Patrons of Captain Moses Water Sports can rest easy on any of their two vessels as the Negril-based company is doing its part to reduce the spread of COVID-19, even on the high seas.
With its colourful boats docked along the shore across from the Negril Craft Market, the attraction is not hard to find. Luckily, it’s also safe for visitors and employees, having received COVID-19 certification from the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo). Owner Carl Calvin is determined to have his business live up to its certification… and its five-star rating.
“We have our temperature gauge that we use and we sanitise everyone that comes on-board. We always have on our masks ’cause we have to keep safe and try to protect ourselves… You have to make sure that they follow protocol,” Calvin tells LetsTravelCaribbean.com.
Masks and bottles of hand sanitiser have now joined standard safety equipment on-board, elevated — by the pandemic — to the same level of importance as life jackets and fire extinguishers.
“This thing [COVID] is not a hoax; it is real so we have to take all the precautions. I tell people that once we are going out and interacting with people, we have to take caution,” stresses Calvin.
He has also taken this approach in his personal life.
“I bring the protocols everywhere because I still have to go in shopping areas and crowds with all kinds of things blowing around, so I have to wear my mask to protect myself,” he explains.
He’s also doing his best to protect his business financially. Though his strict adherence to the COVID-19 protocols has been helping to keep himself and his patrons safe, the virus itself has put a lot of strain on his business.
“When I leave my house to come out in the mornings, business is uncertain. I’m not sure if I’m going to get any business since most of the hotels on beach road are closed and tourists are hardly coming. So I have to close my shop [on beach road] and wait for people to call me,” he says.
He’s hoping business will pick up soon, with patrons enjoying themselves on his glass-bottom boat rides and tours, snorkelling and tubing expeditions — all while obeying the COVID-19 safety protocols.
Text and photos by Daina Davy
