Travel to Cabo, La Paz / Baja California Sur inc. Covid-19 effects
 

I just read the new travel advisory red/level 4 for Mexico. I want to go late Oct/Nov to a friend’s condo in La Paz. I am unsure about what is open, restricted and if one might be quarantined there or not permitted back in US. Anyone have experience traveling there recently?

I have friends who just returned from the Cape, and they remained at their resort and the adjacent sister resort, so I can’t help you with La Paz. But between now and the time you want to travel, a lot can happen.

bajainsider.com used to be a resource, but attempts to visit their website hijacks your browser to a malware site.

https://golapaz.com/en/coronavirus-information/ is not quite up to date, IMO, as it’s not dated, but has some information about what’s open. At the moment, alcohol is again being sold, business capacities are restricted to 20 or 30%, beaches and the boardwalk are closed. It’s sponsored by the Tourism board, and my experience with México is to not put too much trust in the tourism sector, which tends to be optimistic to the point of actively suppressing negative information. In Acapulco during the cholera outbreaks, doctors were threatened with license loss if they reported on the outbreaks.

https://coronavirus.bcs.gob.mx/english/ is the Baja California Sur state government page on Covid-19.


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c14c501ae.jpeg

This may be the most important sentence in your post. We have a trip to Los Cabos booked for end of October, but are planning to reschedule it. Not because we have concern about the virus, but because we have concern about both the US and Mexican governments and what they might do next. Our fear is not being able to get home for some reason.

I went to Cabo and La Barrilla at the end of July and was able to rent a wheelchair accessible van and had a really nice three days there. The good thing was that the place was completely deserted and everything was open, the bad was that I really felt bad for the local people as hotels were not allowed to book beyond 30% (although they were not even approaching that) and it just felt a little dead. But quiet and is nice to be able to enjoy the beach, the sea, and the restaurants. Plenty of facemasks, hand sanitizer, etc. There were no COVID related questions upon arrival in Mexico or back in the US. But as has been said earlier all of this is subject to change on a daily basis. My gut feeling, however, that Mexico is so hard up for cash that there won't be any problem traveling there for the foreseeable future.

Thanks for posting this. We are having some trouble re-scheduling our trip with the hotel, for which we've pre-paid. So we may have to make a decision about going anyway in October. I didn't know hotels are 30% capacity. There's good and bad with that, as we are booked at an all-inclusive...I'd imagine some of the amenities aren't available at 30% capacity.

My concern is not traveling to Mexico, it's 1) we won't be able to get back into the US, and 2) that we won't really enjoy the resort. Tough decision, but again I appreciate the report.

Honestly, I'm pretty conservative, but I really think that #1 is very, very low risk if you are a US citizen. In terms of enjoying the resort, I'd look for recent reviews on TripAdvisor for where you are staying. We've been reading reviews and also watching some YouTube video/reviews of recent stays and most are finding it a very, very positive experience, particularly if staying at a nicer, higher end resort.

Regards

A friend was in Cabo two weeks ago to celebrate their 40th anniversary. Her husband is a senior exec in the local Kaiser Permanente organization, very involved in their Covid prevention efforts. She said that locals were diligent about masks et al. They were at an all inclusive; the issue was not the staff but the guests who often did not wear masks. They were careful in where they went, avoiding others in the elevators, and were very comfortable with their week in Cabo. Last I saw, Cabo was a level 2 in terms of risk whereas much of Mexico is a level 4.

I've been doing this. The reviews (Marquis Los Cabos) are very positive, which is another reason we're still considering going in October.

Is there a requirement that hotel guests wear masks, and in what situations? I'm fine with certain times, like in the lobby. I think it would absolutely ruin our vacation if we have to wear masks all day in the hot sun at the pool, walking on the beach, etc. I haven't seen any specific information about it for our hotel.

Honestly, I can't imagine wearing a mask for about 7-8 hours straight - from the time we get to ORD until the time we get to the resort. That's part of our consideration as well.