There were too many visitors in Hawaii this summer.
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101 thoughts on “Hawaii Travel: Feast or Famine”
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There were too many visitors in Hawaii this summer.
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
Comments are closed.
I Agree! Pre flight negative tests before you can board It worked before!
I currently fly frequently between Seattle and Hawaii for business. Over the last year, travel rules have changed frequently and keeping up with them is a challenge. However, I do it and have tested each time before coming home to Oahu. What erks me the most is the lack of research on convelescent Covid patients as I am one, having had Covid a year ago. We have a government who’s knee jerk reaction is to mandate that everyone get vaccinated, but currently there is no science to back up that claim, only what our representatives think. There’s plenty of research ongoing in other industrialized countries to show that convelescent Covid patients have better immunity (and real immunity as evidenced by the lack of second infections and of convelescent Covid patients in the hospitals), so much so that these countries count these folks in their herd immunity counts. In my opinion, people would trust the government much more if they gave us all of the information, instead of telling us what they think is best for us. In my experience traveling, the people I see at HNL that don’t have wristbands, meaning they’re vaxed or had a negative test, are mostly locals. Most tourists have followed the rules of vaxing up. Just some food for thought.
An Airbnb and cond-owner would not give a full refund after the Governor of Hawaii recommended a stoppage of visitor travel as did the CEO of Hawaiian Tourism until the end of October 2021. Keeping over $450 stating that this Covid issue and government issuance is not an extraordinary circumstance. Thieves, money hungry ! Hotels were honorable, many Airbnb, not. Use hotels and reputable people.
New Covid cases rising again to 829 today, and deaths up to 12.
Sadly the averages are still going the wrong direction, and the worst of the Pandemic.
Aloha!!!
The Hawaii government lacks the intelligence to handle anything and is more concerned with the money lining their pockets!!!
After the lockdowns, the urge to reopen tourism exceeded what the state could ever expect and prepare for, why would they just look at the failure or the unneeded rail system…
Never should have taken away the pre flight mandatory test!!! The state had Covid cases under control until that happened and now the vaccinated and unvaccinated alike have brought the virus into the state and it then spread to individuals who took it back to their communities!!!
It’s no one groups fault at all!!!
Everyone is to blame to certain degrees… Mostly point your finger at the criminals in the state government who run and hide when s*** gets real!!!
Tourism needs to be capped, always has needed to but greed outweighs common sense and aloha!!!
The tourists who complain about Hawaii and want to push blame on the locals for their bad vacations need to stay out of Hawaii out of pure respect to Hawaii and it’s people who are the best in all the world!!!
Right on spot Lui P.
During the surge of tourism from June through August, not a word from our government.
Now as tourism reduces, all of a sudden our Govenor, Mayor’s and HTA have all these concerns and bright ideas about regulating tourism in Hawaii…After The Fact!!!! In the meantime residents/locals suffer the consequences and once again being placed on restrictions.
We are definitely moving backwards instead of forward.
I’d like to point all you people who think there should not be testing for everyone flying into the islands (resident and vaccinated included to this interview with renowned epidemiologist Dr. Larry Brilliant, who was part of the World Health Organization team that helped eradicate smallpox in 1980.
In an interview with (HI) KITV-4’s Annalisa Burgos he discussed how the magnitude of the current surge here in HI was preventable.
Quote: “I’m worried about what happens over the next several weeks. And that’s too bad because I think Hawaii had it all in order,” he said. “I used to talk quite a bit to your wonderful lieutenant governor who’s a physician and emergency room dock on the Big Island and I thought that he really understood it. And somehow the highest level of government in Hawaii, they forgot what was making Hawaii safe. And it was very simple. It was testing everyone who arrived on the islands and finding those who were tested positive and then isolating them, It’s a very simple thing to do.”
By allowing exemptions to testing, Dr. Brilliant said, Hawaii becomes a destination for every variant in the world. He says funding for airport testing can come from $100 billion in COVID Recovery Act money now available for states.”
You can see it on the KITV website.
been literally saying this for months on this site
testing for all, is the only way.
the surge started right after they started exempting all the vaccinated people form testing in early july
Yup myself included right after 7/7 everything spiked. Not hard to put together but politicians can’t say that, so they have to blame the unvaxxed.
Worst vacation ever!!! Everything was a hassle right down to the luau. Couldn’t sit with my family cause we paid separately. Please check your employees and make them friendlier. They acted like they didn’t want us every place we went. Make up your minds!!! You want visitors or not??? Sorry its your own people leaving the island and coming back spreading covid. Such a waste of money and time. Would not recommend to anyone. This is on you Hawaii!!!
Thank you for your comment. Absolutely agree. Had a terrible experience with rude vendors at the flea market and at the Pearl Harbour memorial bag check. I will not reccomend Honolulu to any of my friends. The smelly streets, homeless everywhere harrasing single female travellers, and rude service combine into my worst vacation. I would rather go to Mexico or Europea where I get better value.
I just want to say the bag check at the Pearl Harbor Memorial is Always rude…
I live in Moili’ili and our streets here are not “smelly.” I have no idea what areas you visited but generalizations about smell on an entire island is pretty poor form.
Aloha Kari,
When we were there for new years it was the least crowded it has ever been, so nature had come back, it was magical. Even Waikiki. Plan ahead with rental car and dinner reservations asap. The smaller groups and masks make it different for sure.
Try to tip extra if you can, the ones who make our trips great sometimes get the least amount of recognition.
Definetly go!!
Dave
I was there 2 weeks ago crowded and couldn’t enjoy. So so disappointed. And islanders very unfriendly!!!! Never again! I would not recommend to anyone.
Anyone have recent experience with Uber and/or Lyft? How about Holo-Holo?
Any word if the rental car situation is going to get any better by December?
laurie
I live on Oahu and recent experiences with Lyft going from Moilili to Waikiki or Downtown had long waits. One night we ended up cancelling after waiting 45 min and taking a cab which was cheaper. there is a shortage of drivers and more passengers than normal due to car rental situations. Drivers have no control over where they are sent it is all done by an algorithm in their app, so even if someone gets out of one right in front of you, they are already sending them to another customer many times. There is a shortage on most things service here now.
Hi Kari,
We went to the Big Island last winter. I found that many of my favorite restaurants were closed, this definitely takes a fair amount of the fun out of a trip to the Big Island. Also rental cars are easier to come by now but they are far more pricey than they used to be. I’m going to say it’s going to be a personal choice on your part.
Hawaii Covid cases and deaths have skyrocketed again on September 10th, after falling earlier in the week. Reported were 741 new cases and 8 deaths. The rise in deaths is raising the daily average death rate to 5 people, which is the second highest of the pandemic. Anyone planning to visit should pay attention to the daily death rate as the government might pass additional rules as deaths increase.
Because the rules are working…. Should we go down to 2 people gatherings? Make the kids sit in the car?
Restaurants and retail were already limited to 50% (even though the rule was 75%) Because of distancing, most were stuck at 50%.
More mask mandates?… Other than outdoors, where else should we throw a mask on?
Oahu had roughly 50 more deaths in 2020 than 2019. Maui had fewer deaths in 2020 than 2019. I haven’t looked, but am curious how this year is panning out?
Maui has a whopping 27 people in the hospital with C19.. 7 vaccinated (26% for the mathematically impaired)2 in the ICU and 1 on a Ventilator… look out the sky is falling… Actually it never fell, because Maui had roughly 34-37 people tops, in the hospital, with C19 this summer.
Remember when Victorino was touting the local company making ventilators on Maui? Yeah Maui never need them… I don’t think our ventilator count ever got above 50% total. Forget about the 3 or 4 people on a vent w/Covid.
Face it… Covid is very serious for a relatively identifiable group of people. As for the rest, it’s been one huge overraction. Yes the Country had 650k thousand deaths in 18 months.. (depending on how you view deaths from Covid.. Face it, not all were legit Covid induced deaths). And when we hit 700k deaths sometime next year, that represents 0.2 percent of the US population. The US would have had roughly 2.9 million deaths in 2020. We had 3.2million… AND… did any of the measures really stop anything?
With the “disastrous” spike this August and September. The State of Hawaii had roughly 130 more patients admitted, at it’s peak, than the 318 last summer… Look out..
You can be dead right, but you’re still dead. You can throw around all the stats you wish, but until it’s you or someone you love dying on a ventilator or is a long hauler, you’ll never understand or even want to.
at an average age of 80 or so
more years were lost to lockdowns than to covid deaths, its indisputable
Trying to figure out how Israel has the highest vax rate and yet have the highest infection rate by almost double the USA. Hmmm also why is their infection rate going straight up since 25 percent of the people have gotten the booster over the last 6 weeks.Huh odd I mean a flu shot this year with last year vaccine would work well I’m sure against this new flu right?Why invent a delta shot when you have all this original covid vaccine worth over 35 billion sitting around that doesn’t work against delta.
I was reading an article in the NYT that said Israel has a very large Orthodox population. It seems that they are getting good vaccine rates from 61% of the population. However 39% of the population which identify themselves as Orthodox Jewish or Muslim are causing a good deal of grievance in Israel. Because they are not getting vaccinated the virus is running rampant through those populations.
Aloha,
Wow, I disagree with the most recent posts of those who mention unfriendly residents and a wasted, bad vacation. I live in L.A., and I am very Fortunate to visit Hawaii twice a year.
Was just there in July/August, was there December/January earlier.
It’s 99% you. If you come to The North Shore or Waikiki or Kualoa or Pear Harbor, show respect. Be gracious. Learn some of the history and appreciate the beauty of that history and of the island around you.
A huge Mahalo to our friends at all the places we visit from Kuhuku to Keneohe to Honolulu and Haliewa.
Thanks for the best vacations everytime 🙂
Finally,,,please get your shots.
Hi All –
Thank you for the update and all the comments. Very helpful!
We are a family of 6 (all adults) travelling to the Big Island Oct 16-25.
Does anyone have any thoughts on whether we should cancel?
My son in law is concerned about venues being restricted/shut down; and my husband is concerned about rental cars.
The rest of us are just happy with the resort and beach :).
Any input would be appreciated.
Thank you!
Hi Kari.
That’s a personal decision, while others will and have already provided their input. Rental cars are not generally an issue at this time. Do you already have a reservation? In any event, do keep checking prices to the last moment as they have been rapidly declining.
Aloha.
Go to Caymen Island instead or Aruba No crime better beaches No shark attacks & even cheaper too,
Cancel cancel cancel! People unfriendly and nothing available
We were there in April. All we did was snorkel, beach and drive around the island to different attractions. The big island is full of things to do that do not include being around gobs of other people. We were there 2 weeks. It was awesome. We also had a condo with a kitchen so we hardly ate out. If your family can enjoy the outdoors and some time touring the island, I’d still recommend going
we did the same and didn’t eat inside restaurants. we did take out.
Information here is helpful
I’m looking for Hawaii vacation in February
I keep checking for Covid predictions but too early I guess.
What to do?
I would not be so selfish to travel anywhere without several masks and the covid vaccine. Not about to put anyone at risk. I’ll be on Kauai in a few days and I hope visitors and locals are doing what they can to protect all and I don’t expect a lock down. Have reservations for a few activities, hopefully they will still be operating. On return some of us must be tested before returning to our daily lives, don’t like it but safety first.
Aloha,
If anyone has questions about this or that operating or not, call your vendor. If you are vaccinated you will not be competing with the local covidiots who have not been vaccinated. (Gov’s concern)
Please, before some of you post things like “all the locals” or “everywhere we went” think about your hometown. Are you neighbors a little stressed? Are some of your local eateries cutting back on hours due to no employees? Yes , we are lucky enough to live in Hawaii but we are facing added stress because all your unhappy neighbors want to come here! Thank you, but we are human, too.
Whatever you decide Hawaii will be waiting.
Lots of miscommunication, Hypocrisy, disinformation, ignorance and silliness.
I’ve been following BOH since 2019… When I first scheduled my multi-family trip to Hawaii. Plus, I’ve been following Hawaii’s official COVID cases & Vax charts and Airlines Passenger arrivals. It’s been quite interesting.
Lots of fingers pointing is all the wrong directions….
The real science shows being vaccinated does not make you immune, stop you from getting infected or transmitting COVID-19. Not requiring a pretest from vaccinated visitors and returning residents was just a disaster waiting to happen. It takes just one asymptomatic vaccinated passenger to infect the entire plane and everyone they came in contact with on the island to cause the uptick in cases. The Governor should have followed the real science, not the state backed science to keep everyone safer. What was he thinking?
Maybe because the pharma companies are making millions through government mandates which reach political pockets
Vaccinated or not you need to protect yourself and others
He wasn’t…..seems to be a pattern.
“It takes just one asymptomatic vaccinated passenger to infect the entire plane…”
Judy, this could be easily tracked via contact tracing, since they have access to every passenger on every flight, and it definitely would be plastered all over prime time, if it does happen.This hypothetical is definitely over-dramatized, and not based in fact at all. It’s technically just more misinformation.
Your “one asymptomatic vaccinated passenger” (vaccinated is actually irrelevant) would have to literally come in direct contact with every passenger, along with other variables, and the likelyhood of that alone is virtually impossible. On top of that, the infected person would have to not be wearing a mask while doing so, which is required by all airlines, except while eating and drinking in their seats. Truthfully, it’s not a guarantee they will transmit the virus whether they do wear a mask or not; however, wearing a mask does the most for an asymptomatic carrier, by helping them to not transmit the virus.
Besides the previous, it’s (again) virtually impossible for an entire plane to get infected, as the entirety of the cabin air is filtered by a HEPA filtration system, and replaced with outside air, every 2-3 minutes. It’s nearly as safe as being in a hospital operating room.
I do agree with several of your points, but let’s not over-dramatize them with improbable or virtually impossible hypotheticals. Let’s stick common sense and factual data.
So Mayor Victorino,
So you encourage the wealthy to come visit and in the next paragraph tell the poor plebs not to come and exploit your island?
When the elite sophisticated rich come they are not exploiting your island but when some hard working blue collar folks visit they are?
Sounds like something i heard concerning the disrace of an ex president, obama, holding a super spreader party for hundreds of people. The comenter said that they would be fine because the guests are “sophisticated.”
When are you hard working folks in hawaii gonna realize that your politicians think the same thing about you?
I love Hawaii, and the people and visit often but my money isnt good enough now?
JOHN G
Are you posting your comment about the Mike Victorino parody that I wrote earlier in this tread. I wrote as part of the parody that Maui only wanted rich people and island exploiting cheap condo vacationers should stay home.
It’s called sarcastic humor.
This has been in the works for a while. Visitor counts have gone up drastically over the years but rev per visit went down to like 186/per daily. One proposal during the pandemic meetings was to add a 40 percent visitor tax to get the number of visitors down around 6 million versus the 10 plus that had been coming. Many people are staying at air bnb etc and eat in which has reduced spending considerably yet caused more congestion and strain on resources. So look for more taxes and expenses like park fees parking fees extra flight fees. Now I see places like Marriott with $45 resort fee then a 14.95 internet fee. Then you. An rent a chair by the pool parking is $50. That’s why I stay at the kahala they don’t charge this garbage and it’s 10 time the place of any other.
It’s interesting that tourists were told not to come, and many people cancelled, myself included. And now the people are complaining about loss of business and income. Not sure what you expected. Maybe the residents now, with this slowdown, will take the time to get vaccinated and make the state safe for everyone to enjoy again.
We travel to Hawaii five times a year, mostly Oahu as we have a condo there. We also usually love to visit Maui often and the Big Island occasionally as we also have a timeshare. With the attitude that has been so loudly proclaimed I feel as though my money might be better spent elsewhere. Additionally the tourists and visitors are not to blame for the rising Covid cases. That has been confirmed by the Lt. Governor and others many times. On Oahu I can tell you it’s being spread by huge gatherings of local residents each weekend seen gathering on the beaches. As a visitor we are vaccinated and have done our part.
Well said absolutely pono, right!!! We need our tourists, 80% of us rely on you. We are so sorry for some of our uncouth leaders!! It’s embarrassing especially being working here in the hospitality industry for 30 years. Please “no ke kala ʻana” and mahalo for visiting and look forward to you coming back. Warmest Aloha!
Can you explain how the un-vaxxed are a threat to the vaxxed?
“Unvaccinated people are potential variant factories,” says Dr. William Schaffner, a professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
The current vaccines protect well against all the variants so far, but that could change at any moment. That’s why doctors and public health officials want more people to get vaccinated.
“The more unvaccinated people there are, the more opportunities for the virus to multiply,” Schaffner said.
“When it does, it mutates, and it could throw off a variant mutation that is even more serious down the road.”
“The more we allow the virus to spread, the more opportunity the virus has to change,” the World Health Organization advised last month.Viruses that don’t spread cannot mutate.
The only thing mutating is the baseless information being put out on a daily routine
Aloha Deetsh
I think you have that turned around. The vaxxed are a threat to the unvaxxed because as a vaxxed you can still transmit the disease to unvaxxed. The people in the hospitals now are unvaxxed. It is for the unvaxxed that I, as vaxxed, still wear a mask, still social distance. You realize if all were vaxxed none of us would still be putting up with all this craziness. Lots of empty beaches waiting for the vaxxed here on Kauai. Plenty people enjoying themselves despite our Governor. However, it is true that now the local population is much like the rest of the mainland in that there is community spread. We have been and are, vigilant. Mahalo
State was safe until they lifted 72 hour testing. Why they did that is anyone’s guess. They were already complaining there were too many people. It also have locals the signal that all is well just do what you want.
People are exhausted. They are tired of re-booking. I love Hawaii. I respect Hawaii. There is nothing more than I would love to bring my grandchildren here to show them, expose them, have them experience the culture and love for nature I have. However, at this point, no we won’t be coming back soon. This pandemic has affected life, and it is sad.
Why don’t you get the islanders to vaccinate, are you blaming the tourist for the increase in Covid cases? So you don’t want us to come as the locals continue to cluster.
I’m vaccinated. But I am also going to be tested prior to arrival in October. If I could get my $3000 back for the rental. I would gladly wait. The only way I can get refund is when they close travel. I would gladly take a test upon arrival. We did last year. No problem. We plan to eat in rental and hit the beaches and pool.
Aloha BOH Bro’s
Public Service ad from Mike Victorino Mayor of Maui.
Hi folks I’m Mike Victorino Mayor of the beautiful island of Maui.
Last summer as covid travel restrictions eased my island of Maui was over run with crazed rude tourist and their equally rude children. Island residents expressed their frustration with this overwhelming invasion of our peaceful paradise requesting that I do something about it.
So as Delta covid numbers climbed I saw it as an opportunity to asked you to please pause your fall travel plans and stay home.
Well many of you listened maybe to many, so after the cancelation of 51,000 rooms and over 21 million dollars of future travel revenue I’d like to invite you back to my Maui, but not all of you.
After speaking to my Big Corp resort friends and residents of Maui we agreed that we are only interested in a inviting a limited number of vaccinated resort booked travelers back to the island.
My Big Corp resort friends and I would like to invite our first class money spending friends back to Maui’s tourist havens of Wailea, Lahaina, Kapalua and Kaanapali. You are all welcome to stay on resort beach front properties enjoy resort restaurants and Luau’s. Don’t forget about tourist trap shopping in Lahaina and high end shopping at Shops of Wailea.
Individuals looking to book cheap short term rental properties and exploiting our island treasures like Hana, water falls, black beaches and beautiful hiking trails should continue to refrain from traveling to Maui at this time or ever.
Mahalo
Mike Victorino Mayor of Maui.
Perfect. Just perfect.
Okay, you got me! Thanks for the (sardonic) laugh!
This is the classic case of be careful what you wish for because you might just get it. Ige told people to stop coming, so people stopped coming. All this does is reinforce the ineptitude of the Governor and his entire administration. People don’t want to spend their hard earned money in a place that flat out tells them they are not wanted. Heaven forbid the Governor and the mayors of the islands would stop and think before they make official statements. Words and actions have consequences and telling folks to stay away may just be the last nail in a very fragile island economy’s coffin. I love the islands and I really hope if they survive all this in spite of the ignorance of their elected officials, that they will be more mindful of who they vote for in the future, because the people they have chosen up to this point are leading the citizens of Hawaii down a path of self destruction.
The question here is what does Hawaii want?
We have recently been/are being told:
* Come, enjoy the islands.
* Don’t come.
* Come, but put up with a changing bunch of restrictions that negatively impact your enjoyment.
* Some of you come, but not too many.
Hawaii sows confusion; Hawaii reaps confusion.
I don’t think too very many are going to continue to dig deep in their pockets only to take a chance on Hawaii’s “visitation du jour”.
Aloha! Arrived yesterday. Also came here last October 4 days after Hawaii opened back up, and again in May this year. Cars plentiful. Car rental prices have come town considerably. Check your reservation to get a better rate if you are coming soon. Not crowded at all. Just mask up in stores and while waiting to be seated for dinner. Plenty of room to spread out on the beaches just be patient with your wait staff. They are working hard. Mahalo
Be careful what you ask for….they didn’t want us to come and now they are “oh no, we have no customers “
I don’t know I’d agree with “they didn’t want us to come”. We were unprepared for it, and honestly, having worked in tourism here for quite a few years, we had a wave of unruly, disrespectful, and yes, abusive people traveling here. It wasn’t everybody but it was enough that it affected everybody, both traveler and local alike. The situation improved dramatically in August, for whatever reason. It is palpable, as is the decreasing stress level of the people that live here. That’s my observation, anyway.
I’m sure you realize that these are not the same people that asked for visitors to wait.
I just want to say Mahalo for the updates. We fly into Maui 3 weeks from tomorrow. I’ve got a better handle on the current situation from your articles and reading the comments. It looks like I won’t need to use our insurance 😁🌺
Hi Starla.
Thanks. Have a great time on Maui.
Aloha.
Don’t!!!!
None of these businesses deserve what’s happening to them from the total incompetence of the Governor of Hawaii and the island Mayors. Hopefully the people of Hawaii will stop electing these.
51,000 room nights have been canceled, $21.4 M loss in revenue….
We decided to not cancel Oct 1 and it sounds like it’s going to be a lot less crowded.
Dude. It is so nice. Beaches empty. 1000s of rental cars. Don’t cancel. We are loving it here.
Amen bruh! Halloween for us…hopefully everyting will be arie, mon.
What do these so-called leaders expect? The messaging to the public has been inconsistent, illogical and ill-timed. This time repressive tactics could have an even more deleterious impact on State finances. It seems unlikely the U.S. Government will bail out certain states again with massive inflows of funny munny created out of thin air.
But you are no doubt correct in believing that after the current situation resolves, tourism could quickly resume. The 2021 Spring and Summer arrival surge demonstrated the mainland’s love for our beautiful Islands and even the mess that is Hawaii politics won’t change that.
As far as the latest congressional attempt to further restrict our movements, hopefully it will meet the end it deserves. Even Biden and his handlers have not endorsed this proposal. Yet.
Thanks for all you do.
If they are going to mandate corona testing
The government should pay for all testing
Most of us live paycheck to paycheck
And some of us have family on the islands
That we would love to see without add expenses or just a vacation you saved up for
And the travel text cost up to $300
And in some places where people live its
not that easy to find Hawaii required testing sites. Some of us are very willing to
do the 10 day quarantine especially if you plan to stay a couple months. And swear to up hold it .there are still honest people in the world .give peace a chance.
Mahalo
We canceled our trip. We are so sad as this would have been #10 to HI.
We got all our $$ back from Hawaiian Air (except $100 from mainland, and $30 pp for each inter island flight)
Maybe will come again
I’m in Maui this week and so far it has been pretty good. It’s hardly empty or a ghost town as some have said. It reminds me of how it was about 5 years ago when you could still find parking at the beach. It not overcrowded but seems about right. Getting through the airport on arrival was fast and I got my rent a car pretty quickly as well. But kihei road still has a fair amount of traffic and I have seen some small lines outside a few restaurants. So while it’s not packed like before it has about as much traffic as it can reasonably handle.
Our HI leaders, always looking to the tourist dollars. When they should have lessened or closed down some tourism they didn’t – because high season after all. And now that we are entering what is always the known slow season, they are decrying cancellations they asked to have happen…
Sigh. I don’t want us to have to shut down everything all over again. Just start testing all incoming traffic, resident or non-resident; limit the numbers at restaurants and hotels; require masking and vaxes/testing for entry to most venues; and get on with making the case load go down to the point where we don’t have to worry…at least until the next really horrible strain comes. That might be never if people got with the mask and vax program, but it could be next week if they don’t.
Diana, I do not agree with you! People that have been vaccinated should not have to provide a negative COVID test! That’s jus ignorant! We will wear masks, social distance, and attend restaurants that are at 50 %. We have been vaccinated and with all these other steps we will follow, we shouldn’t have to do that also! They can take our temperature if they want!
Actually, it is not ignorant. Vaccinated people can still carry the virus, and pass it on to others. I will do whatever it takes to make sure I’m not a carrier. I hope, though, that more locals will get their shots.
Susan F. It’s not ignorant. It’s science. You can still catch Covid, and spread Covid, if you have been vaccinated. You have lessened the chances of a bad bout with it, and greatly lessened the chance you will die from it. But you can still have it, spread it, and infect everyone, including those who do not qualify for vaccination, like children under 12, kupuna, and those with medical conditions that compromise their immune systems. Think of people other than yourself. Or are you offering up your family members and friends as victims in place of other people’s? Please do tell your plan for that.
BTW, using exclamations points in places where normal punctuation would be does not make your point more valid.
Have you ever thought of running for office? Or do you make too much sense? Thank you,Diana.
Thanks for the vote of support, Claudia, but I am an artist, not a politician. I’m far too outspoken for politics. 🙂
Lol. I just arrived in Maui and it is a ghost town. And I love it. The people of Maui should choose their next mayor more carefully. Maybe someone with some job skills and business acumen.
He said the airline needs to stop flying so many planes into Maui.
He has stated that there needs to be less rental cars for tourists to rent.
He says not to drive to Hana.
He has threaded lockdowns and recommended tourists stay in their resorts.
All the messaging from him lead to this. And he is surprised? Maui is quickly beginning to look like Tijuana. Trash and homeless all over Lahaina. Human waste on a door on Front Street. Garbage everywhere.
You give a good summary!
Mayor Victorino is much appreciated by Maui residents and echos the resident’s concerns. Sure, nothing will be perfect and there will always be a push and pull when there is an unprecedented pandemic that is calling the shots. Realistically, you can make a rule and then when new information or things change, you also have to be flexible and change. Not everything can be foreseen. And in case anyone doesn’t know, bu Lahaina has always had problems, after all, the streets have had a history of sailors and prostitutes. Elements of seediness have always been present because Lahaina town is NOT a resort town. It’s not Kaanapali, Kapalua, or Napili.
The trash in central Maui has increased tremendously.
We went to go book our second trip to Hawaii this afternoon to take advantage of the $79 each way airfare but as of this morning it looks like all of those deals are now off the table. I guess we will wait for another day to return.
Don’t give up! I think the prices are here to stay. It is great here. Empty beaches. 1000s of card. Loving it man.
Aloha Rob and Jeff. Well got my safe travels and also the Clear passport done on my phone just to be ready for any new rules that might happen before our Kauai trip in October. I am looking forward to a peaceful vacation. No running around, just laying low and enjoying the peace and quiet and the sound of the waves.Have a great weekend. Surfs up over here in Topanga and the weather is Hot!! Mahalo for the updates.
Hi Debra.
Thanks for letting us know. Have a great time!
Aloha.
Aloha BOH!
I’ve been trying to follow along but so much back and forth. I am traveling to Kauai for 2 weeks at Christmas. I don’t think it’s required , yet, but should I go ahead and register for a Hawaiian travel passport? Not sure if that’s the name of it. If so, is their a link to do this and will you provide it to me? I am so looking forward to being back.
Mahalo
Hi Velma.
Not sure what you mean by Hawaiian travel passport. You will simply need to comply with the requirements of the Hawaii Safe Travels program, details of which are found at https://hawaiicovid19.com/travel/.
Aloha.
Hawaii should adopt a Holiday permit mechanism:
1) Establish a reasonable CAP based on a price that offsets impact and required taxes to offset impact.
2) If you find that we are not selling enough permits, adjust the price down until you reach the CAP.
3) If you find that permits are oversubscribed then adjust the price up until you reach the CAP maximizing State revenue.
That is interesting. It puts Hawaii in the lead and the airlines would be forced to limit seats/ flights!
Sitting at the bar at our favorite Kauai North Shore watering hole. Yeah, I know it’s only 3:30 pm, but ….
This island is not empty, but also is not crowded compared with full metal tourist surges. The reduction in seating to 50% and shortage of workers still creates some serious lines at restaurants. Add to this limited hours, but otherwise, its an awesome time to be here. Weather excellent and the ocean water is warm.
(Shhh, don’t tell anyone.)
Bill M… Sounds like the way they do pricing at Disneyland. Horrible idea. It prices the price-sensitive traveler out. Hawaii would become the destination of the wealthy only.
Except this is America. My tax dollars have helped pay for everyone’s extra benefits because I work.lets block off Vegas for all the Hawaiians.supreme court challenge in 5 sedonds. come on people. Did we forget what this country is all about? I am Hawaiian,but an American first.
Bill,
Rationalizing that such a poorly constructed idea would even be acceptable, without causing further economic class division and discrimination (while likely creating discrimination lawsuits) makes no sense at all. Seriously…one of the worst thought out ideas I have read on any blog here, besides the comments of wanting to force people against their will to take this vaccine.