133 thoughts on “Hawaii Travel During Pandemic Spurs Extreme Opinions”
Chris B.
Aloha,
If folks are so upset about wearing a mask (which is the only sensible thing to do no matter where you are these days – this is a pandemic!), how about a trikini or trunks and matching mask??
Stay safe.
Mahalo nui,
Chris
Susie S
I live on BI and totally understand the logic and reasoning for mask wearing; However, I am with those that do not believe it is necessary to wear outside when no one is around me!! I do NOT wear when walking in parking lots (or anywhere there is no one around me) and only mask-up when walking into store and unmask as soon as back outside!! I cannot breathe with masks, and I have tried different ones w/no success. So I will continue to follow my “protocol.”
Nancy D
Ditto Susie !!
Dominica
I just need to say you guys are the only place I rely on for real information about how it’s really going there. Mahalo for being so diligent with all this covid stuff. It is great to make others aware to wear their masks everywhere, it does make a difference 🙂 Everyone stay safe! Aloha
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Dominica.
Thanks for the nice words and your first comment. Much appreciated.
Aloha.
Tahd G.
Interesting. Why is it that many people that have taken all the precautions including wearing a mask still get the virus. There is no empirical data proving that masks stem the increase of Covid while practicing social distancing. If so, show me the empirical data, show me the proof, show me the study. There isn’t any! Because, this is nothing more than symbolism over substance. Optics vs. reality. Even Fauci said that if you’re outside and social distancing there’s absolutely no reason to be wearing a mask. Whenever I’ve been to the beach I’m well over 6 feet away from people, experiencing the salt air and the sun etc. you are not going to get the virus at the beach or anywhere outside when you’re at least 6 feet apart. It is simply laughable to watch people that are well over that distance wearing masks!? So much more context I could add to this but as they say, ignorance is bliss.
Liz M.
Aloha,
Thank you for all your hard work keeping everyone up to date.
Here’s some food for thought. Rich people are just getting richer in this pandemic.
(link removed)
If you have to sell your home/land in Hawaii because you can’t afford it anymore and you’re someone who won’t wear a mask (looking at YOU, Julie) then all your belly-aching about your Constitutional rights won’t mean diddly squat when Zuckerberg or Bezos or Ellison or the handful of others buy up everything. You ain’t never, ever getting it back.
Please keep bitching about your right to get sick (and kill others) while the pandemic creates trillionaires and we are all too poor, sick, tired and homeless to do anything about it but wait to die. You are fighting the wrong battle if you think that mask wearers are the bad guys.
Get smart and stay safe.
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Liz.
Thanks for your first comment; we appreciate you being part of the community.
Aloha.
Janet H.
I agree with you 100% Liz M! Mahalo
Casey S.
A bit harsh in I’m opinion, as I’ve said before happy to wear a mask inside if close to others, but outside 6feet away, no thanks. It’s the unwelcoming attitude and threat of fines/jail that are turning the tourists off. I don’t feel like paying thousands to feel like I’m being watched 💯 of the time by security, police, or sjw’s who think they can do whatever they want to others. And I definitely agree that the rich are only getting richer off this, but I also think your politicians are some of those rich people and they are taking advantage of you all through fear and using that to take more control. It won’t be people with second homes losing their places, it will be the locals that are out of work because the hotels closed down, restaurants went out of business, and everything related to tourism gets hurt. It’s a self inflicted wound all over how to police/recommend people follow rules. Just try being a bit more like an adult rather than a school yard bully, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. All the same, I wish you all the best, love the beauty and culture, but will be traveling elsewhere with my family in the future now that I see how unwelcoming you all are.
Kasey
Thank you, Liz. It’s the Julies of this country, digging their heels in, that have prevented us from getting this virus under control. Nobody enjoys wearing a mask, I hate it, but I do it because I have a child with asthma, and a shred of common decency for other people. I also want to protect myself from the growing list of previously unknown side effects of this virus!
Laryn
Wearing a mask is a small price to pay to protect others, and still be in paradise. If people don’t want to do that, they need to stay home and wait until this is over.
Casey S
We won’t be visiting Hawaii in the near future if ever, the culture and beauty are amazing, but supporting a bunch of unwelcoming bullies in control is not something I will be putting my money towards. Besides, the Polynesian culture and island beauty can be found outside Hawaii. I feel for those people who are trapped and being bullied on the island though.
Mantonio
I feel safer living here where we have stricter rules than on the mainland. As soon as we locked when our numbers increased shockingly fast and high, our numbers started dropping. I would not say we feel trapped but rather we we feel protected.
Casey S.
Glad you look at it that way, I know I wouldn’t. I have no issue wearing a mask, I just don’t like being threatened with jail or harassed on vacation.
Chris H
This whole mask thing is totally ridiculous . It is totally over blown. A complete joke and I feel for all the businesses that will never come back. I’m sure if you ask them. Would you rather get some flu symptoms or lose your business they would take getting COVID any day. It is truly sad and honestly. I say Hawaii – good luck with your economy. You can all sit home by yourselves with a mask on and not get it and watch the entire economy tank.
Such a joke. Plus the rules make no sense. Wear the mask in a restaurant but take off while eating. The whole point of the mask is ruined. You can exercise on the beach but not sit on the beach. None of this is common sense at all and a total joke and why we moved off island.
Momi
The local businesses that are not coming back are not coming back because of a mask mandate, but because of the Covid spread. Businesses that have come back are embracing the use of masks and social distancing. And as a resident/business owner, no, we would never take Covid over being safe and providing a safe place for others. This is our Kuleana as residents and this is how you truly live aloha.
Casey S.
I hope you still have a business after you tank your tourism industry because of over policing and unwelcoming attitude towards visitors. What percentage of the economy on the islands involves tourism?
Momi
Too much of our economy relies on tourism. It’s not how it should be and most residents hope we can slowly move away from tourism. The pandemic has been a real eye opener. No economy should carry all their eggs in one basket. It might have been a hard lesson to learn, but a lesson learned none-the-less.
Casey S.
I totally agree, which is why I’m trying to convince locals to talk to those in charge and change the way this is being approached. Instead of Threatening tourists with jail and fines, come up with an idea to get people to comply without the threat. Make it fun, give masks with Hawaiian pattern on them at the airport with a small flyer explaining what the local rules are. It’s much more welcoming than just reading that Hawaii will arrest you if caught without a mask. As far as the beach and open air use is concerned, I don’t think people should be forced to wear them if over 6ft apart. The Hawaiian economy is at risk due to what basically comes down to bad PR by those in charge. The economy definitely needs to diversify to protect locals in the long run. But for the time being, I hope the local tourism board or politicians can take a more lighthearted approach to getting people to comply without the threat of jail or fines.
James b
I was shocked by your insensitivity and dismissal of what cdc advises until I read your last sentence. Thank you so much for leaving our islands. Good luck swimming in the mainlands viral soup.
Geoff
BOH Thank you for keeping me informed. I had planed a family vacation last April for 8 of us. Obviously never happened. I get emails from airlines begging me to purchase tickets and schedule travel. I applaud their marketing persistence. But until there is a vaccine and all the hotels and restaruants and shops are open and I can stay at the Royal Hawaiian and enjoy their traditional MaiTai at the MaiTai bar, why would I ever consider a vacation in the islands where we cannot enjoy hawaii as we normally do. Vaccine please!
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Geoff.
We hope you can return again soon! Thanks.
Aloha.
Casey S.
Exactly where we were going with our four kids in March. We did the same thing, I’m also not interested in getting stuck in a hotel room or followed around by security or police with the threat of heavy fines or a year in jail. I’m thinking it may be time to try Puerto Rico this year instead. At least there we can sit on the beach without a mask. Kind of feeling like Hawaii doesn’t want our business these days anyway. I hope things don’t get destroyed by this, but I can’t help but think these scare tactics and East German like enforcement will result in more travelers to the islands.
tony
While I am ok wearing a mask in large social gatherings I am more worried that I have taken not one but two tests to be set free from the KOA. Can I be assured that anyone I encounter on the island has been tested twice in three days time? Nope! I am arriving tomorrow and will be respectful but get a clue those coming on the island are far less a danger than you think.
Ron G
I can’t say that…as Lanai went from zero cases to 100 in a week? What changed…I’ll bet it had something to do with all the supposedly virus free people coming to the islands…except they are not virus free…they have found cases in the arrival testing and based on the pitiful numbers willing to be re-tested (ok…I wouldn’t want to be told I have to quarantine my entire one or two week vacation)but if we had tested 5% (seriously doubtful) we should have had at minimum 100 positive arrivals in a week. How many different planes they arrived on, and how much they spread it on the way (so others infected by them could begin spreading in 3-7 days) but the idea that tourists have more to fear from the locals is absolutely a fallacy and tourists should wear masks…or be fined or jailed if they repeat. Nothing like a night in the slammer to make one realize just how little your belief that you have some sort of “rights” matter? That “right” doesn’t exist…except inside your own home…otherwise we wouldn’t be putting on seat belts when we drive, wearing motorcycle helmets nearly everywhere (except Utard), paying taxes, or all the other things the gov’t absolutely make us do.
Casey S.
I think we should implement the same restrictions for the mainland from Hawaii, after all, spreading is spreading right? In fact my state has lower numbers than four of the bordering states, maybe we should lock the state border until people follow the same rules. Just think about that for a minute and let me know how much that sounds like a terrible idea. This is just going to make people start hating each other, by state, or city, or whatever. Hawaii is part of the United States, and unless you want to face the same restrictions, then stop bullying visitors.
Bob L
My thoughts exactly! If the tests are to be believed, essentially 99.9% of arriving visitors are Covid-free. Then where are the cases coming from? My money is on the locals who are not tested and who want to blame everything on the arriving tourists.
Casey S.
Could you imagine if we made everyone traveling from Hawaii to the mainland do the exact same thing??? The outrage and name calling would be all over the place, and yet the local Hawaiian government and some bullies on this board can’t seem to see why we are upset and turned off from them.
Stan F
I think the reactions you are receiving on this is symbolic of how our government has literally knee-jerked the whole messaging on masks. One thing that I have noted since day one of this saga is that the government leaders throughout the entire world have literally done what they did without even thinking about how to get people to eagerly comply. Yes, we can have the police go around and put everyone who is not wearing a mask into the pokey, or fine them obscene amounts of dollars and throw them into a court to plead their case. But that just causes problems in itself, something that this should not be if the message right.
Where are the human behaviorists who are experts in how to deal with people, in all of these enforcement discussions? Where are the psychiatrists who already are sounding loud alarms on mental health issues, on how to make enforcement more genteel for people to comply?
I think that the government’s “knee on the neck” attitude toward all this is just going to cause more people to either ignore the mandate or, in some cases, openly protest against it. Because again, people need to feel that they have a say in this, and right now they don’t
Casey S.
Exactly, best reply I’ve read so far. It’s the way they are threatening, and reacting in fear with a bullying mentality that makes me think I won’t ever return to Hawaii. Trips cost lots of money, time is precious, why would I want to risk two valuable things on a place that doesn’t want me there and threatens me if I don’t do exactly what they want when the want it. I wear masks, I have no issue with that when around people, but the beach or when people are well over 6 ft away. Then threat of big fines and possibly a year in jail??? Not to mention the bullying and unwelcoming attitude from the locals who it sounds like will also be policing us. There are other beautiful tropical places, and even places that have Polynesian culture that are more welcoming at this point in time. I just can’t help but wonder how this would be perceived if it was the other way around. It’s just rude to treat people like Hawaii is treating people they rely on for income. This has been the wrong approach, and the damage is already done for many of us, but as it gets worse or word gets out of horror stories from travel to Hawaii, the economy will only suffer more and more u til people wake up and get politicians that think things over rather than govern by fear and threats. Unfortunately, the damage may already be done, it’s going to get ugly once things start closing for good and the unemployment rate sky rockets on the islands.
Comments are closed.
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Aloha,
If folks are so upset about wearing a mask (which is the only sensible thing to do no matter where you are these days – this is a pandemic!), how about a trikini or trunks and matching mask??
Stay safe.
Mahalo nui,
Chris
I live on BI and totally understand the logic and reasoning for mask wearing; However, I am with those that do not believe it is necessary to wear outside when no one is around me!! I do NOT wear when walking in parking lots (or anywhere there is no one around me) and only mask-up when walking into store and unmask as soon as back outside!! I cannot breathe with masks, and I have tried different ones w/no success. So I will continue to follow my “protocol.”
Ditto Susie !!
I just need to say you guys are the only place I rely on for real information about how it’s really going there. Mahalo for being so diligent with all this covid stuff. It is great to make others aware to wear their masks everywhere, it does make a difference 🙂 Everyone stay safe! Aloha
Hi Dominica.
Thanks for the nice words and your first comment. Much appreciated.
Aloha.
Interesting. Why is it that many people that have taken all the precautions including wearing a mask still get the virus. There is no empirical data proving that masks stem the increase of Covid while practicing social distancing. If so, show me the empirical data, show me the proof, show me the study. There isn’t any! Because, this is nothing more than symbolism over substance. Optics vs. reality. Even Fauci said that if you’re outside and social distancing there’s absolutely no reason to be wearing a mask. Whenever I’ve been to the beach I’m well over 6 feet away from people, experiencing the salt air and the sun etc. you are not going to get the virus at the beach or anywhere outside when you’re at least 6 feet apart. It is simply laughable to watch people that are well over that distance wearing masks!? So much more context I could add to this but as they say, ignorance is bliss.
Aloha,
Thank you for all your hard work keeping everyone up to date.
Here’s some food for thought. Rich people are just getting richer in this pandemic.
(link removed)
If you have to sell your home/land in Hawaii because you can’t afford it anymore and you’re someone who won’t wear a mask (looking at YOU, Julie) then all your belly-aching about your Constitutional rights won’t mean diddly squat when Zuckerberg or Bezos or Ellison or the handful of others buy up everything. You ain’t never, ever getting it back.
Please keep bitching about your right to get sick (and kill others) while the pandemic creates trillionaires and we are all too poor, sick, tired and homeless to do anything about it but wait to die. You are fighting the wrong battle if you think that mask wearers are the bad guys.
Get smart and stay safe.
Hi Liz.
Thanks for your first comment; we appreciate you being part of the community.
Aloha.
I agree with you 100% Liz M! Mahalo
A bit harsh in I’m opinion, as I’ve said before happy to wear a mask inside if close to others, but outside 6feet away, no thanks. It’s the unwelcoming attitude and threat of fines/jail that are turning the tourists off. I don’t feel like paying thousands to feel like I’m being watched 💯 of the time by security, police, or sjw’s who think they can do whatever they want to others. And I definitely agree that the rich are only getting richer off this, but I also think your politicians are some of those rich people and they are taking advantage of you all through fear and using that to take more control. It won’t be people with second homes losing their places, it will be the locals that are out of work because the hotels closed down, restaurants went out of business, and everything related to tourism gets hurt. It’s a self inflicted wound all over how to police/recommend people follow rules. Just try being a bit more like an adult rather than a school yard bully, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. All the same, I wish you all the best, love the beauty and culture, but will be traveling elsewhere with my family in the future now that I see how unwelcoming you all are.
Thank you, Liz. It’s the Julies of this country, digging their heels in, that have prevented us from getting this virus under control. Nobody enjoys wearing a mask, I hate it, but I do it because I have a child with asthma, and a shred of common decency for other people. I also want to protect myself from the growing list of previously unknown side effects of this virus!
Wearing a mask is a small price to pay to protect others, and still be in paradise. If people don’t want to do that, they need to stay home and wait until this is over.
We won’t be visiting Hawaii in the near future if ever, the culture and beauty are amazing, but supporting a bunch of unwelcoming bullies in control is not something I will be putting my money towards. Besides, the Polynesian culture and island beauty can be found outside Hawaii. I feel for those people who are trapped and being bullied on the island though.
I feel safer living here where we have stricter rules than on the mainland. As soon as we locked when our numbers increased shockingly fast and high, our numbers started dropping. I would not say we feel trapped but rather we we feel protected.
Glad you look at it that way, I know I wouldn’t. I have no issue wearing a mask, I just don’t like being threatened with jail or harassed on vacation.
This whole mask thing is totally ridiculous . It is totally over blown. A complete joke and I feel for all the businesses that will never come back. I’m sure if you ask them. Would you rather get some flu symptoms or lose your business they would take getting COVID any day. It is truly sad and honestly. I say Hawaii – good luck with your economy. You can all sit home by yourselves with a mask on and not get it and watch the entire economy tank.
Such a joke. Plus the rules make no sense. Wear the mask in a restaurant but take off while eating. The whole point of the mask is ruined. You can exercise on the beach but not sit on the beach. None of this is common sense at all and a total joke and why we moved off island.
The local businesses that are not coming back are not coming back because of a mask mandate, but because of the Covid spread. Businesses that have come back are embracing the use of masks and social distancing. And as a resident/business owner, no, we would never take Covid over being safe and providing a safe place for others. This is our Kuleana as residents and this is how you truly live aloha.
I hope you still have a business after you tank your tourism industry because of over policing and unwelcoming attitude towards visitors. What percentage of the economy on the islands involves tourism?
Too much of our economy relies on tourism. It’s not how it should be and most residents hope we can slowly move away from tourism. The pandemic has been a real eye opener. No economy should carry all their eggs in one basket. It might have been a hard lesson to learn, but a lesson learned none-the-less.
I totally agree, which is why I’m trying to convince locals to talk to those in charge and change the way this is being approached. Instead of Threatening tourists with jail and fines, come up with an idea to get people to comply without the threat. Make it fun, give masks with Hawaiian pattern on them at the airport with a small flyer explaining what the local rules are. It’s much more welcoming than just reading that Hawaii will arrest you if caught without a mask. As far as the beach and open air use is concerned, I don’t think people should be forced to wear them if over 6ft apart. The Hawaiian economy is at risk due to what basically comes down to bad PR by those in charge. The economy definitely needs to diversify to protect locals in the long run. But for the time being, I hope the local tourism board or politicians can take a more lighthearted approach to getting people to comply without the threat of jail or fines.
I was shocked by your insensitivity and dismissal of what cdc advises until I read your last sentence. Thank you so much for leaving our islands. Good luck swimming in the mainlands viral soup.
BOH Thank you for keeping me informed. I had planed a family vacation last April for 8 of us. Obviously never happened. I get emails from airlines begging me to purchase tickets and schedule travel. I applaud their marketing persistence. But until there is a vaccine and all the hotels and restaruants and shops are open and I can stay at the Royal Hawaiian and enjoy their traditional MaiTai at the MaiTai bar, why would I ever consider a vacation in the islands where we cannot enjoy hawaii as we normally do. Vaccine please!
Hi Geoff.
We hope you can return again soon! Thanks.
Aloha.
Exactly where we were going with our four kids in March. We did the same thing, I’m also not interested in getting stuck in a hotel room or followed around by security or police with the threat of heavy fines or a year in jail. I’m thinking it may be time to try Puerto Rico this year instead. At least there we can sit on the beach without a mask. Kind of feeling like Hawaii doesn’t want our business these days anyway. I hope things don’t get destroyed by this, but I can’t help but think these scare tactics and East German like enforcement will result in more travelers to the islands.
While I am ok wearing a mask in large social gatherings I am more worried that I have taken not one but two tests to be set free from the KOA. Can I be assured that anyone I encounter on the island has been tested twice in three days time? Nope! I am arriving tomorrow and will be respectful but get a clue those coming on the island are far less a danger than you think.
I can’t say that…as Lanai went from zero cases to 100 in a week? What changed…I’ll bet it had something to do with all the supposedly virus free people coming to the islands…except they are not virus free…they have found cases in the arrival testing and based on the pitiful numbers willing to be re-tested (ok…I wouldn’t want to be told I have to quarantine my entire one or two week vacation)but if we had tested 5% (seriously doubtful) we should have had at minimum 100 positive arrivals in a week. How many different planes they arrived on, and how much they spread it on the way (so others infected by them could begin spreading in 3-7 days) but the idea that tourists have more to fear from the locals is absolutely a fallacy and tourists should wear masks…or be fined or jailed if they repeat. Nothing like a night in the slammer to make one realize just how little your belief that you have some sort of “rights” matter? That “right” doesn’t exist…except inside your own home…otherwise we wouldn’t be putting on seat belts when we drive, wearing motorcycle helmets nearly everywhere (except Utard), paying taxes, or all the other things the gov’t absolutely make us do.
I think we should implement the same restrictions for the mainland from Hawaii, after all, spreading is spreading right? In fact my state has lower numbers than four of the bordering states, maybe we should lock the state border until people follow the same rules. Just think about that for a minute and let me know how much that sounds like a terrible idea. This is just going to make people start hating each other, by state, or city, or whatever. Hawaii is part of the United States, and unless you want to face the same restrictions, then stop bullying visitors.
My thoughts exactly! If the tests are to be believed, essentially 99.9% of arriving visitors are Covid-free. Then where are the cases coming from? My money is on the locals who are not tested and who want to blame everything on the arriving tourists.
Could you imagine if we made everyone traveling from Hawaii to the mainland do the exact same thing??? The outrage and name calling would be all over the place, and yet the local Hawaiian government and some bullies on this board can’t seem to see why we are upset and turned off from them.
I think the reactions you are receiving on this is symbolic of how our government has literally knee-jerked the whole messaging on masks. One thing that I have noted since day one of this saga is that the government leaders throughout the entire world have literally done what they did without even thinking about how to get people to eagerly comply. Yes, we can have the police go around and put everyone who is not wearing a mask into the pokey, or fine them obscene amounts of dollars and throw them into a court to plead their case. But that just causes problems in itself, something that this should not be if the message right.
Where are the human behaviorists who are experts in how to deal with people, in all of these enforcement discussions? Where are the psychiatrists who already are sounding loud alarms on mental health issues, on how to make enforcement more genteel for people to comply?
I think that the government’s “knee on the neck” attitude toward all this is just going to cause more people to either ignore the mandate or, in some cases, openly protest against it. Because again, people need to feel that they have a say in this, and right now they don’t
Exactly, best reply I’ve read so far. It’s the way they are threatening, and reacting in fear with a bullying mentality that makes me think I won’t ever return to Hawaii. Trips cost lots of money, time is precious, why would I want to risk two valuable things on a place that doesn’t want me there and threatens me if I don’t do exactly what they want when the want it. I wear masks, I have no issue with that when around people, but the beach or when people are well over 6 ft away. Then threat of big fines and possibly a year in jail??? Not to mention the bullying and unwelcoming attitude from the locals who it sounds like will also be policing us. There are other beautiful tropical places, and even places that have Polynesian culture that are more welcoming at this point in time. I just can’t help but wonder how this would be perceived if it was the other way around. It’s just rude to treat people like Hawaii is treating people they rely on for income. This has been the wrong approach, and the damage is already done for many of us, but as it gets worse or word gets out of horror stories from travel to Hawaii, the economy will only suffer more and more u til people wake up and get politicians that think things over rather than govern by fear and threats. Unfortunately, the damage may already be done, it’s going to get ugly once things start closing for good and the unemployment rate sky rockets on the islands.