Author: Louise Pieterse
Last update: July 21st, 2022.
The Bahamas is the latest Caribbean country to eliminate travel restrictions in the hopes of having visitors flock back to its idyllic beaches.
The island nation has suffered greatly throughout the pandemic, seeing a near 70% decline in tourism and the knock-on effects from the devastating hurricane Dorian.
In an attempt to kick start the economy, the government introduced a Bahamas Travel Health Visa program, allowing tourists to get pre-approved for travel to the idyllic destination during the COVID-19 pandemic. This has since been revoked.
Bahamas COVID travel requirements
Since the end of June 2022, inbound passengers no longer need to undergo pre-arrival testing as long as they are vaccinated.
Unvaccinated visitors and children over the age of 2 must still provide a negative PCR test result and Rapid Antigen Test results are also accepted. Both of these cannot be older than 72 hours.
Travel to the Bahamas during COVID has been getting progressively easier and since 27 December 2021 many restrictions have been lifted.
“The Bahamas is adapting to the continued evolution of this pandemic. We want to streamline the entry process for travelers as much as possible, all while ensuring we are protecting public health,” said Chester Cooper, the deputy prime minister and minister of tourism, investments, and aviation.
“We hope the changes to the pre-travel testing requirements combined with the elimination of the Travel Health Visa will reduce friction for travelers and further the recovery of our tourism sector” he added.
The ministry also noted that visitors should still wear masks in airports but COVID tests are no longer required if people travel between the network of islands.
The original requirement of the Bahamas travel health visa has also been scrapped and visitors no longer need to apply for the program.
The visa also included Bahamas travel insurance that visitors had to opt into but all visitors can now spare the expense, regardless of their vaccination status.
Only vaccinated cruise ship passengers will be allowed to enter the port in the Bahamas and a $10,000 fine or 2-year prison sentence will be issued to those found to submit false information.
Accepted proof of COVID immunity
Accepted vaccines are Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, or a combination in the case of booster or second doses.
A person will only be considered fully vaccinated if they have received their last vaccine dose more than 14 days before arrival.
The vaccine certificates accepted by the Bahamas are uploaded along with the Travel Health Visa application and include all government-issued vaccine cards like the official CDC card or the NHS health pass.
Local COVID restrictions in the Bahamas
Most of the Bahamas COVID restrictions have been lifted and there are no more curfews or lockdowns imposed.
Each island has its own restrictions and a traffic light system has been imposed giving guidelines for the rules at the green, yellow, and red alert levels.
All the islands that belong to the Bahamas were only observing alert level yellow restrictions for indoor dining and weddings and social gatherings.
For indoor dining, restaurants must check people’s vaccination status or test results and can operate at 75% capacity.
Wedding receptions are capped at 50% capacity and social gatherings may not have more than 40 people indoors and 100 people outdoors.
Upon arrival, travelers must all wear masks in the airport and temperature screenings are still performed.
Persons showing COVID symptoms will be required to test at the airport or during their stay if symptoms develop later.
People who test positive for COVID will need to self-isolate for 5-14 days depending on how severe their symptoms present.
Unvaccinated visitors must also complete a daily health questionnaire for the first 14 days of their stay or until their departure, whichever comes first.
A $250 fine will be issued to those found to be in breach of mask mandates so visitors are urged to be up to date with various regulations on the islands.
Bahamas COVID statistics
The spread of COVID in the Bahamas has been relatively under control with very few outbreaks over the course of the pandemic.
The previous daily infection record was 315 new cases but January 18 saw an outlying spike of more than 1,000 new cases.
There have been just over 36,502 cases in total recorded and 822 deaths by 21 July.
Vaccination rates started to increase in August 2021 and by the end of July 2022, the country was nearing the 42% vaccinated mark.
Only around 22,000 people have received booster shots, representing around 6% of the population.