The most recent directives continue to leaves Maui visitors unclear. That’s resulted in an 80% drop in arrivals.
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241 thoughts on “Updated: Baffling Maui Travel Advice Just Released By State of Hawaii”
The most recent directives continue to leaves Maui visitors unclear. That’s resulted in an 80% drop in arrivals.
Thanks so much for the info you provide, its invaluable. While the devastation & loss for the poeple of Hawaii are much more importantt my fiance & I have a honeymoon planned for September 11-15 in Kaanapali, HA at the Westin Hotel and haven’t been able to get through to cancel. Our thought was be to switch to another island but to keep the existing flight into Maui and to fly to Honolulu from there. We’re not sure if this a good idea or not. Anyhow, thanks so much for your site and our prayers for the people of Hawaii are ongoing.
Hi Anna.
Thanks. That will work to first fly to Maui and then travel interisland to wherever you decide to stay.
Aloha.
We are trying to reschedule our September trip but as of right now Hawaiian Airlines is not willing to change the flight. Our only option is to travel or lose all the money we already paid. Do you have any suggestions for how to change flights and location without losing what has been paid. Thanks for any insight you can give.
Hi Laurie.
There’s no recourse we are aware of beyond what the airlines are offering or inquiring with the credit card company.
Aloha.
Confused can we travel to other parts of maui (not the west) or not
People should just cancel there vacation… the people who live and work on Maui just lost everything… the airlines are honoring your plane tickets .just take the credit and go somewhere else for your vacation…. or put it on hold… all resorts and hotels should open for the residents who lost there homes . And the government should foot the bill . After all we tax payers are paying to house a bunch of illegal migrants… but yet we don’t have the money to house our people who have lost everything do to disaster…..
Bless all of you on Maui…..
Mahalo…Julie
The problem is that airlines and VRBOs are not allowing people to cancel. They will only give a credit which for some people will not work. We would like to cancel but feel we are tough spot financially with no back up from local tourism officials, who say the rest of the island is ok.
Perhaps the State could look into leasing a couple of cruise ships and install a floating pier to provide temporary housing to west Maui?
The last thing people should even think about is their vacation! When people have just lost their families friends, homes, pets and everything its just awful if anyone complains that they can’t go there shame on them. God help the people and animals of Maui I pray everyday 🙏
That is easy to say when the majority of the people and small businesses rely on tourism. We are the ones donating our time money and resources locally to help the effort. But if you take away our income then we cannot sustain that effort or ourselves. The balance is no travel to west maui for now and let the resorts there house the displaced. Let the rest of the island sustain the economy. The reality is that getting money from the state or FEMA takes months to years.
If you look at 1:30:00 of the press conference held by Hawaii’s governor and Maui’s Mayor, they both say that West Shore is closed and that “the rest of Maui is open,” and that visitors aren’t impairing recovery efforts on the West Shore. They said that the rest of Maui needs visitors so that they have jobs and futures. To view the entire video, search for the press conference on YouTube, I think it was from 8/12/23.
Please read the Sunday posting from Maui Fresh Streatery on Facebook. The owner, Kyle, is a community leader and member of Maui’s Emergency Response Team. He is boots on the ground now, as a leader in food preparation for first responders and shelters. In short, he says, “Central and South Maui are open. We need tourists there to maintain the economy and prevent the loss of more jobs and layoffs.”
A number of through flights from other islands go through Maui to the mainland, have the been affected?
Hi Johannes.
Flights are operating with a normal number of delays and cancellations.
Aloha.
A group of 5 of us women have reservations to stay at a condo at Kona, Hawaii this Friday 8/25. Are we going to be able to fly to Hawaii then or do we need to make other plans ?
Hi Marianne.
There’s no problem there. Enjoy the Big Island.
Aloha.
Thank you so much for this website and your information! This is my go-to as I contemplate adjustments to my trip Sept 19. I had a hotel res in Kaanapali. For now, I’ve moved it to Kahului and shortened the trip to one night, as I’m coming to visit a dear friend in Wailuku. I’m torn between moving the rest of the trip to south Maui, or off-island. I want to support those needing work, but also want to be respectful.
Hi Linda.
Thanks. You should be fine in those areas so it is a personal choice. There are wide-ranging opinions, as is obvious.
Aloha.
Aloha.
I have plans to spend 11 days at my timeshare Nanea from 6-17 September. Does not sound like that will be possible even thou everything west of Lahina is available and in need of tourist activity.
Please keep me posted if I will be able to come to Maui??
Hi Steve.
We’ll be updating the information as soon as we can. It isn’t clear how long areas beyond Lahaina will be closed, and the focus remains on the crisis of just 6 days ago.
Aloha.
Maui’s #1 source of revenue is vacation travelers. Imagine needing money very badly and cutting off your number one source of it. It’s definitely a good idea to have no travelers in West Maui, but having the rest of it open, will help them recover along with the federal aid they are going to get.
The other side of the coin is that Maui will need tourism dollars so visitors should be permitted to travel and enjoy north, east and south Maui. The message needs to be clear.
I would think it’s pretty much common sense as to what travel to the affected and surrounding areas should be. If you don’t live there and are not necessary support staff stay away. How hard is that? As for how long? When and as the infrastructure returns to normal, the state of Hawaii can make further announcements.
I live on Maui and work in the customer service industry in a management position, Southern Maui.
To all those asking, if there are available rooms to book in Kihei and Wailea, or you already have reservations, please come.
With a lack of business, I will not be able to justify fully staffing as usual. It’s a business and operating for a loss means closing down, causing further job loss. With fewer shifts to go around, the hourly workers will suffer causing a major domino effect into the inability to pay bills and their daily needs.
When visiting, be respectful. Although it is your vacation and money, realize the workers have experienced tragic loss. It’s an island, we all know each other, the nightmare we are living through while trying to put on a smile and go to work, with the pictures, videos, loss of friends and families, etc is really taking a toll. But we are all doing what we need to do to get by.
Hi Seth.
Thanks for sharing that.
Aloha.
I’m guessing that banning travel to the entirety of Maui would be detrimental to many residents of Maui who rely on revenues from non residents and who have not been impacted by West Maui wildfires.
What are the plans for travel on the other areas of Maui? What about food, transportation, and water for the other side of the Island where the fire didn’t touch?
Will the Governor or Mayor of Maui offer a Travel Advisory soon for Tourists who have plans to visit Maui?
Hi Mary.
There are no indications that travel to other parts of Maui should be avoided in terms of the last 24 hours’ announcements. Beyond that, when this gets a further beyond the current crisis mode, we should expect more announcements which we will share. \
Aloha.
Thanks to BOH for keeping us in the loop. Just like you did for us during the pandemic. I agree that all efforts should be focused in the short term of recovery and support. No one should go to West Maui (Kaanapili, Napili) etc in the short term. But what’s the short term? 45 days? Maui will be devastated if West Maui is closed to visitors much beyond that. We have reservations for Napili for Thanksgiving and aren’t cancelling yet. But will watch everything especially BOH. David
Hi David.
Nobody really has a handle on the scope of the situation or what it will take, and how long. It’s just been five days, and exhaustion, overwhelm, and grief are words we’d use to characterize this. Within some reasonable period of time (hopefully the next few weeks), far more will be known. Thanks for understanding and for your nice words!
Aloha.
Thanks BOH once again for putting us in the picture, so to speak. My heart breaks for all. But as people have said, what of the people and hotels in Kaanapali, Napili, etc. All those small businesses, restaurants, hotels will need tourist dollars to survive. It is ridiculous to think people will not come. I think we just need to take a breath and wait for some info that is not knee jerk. Thanks for keeping us informed.
Mahalo for your insight. Much appreciated articles, especially on keeping up with Maui. I believe you are correct that many people are counting on shutting down the hawaii tourism board. I hope that gets attention.