What we see happening on Kauai without toursim, from our local perspective, during the 10-day quarantine.
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109 thoughts on “Time Bomb Ticking: Life on Kauai Now”
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What we see happening on Kauai without toursim, from our local perspective, during the 10-day quarantine.
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
Comments are closed.
So . Where did Zuckerberg Buy 500 Acres ? Really. To the person that doesn’t like the name “Chinese ” Virus, do you think it came from Mars? They should take responsibility for it and Quit eating Bats, Pangolins and other wildlife.
I believe he’s up to 700 acres. He’s on Makai side of the highway east of the botanical park Kilauea, west of the road to Larsen’s. You can drive by a long stretch of his famous rock wall on Koolau road.
Back in February when most folks in the US called it “Corona virus”, my Chinese partners called it “Wu Flu” – short and snappy for Wuhan Flu. There is zero “race” involved. It is a place. The young people in our local pub were calling it “Boomer Remover.” I’m a Boomer, and I thought it was funny.
Pat D… And Happy Holidays to you! The Chinese did not spread the virus. China did.
The solution for Kuai is painfully obvious. Turn the resorts into prisons (for real) and charge governments the rate for housing prisoners. In many cases its greater than resort daily rates. The prisoners wouldn’t mind even if they can’t go to the beach. The resorts would have their revenue and employees could return as prison guards and the island would have revenue. Hawaiian Air could be contracted to transport the prisoners from the mainland
I like that idea!!
We hope to arrive February 13 and have reserved a rental car with the plan of working our way around the island staying at three different condos. We are quite anxious, of course. We would take as many Covid tests as necessary and even quarantine before leaving home in order to be able to come in Frebruary. It’s concerning that Southwest has cancelled our return flight to the mainland. We got seats with United instead but wonder if Southwest knows something that we don’t.
Don’t bother. Your trip to Kauai isn’t going to happen.
Two choices:
1) Go someplace where your tourist dollars are wanted,and / or
2) Book late in 2021, when hopefully Covid is under control.
Just got back from a nice long walk on a nearly empty beach on the far north shore. From the HCR to the county beach park. Lifeguard was on duty, but there was no one to guard. Couple of surfers. A few people with their dogs. Couple of sunbathers. Saw some turtles, but no whales (yet). Weather was a little rainy this am, but this afternoon is awesome. Sunny, perfect temp, light breezes, and the ocean is beautiful. Normally on the weekend before Christmas, this stretch of beach would be packed, especially Tunnels.
We go out and patronize all places possible. We were the only customers for about an hour at Opaka the other day. Four people remaining to staff. I feel terrible for all the people put out of business/work. But, I don’t see how Kawakami can reopen the island anytime in the foreseeable future, even with the “vaccinated travel passport” or whatever it is being called. How can he, if his standard is “no covid cases,” since this is impossible to achieve.
If that is the standard “no covid cases” then under Kawakami’s mandate the island can never open. Fact is even if there’s a 100 percent vaccination none of the vaccines are 100 percent effective.
It’s impossible to eradicate a virus like covid-19 you can only hope to contain it.
When the CDC and Federal government officials reach a consensus that herd immunity is at an acceptable level and virus control has been achieved Kawakami’s 100 percent no covid case won’t stand up to reopen pressure.
I’m under the belief that best case herd immunity and accepted virus control won’t happen until late summer or early fall of 2021 and wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t happen until spring of 2022.
I believe we will see another significant covid infection surge fall and winter of 2021.
Duane Chapman for Governor!
Good Morning Rob and Jeff
As a small business owner of 26 years I feel your and many of Kauai’s closing business owners pain. It’s an end of an era it will never be as it was.
Nothing is more frustrating from a small business owners point of view is when circumstances beyond your control force you to close. It’s a gut wrenching sleepless nights slow death.
You’re losing relationships that Cheers everyone knows your name place where when everything is going wrong I know I can go in my favorite coffee shop, bar, restaurant or other small business and be met with a smiling face and the it’s going to be alright feeling.
What’s lost is the conversation over the cracker barrel and saw dust floor where you can be yourself crack a few jokes and lend a hand when needed. The fabric of the community is dying to be replaced by cold big corporate cookie cutter mainland owned poke stores and Seattle coffee.
This time around I’m fortunate my part of the country is booming, for once, on Friday alone we received 4 baskets of homemade cookies, fudge, candy and fresh hand picked fruit. Not one of them was there to have their car serviced it was a show of appreciation for our importance to their lives.
I answer all incoming calls I know them by the voice on the phone call them by their first names and greet them with a smile.
It’s heart breaking what is happening to your community on Kauai.
Thanks For the subject matter guys hope things get better for you.
Richard C
Hi Richard.
Thanks for sharing that. Yes, the fabric of the community is changing and it is largely not in people’s awareness that will thrive is corporate-owned while what is lost is family-owned.
Aloha.
Cure worse than disease
My heart goes out to innocent bus owners
The new US CCP State will bail u out on US taxpayer
dime Jan 21.
Back to happy days then
Aloha Guys
This ugly covid thing is hurting everyone. I think the main problem in Hawaii is, that everyone is on a different page. This problem has its roots at the very top of our government and people need to see that, there was never any kind of a plan to start with.
I noticed on the Big Island, what seem to have been hit the hardest are the big resorts there’s virtually no one there. Anything connected with the resorts is being hit very hard. The condo/house rentals are being hit too, but not as badly.
It would appear with a bit of time, things will return to normal.
Mahalo Guys, for your timely updates.
tourists will be going big island to see the volcano…
I am usually on my way back home from a trip to Hawaii at this time of the year, I do nit plan on traveling anywhere until late May or June, at the earliest. It has cost me a bundle to pay timeshare fees for the past year and nit get anything in return. I hope that the federal government mandates that timeshare companies return all or a majority of the mandatory imposed time share maintenance fees. I am sure there are some costs to maintain partially filled or temporarily closed time share resorts, but it is unjust enrichment for time share corporations to charge full amounts when they could not deliver the contracted availability of vacation resorts. I particularly accuse Diamond Resorts as the worst, Wyndham Resorts and Hilton Grand Vacations Resorts of profiting exorbitantly at the unavailability of their properties to owners as a result if the covid pandemic. It is really no different than the scams that have preyed on consumers during the pandemic with faulty or nonexistent masks and sanitizers and other products that were offered or were deficient but were never delivered over the past year. This situation is no different. I urge all time share owners to complain to their Congressmen and Senators for consumer fairness by the time share companies for stealing fees for timeshares that were not available in 2020 and very likely will be unavailable in 2021 as well. The time shares already make millions of dollars on promises and do not deliver on promises of resort availability. People want to enjoy Hawaii when it is once again safe, and when it is safe to travel without quarantines and restrictions.
Are you kidding me??? This article is about the economic pain & suffering small family owned businesses and employees on Kauai are experiencing. News Flash – most locals on Kauai can’t afford a timeshare. I understand your position, but you obviously have money. I find your comment inappropriate on this blog, if not offensive to the Kauai residents.
So without the timeshares and hotels supporting the wonderful residents creating jobs and economic support to the island, you would rather see them go. Maybe Facebook will take over the island instead. Have fun selling seashells by the seashore….. By the way not all timeshare owners are just throwing money away. Some of us have worked our butts to be able to spend our dollars in your state. With my two week timeshare gives me the opportunity to take my dollars elsewhere. Be carful what you wish for, it may come true. Just saying.
MARKR…
Well said – we eat a lot of oatmeal and spaghetti to afford our semi-annual Kauai trips – which have now gone down the “you know what”!
My heart goes out to the people of the world who continue to be affected by the COVID-19 virus.
The words, “we’re all in this together”, are thrown around by those who truly aren’t in the same position as many of us.
I’m tired of seeing friends and family sick, dying, and going broke trying to keep up with the ever changing rules.
All we can do is hope and pray that the elected officials will try to stop the hemorrhaging.
Mahalo, Beat of Hawai’i for being the light in our darkness, and keeping us informed.
Aloha and blessings to all🌺
Hi Pam.
Thanks for your input, as always.
Aloha.
Hey tell Zuckerberg to fix it he bought 500 acres before he stole the election for biden..you fools
Yep to that.
He truly should be helping heaps.
Truly.
Wrong place for your crazy comments. Try Parler.
Not crazy—true —stolen election by the mob dems
What do you expect for a stone age culture.. per my dad’s law partner there 45 yrs ago.
Been going 49 years, sailed there and back on 52 footer and I’m done. My Japanese friends who own hotel there are fed up. They have squatters etc right on beachwalk.
Its good to hear you are done.
Good choice.
Folks dont need your attitude here..shameful.
I am afraid Kaua’i Mayor us playing politics. Lt Governor says it is no better.
All the threads I was going to post to have gone so posting here. Admins please move where appropriate.
Just arrived in Honolulu as Kauai had to be canceled. So I thought I would share my experiences.
1) Came in from overseas on American so flew from DFW.
2) Filed trip yesterday.
3) Did Health Form and received QR code.
4) Got to Testing site by D40 at 7.40 having checked in on line.
5) 5 minute wait, paid my $249 filled out a form had a swab stuck up my nose. Waited 25 minutes and got the negative result
6) They showed me how to convert to pdf and attach test result and my picture.
7) Sat in Lounge for 2 hours eating breakfast and boarded nice big Boeing 777 300 with real first class.
8) we arrived 45 minutes early
9) only bad thing, United were still at our gate and when they tried to push back it broke down so we spent 40 minutes waiting for new gate. Not Hawai’i’s fault nor American, pure United.
10) As we were delayed three flights deplaned at once so there was a long line but it was moving quickly with lots of people manning desks. I have Special Assistance due to disability so were waived straight through
11) Get to desk show QR code on phone and ID. Mahalo enjoy Hawai’i.
No stress no wondering when it will come. I cannot recommend highly enough. Hawai’i have really tried to make it as quick as possible with lots of helpful people. Not their fault United’s planes break down.
Downside is $249, upside no stress, no worrying, no quarantine threat. Absolutely first class but not everyone wants to spring $249 each for a test. I was a solo pax but a family of four, two adults and two young kids forked out almost $1000 for tests.
I was worried I had made a mistake or they would say but you have been in Mexico ( to get out of UK) but no very easy. Heartily recommend.
All the above is factual not opinion.
Thanks BOH for being an independent voice. ICU capacities on a per capita basis are nearly the same on Kauai, Maui and the Big Island. Kauai – 9 ICU beds, 70,000 people. Maui – 31 and 165,000. Big Island – 24 and 180,000. Oahu is better at 244 ICU beds and a million people. But also arguably the riskiest of all with its giant indoor spaces (apartment towers, office buildings, and hotels). Those islands haven’t shut down. And Kawakami is being proven wrong on a daily basis as case counts on the other islands – with bigger populations and more daily visitors – trend down, not up.
Hi John.
Thanks for your many comments and input on this.
Aloha.
Thank you Beat of Hawaii and thank you John for your contribution;your numbers are spot on-
Both Oahu and Maui are currently trending upwards. Maui in particular had consistently low cases before October and now has seen steady increases.
This makes me so sad and mad at the same time! The ridiculous decisions being made are ludicrous and killing this island all for a virus with a 99.8% recovery rate. Unreal.
Thanks for this info. Although visitors are not allowed on Kauai, are commercial deliveries, like Amazon, etc, allowed? Are there any restrictions or delivery problems during this isolation period?
We’re appreciative of any information you can provide.
Hi Tony.
This only impacts those individuals arriving on the island, not deliveries.
Aloha.
Than you for your regular updates on the status of life on Kauai. I have plans to return in May. Hopefully the powers that be can devise a workable solution ASAP. IMHO the current “plan” made no sense as from what I recall most positive cases were returning residents not visitors. It would be great if the decision makers were held responsible at the ballot box and in court.
Hi Peter.
Thanks for your comments. Look for something to change after the first of the year.
Aloha.
We have a commercial project on Kauai we are trying to finish. My wife and I go there every other week but that has become virtually impossible to continue. I believe we are going to abandon our project for at least a month until that crazy mayor comes to his senses.
Unfortunately the majority of locals has been brainwashed and only believe their mayor and inflated COVID news on tv and really make it uncomfortable for folks traveling over there. Thanks
Hey Kauai, keep your people safe. You have a perfect safety zone with all that beautiful ocean. Everything else can wait.
Your friend, Duane B.
U r so out of tune suckung up. They’re going to starve!
Keeping people safe means more than keeping people from traveling to Kauai. Unemployed people aren’t safe. Killing someone’s business and livelihood is worse than smartly allowing people to travel to Kauai and people to work. This does not have to be one or the other. The island needs to open under the safe travels program.
I truly don’t know what is best for Kauai here, but this article does not present an accurate picture of the tradeoffs involved. Kauai ended its participation in the program due to the results of post-travel testing conducted a few days after arrival (which allows for incubation periods). Kauai is the *only island* that conducted such testing, is the only island that had previously non-existent community spread, and has the most limited healthcare capacity out of them all. Presenting only the statewide numbers as evidence of the program’s effectiveness, as Green has been doing, is clearly disingenuous.
It would be helpful for your readers to understand the reasoning here. The mayor is truly between a rock and a hard place: keeping closed will lead to economic devastation, but opening up to the safe travels program has a large chance of kicking off an irreversible spike of coronavirus and significant death.
My personal guess: the Governor approves the post-travel test+quarantine proposal in January just for Kauai, and tourism ends up truly returning as people are vaccinated.
You speak of death, which I believe Kauai might have only one with COVID-19. However, how many deaths due to suicide have there been? How many due to stress that have caused by other health problems? Not to mention the financial hardships, which can cause long term health problems down the road. There’s no way of knowing, but my guess is there will be many more deaths due to the Kauai Mayor’s response to COVID. We own property there and we were coming back in May, but that’s probably not going to happen. We won’t be back until vaccinations are accepted with no masks. They don’t work anyway!
Aloha for now!!!
Masks don’t work? LOL
Please work with Kauai’s mayor and give us readers the island’s small businesses web sites so we can support them. Can’t help restaurants unless they offer foods that can be shipped to the mainland. Paintingsbymarcia.etsy.com has beautiful plumeria and scenic watercolor note cards and mat-mounted paintings by a Kauai artist for sale. Please post other local Kauai businesses that offer e-trader commerce.
Hi Lee.
Can we also suggest the Hawaii Foodbank on Kauai. https://hawaiifoodbank.org/kauai/.
Aloha.
Tell the mayor and governor to give their salaries.
HaHaHaHaHaHa … Good One!
I’m a Hawaii physician & I can’t even keep up with the ever-changing Covid-19 testing rules, nor the logic (if any) behind the frequent changes. I had seven (7) house guests last month from the mainland: all tested negative before arrival, and all tested negative upon arrival to Kona (free rapid testing @ Kona Airport), so zero problems. I think that Hilo airport does the same. So why can’t Kauai do both the pre-arrival & post-arrival mandatory, double testing & save their island from economic misery?
This is heartbreaking to see my beloved Island suffer so. Hopefully with the vaccines we can beat this, but hope it won’t be too late.
Aloha- my husband & I just returned from a 6-day trip to Maui. We encountered no problems coming & going; little to no line for Hawaii Covid test check-in table at the airport (flying out, I observed the line was WAAAY Long!). Most if not all restaurants we have frequented in the past were open & indoor dining was a go; of course outside patios are always the best. Sad to see a lot of closed business in Lahaina Town:(- not sure if they will re-open. Saw quite a few new restaurants in place of previous ones that were there last year. All locals we encountered were very happy to see us and full of warm Aloha! Now for Kauai – Geez, I would be afraid to step toes on the island at any point in the near future as your Mayor apparently wants it completely destroyed. The lives lost in Kauai due to Covid will be nothing compared to the lives lost due to lost livelihoods, lost homes, hunger, mental illness, substance abuse, etc…Why is the governor hyper-focused on fatalities (only one Covid death last I read) and NOT on the longterm destruction, devastation and chaos of Covid closures/lockdowns? I feel so Sad for the people of Kauai- do most locals support the mayor’s decisions??? I think the open Islands will slowly recover as people continue to feel confident to travel there. Every visitor we talked to was very happy to be there & support the local businesses with much needed money. I hope Kauai can get it together before it really is too late.
Bread lines yet? My hear aches for the people. Better plant a garden
The food bank lines for un and under employed people and their families on Kauai have been long and growing. It is real. But for the older retired set, stock portfolios and 401Ks are at all time highs, so why should they be exposed to any COVID risk, however small? Why should they have to worry when they go to Costco or Safeway? 9 ICU beds, etc.
I will say this, the Bistro owner’s strategy has paid off. Not only keeping tourists out, but the all day hour prices and the Friday night Prime Rib special. Place has been packed every time we go there. That is supposed to end at the beginning of January.
Is there a list of businesses that have closed?
Until you start voting out leftests that care about nothing but themselves you will get poverty.
You get what you vote for!!!! We will not be coming to the islands again. There are plenty of other choices for us to visit that want our business and appreciate us.
Since 1980 & 2004 Kauai has been our 2nd Ohana. I feel the sorrow & pain the Chinese virus has inflicted on the Hawaiian economy & friends. We & sons,families cannot visit. The island of Kauai is so loved, cherished & the beauty and spiritual island is extremely missed. Were from the potato state Idaho. Hope the vaccine, testing will open up Kauai soon .Merry Christmas John
John T.>>>
Your sympathy for Kauai is immediately offset by your calling Covid19 the “Chinese Virus”. Total contradiction in philosophies – you can’t be sympathetic to one ethnicity and disrespectful of another and claim to “love” and “cherish” something!
Thanks so much for all the updates. Kauai is not unlike a lot of areas. The cure is worst than the problem. Politicians forget how hard it is to be in business and how much they contribute to the local life. It’s very easy to collect your full pay and dictate others out of their livelihoods. So do locals who do not directly benefit from the tourist industry. In the long run the ill advised second shut down will hurt the most as tourists will not return until this is over. I hope that’s not too late for the businesses that are hurting so bad
You don’t and I do and he has done the right thing.
Benjamin Franklin famously said “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” (note the irony in the word Essential). As a commuting small business owner on both from the mainland and Hawaii, resident of Hawaii, and a caring human being, I have watched aghast at the handling of the Pandemic. The lockdown is and has been utter nonsense with myopic focus on Covid numbers only. Kaui’s mayor in particular seems to think it is a badge of honor to crater an economy to keep the covid numbers in check. Amazing how “science” is used as justification with no facts to justify the “science”. I wonder if Derek Kawakami knows how many foreclosures, suicides, assaults, business closures, and other major personal calamities are caused by the lockdown (not the pandemic). I hope the voters of the Island will remember at the pols next time they vote and shame on the Mayor for his ignorance and lack of leadership! It is Ironic those two local idiots who tested positive who jumped on United from SFO were locals, but flew home anyway. Keep blaming the tourist who are tested within 72 hours and want to spend their money and then cheerfully return home for spreading the disease. No “Science” there. I know we are supposed to be nice on this forum, but Kaui’s isolationist lockdown behavior borders on criminal! Ironically these hacks are all drawing a paycheck! Prayers and Aloha for the private sector citizens of Kaui so severely impacted by the cowards and fools who lead them.
Hi DJ- Could not agree with you more! The fear this pandemic or #scamdemic as well call it in California applies only to the peasants not the political elites and/or wealthy business owners (Amazon, Costco, Walmart etc…) Our governor (& countless other “leaders” across the fruited plains) have continued to dine wherever they want, continued to send their own children to private in-person schools, and continued to run their businesses (think Gov. Newsom’s Napa winery) while the peasants starve. I walked by a local food pick-up car line that extended for over 3 blocks! Leaders continue to get paid, live comfortably in their homes, educate their children, as the peasants literally starve. These leaders are often photographed without masks, moving about freely as the continue to “lock us all down”. I know MANY people who have gotten Covid and survived….we should focus on survivability rates. Yes, our local ICU’s are full with all kinds of illnesses, not just Covid. And even with lockdowns, closures, mask police, the virus is continuing to spread because that is what minuscule, contagious viruses do… if all these lockdown protocols worked, the virus would not spread right (look at Japan)? Best bet is to protect the vulnerable, keep your immune system strong so if you do get it, you have a better chance of doing well, and be more like Sweden, who did not lock down and has the same rates as most other countries…and if Kauai needs to reinforce its healthcare system, then get federal funds to do that- it is not like they have not had 9 months to do so.
Nita, you are spot on! Decisions based on Fear and with no facts to justify the fear. Unbelievable! The lunatics are running the asylum! “The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.” Couldn’t be more pertinent than this absurd reaction in California and Hawaii!
If we could have gotten tourists to come back for a second post arrival test we would have been much safer but Kaua’i tourists failed to comply.
I would go for that! I miss Kauai!
Thats right kauaidog.
I am off island and came here from Maui. We are essential workers. We have a two week Timeshare in Kapaa that I am paying 2600. Tomorrow. We can’t plan and can’t expect to use in the foreseeable future. This closure could last for months and we will get no concessions except we can move the time to the following year, maybe.
There must be hundreds like us. In this situation we are also taxpayers. I Never see it mentioned.
Mahalo
I understand. I have a Hilton timeshare in Oahu. I have 2 years and $3k riding on an April trip with another year to still book. There are no refunds. They have our money 1+year in advance. They are not losing like we are. So stressful and sad.
Until the people making the so called informed decisions that are destroying people’s life at all different levels also start to suffer financially they really don’t give a damn in my opinion nor do they have to until the next election should they choose to run again. Pretty damn sad.
We are currently on Kauai staying at Hanalei Bay Resort having arrived November 28, 4 days before the 14 day quarantine. At this point Hanalei Bay Resort will is shut down for non-local guests. The number of guests is rapidly dwindling. Our timeshare stay here ends on January 8.
We have two one week timeshare reservations at the Westin and Marriott’s Ocean Club on Kaanapali for the weeks of Jan. 8 and 15.
Are these plans feasible based on the current rules?
And what is the process for a visitor to go from Kauai to Maui then home via LAX?
Since Maui is still participating in safe travels, you will need a covid test on Kauai 3 days before arrival in Maui and a negative test in hand when you arrive in Maui to avoid any further quarantine.
Not sure if LA is requiring anything for returning travelers, but from the Hawaii side you can leave for home with no additional requirements.
If I lived there I would be front and center in organizing a recall of the Mayor. Couldn’t happen fast enough for me!
You don’t and I do and he has done the right thing.
I bet you were not born there now are a ‘native? Rofl
KAUAIDOUG… Are you independently wealthy? Because all my friends on the island are pretty close to be destitute.
Hi Bob,
Actually the mayor is quite popular on island even though many are frustrated with the travel policies since the Governor is the one that is denying the safe travels modifications that most islands residents want.
Sadly the residents are very supportive of the decisions of the mayor and still think it’s the tourists who are bringing in the virus when it was already reported that returning residents were the ones who tested positive but still went back to the island. They actually want to stay closed to tourists for as long as possible and just collect government aid, no need to work. That’s their MO. I just feel bad for those who actually want to go back to work/struggle to keep their businesses afloat. Soon only rich transplants will be left in the islands, the peasants won’t survive.
I would even be willing to do the quarantine if we were able to do it in a house or condo.
Mark, I totally agree with you. We would be more than happy to quarantine in a vacation rental condo where we would have our own space, i.e., an actual living room, a kitchen and a balcony. The idea of paying hundreds of dollars a night to be confined in a hotel room for two weeks (now 10 days) just doesn’t sound too appealing, nor does it make any sense. We could be supporting the locals by ordering takeout from restaurants and having food delivered from grocery stores or local farmers. That would help the locals in a small way, but it’s better than nothing. Aloha.
Exactly Pam, we are on the same page.
And I’d be happy to host you if the now “shortened” 10-day quarantine was allowed in a vacation rental!
I would be up for that!
Our week on Kauai in January is canceled. We have no problem with testing but no quarantines. We’re headed to the Big Island instead where the safety/testing regime is more reasonable. Maybe we’ll be back to Kauai next year if there’s anything left to go back to as far as hotels, restaurants, shops, etc.
Well, why don’t they just shut the island down and let it revert to a tropic isle like Niihau the native Hawaiian people would love to get their isle paradise back. I on the other hand would miss the unhurried lifestyle of our yearly visits.
Nice in the old world of 1800s but, not today more population tourist sites,restaurants,relies on visitors & snowbirds. Nice post but Kauai has a population that needs business!! John
Kauai is too far gone from niihau. I sailed past there have shells from there etc. Kauai has too many haole residents.
They can’t go back.
Real estate on the island is skyrocketing as people want to move to Kauai to escape this miserable pandemic. I wish that could translate to more purchasing, but it hurts the local with the higher housing prices. Businesses are failing all over the place, the stimulus bill may help I hope.