If you have booked an upcoming vacation to Los Cabos and are wondering whether to cancel your vacation in light of the coronavirus pandemic, we have good news! Vacation not canceled! While travelers need to take precautions, there should be no reason why you should have to cancel your trip. We have prepared some informative tips that we hope you will find useful in making the best possible decision for you and your family.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has removed the recommendation from its website that travelers should quarantine for two weeks after traveling internationally. While it still recommends that staying at home is the best way to avoid getting sick, for people who don’t want to cancel vacation plans and still want to travel, the CDC recommends that the best way for travelers to stay safe is by wearing a face mask at all times, staying at least 6 feet apart from others not traveling with you, avoiding contact with anyone displaying flu-like symptoms and using contactless payment methods and remote check-in at hotels.
Please click here to read the full list of the CDC’s recommendations.
At the Airport
U.S. airports and major airlines are compliant with CDC’s guidelines for sanitization and are following safety protocols. These include cleaning all ticket counters, check-in kiosks, gate seating, and other high touch areas with disinfectant several times per day and making hand sanitizer available throughout ticket and boarding areas.
The major airlines also have mandated the use of face masks at the airport and on the plane. Travelers who refuse to wear masks onboard (apart from when they are eating or drinking) will be denied boarding. Passengers also must fill out a health questionnaire at check in stating their health condition and whether they have been diagnosed with or exposed to someone with coronavirus in the past 21 days or if they display any symptoms.
While going through customs, passengers are encouraged to maintain social distancing by staying 6 feet apart from others waiting in line. While previously, liquids could not be brought on board that were in containers more than 3 ounces, now travelers are permitted to bring liquid hand sanitizer in containers up to 12 ounces.
On the Plane
Temperature checks are taken when boarding the plane on all flights leaving the US. Some airlines are blocking middle seats to allow more personal space for flying passengers. According to the airlines’ cleaning protocols, all planes are deep cleaned before and after each flight. In addition, all planes belonging to major U.S. airlines, are equipped with high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters, which clean the air.
Passengers are encouraged to bring some alcohol wipes with them and wipe down the area where they will sit and anything else prior to touching it. Coronavirus does not appear to be airborne, which means that it doesn’t linger in the air. Therefore, the transmission most likely occurs from touching contaminated surfaces. In order to get coronavirus on a plane, you would have to touch the same surface that a person infected with coronavirus did or sit close to them. That is why it is a good idea to use alcohol wipes to clean plane surfaces before you touch them, such as the tray tables and bathroom handles.
Take Precautions
If you suffer from underlying health problems, chronic medical conditions or are an older adult, the CDC does recommend that you avoid non-essential travel and long plane trips.
For travelers who proclaim vacation not canceled, experts recommend that they take the necessary precautions including regular handwashing, the use of hand sanitizing gel, wearing face coverings, and making sure to avoid touching your face.
Arriving in Mexico
The process of arriving from the US into Mexico hasn’t changed apart from the fact that you may be asked to show your COVID-19 health questionnaire. Your temperature won’t be taken on arrival into Mexico, since it was already taken on your last departing flight from the US. Customs will ask you the same questions as usual including how long do you plan to stay in Mexico, where will you be staying and what is the purpose of your trip.
Going through the airports in Mexico, you will notice people are respecting social distancing, everyone is wearing face masks, and hand sanitizing stations have been placed at key points in high traffic areas. You will also notice a lot more QR code menus both at the airport and at restaurants in the destination, so that you can read the menu with the peace of mind that no one else has touched it.
Once you exit the airport, shuttle drivers will sanitize your luggage and give you hand sanitizing gel to use before getting in the vehicle. Shuttles are sanitized before and after each trip.
Hotels in Los Cabos
Upon arrival at most hotels in Los Cabos, the bell boys will take your luggage to be sanitized prior to room delivery. Prior to check in, your temperature will be taken and you will be offered hand sanitizing gel.
Garza Blanca Resort & Spa in Los Cabos offers a complimentary amenity face mask, although it is not mandatory to use the face mask around the resort. In addition, all the staff at Garza Blanca are friendly, efficient, and they put the well-being of all travelers as their top priority. The resort is following strict health and sanitization protocols. To watch some video testimonials from our guests who have traveled to Los Cabos during the pandemic, please click here.
Watching these videos will give you an idea of what traveling is like now and should go a long way to reassuring you that while many things in the world have changed, you can still have that vacation you so deserve!
If you are seeking a vacation getaway in Los Cabos, don’t cancel your travel plans.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
Mark Twain
