What will be the new Normal After COVID-19? Every day we receive messages and emails asking us “When will Bali reopen to tourism?“. It’s been more than three months since we went into lockdown on Nusa Ceningan and like you, we’re looking forward to getting back to diving and we are excited to see how the amazing reefs of the Nusa Penida Marine Protected Area have coped during our absence.
The Ministry of Tourism and the Governor of Bali stated this past week that although they are planning on a gradual reopening to tourism and “the return to the new normal” in Bali, we are most likely still a few months away from being able to reopen our eco-friendly dive resort. That said, we are currently taking fully flexible reservations for October 2020. However, the situation remains fluid and we will continue to monitor the official channels for updates.
The New Normal After COVID-19
That said, our team is currently working hard to implement new procedures and additional protocols for when we are allowed to reopen our doors and welcome you back to Nusa Lembongan. Once the COVID travel restrictions are lifted, we will be required to continue to apply social distancing and additional special procedures. The following “new normal” protocols based on government and industry recommendations have been designed to minimize the spread of the Coronavirus by adding improved sanitization procedures and continuing to social distance at our dive resort, on our boats, and during our various programs.
What measures is Ceningan Divers implementing for our guests and employeess for life after COVID and what can you expect on your next post-COVID-19 dive vacation with us in Nusa Penida?
COVID-19 Reopening Protocol
Our local team has been in quarantine for 3 months already. Our local team members will return to work 2 weeks prior to the government-approved reopening to ensure our resort and facilities are fully cleaned, disinfected, and serviced. Our nonlocal team (those who live in Lombok, Java or mainland Bali) will be required to take a rapid or PCR test before they are able to return to Nusa Ceningan and may be required to quarantine for 14 days (we are still waiting for the government protocol regarding Indonesian return to work from different regions.)
COVID-19 Face masks rule in Indonesia
The Indonesian Government requires everyone to wear a face mask when in public. You will be required to wear face masks while traveling in Indonesia, at our resort, and on our boats. If you forget your mask or do not have a face mask, we sell reusable fabric face masks at our retail center for a reasonable price.
COVID-19 Employee Protocols
Our employees are required to wear face masks; we will provide them reusable masks so both our guests and our team are protected
Our employees are required to wash their hands on a regular basis throughout the day, this includes on arrival at the dive resort, in between guests’ interactions, before and after their breaks, and throughout the day as needed. We have several hand washing and sanitizer stations setup around our dive resort to ensure both our employees and guests can easily wash/disinfect their hands.
With an infrared Thermometer, we will take the body temperature of each employee whenever they start and end their work shift. This information will be logged for record-keeping.
Welcome Briefing and Arrivals
If you are a returning guest, you’re already familiar with our personalized and friendly welcome briefing. However, with the new normal, comes new procedures and additional information.
Upon your arrival at our dive resort, we will take your temperature using an infrared Thermometer. You will then be required to wash your hands at one of the sanitizing stations before we proceed with our updated briefing where we will cover the Green Fins Code of Conduct, diving, and our new special COVID protocol.
Paperwork will now be completed digitally prior to your arrival, if this was not an option, you will have access to a safe space with a disinfected pen to complete the paper forms.
As per Indonesian regulations, we are required to keep a minimum distance of 1m between people. Of course, if you are traveling with friends and family, you will be able to site and interact together. Our dive resort facilities are spread with lots of open space, so this will allow us to split our dive groups prior to diving and post dives while we log our books.
New Process on our Boats
We have 3 amazing boats including Mary Ann our brand new flag ship. She was built to take on 20+ divers, however, we will now limit our diver intake to 8 guests to allow more space on the boat. We will continue to offer options to dive in groups of up to 4 divers or split into smaller groups if you are a couple or traveling alone.
During surface intervals, each diver will be provided with a person cup and we will continue to offer tea and coffee, each diver will also receive a personal snack box with local snacks and fresh fruits. We encourage our guests to bring a reusable bottle to refill with our water gallon. (We also sell our awesome Ceningan Divers stainless steel bottle at our dive resort)
Dive Equipment Rental after COVID-19
As stated by the government of Indonesia, the tourism industry is built on trust. With that in mind, we want you to feel confident in the hygiene of our rental gear and our disinfection procedures. Our rental equipment will be thoroughly disinfected after each use; we will disinfect the entire regulator system including the second stage, the BCD oral inflators, and the internal BCD bladder will also be disinfected. Each rental set will be set aside for a full day to dry in between uses. Masks and Snorkel will be hand washed and soaked to disinfect. We will also offer you the option for you to buy your own mouthpiece. We will continue to sell Masks and Snorkel in our retail shop. Our team will be required to wash their hands or use sanitizer before handling any dive gear, we will have a new loading and offloading process for the boat.
Personal Gear
If you are traveling with your personal gear, you will be provided with a washbasin, cleaning solution, and personal storage space in our new private equipment room. We feel that it is best for divers with their own gear to clean and disinfect their own diving equipment between each dive to limit contact.
Returning to Diving Post COVID
As we continue to work with government regulations and procedures, listen to industry experts and recommendations, we will adjust our reopening process to ensure that everyone remains safe and that you can enjoy a stress-free dive vacation with Ceningan Divers. We will continue to update you as we get more information and implement new protocols.
If you have any questions or would like to make a booking we continue to offer the best Dive & Stay and PADI Learn & Stay packages on Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Penida. Currently, when you support us by buying prepaid vouchers, you will receive 25% discount on your next dive vacation and/or PADI course.
We look forward to welcoming you to Nusa Paradise, until then, please be kind to others, stay safe, stay healthy, and stay home.
For more information, please email us at info@ceningandivers.com