As of Friday, July 15, 2022, travelers to the BVI will no longer be required to present a negative covid test to enter the country as part of the BVI covid testing requirements. The government passed an amendment to the regulations on July 13th, announcing the move on July 14th.
Full details of the BVI announcement can be read here: Virgin Islands Dropping Covid Test Entry Requirements
A little background…
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, when travel was severely impacted across the globe and basically shutdown tourism completely, countries around the world have slowly gone from complete border closures (remember those days?) to allowing tourists to return, requiring additional entry requirements including completing online portals, proof of multiple negative Covid tests and instituting mandatory quarantines. All of which have either been frustrating obstacles many people have chosen to endure and take a much needed vacation to a beautiful destination anyway or have just simply decided to forego a vacation outside their own country’s borders and keep it local.
Even though a private yacht charter vacation is one of the most socially distant vacations you could enjoy, traveling to the destination has required more planning, preparation and coordination than pre-pandemic. However, our clients that have braved the travel protocols have made it clear that once you get through the travel on the front end and back end, that precious time in between, where your in the private space of a charter yacht with friends and family, surrounded by clear blue water and beautiful island scenery was well worth the extra steps to get there, especially after being cooped up for so long during the height of the pandemic.
Just in the past few months, many countries have begun to lift their Covid-induced entry protocols, making travel to those beautiful destinations much easier and a more pleasant travel experience for tourists. And finally, the British Virgin Islands, one of the most popular bareboat and crewed yacht charter destinations in the world, has joined those countries by lifting the protocol that requires the most prep and planning and is probably the number one factor when deciding to travel, their BVI covid testing requirements. With this protocol change, the BVI will surely again become the most sought after yacht charter vacation destination, bringing its tourism back to pre-pandemic levels.
