TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands BVI entry and quarantine for visiting cruisers

Hi, I'm new here, but thank you for all of the great info everyone shares about the BVI and sailing in her waters. We are scheduled to come down to the BVI to bareboat over the Christmas/New Year holiday. We extended our stay by four days (now total of 12 days) to allow for the four-day quarantine and still provide us about a week to go ashore (assuming negative test results). I have been reading a lot about the rules & regulations for visitors coming to the BVI to cruise. Below I have outlined what I have gathered so far. There are a few “loose ends” and hopefully this group can help fill-in any missing info or at least confirm that certain info isn’t yet available.

1. The BVI intends to reopen to visitors on 1-Dec-2020 by air or on 8-Dec-2020 by ferry
2. Visitors must be PCR tested for Covid19 with negative result within five days of travel/arrival to BVI a. Bring printed and electronic copies of the test results with you for presentation to immigration as requested.
3. Goto the BVI Gateway Website and apply and receive a “Travel Authorization” certificate prior to traveling to the BVI.
a. Traveler will need their “Travel Authorisation” document in order to board a flight/ferry bound for the BVI.
b. Upload negative Covid19 test result from item #2 prior to travel? This supposedly doesn’t work yet, but is being worked on? Website says that it is part of the workflow.
c. “You are required to upload medical travel insurance that covers COVID-19 related costs”. This quotation is taken from the Gateway website, but it doesn’t provide any specific requirements, sources or cost to obtain this insurance.
4. There is a fee/charge of US$175 per person that will be collected (not sure where/how this is paid) to cover:
a. Arrival Day (Day 0) Covid19 PCR test (result will be provided electronically within 24 hours) i. If anyone on boat receives a positive test result from Day 0 test, 14 day quarantine begins. Supposedly this quarantine could be performed on the boat? Can’t find specific info on this.
b. “Day 4” (Day 4) Covid19 PCR test (result will be provided within 24 hours)
i. Multiple locations on Tortola, VG, JVD, and Anegada for testing.
ii. Visitor will schedule the Day 4 test through some means provided???
iii. BVI gov’t will provide transportation from an agreed port/dock to the scheduled testing location and back to the port/dock.
iv. Note: assuming release on morning of Day 5 (24 hours after Day 4 test), there is a total of six days or parts thereof that will be spent in quarantine. Quarantine starts on Day 0 (arrival day).
c. Smartphone APP provided to monitor/track individual’s movement in the BVI during quarantine period. This APP requires WiFi connection to the Internet so boat will require WiFi.
d. Bracelet/wearable device provided to monitor/track individual’s movement in the BVI during quarantine period. No specifics have been provided on the bracelet and it’s waterproof quality – need more info here.
5. From immigration/entry, cruisers will take a prearranged taxi directly to their boat which must be pre-provisioned for the period of the quarantine. Quarantine starts immediately upon arrival at the boat. During quarantine:
a. Boats will be allowed to travel in BVI waters only (entire charter period)
b. Captain & Crew must stay aboard or within 30 feet of boat when swimming
c. Overnight anchorages may be limited. Can’t find any specific info on this yet.
d. Daytime movement within BVI waters is not restricted except possibly in the “exclusion zone” if it remains in force past 1-December-2020? Exclusion zone image
e. There will be some remote beaches available to go ashore and walk on during the quarantine. This exceeds the 30 feet rule, but supposedly will be allowed. Can’t find any specific info on this yet.
f. “Curbside delivery” will be available to quarantine boats from restaurants who will do “touchless delivery” by boat. Can’t find any specific info on this yet as to which restaurants.
6. Morning of Day 5, receive PCR test results from Day 4 test. If negative, remove bracelet and APP and free to go ashore without limitations.
a. If anyone on boat tests positive, quarantine extended for another ten days. This supposedly will be able to continue on the boat. Need further info to confirm this. Logistics would need to be handled with charter company as boat may have following charter. I’ve heard that there is enough inventory in the charter fleets at this time that rearranging boats for an additional quarantine period should be possible. If not, captain and crew could need to go to another approved quarantine location including possibly a government run location.
7. BVI Gov’t will provide access to PCR testing for US$70 for visitors who need a negative test prior to traveling back to home country.

Thanks and regards,

Bruce

I assume that post is sarcasm. Either way it pretty much sums up the BVI "vacation" these days. Enjoy!

Hi Tom, no, it's not sarcasm. I know there are a lot of items, but if we can get a better understanding of the insurance and quarantine rules we are seriously considering it. However, five of the six from our family already had Covid in the spring and we have positive antibody tests. This gives us some hope that we won't test positive in the several rounds of testing. Our kids are in college so they have had to test a lot this semester and are somewhat used to the process and inconvenience also.

But, it is a tremendous amount of effort for a "vacation" as you indicate.

Thanks, Bruce

Bruce, thanks for compiling this step by step list. I have saved it to explain to friends the hoops you have to jump through to enter the BVI's today. Sorry I can't fill in any blanks.

Remember if you are traveling by air to STT you will need to go to the STT portal and enter covid info and get a form to use to give to your airline. Do not know about SJU, but that might be similar.

At least the STT portal works (as does the entire process). Depending on schedules/plans, you may be able to use the same pre-departure (from mainland) test for both USVI entry and BVI entry.

Thanks tpcook. We are flying to STT and ferry to Roadtown. I will explore the STT portal.

Bruce - I'm pretty sure you will still have to go thru the BVI portal to enter via ferry.

I think you will have to do both the USVI portal and the BVI portal. If you transfer the same day you should be able to use one test to satisfy both requirements.

Thank you for a great list of what's known and some of the obvious obstacles.
We have a 14 day bare boat charter starting 13 Dec, flying in from Paris via SXM.
The "Travel Authorization" is what mainly troubles me at the moment. I've applied for me and my wife a week ago, answering "No" to the "Have you been tested for Covid-19". Immediately got an "Approved document" in return which I printed and saved as PDF.
Now when I try the same link I used then to see the approved documents online, the link is redirected to the start page AND when I login (entering the same e-mail address and the OTP that's sent to that address) both these applications have the Status "Pending". Still quite some time to get this in order for us, last solution is to wait until we have the PCR result two days before we fly from Sweden and then simply apply again.
I think that all the other problems can be ad hoced on site BUT we need the "Travel Authorization" to be able to fly from Paris (or maybe the check for that is made on SXM).
Please share any information you see relevant.

I have heard the same story from a gentleman (on Facebook) who is planning to travel tomorrow.
From his description, he received an immediate approval - so quickly he thought it must be an automated response. Then his status changed to pending.
They are working out the bugs in the system . . . slowly.

I received a nearly immediate approval last week. I figured that it might be bogus. several days later I got a notice to I was not approved and needed to upload test results and proof of insurance. Late yesterday they finally got the bugs worked out of the site and I was able to upload the docs. got approval late last night.

Good to hear!

Husker, can you tell me how you accessed the site the second time to upload information? I got my authorization before I had test done or had a chance to load my insurance. I suspect that I have to go back in and upload these things but I don't see how you go about logging in to do it and I am afraid of messing up what I already have in place.

GaryC - Login the same way you did the first time using the same email address. The site will recognize that you already have an app record which it will display with stated status (like "pending"). It might say that you need to upload the missing docs in which case you should see an upload icon. Click that and walk thru the upload steps. Then just sit back and wait for your approval notification...which should come via email. BTW, the authorization you received before uploading test results was sent in error and is likely not valid. They are still sorting out bugs on the site. Be patient. When are you slated to travel?

Husker, thanks for the details on updating applications. I do my PCR test tomorrow morning, get results no later than the next morning, then I fly Friday, Dec 4th.

Are you going through Puerto Rico? I need to verify the protocols for an in-transist passenger.

I've had two applications in the status Pending for a full week, there is no "upload" button present. Are you guessing or have you actually seen that option?

Gary, what insurance are you going to load and do you know that it satisfies the requirement(s)? I don't know whether our USA medical insurance that covers us worldwide is sufficient?

Brewferg, when i contacted my company to verify their COVID coverage they said they wouldn't provide it as long as there was a travel advisory. I googled covid insurance and found a recognized company that was providing it and it was someone I had used before. That company is called Medipac. They may not operate in the US but I imagine there are few out there in the US as well.

I found that when I registered my BVI travel application as a RESIDENT (I own a home there and there and was told there is category for me called part time resident) there was no request to upload heath insurance. Alternatively on the VISITOR side there is a prompt to upload insurance. So, no insurance upload needed for me it appears, I will just bring a copy to show if asked.

I am now trying to figure out how to upload PCR test results. I can log in but there is no button or prompt for uploading that I can find.

Captain T: I was able to go back into the prtal and locate my application following Husker's instructions, however I can not see any button or prompt that allows me to upload my test results either. I just sent a WhatsApp query to the Steering Committee and will post the result.

You have to navigate back to the page with the health questionaire and say Yes to the question about whether you've take a COVID test. Then the page updates and below the test question, there should be an upload option. I think....

Jason: When I give my email address and enter the passcode I arrive at a page that has a brief summary of my status. There are no working buttons there, except to press new and press another application. If I were to press new I could start the whole process again but I guess I would lose everything I already established including the house inspection that has been added to the file for me.
I just can't figure out what to do with this thing! The Steering Committee contacted through Whats App hasn't got back to me yet. Anybody know of any other ways to reach them?

Travel Medical Insurance
I found this site that offers Covid19 coverage for travelers outside of the USA. Seems that for a couple of hundred dollars the BVI insurance requirement may be able to be met. If anyone is familiar with Atlas Premium International that is one that I am looking at. These policies also cover medical evacuation if necessary/ordered by the physician/hospital.