Living, working or playing in a bubble has always had negative connotations. That was obviously not during a pandemic! Now creating a bubble around yourself, family and friends is the norm. By ensuring our own adventure bubble, we have been operating our adventures since July 2020, when our first destination reopened.

Our corporate buzz word for 2020 became “pivot.” We had to reorganize our priorities and pivot to make room for ones we had never considered, adding hand-washing stations before entering any of our destination facilities, taking everyone’s temperature daily and, most of all, learning all we could about applying aerosol disinfectants to entire rooms and common areas. However, all of this succeeded in creating a clean, refreshed and sanitized bubble for our guests to enjoy during their entire liveaboard adventure with us. A liveaboard has become the safest way to continue indulging your passion for scuba diving during a pandemic. Small groups that are not coming into contact with any outsiders during the week make for a more relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere where you can take a break from the world’s most pressing issues.

Our ability to quickly pivot at the start of the pandemic, looking at the entire adventure from start to finish and how we can best assure our guests’ safety from airborne diseases, allowed us to have extensive plans in place for reopening. In most cases, this exceeded the local guidelines set in place, getting guests back in the water as soon as the country allowed tourism to resume. Getting our destinations reopened safely and quickly also benefited our staff retention and prevented any unnecessary financial hardships on them and their families.

With over eight months of operating adventures during the pandemic, we have confirmed that all the plans and procedures we took the time to put into place have been a resounding success. Every destination has been operating smoothly, and most importantly, we have received excellent feedback from our traveling guests about how safe they felt the entire time with us. I have heard from several of our first-time liveaboard guests who decided that small group bubbles were the best way to keep scuba diving. Not only were their instincts correct, but they could never see not continuing with the liveaboard lifestyle, even when the pandemic is over. The total amount of dives during the week and the ease of slipping on your gear and stepping off the back of the yacht were all that was needed to convince them they had been missing out on the only way to go on a scuba diving adventure.

Innovation always takes a giant leap during disruptions, and the current pandemic is no exception. We have created so many procedures to add to our destinations that will remain in place as a permanent part of our ongoing safety programs, including the deep fogging sanitization of every nook and cranny between adventures. No one ever wishes for major disruptions to help companies innovate, but I have never been prouder of my staff and our owners worldwide during this unprecedented time. They never hesitated to step up with the time and effort to create an adventure in a bubble, just for you.