BAHAMAS DIVER

‘Diving never felt so good’ - that’s to do with the sense of heightened perception and appreciation you feel when you’re used to diving frequently but a pandemic has kept you out of the sea for way too long. BRANDI MUELLER climbs gratefully aboard the Aqua Cat in the Bahamas

AFTER A FALSE START LAST SUMMER, the Bahamas opened for tourists a second time in October. Originally it had opened in July, but it quickly closed again following a big rise in Covid cases.

The Bahamas relies heavily on tourism, and between Hurricane Dorian doing substantial damage in 2019 and Covid arriving soon after, finding a way to let tourists in while also trying to protect its people had been a priority.

Itching to dive and also wanting to support the tourism industry in one of the few countries allowing entry, I headed to the Bahamas from the States in December.

While that wasn’t difficult, it did take some planning. (I look forward to future days when I can book an impulse flight at 2am and be flying out to another country the following afternoon.)

But after months of staying at home, and to try to make travel as safe as possible for those with whom I come into contact, it was worth the effort to be able to go diving.

At the time entry to the Bahamas required a negative RT-PCR test taken no more than five days before the flight landed, and approval from the government in the form of a health visa.

Luckily I had the help of All Star Liveaboards (which operates several boats in the Bahamas including the Aqua Cat, the Blackbeard’s vessels and Cat Ppalu) to guide me through the process.

After receiving my test results, I completed the health visa application online. This included uploading the negative results, answering questions about my health and recording specifics about where I was staying.

This cost $60, payable online, and if approved you’re emailed a barcode to print and show at immigration when entering the country.