Covid19 – Diving Health Measures

29 May 2020No Comments

We are in times of change. The planet is detoxifying, and we humans are living an internal metamorphosis that will help us to become better people.

Have you ever wondered how you will find the seabed now that we are so close to explore it again?

Those of us who practice diving are eager for that moment to come; we want to immerse ourselves and personally corroborate how, the commercial and tourist break that caused the Covid-19, has brought benefits to the underwater flora and fauna.

We are all well informed about the measures we must implement to our daily routine to protect ourselves, but do we know what to do to avoid becoming infected with covid-19 when practicing diving?

In this article we will talk about the measures that we have implemented with the help of the Ministry of Health, CANATUR and the National Institute of Tourism, so that we all can dive without exposing ourselves to the virus.

MEASURES AT THE TEBMA SITE IN SAN PEDRO, MONTES DE OCA

• Telework: We implemented shifts of work, so that we will have some collaborators attending you from the house through mail and to complete virtual purchases, and others  will be in our  dive store in San Pedro with the schedule that the Ministry of Health allows.
• Collaborators who are in the dive store will use masks to serve customers; in addition, a continuous hand washing protocol was implemented.
• When the customer enters the premises, he should go to a space that we have designed for hand washing with water, soap, and dry towels. Also, we offer alcohol in gel.
• We are continuously disinfecting surfaces, such as the reception, tables, computers, and locks. Once the customer leaves the shop, each surface used is disinfected, as well as the diving equipment (and others) to which he had access.
• The diving shop has been remodeled to have only 1 item per model on display, which are also disinfected daily,  after being handled by any customer. As for wet suits, if the client tries one, we take it out of circulation for 9 days so that the virus dies naturally.
• Free trainings given for the purchase of certain items, such as computers and regulators, are being provided by video conference.
• Diving tanks: The Covid-19 does not survive in the filling stage of the diving tank, due to the high temperature in the compressor. Only one person works in our filling station and he maintains a cleaning protocol before operating the valves and the first stages.

THEORETICAL PART OF THE DIVING COURSE:

• We promote the provision of the theory of our diving courses by E-Learning or by video conference with each instructor assigned.
• If the student prefers to receive the theory in person, the classrooms have been remodeled according to the recommendations of the Ministry of Health, National Institute of Tourism and CANATUR.
• In addition, student capacity is maintained in half for each classroom.

PRACTICAL PART OF THE DIVING COURSE:

• Two days before going to dive, the instructor will make a video conference with students to fine-tune health protocol details.
• All diving equipment will be labeled with the name of the student, it will be disinfected, and only the student will use it during the weekend. After each use, the instructor and assistant will disinfect it again. It will be the student’s responsibility to take care and use only their own diving equipment.
• The student is given his or her own new mouthpiece at no additional cost.
• During the exercises in the pool and at sea, checking between companions and the instructor will be visual, and no exercises will be done in pairs.
• We will not practice BCD fillings with the airway, only by air in the tank.
• The hotel and the boats we will use are governed by the protocols of the Costa Rican Tourism Institute and CANATUR.

 DIVING AND SNORKELING TOURS:

• We recommend 3 people per car and with safety measures.
• The rooms will be individual, unless shared with a member of the same social bubble.
• If the diver has personal diving equipment, he must disinfect the BC, mask, snorkel, and nozzle of the regulator each time he goes diving and inflate the BC only with the air of the tank.
• Sharing the diving equipment is not allowed.
• If you have any suspicious symptoms, you should not attend the diving tour. We will make you a balance in favor to use on a next diving tour.

GENERALITIES INSIDE DIVE BOATS:

• Boat staff will have the diving equipment ready and disinfected on site when customers arrive.
• Only divers will be allowed on board.
• Everyone should wear a protective mask in the boat.
• The capability of the boat will be of 50%.
• There will be disinfectant soap available, but there will be no alcohol, as it is volatile and flammable.
• We will use anti-fog. We have removed the useo the soap bucket to clean the masks.
• Staff will change the dive tanks using gloves and masks.
• If the divers are in the water, extra ropes from the surface will help them keep the distance between each other.

CLEANING AND DISINFECTION OF THE EQUIPMENT:

• When the course or  diving tour ends, TEBMA staff will take care of the equipment using mask and gloves.
• The process we implement is to disarm the second stages that were used and immerse them in a soapy solution for 24 hours so that disinfection is carried out effectively.
• We guarantee that this diving equipment will not be used for the next 48 hours.
• All cleanings and disinfections will be made by a qualified and certified team that will handle the entire diving system.

If you feel that any company or collaborator is not complying with the health measures, we urge you to let us know by any of our ways of contact. All this effort we are making is to avoid becoming infected with the Covid-19 when we practice diving.  For us, the most important thing is your health and that of your loved ones.

Although these measures are temporary, they will help us to improve as divers and as people. The bottom of the sea awaits us, filled with all that beauty that we are looking forward seeing, again!!