Traveling to SBH in the uncertain COVID related environment

didier said:

what tradewind airlines is saying is : most of the time there is not a time stamp on the sample that is taken , only a date the sample is taken, that is why they are using the 3 day rule. an example, you get a nasal swab test on tuesday at anytime, the specimen is marked only with the date the specimen was taken, not the time. then your flight with tradewind airlines could be at 4:30 out of sju on friday, you are technically within the 72 hour rule.

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Just to clarify -- the test results are presented when you get on the connecting flight, or when you go through immigration at SBH? (That said, the "third day" rule is much less stress-inducing than 72 hours, especially if one arrives on the island late afternoon!)

I did not have a problem. I flew to puerto rico from baltimore. the airlines in baltimore did not ask for anything from me as I was in transit. so I did not have to show anything in baltimore. when I arrived in puerto rico, I picked up my bags at baggage claim and went to tradewind airlines. after I received my bags I passed about 25 technicians in white lab coats and they asked me if I was in transit or entering puerto rico. I said I am in transit and they waved me on.

tradewinds immediately asked me for my covid test before they would check me in. they said this is fine, you did the test on tuesday and this is friday so you are okay.

when I arrived in st. barths, my passport was stamped and I thought wonder why they are not asking for my covid test results, but within a few feet, there were two people waiting to see my test results and one of them took my temperature. they asked me how long I was staying and when I said I live here, they just said welcome home.

I cannot speak more highly of thecovidconsultants.com , even after I arrived in st. barths, Andrea sent me an email and wanted to know if my trip went smoothly. how nice of them to follow up.

I will be going skiing again for new years eve, so I will use them again.

Didier, did you self administer the nasal swab? Do you have to be on video with them when you do it? Thanks for sharing so much information -- as mentioned elsewhere, this is nerve-wracking for us who have travel planned soon!

Aipotu said:

Didier, did you self administer the nasal swab? Do you have to be on video with them when you do it? Thanks for sharing so much information -- as mentioned elsewhere, this is nerve-wracking for us who have travel planned soon!

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I did administer the nasal swab test to myself. and no to the video. its not hard to do, the most important thing is that the results come back in about 13 hours via email after the lab receives your specimen via fedex.

covid consultants will guarantee within 24 hours for the results to come back. but I have had several friends who also did this test and send it via fedex and they also received their results in 13 hours. so its a good thing. the price is not bad.

I will be skiing the end of december and the first week of January, so I will use covid consultants again. I like the convenience of not having an appt. at a doctor's office.

if you are worried, there is a video on youtube and its very good, it shows from start to finish the process of the self test.

Is the test administered by the facility in St. Barts the one that goes really far back in your nose?

Tiffany said:

Is the test administered by the facility in St. Barts the one that goes really far back in your nose?

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yes. this is the test that is required, the nasal swab covid test. hopefully they will allow the saliva test in the near future, much less invasive and I understand the results are quite accurate, but for now, its the nasal test for sbh.

Thank you. My son did the one similar to Covid Consultants in order to go back to college...It wasn’t terrible. It’s the one that goes up your nose to the back of throat that gives me the creeps. Was wondering if that’s the one they do in St Barts before you fly back to SXM. Praying the saliva test is acceptable soon!

So, you do need a test to fly back through SXM? I thought we learned you don't since SBH is low risk.

Jeanette, as long as you are just in transit going from sbh to sxm, you do not need a covid test.

The info on the WIMCO site says you need the test to go back, at least if you’ve been in the US during the previous 14 days. This could be old info, but it’s still posted there.

Please note, for travelers who have been vacationing on nearby islands who are then transiting through Princess Juliana Airport (SXM) on their return to the US, you will be required to present a Covid19 PCR test that is less than 120 hours old to transit through the airport. Ask your villa rental agency or hotel to reserve testing for you 2 days prior to your departure so you will have the necessary test results in hand when transiting through St Martin. Those concerned about this requirement should transit back to the US via San Juan, Anguilla, Nevis or Antigua

this comes directly from sxm web site:

connecting passengers via sint maarten sxm

no rt-pcr test required if you are traveling from st. barths to sint maarten if you are IN TRANSIT at Juliana airport.

didier said:

this comes directly from sxm web site:

connecting passengers via sint maarten sxm

no rt-pcr test required if you are traveling from st. barths to sint maarten if you are IN TRANSIT at Juliana airport.

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I think it has to do with where you’ve been in the last 14 days before going back through SXM. With our trip to SBH only being 7 days, we would have still been in the US and subject to testing as a result. I would love to NOT have to take a test to go back through. Do you have a link that’s different from this? The saliva test, therapeutic and vaccine can’t come soon enough!

Tiffany , if you go on st. barths commuter site, you will see the same thing as I wrote earlier. it says travelers from st. barth's to juliana airport, DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE AN RT- PCR COVID TEST AS LONG AS YOU ARE IN TRANSIT.

I know you are worried, but go on commuters site, and you can read this for yourself. If you wish to get a test, you can do that also, its just not required for persons in transit at Juliana coming from sbh to sxm.

Can someone chime in regarding testing needing to be done after being on SBH for 7 days? We arrived on Saturday and while not being smooth, we made it. Late departure leaving Nantucket which made us miss our PR fight from Boston. We arrived PR too late to make it to SBH so had to overnight. Tradewind got us on the first flight the following morning and called someone on the SBH side to smooth over the fact that our testing would be out of date so to speak, by a few hours. We arrived on time Saturday morning with an amazing over the water landing. Covid paper work was shown near the baggage belt and there was no issue.

Reed said:

Can someone chime in regarding testing needing to be done after being on SBH for 7 days? We arrived on Saturday and while not being smooth, we made it. Late departure leaving Nantucket which made us miss our PR fight from Boston. We arrived PR too late to make it to SBH so had to overnight. Tradewind got us on the first flight the following morning and called someone on the SBH side to smooth over the fact that our testing would be out of date so to speak, by a few hours. We arrived on time Saturday morning with an amazing over the water landing. Covid paper work was shown near the baggage belt and there was no issue.

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I have chimed in about this issue several times. only the airlines and the airports keep up to date info, not travel agencies. st. barth commuter site says TRAVELERS DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE A RT-PCR TEST IF FLYING FROM SBH TO SXM IF THEY ARE IN TRANSIT ONLY.

info is updated on a regular basis. THIS NEW INFO WAS UPDATED ON OCT. 1, in transit passengers from sbh arriving to sxm as long as they stay in transit, RT-PCR TEST IS NOT REQUIRED.

Diana- I think Kim wants to know about testing on SBH after 7 days on SBH.

Reed said:

Can someone chime in regarding testing needing to be done after being on SBH for 7 days? We arrived on Saturday and while not being smooth, we made it. Late departure leaving Nantucket which made us miss our PR fight from Boston. We arrived PR too late to make it to SBH so had to overnight. Tradewind got us on the first flight the following morning and called someone on the SBH side to smooth over the fact that our testing would be out of date so to speak, by a few hours. We arrived on time Saturday morning with an amazing over the water landing. Covid paper work was shown near the baggage belt and there was no issue.

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In theory you need to be re-tested after you are here for 7 days, if you are staying longer. The lab is in town by the Collectivity. Not sure if you need to make an appointment first or not... Dennis did the 7-day test last time he was here so he can probably fill you in on the details.

andynap said:

Diana- I think Kim wants to know about testing on SBH after 7 days on SBH.

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I agree Andy, I misread it. I thought everyone knew that if you have just arrived on the island, that you need to be tested if you are staying here longer than 7 days. my bad, lol.. looks like ellen answered her question anyway.

I guess to be more specific, does one get tested EXACTLY 7 days after arrival or generally around that time?