Just arrived on Curacao

[JohnN]

For me a longish (13 hour) trip from the Left Coast. PDX --> SFO --> MIA -->CUR. Except for the last leg, the planes were completely full. On the MIA --> CUR leg, you could have shot a (TSA approved) cannon and not hit anything. I cashed airline miles for the trip, 55K round trip, first-class except for the MIA <--> CUR leg.

I'm here for 5 weeks of warmth and shore diving. I'm very fortunate I can work from anywhere in the world, and this seems the ideal place to be in what we all hope to be the trailing edge of the Covid pandemic.

Picking up my tanks tomorrow, decisions. . . decisions. . . where to go first It's an awful dilemma to have

 

[Altamira]

@JohnN Thank you for the quick report. Covid situation permitting, my wife and I are planning an extended trip to Curacao later in the summer. We are very interested in how you dealt with the PCR/Antigen tests required for entry into Curacao. I suspect the PCR test administered within 72 hours of travel might not be a problem, assuming no sudden surge of testing that would result in a 2-3 day test reply. However, I am wondering where you got your quick result antigen test at MIA to comply with Curacao's requirement to have a negative test result within 4 hours of boarding your flight, and forwarded to Curacao authorities. I can see that requirement has a lot of potential for screwing up the trip without an easy way to recover. Thank you for any additional information you can provide whenever it is convenient of course. Hopefully you will be willing to write a trip report at some point, and we wish you a great trip and safe diving.

 

[drrich2]

Sounds awesome. In light of the advisements not to travel in the pandemic now, I'm surprised some of the flights were that packed, but good to know. Are you basing around Willemstad, Westpunt or mixing it up a bit?

 

[BoltSnap]

where to go first It's an awful dilemma to have

Buy a map of the dives sites in Curacao and start with number 1, Playa Kalki in Westpunt, if you are living closer to Westpunt and work your way down. You will have plenty of time to do ALL of the dive sites at least twice in the time you are staying there. If you are living closer to Willemstad, start with the reverse all the way to number 1.

I'm here for 5 weeks of warmth and shore diving. I'm very fortunate I can work from anywhere in the world, and this seems the ideal place to be in what we all hope to be the trailing edge of the Covid pandemic.

So, why not 8 or 10 weeks? Summer is a long ways away, this is the best time to be in Curacao, through the spring

 

[tkaelin]

Enjoy your trip. What part of the island are you staying? Would be interested in your plans for testing for the return and how that goes.

 

[BumbleV]

@JohnN However, I am wondering where you got your quick result antigen test at MIA to comply with Curacao's requirement to have a negative test result within 4 hours of boarding your flight, and forwarded to Curacao authorities.

I do not see this stated as a requirement to entry on their website.

 

[JohnN]

@JohnN Thank you for the quick report. Covid situation permitting, my wife and I are planning an extended trip to Curacao later in the summer. We are very interested in how you dealt with the PCR/Antigen tests required for entry into Curacao. I suspect the PCR test administered within 72 hours of travel might not be a problem, assuming no sudden surge of testing that would result in a 2-3 day test reply. However, I am wondering where you got your quick result antigen test at MIA to comply with Curacao's requirement to have a negative test result within 4 hours of boarding your flight, and forwarded to Curacao authorities. I can see that requirement has a lot of potential for screwing up the trip without an easy way to recover. Thank you for any additional information you can provide whenever it is convenient of course. Hopefully you will be willing to write a trip report at some point, and we wish you a great trip and safe diving.

As of today (things may change on Monday), Curacao 'only' requires a nasopharyngeal (aka brain probe) COVID test within 72 hours of departure (in my case PDX). They specifically exclude antigen or 'rapid' PCR tests. My test results came back within 36 hours (your mileage may vary of course) so I was good to go. My plan "B" was to check for the test results on my SFO and MIA connections and upload the results if available then. Plan "C" was to go into quarantine and try to sweet talk my way out when the test results came in (again the 72 hours before departure threshold).

Going back to the US seems easier right now, since they will accept an antigen test within 3 days (not 72 hours) of departure.

 

[BumbleV]

As of today (things may change on Monday), Curacao 'only' requires a nasopharyngeal (aka brain probe) COVID test within 72 hours of departure (in my case PDX).

Going back to the US seems easier right now, since they will accept an antigen test within 3 days (not 72 hours) of departure.

Interesting, I assumed your departure city was that in which you flew into Curacao from, in your case MIA.

Also, good to get confirmation that test to reenter is 3 calendar days versus 72 hours. But I thought it too had to be the deep test, not just antigen, and that cost $100 USD plus.

Now, GO DIVING!

 

[lexvil]

I’m hoping the vaccine will factor in soon, I really want to get back to curaçao!

 

[rhwestfall]

Also, good to get confirmation that test to reenter is 3 calendar days versus 72 hours