesterdxay. Unfortunately, the Harbor Master has been inundated with some issues, thanks to the fisherman - well, people who just want to go out fishing. I just don't get it. They say they are going out to get food for their family. It is the most expensive way to get food, once you figure out how much money you have to spend on gas to take the boat out. You can buy more fish than you can catch... anyway, there has been a very large crackdown on them, especially the ones fishing in the Marine Park - a round of applause for that at least !!!!!
Here are some links to facebook posts and articles about what has been going on. Click on each of the headings to be taken to the page
And then they go and protest to the Harbor Master.
Needless to say, she is quite busy. But we do anticipate that we will have an answer this coming week.
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There have been preliminary studies as to whether Covid lives in different water environments. And it appears that all studies are showing that it is transmitted via aerosol. It cannot live in the ocean, it cannot live in pool water, and it cannot live with soap and water or chlorine. So, my thought is that the rinse tank can be filled with really soapy water with a small bit of chlorine, and then have 2 rinse off valves for people to rinse off the gear with fresh water. What do you think?? Here is a link to a WebMD article about Corona Virus and water -
CLICK HERE.
This is another great article, but it is only in Spanish -
CLICK HERE
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I know for sure that we will be open by Jun 12, although it has not been announced pulibly. But I know this will happen. So what should you do? Plan your summer trip here.
What are you going to need for when you do plan on coming??
1 - Bring insect repellent - no matter if there is Covid or no, the June rains have come early and the mosquitos are huge! So bring insect repellent - the island is quickly selling out.
2 - Social distancing - Here in Mexico, the government is requiring a 1.5 M (5 feet) distance. How will that affect us on the boats? Well, I measured it out. And that means I can have 4 safely on the boat. 4 people who don't know each other. That is, if they enfource the 1.5 meter rule. We are debating this because the airlines are only keeping the middle seat open, meaning people will be seated really 1 meter apart, or 3'3". (YEAH - most of the flights have been full). In addition, while we are out on the boats, we are much of the time in the sun. And we all know that the sun kills the virus within minutes. And on the small boats, there is even more sunlight due to the reflection off of the water. We also know that it cannot live in salt water.
With a 5 foot distance between everyone, on the small boats we can sit 4 customers that don't know each other easily on the boat, along with the captain and divemaster. If there is a couple, we can put 3 additional divers with them. Or a familty can take the entire boat. We do offer private boats is you are interested. We are more than happy to get that scheduled for you.
So, at this o]point in time, it appears that we will NOT be raising our prices right now.
NOTE:
Please understand that these prices might change. There are so many new protocols and social distancing that are attempting to be standardized, that it might directly impact how we do business. If I have to add in lots of security measures at the hotel, or decrease the number of dives on the boats, this may cause a price increase. Believe me, it is NOT what I want to do, and I am going to take a stab at making it without having to raise prices. But, please understand if I do advise at a later date that I must. If that happens, be assured that you will be the first to know.
3 - We will have gel for you at the dive shop and in the hotel.
4 - Bring your mask. As of right now, you will be required to wear it out in public areas. At least for the time being. Will that change, we don't know. I am just the messenger here, not the lawmaker on this subject.
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This is sad news, but Delta will no longer be servicing the island of Cozumel. They have closed their operations here. Who knows, in a year or so, they may want to open up again, but for the forseeable future, which I have tried to look at tickets for next year, they will NOT be flying into Cozumel. So it looks like American and United are the only viable options until Southwest decided to resume their operations here. Sorry about that guys !
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And just so that you don't forget, here are some beautiful images to enjoy !
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Thank you for joining us for another fun filled newsletter. We are working hard to be ready and waiting for you for the summer. And I am sure that you are working hard at being patient... and waiting to plan your next trip to visit. We look forward to seeing you soon !
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GRACIAS !
Hasta Luego Amigo !
Roberta and all of the staff of Scuba Shack and the Village Tan Kah
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Roberta's Scuba Shack
+52.987.872.4240 - Phone
+521.987.114-3568 - Cell and WhatsApp
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Village Tan Kah
+52.987.872.4240 - Phone
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