526 thoughts on “Hawaii Travel Upheaval: Stakeholders Livid As Adversaries Now Concur”
Puna D.
Aloha. I am going to Kona from Mainland Monday, got my free test at Walgreens Friday. Sucks if I don’t have results before final leg, will let u know what happens. Mahalo for keeping us informed.
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Puna.
Good luck. Let us know how it goes. Thanks.
Aloha.
richard K.
Figure it out…..together!!! Hawaii!!!!!!!
Lori M
We have gone to kauai several times through the years. Our newlywed daughter and her husband are planning on going in February and we have reservations for April. Not sure about either trip now.
RD
We have cancelled 3 trips to Kauai this year, the last being due to not receiving one of two negative covid tests in time. It’s a total mess on Kauai with the Mayor establishing protocol based on fear and paranoia perpetrated by his mostly visitor hating supporters. The anti white visitor atmosphere is rampant on Kauai evident by the comments posted in social media. Its obvious this is what is driving the decisions made by the Mayor, rather than hard science. We are just not any glam tourists. We are former 30 year residents with family there. Hawaii is not so different from many of the other blue states in that it has a high cost of living, high taxes and a dictatorial style government. It needs to decide if it wants to be an economic powerhouse it has the potential to be and provide a vibrant lifestyle for residents or wallow around in just above 3rd world territory. Time is running out.
Matt G
I’ve taken my wife to Maui twice but that’s the only Hawaiian island she has seen. She’s dying to see Kauai so we had a trip planned for December 2020, booked before COVID hit. last summer we pushed the trip off to April 2021 hoping things would be better then. But with the latest news Kauai’s shutdown we’ve canceled the entire thing altogether. Bitterly disappointed. We would have kept the trip with the testing requirements from last month or still in place. But with politicians bickering and changing rules at a whim why mess with it? “Resort bubble” with ankle bracelets? You’ve got to be kidding. I can stay in a hotel room anywhere. Now I wonder what shape the island will be in when we do make the trip at some point in the future
Vicki A
I just canceled all my flights to Hawaii. I am still in process of canceling the resorts. I was coming for a 2 week vacation to Honolulu, Kauai, and the big Island. Won’t be coming at all. I am very disappointed.
chip c
The decisions being made are driven by limited medical capacity? Set up medical ships like they did in NY. We have plenty of empty ports to dock them. Maybe limited capacity is not the real reason why we are turning the world away. The knee-jerk policy decisions being made are horrendous,and becoming an embarrassing moment in Hawaii’s history. Unless the intent is to turn back time 50 years in Hawaii. Then the plan is a huge success-
Thanks
Lisa b
I cancelled Oahu trip for 3rd time this week. I don’t want to risk infection of hawaiian s, we can go at a later date. People are selfish, people are dying.
Nancy M.
We are scheduled for a trip to Maui to visit my sister on Dec. 9th. With the current rules, we will not get on that plane without our test results. Unfortunately, by the time they come in, our 72 hour window may have expired. The current rules are almost impossible to comply with. If it weren’t for my sister, I would cancel our trip until Hawaii is ready. This has been very stressful! We live in Dallas and there is only 1 “approved” provider still participating in Hawaii’s pre-travel program since CVS and Quest dropped out.
Keri S.
Although I was headed to Honolulu I feel uneasy about venturing to a state that doesn’t seem adequately prepared to welcome guests. If I want to travel to an island and be quarantined I can stay in New York and visit Rikers.
Suzanne
We were booked to Kauai in a few weeks and so excited for it. When they announced the no pre-travel testing, we cancelled all Kauai reservations (luckily our VRBo host was understanding) and ended up booking again to Maui, where we have been 4 times already. Oh well, we really need Hawaii. It makes our hearts happy which is much overdue this year.
Armand & Claudette T.
We have plans to travel to Hawaii the beginning of January. What a confusing situation. We are not sure what the rules will be when it is time to travel. Should we cancel now or risk losing our investment in our lodging? What a time of uncertainty?
john s.
No matter what system hawaii uses, it’s still the best state in the nation as far as covid-19 conserns.
I want to come home…
Roxane F.
Nothing has been said about the arrival of visitors that have already had Covid?
We have reservations for February at The Point At Poipu and are still holding out hope. We had a reservation in December that we canceled and fortunately got all our points back, but we weren’t sure that was going to happen. We have not booked our airline tickets until closer to time, depending on the Covid news.
Trish V.
Would it be possible to fly covid positive tourists off of the island? Some kind of dedicated covid flight? This would at least prevent the small island hospitals from being overwhelmed.
Steve G.
We are scheduled to arrive in Maui in January. Perfectly happy to take a pre-Covid test and another upon arrival. What I cannot handle is the possibility that results arrive 30 minutes too late and that requires a 14 day quarantine. I agree if they are a day or two late to quarantine until they come in, but 14 days is ridiculous if I followed requirements and the lab was behind. Haven’t cancelled yet but may have to do so. Mahalo.
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Steve.
There should be an update soon with regards to Hawaii changing rules for the circumstances you indicated.
Aloha.
Jenny W
We had a week long Kauai trip planned for Jan 6th but we switched it to Cabo san Lucas.
Inah M
Aloha BOH, we truly appreciate your updates. Because of the info you have been providing your readers, we were able to plan ahead and made changes to our original itinerary. We have cancelled our 3 week vacation to Kauai and Maui 2x then finally decided to cross off Kauai and just go to Maui. The ever changing rules made it too risky for us to visit Kauai. We got here in Maui last week and have been enjoying our time, resorts/rentals/businesses are always making sure guests are compliant with wearing masks and it’s easy to social distance on the beach since there are not too many people visiting right now. Hope to visit Kauai again next year. Mahalo
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Inah.
Thank you. We’re glad that you are enjoying your time on Maui!
Aloha.
Jeff L.
My wife and I were originally scheduled to arrive last April and rescheduled to this upcoming January. Now we were forced to reschedule again and have done so for April 2021. We were disappointed but understanding of the concerns the mayor has related to limited resources in case of a peak in infection rates. We love the island and will never abandon it. We’ve been going there almost every year for a long time and will continue to do so. We are sympathetic to the people living on the island. Mahalo.
Valerie C
While we were disappointed to be restricted from visiting Kauai, we did successfully rebook for a Maui stay. It’s a distance second choice for us, as we have been annual visitors to the Garden Island for over 20 years. My heart goes out, though, to the lovely locals in Kauai, whose welcoming and warmth always make our visit memorable. We’re hopeful things will soon improve, businesses can reopen and people can get back to work.
Comments are closed.
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Aloha. I am going to Kona from Mainland Monday, got my free test at Walgreens Friday. Sucks if I don’t have results before final leg, will let u know what happens. Mahalo for keeping us informed.
Hi Puna.
Good luck. Let us know how it goes. Thanks.
Aloha.
Figure it out…..together!!! Hawaii!!!!!!!
We have gone to kauai several times through the years. Our newlywed daughter and her husband are planning on going in February and we have reservations for April. Not sure about either trip now.
We have cancelled 3 trips to Kauai this year, the last being due to not receiving one of two negative covid tests in time. It’s a total mess on Kauai with the Mayor establishing protocol based on fear and paranoia perpetrated by his mostly visitor hating supporters. The anti white visitor atmosphere is rampant on Kauai evident by the comments posted in social media. Its obvious this is what is driving the decisions made by the Mayor, rather than hard science. We are just not any glam tourists. We are former 30 year residents with family there. Hawaii is not so different from many of the other blue states in that it has a high cost of living, high taxes and a dictatorial style government. It needs to decide if it wants to be an economic powerhouse it has the potential to be and provide a vibrant lifestyle for residents or wallow around in just above 3rd world territory. Time is running out.
I’ve taken my wife to Maui twice but that’s the only Hawaiian island she has seen. She’s dying to see Kauai so we had a trip planned for December 2020, booked before COVID hit. last summer we pushed the trip off to April 2021 hoping things would be better then. But with the latest news Kauai’s shutdown we’ve canceled the entire thing altogether. Bitterly disappointed. We would have kept the trip with the testing requirements from last month or still in place. But with politicians bickering and changing rules at a whim why mess with it? “Resort bubble” with ankle bracelets? You’ve got to be kidding. I can stay in a hotel room anywhere. Now I wonder what shape the island will be in when we do make the trip at some point in the future
I just canceled all my flights to Hawaii. I am still in process of canceling the resorts. I was coming for a 2 week vacation to Honolulu, Kauai, and the big Island. Won’t be coming at all. I am very disappointed.
The decisions being made are driven by limited medical capacity? Set up medical ships like they did in NY. We have plenty of empty ports to dock them. Maybe limited capacity is not the real reason why we are turning the world away. The knee-jerk policy decisions being made are horrendous,and becoming an embarrassing moment in Hawaii’s history. Unless the intent is to turn back time 50 years in Hawaii. Then the plan is a huge success-
Thanks
I cancelled Oahu trip for 3rd time this week. I don’t want to risk infection of hawaiian s, we can go at a later date. People are selfish, people are dying.
We are scheduled for a trip to Maui to visit my sister on Dec. 9th. With the current rules, we will not get on that plane without our test results. Unfortunately, by the time they come in, our 72 hour window may have expired. The current rules are almost impossible to comply with. If it weren’t for my sister, I would cancel our trip until Hawaii is ready. This has been very stressful! We live in Dallas and there is only 1 “approved” provider still participating in Hawaii’s pre-travel program since CVS and Quest dropped out.
Although I was headed to Honolulu I feel uneasy about venturing to a state that doesn’t seem adequately prepared to welcome guests. If I want to travel to an island and be quarantined I can stay in New York and visit Rikers.
We were booked to Kauai in a few weeks and so excited for it. When they announced the no pre-travel testing, we cancelled all Kauai reservations (luckily our VRBo host was understanding) and ended up booking again to Maui, where we have been 4 times already. Oh well, we really need Hawaii. It makes our hearts happy which is much overdue this year.
We have plans to travel to Hawaii the beginning of January. What a confusing situation. We are not sure what the rules will be when it is time to travel. Should we cancel now or risk losing our investment in our lodging? What a time of uncertainty?
No matter what system hawaii uses, it’s still the best state in the nation as far as covid-19 conserns.
I want to come home…
Nothing has been said about the arrival of visitors that have already had Covid?
We have reservations for February at The Point At Poipu and are still holding out hope. We had a reservation in December that we canceled and fortunately got all our points back, but we weren’t sure that was going to happen. We have not booked our airline tickets until closer to time, depending on the Covid news.
Would it be possible to fly covid positive tourists off of the island? Some kind of dedicated covid flight? This would at least prevent the small island hospitals from being overwhelmed.
We are scheduled to arrive in Maui in January. Perfectly happy to take a pre-Covid test and another upon arrival. What I cannot handle is the possibility that results arrive 30 minutes too late and that requires a 14 day quarantine. I agree if they are a day or two late to quarantine until they come in, but 14 days is ridiculous if I followed requirements and the lab was behind. Haven’t cancelled yet but may have to do so. Mahalo.
Hi Steve.
There should be an update soon with regards to Hawaii changing rules for the circumstances you indicated.
Aloha.
We had a week long Kauai trip planned for Jan 6th but we switched it to Cabo san Lucas.
Aloha BOH, we truly appreciate your updates. Because of the info you have been providing your readers, we were able to plan ahead and made changes to our original itinerary. We have cancelled our 3 week vacation to Kauai and Maui 2x then finally decided to cross off Kauai and just go to Maui. The ever changing rules made it too risky for us to visit Kauai. We got here in Maui last week and have been enjoying our time, resorts/rentals/businesses are always making sure guests are compliant with wearing masks and it’s easy to social distance on the beach since there are not too many people visiting right now. Hope to visit Kauai again next year. Mahalo
Hi Inah.
Thank you. We’re glad that you are enjoying your time on Maui!
Aloha.
My wife and I were originally scheduled to arrive last April and rescheduled to this upcoming January. Now we were forced to reschedule again and have done so for April 2021. We were disappointed but understanding of the concerns the mayor has related to limited resources in case of a peak in infection rates. We love the island and will never abandon it. We’ve been going there almost every year for a long time and will continue to do so. We are sympathetic to the people living on the island. Mahalo.
While we were disappointed to be restricted from visiting Kauai, we did successfully rebook for a Maui stay. It’s a distance second choice for us, as we have been annual visitors to the Garden Island for over 20 years. My heart goes out, though, to the lovely locals in Kauai, whose welcoming and warmth always make our visit memorable. We’re hopeful things will soon improve, businesses can reopen and people can get back to work.