Before Expedia’s Predicted Rush. How Hawaii is Now.
65 thoughts on “How Adaptable Are You? | Hawaii Vacations Before Tourism’s Lightning Return”
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Kaua’i without the crowds is an experience of a lifetime. Yes, it is a hassle getting there but worth it. United’s color testing is fast and the flight was not crowded. The beauty of this island lifts your spirits after so many months of lockdown. Just wear your mask always and follow safety guidelines by the State of Hawai’i and you can enjoy paradise.
“Trusted testing partners” are not necessarily trustworthy. We made Walgreens appointments thinking we would have 24 hour results, but when we went and tested 48 hours before our arrival in Hawaii the Pharmacist said “24 to 72 hours”. Neither of us had results on arrival. One result came early the next morning but the other was not received by 72 hours. I called Labcorps and was told they promise two to four days. We’re fairly adventurous, but that’s a lot of confusion and uncertainty. These details need to be smoothed our to convince people to risk their precious vacation time and money.
As someone who works for a lab, I can say that this is normal. Usually the lab process is fast unless the the lab is running at capacity.
It’s the transport of the sample to the lab where things usually hold it up. Pro tip: getting swabbed in dense urban area near the lab is likely to get you fastest results.
Aloha Beat of Hawaii, I have some info for you from Kaua’i that might be more up to date than when this went out. Maybe you’d consider updating?
The first being the Farmers Market at Kaua’i Community College. It re-opened on November 14th. https://hfbf.org/farmers-markets/
The other is with regard to the Hanapepe Art Nights. While the live event has not yet returned, there is new Hanapepe.org website and for your entertainment from near or far, Hanapepe Virtual Art Night that can be found through the website or on Facebook or Instagram by following @historichanapepe. I am the Project Manager that was hired for this effort, and would be happy to speak further to the efforts we’ve got going on in Hanapepe. http://www.hanapepe.org
Mahalo for considering – Renee
Hi Renee.
That is Kapiolani Community College. Not Kauai – Oahu.
Aloha.
I am currently on Maui and come about 6-7 times a year to the islands. It is very different but it’s nice to not have it so crowded. The beaches are very wide open compared to the recent past. Lots of the stores in Lahaina and in other areas are boarded up and gone. Most of the larger stores are open (corporations like Quicksilver, Billabong and such). Much less crowded overall and check with your restaurants and places as most of shorter hours and shorter menu’s.
Maui was well organized when it came to the COVID process. Make sure you upload a picture of yourself before you leave on the state site. My situation was a bit different as I did my pre Covid test at CVS in California. I did not get my results until the 5th day so I had to self quarentine in my room for two days. You have to check in on the state of Hawaii site daily until you get your test results. I finally got mine and uploaded the results and my account was immediately changed to non-quarentined. Not sure if CVS is always late in results or not but that was the most stressful thing in visiting Maui. Not knowing when you would be free to go do the things you love to do. My girlfriend did hers through Kaiser and she got hers in time. Mine, not so much.
Shopping isn’t the reason people come to Hawaii. Shopping is about the locals trying to extract as much money from the tourists as possible–the same way the extremely high hotel / occupancy / rental car taxes are about the government trying to extract as much money from the tourists as possible.
And, yeah, specifically in a place like Honolulu–which could really be anywhere in the world with sunshine and water–the experience is going to be quite different now than it was a year ago.
But in a place like the big island, the experience will only be slightly different… because visiting the big island was never about crowded beaches or fancy resorts or drinks with umbrellas in them.
Sure,the local / county governments on ALL the islands are working as hard as possible to keep visitors away and ruin the quality of life fore everyone on the islands during the pandemic–locals and visitors alike. But the natural beauty is so immense and so powerful that even a moron like mayor Ige can’t destroy that… though I’m sure he’s tried his hardest.
What makes 2020–and 2021 different from virtually every other year–is that Americans on the mainland really don’t have any other tropical vacation choices besides Mexico and Hawaii. Nobody else wants us–our COVID numbers are just too high. So, regardless of what Peter Greenburg or the Hawaii county mayors or anyone else says… Americans are going to flock to Hawaii as soon and as long as they are allowed to. Because even Mexico is requiring masks now… and you probably won’t get robbed at gunpoint in your hotel room in Hawaii–like my friends who visited Tulum earlier this year did.
I would love to be able to visit right now. We did all of the energetic stuff back in 2009 on our first trip. We’ve now been 5 times (4 islands). I would bet that a relaxing trip would be awesome.
We are planning on coming to Kauai in May for about 40 days. This is our every othetr year trip destination and we’ve been doing that for the past 25 years. We are definitely concerned and don’t want to being wearing masks all the time. We’re sure hoping things are open and getting back to more normal by then. We feel for the people of Kauai and especially foe all the small businesses that have closed eiteher temporarily or permanently. We love our second home on Kauai, as we call it, and can’t wait to get back. Looking forward to the beach walks, trails, beaches, sunsets, golf and great dining. Our children are planning on joining us in late May and bringing our 2 granddaughters too. Can’t wait to get there. Mahalo for all the updates!
Hi Tom.
Thanks. Glad you’ll be able to return to Kauai. Mask wearing won’t be gone anywhere by then, beyond that it is anyone’s guess.
Aloha.
I’m here in Oahu yes not all open but enough the Beach is great what shop till you drop there’s plenty open Greenberg is wrong it’s wonderful it’s not busy and that’s a plus..we go and find what’s open and it’s brilliant….
As a local from Kauai we are not ready for tourist until government figures this out. We are no longer a tourist playing field ,nor are we ready to accommodate them despite the fact that tourism is our major industry .
I really appreciate all the information you provide to help us plan for our Hawaii trip. We initially booked a trip to Kauai then Maui however with the tier system in Kauai and more restrictions I think it’s better to just go to Maui. I really hope to visit Kauai again next year when restrictions are lifted. Mahalo
Hi Inah.
Thanks for letting us know. Enjoy your time on Maui.
Aloha.