Has anyone here traveled to Hawaii recently? Covid restrictr

Oh, we are in Utah, too! So, you go to the Walgreens website and make an appointment there. Crazy, but, they didn’t charge us anything. I had seen other places charging $100+ and was bummed, but, Walgreens was free. :-o
We are on Oahu. It was tough getting a hotel, so, we ended up in Waikiki. We got a rental car and have driven all over since Waikiki is packed! That’s another thing-book a rental car WAY in advance. We had an inside connection that helped us get a car, otherwise we wouldn’t have gotten one.
The restrictions are MUCH stricter than Utah, and, I get it. A lot of stuff is not open...for example-most of the restaurant at the resort, and even the pool bar! No Lava Flows and Diet Cokes for me! :-(
But, the North Shore has been awesome! I mean, it’s Hawaii...it has been totally worth it.

Walgreens sends you an email with the result in a PDF form, and you are responsible for uploading it to the Hawaii travel page thing. We also printed up our QR codes and carried them with us, which was helpful. They will also check you at the hotel.

ETA: yea-we traveled during spring break time (although we left on a Wed), and that’s why it was so hard to get an appointment and rental car.

We went to the big island of Hawaii in November 2 weeks after they opened it up to those who tested negative within 72 hours of departure. Incidentally, we were departing the day after Thanksgiving which basically meant we lost a day for test turnaround time during a time that testing was at critical mass due to the holiday spike. UGH. Thankfully we live in Los Angeles so had several options for the test type they would accept but it was still nerve wracking.

I actually made an excel spreadsheet after checking the Hawaii safe travels website of approved Hawaii test vendors and their locations near us that were offering the right type of test, price, and turnaround time.

I ordered a home test we could have done at home via a zoom call online with a doctor watching us but at the last minute, we were able to do a test at the LAX airport since we were flying with Hawaiian. You may want to check with your airline to see if they have a test locations specifically for their passengers at the SLC airport which is likely a faster processing time thought possible at a higher cost.

We were going to go to a local urgent care center here but at the last minute, they wouldn't guarantee a 24 turnaround time of results so we got lucky with the airport location. I assume there are more locations now since that was six months ago.

You definitely should know that not everything is open yet and/or there is limited services and food menus in places due to the impact of Covid.

We are in the process of booking an elopement for June 2021 (we cancelled our Hawaii destination wedding for June 2020 due to Covid and reschedule to June 2022) and have been advised by family (my fiance has family there from his father's side) and our wedding planner have advised that rental cars can be hard to come by right now.

We always book a hotel/car package via Costco but I booked a rental care separately a month ago as there are reports local residents on some islands (definitely on the Big Island) are renting the rental cars and then turning around to offer their services to drive tourists around the islands in an effort to make money. So the already limited supply due to Covid is that much more limited. We are traveling to the Big Island for our June trip and were able to book the hotel/car package via Costco travel last night but the Costco Travel website also mentioned rental car shortages. I saw some flights are almost full and they say tourists are back up to 70% of normal (it was like 10% when we went in November), so if you are traveling to the big island of Hawaii, take care of that car now.

Most places do require the testing. Just because you're vaccinated doesn't mean you can't have COVID

It was definitely a different vibe than the last time we went. We were extremely careful, though, and went knowing that we wouldn’t be doing a lot. We had a full kitchen in our villa, so we bought groceries and cooked our own means, other than one takeout order from a restaurant. We mainly just stayed on the beach. (Which really isn’t any different than when we are at home... I think I’ve eaten at a restaurant twice in the last year.)

We’ve been pretty conservative in general during the pandemic... I had opted my kids out of in-person school, my husband is still working from home, our restaurant is still take-out only, and we haven’t gotten together with people. The airport/travel was the worst part, with all of the people we were suddenly exposing ourselves too.

Which reminds me, sunnyd ... unless you’re flying Delta, the new airport is a NIGHTMARE. We went the day after the new terminal opened up, and it seriously is SO FAR. I think close to half an hour of walking to get to any of the non-Delta gates.

Yes! The new airport, how could I forget! OMG. Gennifer is right, if you are not flying Delta, wear your workout clothes and take your vitamins, because the walking is insane. It’s not too bad when you depart, but, coming back the walk to the baggage claim has to be at least a mile, wouldn’t you say, Gennifer? With Southwest, it is probably two miles. You will be crying for the old airport where you could be off your plane, grab your bag, and to the curb in less than 10 minutes.

And yes, currently, you still have to test even if you are vaccinated.

And, for those who travel to Hawaii frequently and have favorite restaurants and activities you like to do, don’t be surprised if a lot of those are closed or gone. Seems like a good chunk of businesses have closed. Most beach stuff is open, though.

One more thing: our Uber driver brought up a point that I thought was interesting. He said the “tourist crowd” had kind of changed. It used to be a lot of seniors and over seas visitors, and now it is a lot of college kids and more of a “rowdy” crowd. Which I can see.

Does your airline offer testing?

www.google.com/amp/s/thepointsguy.com/news/hawaii-testing-requirements/amp/

Try Discount Hawaii Car Rental. We used them in the past but it was several years ago. They had good rates and used the major car rental companies

We used Vault for our testing and they were great and convenient. Testing is done at home while they watch you over zoom. They prioritize travelers. We did 5 tests (all submitted separately) and received results very quickly.

I did read that they will soon be allowing vaccinated passengers to upload proof of vaccine as another option. I did not see a date when it would become effective.

Precovid webooked our car rentals at least 9 months in advance the times we’ve been to Maui. Hawaii is always worth it 😍 though we are putting our trip off until the end of 2022. Good luck! 🙂

Even if you are vaccinated, still have to have a COVID test to enter Hawaii at this time.

I live in Hawaii (have been vaccinated) and traveling to Seattle/Tacoma next week for a quick trip (4/21-4/25). Still booking an appointment for a COVID test to return home to Hawaii to avoid a 10-day quarantine.