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76 thoughts on “Hawaii Travel Soars Again. Now Through Vaccine and Beyond”

  1. Beverly B.

    We have had reservations since before Covid for a 3 bedroom condo on the big island. There will be 6 of us and we are concerned the restaurants won’t be open. We don’t want to have to cook for 6 daily in our condo.

  2. JWI

    Cannot wait to revisit next summer, the Aloha spirit we do miss. 🙏 for a fast, safe recovery for everyone in Hawaii. Hang on!

  3. Sara H

    This is a response to Grant R.
    We live in California. We ordered our text through Vault. It is a trusted partner for Hawaii. It is a saliva test taken via Zoom. They guarantee results within the travel window. Make sure u have the times right for testing. I believe it is from the time of your second flight. We are going Thanksgiving and I ordered our test and received them the next day. It says to order a week in advance but I was just a little paranoid. I ordered on Monday and received them the next day. Will send a follow up after our trip.

    1. Grant R.

      Thank you Sara. I really appreciate your response. I was looking into Vault at BOH’s recommendation. I think the big issue is that you need to drop off the sample to UPS who won’t be operating on Christmas day so the test result would just sit until the 26th. I will re-check with Vault if the have a plan for this. I’m also checking with Kaiser if they have any way of expediting the results given the Christmas holiday.

      To make matters worse, the latest news is that anyone travelling without posting their results prior to travel will have the mandatory 14-day quarantine. So my plan of uploading the results after arriving at HLN but before arriving at KOA won’t work. I may try and see if I can reschedule the trip to depart on the 29th but not sure if the change fees for the flight will be worth it.

  4. Kathleen I

    We just got back from a lovely,restful Maui vacation.ot was a little stressful hoping for our tests to come back in time so we got two (free) just in case. It was confusing upon arrival in HNL because they had changed our flights from direct to Maui from LAX and of course we didn’t know what we were doing. Kudos to Hawaiian Air for their social distancing and to all the airport workers for being helpful and patient as we navigated unfamiliar territory. We’re used to wearing masks so no big deal
    Thrilled to be able to see family and relax on Maui again at last!!!

  5. JohnW

    As is evident here, plenty of pragmatic thoughtful people are having a great time in Hawaii.
    Hawaii is as beautiful as ever, some are enjoying a beautiful chain of islands as well as interacting with people that are happy they are here.
    Tourists that are respectful and caring about others are very appreciated right now during these difficult for all times.
    And not only is it less crowded, it appears by the posts on here the Q-anon/anti maskers crowd are staying away too!
    Have to wonder if Hawaii could legally require a vaccine to enter and really enhance our safety!
    It wouldn’t be that hard to require a test and a vaccine and when you got to Hawaii a mask and social distancing wouldn’t be necessary.

  6. Karen Z

    Aloha,
    Just returned to Phoenix from Oahu yesterday and I want to thank you for all the up-to-date information you publish daily. It was so very helpful prior to our departure on 10/28 with the Covid testing etc. Our flight over was so full that American Airlines was offering up to $450 a seat to take another flight. We were staying at the Marriott Ko Olina and walked down to the beach to check out the chair situation and started talking to two of the young men working there. The one young man said 11/1 was their first day back and he thanked us for being there because if it weren’t for us he wouldn’t have his job. He was so happy to be back to work. Our entire stay was totally delightful and we were always treated well and we were out and about everyday eating and sightseeing. Hawaii was wonderful!!

  7. Grant R.

    Thanks for all of the great updates on travel to Hawaii.

    Tricky question. We’re flying out on December 28th from SMF-HNL-KOA. The 72-hour window starts on Christmas Day and I’m not expecting anyone to offer testing that day so we’ll get it done on 12/26 in the morning and hope to have results by the time we land. If we land in HNL without updated results, will we be quarantined there and miss our connecting flight to KOA until we have confirmed results?

    Second question- do you know of anyone in CA that offers guaranteed 24-48 hour testing turnarounds?

    Thank you!

    1. Beat of Hawaii

      Hi Grant.

      You will be able to go on to Kona to quarantine without results. We’ll leave that to others on guaranteed, as we aren’t aware of any. The best reports from visitors’ mentions been about Vault.

      Aloha.

      1. Jan B

        We did CVS on 10/27 (last appointments of the day 3:40 and 3:50 pm) for our flight out 10/30 morning out of San Diego. My husband had his results the afternoon of 10/29 and I had mine that evening. I agree with making sure you do the drop down box “Travel to HI”.

    2. Stacey L.

      Hi, CVS doesn’t guarantee 24-48hrs, but we got ours back in 36hrs & 48hrs. Our friends used them last week and received them in 24hrs. Make sure u say “Travel to HI” per the drop down menu. We all used different locations in SD County.

  8. Tom

    While today’s vaccine announcement is great news, I’m more concerned about the increasing COVID-19 cases on the Islands since October 15, which I fear will result in another shutdown. An “open-close” scenario would be devastating to the Islands. Finally, I apologize for all of my Mainland (CA?) Haole comments that are rude, ignorant and offensive to the Hawaiian citizens. When are they going to understand the real limitations of the Hawaii health care system. Trey don’t live in SF or LA or Seattle. Aloha

  9. Nancy R

    Just FYI on “treating tourists like dogs.” We are lucky enough to not have rabies in Hawai’i. You cannot bring in a dog from the Mainland without expensive and extensive inoculation and testing procedures, including an airport examination of your dog’s documents in Hawai’i. Failure to meet these requirements causes your dog to be quarantined for a long period of time in a state owned facility at your expense. We are a unique state in our geographic isolation. I believe some people from the Mainland don’t understand our need to protect
    against a pandemic.
    And darn, I thought I was the only one to figure out buy the third seat, too! If we all do it, they’ll be more room on planes.

  10. Wpc

    Because I love you all, I beg you to never ever get this vaccine. It is the most dangerous vax ever created. Look at the Children’s Health Defense website (Robert F Kennedy Jr org) for real information about it you will never see on pharma sponsored main stream news.

    1. Joerg H.

      The anti-vaxers strike again! Folks, if we NEVER get back to normal, you can thank the anti-vaxers and anti-maskers for it. Personally, I would like to thank the state of Hawaii for ignoring these conspiracy theorists and put common sense policies into place.

      Hopefully once the vaccine is widely available the state will mandate proof of vaccination before allowing travel to the state. Personally, we are scheduled to come to Hawaii at the end of May 2021, and I hope and pray by then we will be able to get the vacine and travel safely in spite of the conspiracy theories.

      1. Cam C

        Amazed this reply of yours was published. Very rude in my opinion.
        Everyone is entitled to an opinion and “Mr yay I love to get vaccinated “ you are not all knowing nor necessarily correct in your opinion either.
        People should have the right to chose what they want to put in their body.

        1. Joerg H.

          Their own opinion yes, their own set of facts, no. This is especially true in a case like mask-wearing and vaccines where their opinion affects a lot of other people. Then deciding to follow conspiracy theories rather than science is a slap in the face of the rest of us, and a lot of us are tired of it.

          In terms of Hawaii requiring visitors to be vaccinated, it’s just like the requirement to be tested in order to enter the state without a quarantine. They could do exactly the same with a vaccine requirement. You either provide proof of vaccination upon arrival, or you must quarantine for 14 days.

          1. Cam C

            Fact- most of the mainland has been wearing masks for months and the numbers still went up
            Fact- nobody will know the long term side affects of this vaccine before people start using it for a 99%+ recovery rate
            Fact- Hawaii is the hardest hit state economically from Covid
            Fact-people need to work and can’t live off the government forever
            Fact- Covid deaths have been greatly manipulated when people have had other terminal conditions cause of death is still listed as Covid
            I don’t want to see anyone get sick either but if someone gets a test 72hrs before coming to visit me, I’m certain they won’t be what causes spread on the islands.

          3. Joerg H.

            Fact – The average mask-wearing rate in the US is around 50%. Some states are better, some are worse, but in general, the politicization of mask-wearing has meant that we are nowhere near where we need to be in order to stop, or even slow down, the spread of the coronavirus.

            Fact – The CDC just issued new guidance on mask-wearing. “SARS-CoV-2 infection is transmitted predominately by respiratory droplets generated when people cough, sneeze, sing, talk, or breathe. CDC recommends community use of masks, specifically non-valved multi-layer cloth masks, to prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Masks are primarily intended to reduce the emission of virus-laden droplets (“source control”), which is especially relevant for asymptomatic or presymptomatic infected wearers who feel well and may be unaware of their infectiousness to others, and who are estimated to account for more than 50% of transmissions.1,2 Masks also help reduce the inhalation of these droplets by the wearer (“filtration for personal protection”). The community benefit of masking for SARS-CoV-2 control is due to the combination of these effects; individual prevention benefit increases with increasing numbers of people using masks consistently and correctly.”

            Fact – Agree with you that there hasn’t been any long term study on the effects of a brand new vaccine. So the question is, what’s the bigger risk? However, it should also be noted that if enough people choose not to take the vaccine, that we will not reach “herd immunity”. Therefore, it’s not just YOU that you are deciding for, it’s all the rest of the population that can not be vaccinated like very young children. Therefore, I think from a public health point of view, while you have every right to decide not to take the vaccine, the public has a right to be protected from YOU as well. So things like mandatory vaccination in order to attend sporting events, travel, or go to school, etc. seem reasonable.

          4. Joerg H.

            .. ran out of room …

            Fact- Hawaii is the hardest-hit state economically from Covid, I don’t know if that’s the case, we are all hard hit, but I imagine with Hawaii’s reliance on tourism it’s got to be bad. That’s the point of the mask, test, and I hope soon vaccine mandates. With those in place, Hawaii can re-open to tourism and I can visit the place I love so much without fear of catching something or giving it to someone else.
            Fact-people need to work and can’t live off the government forever – No one is suggesting that they should. All the things that are being put in place are designed to help avoid exactly that.
            Fact- Covid deaths have been greatly manipulated when people have had other terminal conditions cause of death is still listed as Covid – This is what I’m talking about. No public health office I know of agrees with this statement.
            I don’t want to see anyone get sick either but if someone gets a test 72hrs before coming to visit me, I’m certain they won’t be what causes spread on the islands. – Again, more misinformation. While testing is a good thing, there are cracks that will allow people to slip through. note that the infection rate has gone up since the testing based re-opening.

            The bottom line is that if you want re-opening, please stop fighting measures that will help Hawaii re-open and allow safe tourism to the islands.

      2. SandyB

        I will not be rushing to get a “fast tracked” vaccine, especially for a virus that has such a low statistical probability of death. If Hawaii mandates a vaccine before a visit, we’ll spend our vacation dollars elsewhere.

      3. Ron G

        Unfortunately, the state cannot control interstate travel, nor can they say any unvaccinated can’t travel…just like now they can’t tell you everyone on the plane has been tested, because even without testing they have to allow them to fly! Good luck with getting people to wear masks for 5 minutes after they release a vaccine…

      4. JWI

        Conspiracy theories keep The National Enquirer in business. Fun to read, for sure, but useless in real life. Follow the science.

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