Australia opened its borders to fully vaccinated travelers earlier this week, meaning you now can charter a boat and head for the Great Barrier Reef, the Whitsundays or Ningaloo Reef, some of the most beautiful cruising and diving destinations in the world.
Or, you can stay in Sydney, charter a day boat to tour the harbor, enjoy the city’s culture, and head for Bondi beach. (I’ve done that – before flying to Perth, across the continent – and it’s fun.)
For the past two years, “Fortress Australia” had some of the most strict border controls to combat the spread of Covid-19 in the world. They even deported Novak Djokovic, the number one tennis player in the world who was unvaccinated, instead of letting him compete in the Australian Open.
“Strong borders are fundamental to the Australian way of life,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said at the time.
But international tourism plays a major part in the Australian economy, contributing about $32 billion in 2019, the last year before the shutdown. In 2020 and 2021 Australia had a “zero Covid” strategy, closing national and state borders. Western Australia, with its 7,000 miles of coastline, is still closed but it will reopen on March 3 to fully vaccinated travelers.
The ground rules now are that you can enter Australia if you have a valid Australian visa, if you have proof that you are fully vaccinated with two doses of an approved Covid-19 vaccine, and you can present proof of a negative Covid-19 test within 24 hours of departure.
For updates, go to: http://australia.gov.au
